What prompted this post? I am the Mayor of my local Publix on Foursquare. Last night was my 30th check-in. 30th. Yes, 30 of them. But have I heard from them? No. In fact, it is so silent, you can hear the crickets chirping.

If you had a customer walk in the doors of your joint 30 times, wouldn’t you want to at least acknowledge them? [Answer: you better.] Hell, at this point, I’d love a message from the Publix manager saying, well, how about “thanks for your business – we appreciate you!”

I am spending time exploring Foursquare. I see value in it for my clients. And that’s largely why I spend time on the app, so that I can learn how to execute a geolocation strategy on their behalf.

For those still unsure about the personal value of this technology? Here is Todd’s preliminary list:

1. You can see what others have said about a place you are about to check-in to. Is the restaurant good? Is the service good? What should you buy? What should you avoid? What staffer should you ask for?

2. And obviously, more and more places are offering discounts and specials for their foursquared fans…

3. If you are lost in the middle of nowhere, or a visitor to a new town, you can initiate the check-in process on your smart phone, and see what’s nearby (then use #1 above and see what the locals are saying about it).

4. For me, the most important use of Foursquare is that it serves as an easy conversation starter. For instance, I also checked-in last night at the non-profit where I serve on the Board of Directors. Now, if someone wants to do business with me, they would go a long way towards establishing trust with me if they inquired and asked about my non-profit.

5. And lastly? I will admit, I like knowing what the people in my network are doing. It helps me keep a pulse on what’s happening in my community. And I like knowing what my friends are doing, and what they are interested in.

I say this is my preliminary list. Because I am sure I will uncover others.

But let’s get back to my local Publix. It boggles my mind that they wouldn’t acknowledge someone who has checked-in 30 times. And, honestly, I am not looking for some special or discount [hint: wine specials please!]

What I do think is important is some outreach –> “Thanks for your business! How can we serve you better? What are other ways to make this store more valuable to you? How can we win people over who are currently shopping at the Kroger across the street?”

That said, I do think rewarding loyal customers is important. Stripped down, Foursquare is a game. You compete for points, for badges, and for the title of Mayor. This spirit of competition could and should be fun. And memorable. And something to talk about…

And also, an important driver of business.

But you may ask, “well, since you have been there 30 times recently, do they really need to work to keep you coming back? You have already proven to be a good customer.” If I have to really answer that question…

“But there are only a million people on Foursquare…” Yes, and it is growing much faster than Twitter was at this stage of their development…so like Twitter, this geolocation concept is going to change the game.

“But not everyone has a smartphone…” Yeah, and nobody thought cars would sell, or motion pictures, or planes (who would want to fly across the country?), or televisions (and who on earth would ever have more than one television), or websites would be for everyone, or that email would be used as THE communication tool, and thank God I have all those long-playing records, cassettes, and compact discs in a box in my basement…

The point is, technology like geolocation is changing the game. Slowly perhaps, but surely. It is time to get in the game and figure out how to use it…

…or those crickets will be chirping permanently at your place of business.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

[cartoon by @gapingvoid]

Cartoon by @gapingvoid

I overheard a television commercial just the other day, where the new CEO of General Motors offered a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. He indicated that you have 60 days from purchase of a new GM vehicle to return the car if you are not completely satisfied.

But do guarantees even matter to customers any more?

Me, I think it really depends on the current state of your brand. In GM’s case, people are so fed up with the inferior quality of GM vehicles, government control of the company, as well as using federal stimulus dollars to continually bail out GM – that I don’t think this guarantee is very effective for GM. It might be a little too late to matter.

But what do you think? Is this the kind of thing a company like GM should be doing? Is this the kind of strategic approach they need right now?

Normally, I think guarantees are a great offering. If you believe in your product or service, and believe strongly that it will benefit your customer, you should feel very good about offering a guarantee. It demonstrates confidence in what you do.

But I also worry that guarantees are no longer remarkable. I think people almost come to expect them. Nowadays, it is almost unique if you don’t offer one. But I also think some companies use them to try to pull one over the eyes of the consumer.

