Engagement

Seems like it was 2016’s buzzword for many businesses and brands especially when talking about social media and internet marketing. To me the word “engagement” means having a real interest in the business, and being part of it, whether we are talking about employee or customer engagement, having the employees feel they are part of the business and be invested in what they do, seems like a no brainer, Right? But what about the customers?

Engaging the customer goes way beyond the buyer/seller relationship, it’s like the organization has relinquished some if its powers to the customer, this is can not ever be achieved on social media or by marketing alone.

A business needs to practice and display genuine interest in making its customers part of the organization on a daily basis and ensure that the thank yous plus any other feedback or suggestions received from customers (regardless of the communication channel) are swiftly analyzed and acted upon in a timely manner, not only that but you need to thank your customers for being a vital part of your business growth and keep them updated on what you have done with their feedback, better – even reward them for it! After all they are giving you way more than their cash.

Sometimes this is much easier said than done, not because of lack of engagement technology but generally because it requires a change in the organizational culture and that takes time. Big brands and large businesses can afford to do things at their own pace (paying the price for it) because people generally expect them to be a little slower, given their size and the number of customers they have.

But medium and small businesses can not afford the disengagement of their customers (and sometimes even their employees), this can send the business to bite the dust!
The most common mistake is fully outsourcing that part or using bots /digital agents, it actually gives the opposite message: “we do not want to speak to you!”
Reminds me of being on hold on the phone line for more than 30 minutes listening to: “your call is important to us!” Oh Really?

Let me leave you with this “engaging” video from my service hero Mr. Ron Kaufman