Twitter as a client feedback tool

When you think about it, Twitter is another form of web-based client feedback tool. If you provide a great service...or indeed a not so great one, people will tweet about it. And why? Because people like to give feedback and twitter makes it so easy.

The growth of the internet has made it easy for us to share information and social networking sites like Twitter make it even easier, a tweet from one of your clients about you is instant feedback in just 140 characters. And the big benefit of Twitter is that it gives you the right to reply, not just to the person who provided the feedback but to all your followers too. You demonstrate that you are responsive; you listen to client views; you care enough to monitor and respond to feedback.

Twitter is also a great tool to promote your business by posting links to your client testimonials on your website. Just try a search on twitter for 'client feedback' and you'll see how business owners are posting their positive feedback. It's a great way to drive traffic to your website and promote your services at the same time.

So to make the most of social networking and include it in your marketing and contact strategy. To quote Oscar Wilde "“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about” ....and if you are talked about make sure you know about it.

Positive Feedback is Good For Business

If you are proctively asking for client feedback in your firm then you may only ever focus on those responses where your client is not 100% happy. Negative responses are typically the ones we take action on, leaving positive feedback as simply a validation that we are doing things right. But positive feedback is an extremely valuable marketing tool so when you receive it you should make sure you use it wisely.

Your clients verbatim comments make excellent testimonials - check out my own website for ours at http://www.finqs.co.uk/casestudies.htm. When a client likes what we do, we ask if we can use their positive comments as a testimonial. Good feedback also helps you identify referral opportunities, those clients who will be advocates for your business so don't be afraid to ask them if they know of anyone else who would benefit from what you do.

Generating referrals is one of the most effective marketing activities you can undertake and receiving positive client feedback is key to this. Too often referrals are only ever received passively, because a client happens to mention you to someone. For you to really benefit from referral business make it an active part of your marketing strategy. Ask for feedback as a way to remind your client that you did a great job and you will identify referral opportunities...and when you do, don't be afraid to ask!

"You're hired!" and so ends this years series of the Apprentice and as usual I'm left wondering whether Sir Alan will ever find the ultimate apprentice, someone that we'll really remember as a gifted entrepreneur.

This years series brought with it the usual crop of "talent" that made us shout at the telly, shake our heads in disbelief at the apparent incompetence of these Global Marketing Consultants, Corporate Enterprise Account Managers and Sandhurst Scholarship Winning Stockbrokers, and laugh out loud at the dry comments from Nick "I'll leave that with you" Hewer and the wonderful Margaret Mountford; "Never before in the history of car washing have so few cars been washed by so many people in such a long time". Brilliant.

We watched the candidates make simple errors which we of course we would have spotted straight away. After all we all know how expensive Sandalwood is and that there really isn't a mass market for hand-made rocking horses.....don't we? I wonder if there will ever be someone who in our eye's really cuts the mustard and proves themselves as a raw talent; a worthy apprentice. This year's finalists were hard to pick between, it's fair to say, but I was left feeling that although Yasmina was perhaps a worthy winner, maybe James would have brought a bit more character (as well as ignorance) to the boardroom table.

In any event, in the words of James "it's been brilliant" and another hugely entertaining series from which we can all take away some lessons learnt. My personal ones? I will be a tougher interviewer; I will check all references; I won't ever buy soap with honeycomb in it and Pants Man really doesn't work, on any level (sorry Philip).

And the ultimate apprentice? In my opinion look no further than Mickey Mouse in Disney's Fantasia, if you haven't ever seen it, it's a delight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuVsCRQkXvw

Confirming your client proposition and generating opportunities

In today’s climate, clients demand the best service more than ever before. When times are tough, clients are more choosy about where they spend their money and for businesses to gain a competitive advantage, clients must be satisfied, loyal and most importantly engaged with your business.

Clients who are engaged with your business are enthusiastic about what you do, they recommend you to others, they provide you with testimonials, they become part of your marketing collateral and ultimately they increase your profits.

A strong service proposition increases a clients engagement in your firm. As client engagement increases, this builds trust, increases loyalty and client retention, leads to more referrals, increased revenue and profitability. Your most loyal and engaged customers become brand enthusiasts. Some commentators call this ‘Customer Advocacy’, taking the view that clients are less likely these days to simply accept whatever services you provide, indeed according to a white paper published by The OMC group about Customer Advocacy in Financial Services, today’s customer is now “value-extracting” meaning that clients will look for the value in a proposition and how it meets their personal requirements. This is the very reason why firms need to develop a strategy to align their service, marketing and branding efforts with the needs of their clients.

To develop client engagement or customer advocacy with your business you need to understand what drives it for your clients. Is it that you provide a well delivered, excellent service? Is it the frequency of contact you have with your clients? Is it that you care enough to ask for client opinions? Is it that you take an open and responsive approach? Is it that the client has confidence and trust in the service and advice you offer? Is it the perception of the quality of your communications with your clients?

Finding out what inspires your client’s loyalty and engagement with your firm is the first step to creating a successful service proposition. The only way to really understand what your clients want is to ask them for their views. Doing this enables you to benchmark your service proposition and set a solid foundation on which to build your client proposition and marketing strategy.

So don’t just assume you know what your clients opinions and perceptions are, ask them. Reach out to your clients and inspire them to talk about you. You may or may not be surprised by their responses, but you will certainly benefit from them.