Time will tell if GM’s strategy is the right one. Maybe it is what they need to turn this thing around. But it rings hollow to me. I still think GM ought to be doing more to engage the marketplace – instead of using what feels like a gimmick in this instance.

What do you think? Is this a good idea on the part of GM? Or not?

Be Intrepid.

Marketers and bloggers are always talking about the questions we should be asking of our customers.

But I think it is important to look at this relationship from a different perspective. What questions should our customers be asking us?

So here are a few to think about. And you better have a good answer…

1. Do you have a very easy way for me to give you feedback?
2. And can I have any confidence that you will listen to my feedback?
3. Should I have a problem with your product or service, is there a process of addressing the problem easily?
4. How can I easily share details about your business with people in my community?
5. If I have to phone your business, will I be able to talk to a real person? Or will I be dumped into an endless maze of automation?
6. What kind of guarantee do you offer?
7. Do you have a customer loyalty program?
8. What is your “return” policy? Are you going to make my give up my newborn?
9. If I find you on social media, is it really you engaging with the community? Or is it just some hack pushing your products or services?
10. If I am in your store and I have a problem, will the employee I talk with be empowered to deal with my issues?
11. Is your web site easy to navigate? Is there an easy way for me to ask a question on your web site? It is easy for me to find you? Contact you?
12. If your product is more expensive than the shop down the street, can you convince me as to why your product has more value?
13. Are you going to spam me with unsolicited marketing crap?
14. If I ask you what makes you or your product different from your competition, are you going to tell me straight? Or give me some fake answer that tells me you don’t really care. Or don’t really know?

So, what other questions should you be ready to answer?

Be Intrepid.

A colleague recently told me he wasn’t expected to be creative, since that wasn’t his department. I told him he was wrong. He replied, “Oh please, give me one example over the course of a typical day how little ole me can be creative…”

1. When a customer calls with a problem.
2. When a sales call is stalled.
3. When a prospect asks “what makes you different?”
4. When you think you need to cut prices to be more competitive.
5. When you find yourself wanting to blame the economy for things being slow.
6. When you train new employees.
7. When a prospect says “Hmmm, I’m just not sure, let me think about this a bit more…”
8. When your store has a changeable marquee.
9. When an employee says “I just don’t have enough time to get all that done.”
10. When you think you have competition.
11. When your “competition” offers a new product or service.
12. When you don’t have much money in your marketing budget.
13. When your latest innovation is still popular and bringing in massive sales.
14. When you copy other people’s business ideas too often.
15. Whenever you have a chance to deliver a thirty second elevator speech.
16. When you design your next business card.
17. When you answer your business phone.
18. When you grow tired of networking with the same people at every networking event.
19. When someone asks you “So, what do you do?”
20. How you ask for referrals.
21. How you greet customers when they come into your shop.
22. When you record the message for the company voice mail.
23. When you have the chance to record some audio and/or video for your web site.
24. When you need to update your pricing.
25. When you decide to support a local charity.
26. When you need to upgrade the signage outside your shop.
27. When you can’t understand why blasting spam email just doesn’t seem to be working.
28. When it’s time to determine a new niche market to target.
29. When you have to create a mailing list for your next direct response program.
30. When it’s your turn to treat for lunch, where should you take your client/prospect for a memorable experience.
31. When it’s time to expand your service or product offering.
32. When you need to write the next post for the company blog.
33. What to talk about if you offer a seminar to the local market.
34. When you add a new tactical option to your marketing program.
35. Who you invite into your community with your company’s social media program.
36. What local event you choose to sponsor for your next PR outreach idea.
37. What to write about if you are invited to share thought leadership in a local newsletter.
38. What to give away at the next trade show.
39. What music to play when folks are on hold on your phone system.
40. When it’s time to rearrange your store floor plan.
41. How to acknowledge new customers. Old customers. New prospects. Referral partners.
42. What you can give away for free.
43. What to do when things are slow in the shop for an hour or two.
44. What to do/where to go on the next company retreat.
45. How to reward employees for remarkable work.
46. When you are working to improve internal communications.
47. How to make your web site ridiculously easy for customers to use.
48. When you are coming up with a process for customers to provide feedback.
49. How to organize and communicate to company prospects.
50. Oh yeah, how to be creative when designing new fancy schmancy print collateral…

Get the idea? Please share more ideas! Be Intrepid.

