The comment people make the most about me is that I write in a way that makes it seems like I’m only writing to you, just you, and no one else in the world. I am really flattered by this comment, and I think it’s because I pick, at random, some person that I know, a colleague, a client, a subscriber I’ve had contact with online or off, and write my posts to them.
Normally I won’t tell anyone this. I’ll just write directly to that person. If they’re a beginner, I will write the post that day to their level of web expertise. If they have a site about document translation, I’ll tailor what I was writing to what they do.
But though I’m quite proud of my ability to do this, that’s not the topic of today’s tip.
Today’s tip is all about learning to find what it is you do that makes people feel special. This isn’t a new idea — I once wrote about making your clients into your fans, in a post where I said:
If your blog is a viral marketing machine, it builds you a fan base that collects your work, instead of clients who buy your products.
I said.
If your blog is a viral marketing machine, it builds you a fan base that collects your “work”, instead of clients who buy your products. When you have a fan base, you become someone’s hobby or passion.
People could care less about some company selling some stuff.
Fans have died for their hobbies and passions.
Making your visitors, subscribers, prospects and clients feel how special they are to you goes beyond just making them into fans, though this is integral to that process. And it doesn’t have to be about doing one extra thing that no one else does. It can be a group of simple things that reflect the fact that you care. It doesn’t have to be a big deal either, or terribly original.
I sometimes call my past clients to say hi. No business talk, just keeping in touch. Occasionally I’ll ring a colleague to ask advice about a problem.
Though I’ve exported most of my email functions to our customer service folks, they still confirm each order manually. Sometimes when the volume is high we can’t personalize the mesages as much as we’d like, but they still address each person by their name. And I still confirm some orders personally when I can. For big orders, I will call them on the phone.
This is in addition to the automatic email delivery. Doesn’t always get through. When I call not everyone will pick up the phone or call me back. For many people, the whole point of the internet is to be impersonal.
But some people like it. So, we keep doing it.
We often publish testimonials, critiques, and even comments and trackback with a link back to the person’s site in our newsletter. When they’re submitted via testimonial phone lines or forms, we publish them all, no matter what the comment was. In Facebook when I friend a new person, especially if they are new to Facebook, I make a post to their wall.
When someone’s birthday comes up, Facebook reminds me. I’m horrible with dates, but love birthdays. That helps me remember to send a short personal greeting to people I know on their birthday.
I often bundle consultations with my products and remind people to cash them in around a month later. Then we talk on the phone, or if the other person prefers, we email back and forth for a few weeks.
These are all very small things that other people don’t do. It used to be quite common for people to follow up automated email and online delivery with manual follow-up. Not so much any more. Not so cost-effective, and doesn’t always get through the email filters. But we still do it because when they do get through, people like it. They feel how much we care about helping them. They realize that we really mean it when we say we’ll do Anything within our expertise to help their business when they hire us.
And they remember.
And they come back.
Why? It’s simple. Would you buy a book about learning a web technology central to your business from someone who accelerates their relationship with you, or someone whose relationship with you ends when you buy something? Would you like to be able to ask questions after you order from someone you’ve grown to trust, or an anoymous person?
It depends on the item. Romance novels or poetry books don’t typically need support. You’ll get them, you’ll like them or you won’t.
Business knowledge you want from someone who’ll call you up and explain a concept in another analogy if you don’t quite get it the first time. You want someone who can refer you to another expert or help you themselves if you get stuck, or decide to outsource the legwork.
It isn’t all roses and sunshine. Sometimes people try to take advantage. Sometimes people abuse my staff, and I come down on them, hard. But 99.9% of the time, I can confidently say that, without exception, I have the best clients in the world, and I mean each and every one of them. They are the most delightful people and it make it a pleasure to be in this business.
My subscribers are wonderfully caring, interactive people. I go the extra mile for them whenever I can, even if they never buy a thing. They spread the word about me and I owe them everything. All of my repeat commenters are so gracious and helpful and polite that if virtual hugs are ever invented, those are the first people I’m seeking out. All of the colleagues I have that I’ve ever spoken to on the phone have at some point offered to bend over backwards to help me, long before I ever needed or asked for it.
Maybe it’s the giving I strive to do, coming back to me tenfold. Or I could just naturally attract wonderful people. But this isn’t about me. It’s about you.
You could be having this joyful experience, and also making someone else’s life filled with joy. It’s not hard, and people will remember you for it.
Take a quiet 15 minutes, turn off your phone, exit your email, get out a pen and a pad of paper and think about what has made you feel special as a customer and who does this. Write it down and think about why it made you feel like you are important.
Take another 15 minutes and think of how you can create similiar happy interaction at your site.
Can you answer comments more or faster?
Can you make a light-hearted post each day?
Is there something you can do at your site that will give your clients a five minute vacation?
Could you blog more often?
Have you thanked anyone lately?
Make an extra effort to make other people feel good. In a short, free movie I saw online today, an advisor impressed upon a company that they should make happy memories with their clients (Video sighting was thanks to Dave Webb – that takes you to his Facebook page – add him if you enjoy the video, he always has gems.). It’s a remarkable example of how you can create this happy interaction. Watch this film about the Simple Truths of Service to see more examples of how you can make people feel special.
When you do, people will talk about you, and their friends will come visit. The original people will come back as well. In that way you’ll have created both first-time and repeat traffic to your site.
