Christine Fife

Companies provide products and services to consumers who want or need them, right? So what difference does it make if the companies actually care about the needs and wants of their customers, so long as they keep buying their products? It makes a big difference if you want to keep customers and sell more.

To truly participate in the market conversation, companies need to actually care about helping their customers and prospects fulfill their wants and needs. People don’t buy a product because it’s there, they buy because they have a need or want that has to be fulfilled–understanding this and acting on it can create a lot of Whuffie (See Tara Hunt’s The Whuffie Factor) for companies and help them retain customers, sell more and generate positive word of mouth. Of course companies also need to care about what is being said about their products, company, competitors and industry.

What Does it Mean to Care? How Do I Show that?

1. Monitor: Set up searches/alerts to monitor what is being said online, especially on social media networks and publishing. Watch for your company’s name, name of your products, competitors’ company names and products. You’ll also want to watch for mentions of keywords that are applicable to the type of product/service you offer and your specific industry/industry niche, but it’s more important to go beyond that. Define key words that are focused on the need/want that your product fulfills. Joe needs a more efficient way of tracking his customers and their orders and what stage of the sales pipeline they are in for his small business than doing it manually on spreadsheets. He doesn’t need a CRM system. He may ask people in online communities what the best way to track customers and their orders is without ever saying “What’s the best CRM system?” He doesn’t care about CRM systems, he cares about fulfilling the need of more efficient tracking.
2. Respond: When you see a mention of your company or product find ways to respond. Sometimes that might be directly to the person, sometimes that will be responding to their blog post for public view. If it’s a negative mention, you want to stop it from proliferating by reaching out to that person to find out what went wrong and how you can help them have a better product experience. If it’s a positive mention, thank them. Show you appreciate that they’ve shared their positive thoughts. If it’s a mention of a something someone needs or wants, like in the case of Joe above, consider what would be appropriate. Don’t just try to sell at them, but find a way to help them fulfill their need or want. For Joe’s comment, you could reply with a vendor neutral link to information about CRM systems to show him how they can help him. Then tell him that you’re with a company that offers a CRM sollution and you’d be happy to talk with him if he’s interested. Make sure your online persona is clearly visible so he can see what company you’re with, but don’t try to cram your product down his throat. Just be openly helpful
3. Participate: Jump into the communities that are specific to people who have a need/want for your offerings, but don’t just advertise there. Offer supporting and helpful information on how people can fulfill their needs or wants. Point them to additional information like industry reports, expert blogs, or case studies. Create content that is about the needs or wants that people have that your company can help them fulfill. Content doesn’t always have to be a “brochure” tooting your own horn.