A quick post to share a small success story!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I am a big advocate of using social media to build your community: your community of friends, customers, and prospects.

FuegoMundo, an Atlanta-based restaurant opening on May 22, uses Twitter as part of it’s overall marketing outreach strategy.

Just yesterday, the owners expressed an interest in having friends act as volunteer food tasters as the kitchen staff goes through it’s training procedures, and food preparation is getting fine-tuned.

So, we implemented an idea. We used our growing Twitter community, and asked if our friends would be interested in volunteering to serve as food tasters. The response was dramatic!

Well, now you may say that volunteering to eat free food isn’t a difficult decision. Granted! But more importantly, we think that inviting our new friends from the community into the restaurant will begin a process of building loyal customers and friends!

We are excited to see where this goes! Normally, it would take a LOT more work to build some interest in something like this. And a lot more expensive. Stay tuned to this blog to see how this social media strategy works out. We believe marketing is interactive. What a way to engage our community!

If you are interested in serving as a volunteer FuegoMundo food taster, either comment on this post OR send us a tweet here!

I wonder why some people are so afraid to market their business.

They say they want new customers – they say that want more revenue – they say they are worried about the impact of the economy. But they don’t take decisive action to do anything about it.

I think most of them are dealing with fear – or they are procrastinators – or they don’t have a plan in place to proceed. A fear of failing holds way too many people back from bold action.

I have resolved to JUST DO IT in 2009 – to just DECIDE to take action – to mercilessly kill any evidence of procrastination.

Yes, even I hate to admit – I too sometimes get snagged by procrastination. And it really stresses me out when I catch myself doing it. The only way to fight it? Take action. Smart action, of course, but action nonetheless.

When it comes to boldly marketing your business – here are three things you can do RIGHT NOW:

1. If you haven’t already done so, get active on social media. Start a company blog, get on Twitter, create a company Facebook page. They are free and can be set up in minutes. They are not all time-consuming, and they are a great way to promote your business, build your brand, and make new relationships.

2. Start a direct response campaign to find new customers. Assuming your have your niche target market defined and your marketing message secured, there is no reason not to do a campaign right now. If you have a good product or service, get it out there so that you can help new people. But get out in front – don’t assume your competitors will remain stuck in the goo. Be first in 2009!

3. Send out a survey mailer to your existing customers. Show you care, ask what they need, ask what their current problems are, ask how you can serve them better. [this can be done electronically too - and another reason to get active on social media] Your customers will appreciate the outreach. This will help differentiate you. This will generate action and conversation that will result in cross-sell opportunities AND serve your existing customers.

Well, there are three things you can start working on TODAY. Motion creates emotion. And that first step is the hardest. Choose to take bold, intrepid action in 2009. Good luck!

Todd Schnick. Be Intrepid. www.intrepid-llc.com

We are now entering the holiday season.  The season means a lot of things to a lot of people.  What does it mean to me?

Greeting cards!

Why is this important you ask?  It affords you a chance to communicate with a lot of people – and with a good excuse!  Here are four reasons to send holiday greeting cards:

1.  You can send cards to your exisiting customers, and thank them for their business.  Most of us don’t show enough appreciation to our customers.  This is as good a time as any.

2.  You can send cards to your hot prospects.  Remember how it takes a certain amount of “touches” before a prospect buys?  Here is a good chance to do another.  And this comes across as more sincere than if you sent a regular old piece of direct mail…

3.  Holiday Promotions.  Many of you offer a service offering.  Why not take advantage of the holidays and offer folks a “holiday discount” for using your product or service?

4.  Be unique.  Most businesses won’t send a holiday greeting card.  This is your chance to be a little different…

These are just a few of the reasons it may be a good idea to send cards out this coming season.  Contact us today, and we would be most pleased to discuss how we could help.

Todd Schnick.  Be Intrepid.  www.intrepid-llc.com