August 2010

How Important are Relationships to your Business?

The first stage in the journey is to change the way the interface with customers is perceived. Each time a company interfaces with a customer rather than think about a raw 'transaction' it should instead consider the customer's experience and how this can be the start of a relationship.

So, if it can be assumed that having a positive relationship with a customer is a good thing, then companies need to work out how good examples of these can be formed. Experience has shown that there are three fundamental contributions to long-term relationships. These are: 

Win-win nature - something has to be in it for both parties

Customer satisfaction from quality - all of the time

Trust who you deal with - and preferably like them too

A win-win relationship is a terrible cliché, but it is more relevant now than ever. Whether supplier or customer, basic common sense should apply when constructing, servicing or ending a relationship. Ensuring every necessary step is taken to see the relationship from the other side and treating your counterpart as you wish to be treated pays dividends. In a climate of consolidation, companies never know when their supplier will become their customer and the balance of power will shift.

Sometimes, the termination of a business relationship is imperative. However, if this process is handled properly with termination meetings or conference calls, a unique insight can be gained which can offer a variety of ways to learn and improve.

Next time we will discuss how quality and trust can drive additional value from relationships with the claimant, your suppliers and the third party insurer.

Social Media – Do You “Do” It?

Social media is the act of communicating online, sharing information, knowledge and opinions through websites such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and LinkedIn. 

In recent years, social media has become a real phenomenon for both individuals wishing to communicate online and more recently businesses who are seeking to gain more intimate interactions with their customers and to discover the as of yet untapped commercial benefits. Social medial is a communication channel which allows you to instantly communicate and engage with your target market - taking on feedback and sharing best practices as well as increasing your brand's visibility. 

There are however, negative aspects; one issue is the intangible nature of social media. This means that it is hard to measure success, show value and therefore achieve a return on investment - the minimum requirement of all other forms of marketing.  We also have to question the topic of our business, are people are interested in talking about personal injury in a social environment, in comparison to the huge consumer brands of Apple and Nike as well as celebrities.

So is social media really worth doing?  Before you rush off to create a profile and start to update your "friends" on your hourly movements, we have come up with a number of questions that you should ask yourself. 

 1. Why do you want to start using social media?

Like anything else you embark on you should have a clear strategy about what you want to achieve from social media, what are your objectives? Is it to target new customers, gain feedback, network or gather industry news?  Without this question being adequately answered you have to question why you are doing it, don't just follow the trend. 

 2. Is all social media relevant to you?

Not all social portals are right for everyone; you can use LinkedIn to network with other professionals, micro-blog on Twitter, upload and comment on videos on You Tube, set up a profile and groups on Facebook uploading news, events and pictures or just set up a blog site.  Be selective, choose the channel that will add value to your company - do not try to do everything and always keep in mind your objectives and target audience.  

3. Do you have enough information to update your social media portals?

Remember you have to keep content fresh and up-to-date otherwise your followers will be become despondent with your views and updates.  You are recommended to update your profile twice a week with relevant content, this should be in line with your strategy and overriding corporate message.

 4. Do you have the provisions to put the required resources into social media?

Many people perceive social media a cheap and easy communications method but in reality you should be devoting 20% of your day to monitoring and measuring the goings on in your online community.

5.Should you adopt rules to communicate on social media sites? 

Social media is all about instant communication, by doing too much research you might miss out on an opportunity.  You also have to realistic; people will talk about their negative experiences far more online and you should respond carefully, be honest but embrace this feedback to improve your service offerings.  You should also be careful about who you communicate with and think if your response will have a detrimental effect on the core business. 

Once you decide to participate in the online arena, it will take time to embrace and incorporate social media into your corporate strategy; if you have clear objectives and criteria you will soon see the value of this new communication method.