VAL-idation: Social Media Quick Fix Ranks Second or Worse to This Loyalty Program
September 21, 2009 by Mary Ellen
If you’ve signed up for Facebook’s fan pages, a Twitter account, or any one of various other social media outlets with little result, you may have fallen victim to the quick fix.
No matter what business you’re in, today’s social media promise beckons because it sounds good. Build community. Increase visibility.
Good business may not come quite so easily.
Good business requires ongoing work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is clueless.
I got a call at 4pm Sunday from a good businesswoman: Valerie Compton of Body Language. There may be more reasons why Valerie’s doing well, but here’s a list of 10 things that put her in a class by herself in my book.
- Call former customers for no reason. Valerie calls people she hasn’t seen in some time. Not to beat them up (although she can do that. “Hmmmmmmmmmmmm…must be feeling a little guilty about the amount of time I’ve devoted to working out recently.”)
- Call when it works for you. How many times have you dialed a customer on the weekend? It got my attention.
- Make it all about “the customer.” Once you’ve placed the call, be interested in your customer. Draw them out with a specific question or two. See tip #4.
- Ask about the family. Everyone likes to talk about their family. An astute salesperson like Valerie remembers names and asks about partners, friends, and the pieces of your life that make you YOU. As a result, you feel cared for.
- Network. Early in the summer a friend mentioned Val had asked about me. How many business owners do you know who make/remember such associations (see tip #4)?
- Implement new ideas. Everybody is busy these days. Valerie too. Yet, after she took an interesting class in New York, Valerie found time to implement a similar program. Her Body Barre classes, described as ‘ballet on steroids,’ are consistently full. (Bonus: Look for like businesses when you travel and check for ideas.)
- Publicize your business, especially its innovations. Fit, a monthly supplement to the Albuquerque Journal published a story about Valerie and Body Barre. Earlier, Body Language opened a second location in Nob Hill to other publicity.
- Suggest solutions. Of course Valerie invited me into the studio. I expected her to. She hadn’t seen me in some time and I would have been disappointed had she not asked me to participate in some way in her business. It wasn’t a hard sell, however. Instead, she suggested I might benefit from a specific class. Once again she presented a reason framed in my interest.
- Participate actively in your community. Valerie’s a member of AIBA, Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance, (Disclosure: I’m the current AIBA president) and active in her church. She probably has other interests as well.
- Be passionate about what you do. No question. Valerie is energized, consumed, driven by her business. She works quickly, talks enthusiastically and emanates purpose. The result? A presentation people notice.
VAL-idation. Any one of these ideas could move your business forward.
How can you stand out from the crowd? Would any of Valerie’s techniques work for you?
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A great list for any business. Whether talking about social networking or financial management the quick fix is in contradiction to good business. Good business requires the same discipline as a good workout.
The discipline of exercise makes a good correlation, Caralee! Thanks for pointing that out!