When a telemarketer calls from a company I do business with, I’m more likely to listen to at least the start of their pitch, because I already have a relationship with them and maybe they’re calling with something relevant or important. Companies know that and take advantage of it.
A lot of those calls start off like this:
“We’d like to thank you for being a valued customer.”
Well, that’s nice. You’re welcome. Is that all?
No, that’s not all. What inevitably follows is something like, “… by giving you the opportunity to buy this other product or service from us.”
Oh, so you’re not really calling to thank me for being a valued customer, are you? You’re exploiting our existing business relationship to try to sell me something else.
Funny, I don’t feel so valued anymore. I just feel like somebody who gets an extra sentence added to the front of your script.
I had a great call with Zena Weist recently, a lovely human being and one of the first people I met in social media. Zena is now director of social media at H&R Block. We talked about their Get It Right initiative for my upcoming book, The Executive’s Guide to Enterprise Social Media Strategy.
The whole point of the Get It Right community and the activities surrounding it is to answer people’s tax questions and use their expertise to help people. Their stated purpose in creating the community is customer retention, which, when you think about it, is bizspeak for “thanking our customers.” “And, brilliantly, they will answer anyone’s questions. They don’t ask whether or not you’re an H&R Block customer.”
How much more meaningfully can you say “thank you” than by being there to help at tax time?
Think about what you’re giving your customers who have chosen to follow you on Twitter, read your blog or “like” you on Facebook. Are you sharing content, information and assistance that makes their lives better? Is anything you offer online going to make it easier for someone to sleep better at night?
Are you really thanking them for being your customer and giving them something of value? Or are you exploiting the relationship to sell to them?
If you want to say thank you, say thank you. If you want to say, “Thank you, and…” make the “and” something your customers want, not something you want.
photo by SOCIALisBETTER