On Words and Business

Straight Talk with Nigel Hollis

Thoughts on marketing, branding, and communications from the folks at market research agency Millward Brown. Good stuff.

In the U.S. alone, poor customer services loses businesses $83 billion per year. And 71% of consumers have ended a relationship because of poor service. That’s pretty serious.

Check out more in this MediaPost research brief. Including the bit about it taking an average of 9.5 minutes for a consumer stuck in an automated voice self-service system to reach a live human to speak to.

If you haven’t heard about this yet, you should know there’s a bit of a kerfuffle about a change in blogging policy at Forrester. It’s an interesting debate.

What I really like is Bruce Temkin’s piece offering five lessons companies ought to take away from this:

1. Assume everyone will find out.
2. Don’t get bullied by the crowd.
3. Pick your battles.
4. Be open and honest.
5. Don’t obsess about social media.

To those I add:

1. Be on the same page. When communicating with the media, which includes the press and anyone keyed into your social media outlets, have guidelines for communication. Since you can’t vet every single word or thought in a fast moving social media environment, make sure those communicating with the public understand how they represent the company and the limits of their communications responsibilities.
2. Don’t be afraid. Social media has the edge over traditional media in its immediacy and viral reach. But don’t let that stop you or your company from stating your opinions or policies. The quick feedback allows for a quicker course correction if necessary.

According to a recent survey , more than half the journalists surveyed said that social media sources are important or somewhat important, and 89% said they used blogs in their research.

If you want to get noticed, it seems like socializing in cyberspace is increasingly the way to do it.

Read more about the story on MediaPost.

Cut This Story!

An argument that the format of newspaper stories is part of what is killing the industry. Interesting theory.

Check out this blog by writer and psychologist Susan K. Perry: Creating in Flow

The topics stem from her curiosity about how the best writers’ create.

Unlock your own creativity…