How Do You Build Customer Loyalty?
Customer loyalty. Otherwise known as gold.
How do you build that loyal fan base, those “screaming fans” for your business?
Commitment.
There is the commitment to time, certainly. Putting in the time and effort to build your business. To get it to a point that you can offer your customers the kind of products and services that would inspire loyalty.
But it’s the commitment to your customers that I’m writing about it here. Your commitment to their cause, their brand and their message. You have to get beyond “doing a good job” and the simplistic mind set that goes along with that. Doing great work is of course critical to building loyalty with a customer. But they have to feel in their bones that every action you take in their name is out of a commitment to what they believe. Whether you’re putting together an entire campaign for them, making a video for their event or manufacturing the boxes they use to ship their goods – they must know that what you’re doing for them is in their best interest.
So, how do you that?
1. Focus
The best way we have found here at Magic is focus. Not only paying attention to what the customer needs and wants to convey, but making sure that customer feels that we are paying attention. It is so easy when juggling multiple clients to have one or more of them to get lost in the shuffle. A deadline for one client can be on your mind when meeting with another. This is poison to the relationship. When you go into a meeting with one client, (or have a phone conversation or even send an email), leave everything else behind for that amount of time. The client will always feel it if you’re distracted at all. Our goal is for all of our clients to feel like they are the only customer we have.
We just recently completed our annual event with TEXO, a construction association. This was our 12th year to work with them on their annual awards ceremony. We certainly count them (with many other similar clients) as loyal customers. We do several other larger shows just before and just after TEXO’s each year. But we make sure that they never feel lost. With the traveling we do for those shows, they know we may have to shuffle pre-event meetings and the shoots we do for the event, but they are willing to work with us in that regard because they feel our focus on their show.
2. Ask Questions
To be able to fully commit to your customers, you have to know what they are all about. The obvious path to that end is asking questions. But too many times, people rely on their customers to give them all the information they need to go forward. You have to dig deeper than that. You have to make sure that you have every little detail about your customer that you need to perform your work. And once your customer has answered every question you asked and you’re still thoroughly lost or confused – ask some more.
3. Fire A Customer
Build customer loyalty by firing your customer? Anyone who has been in business for even a short amount of time has at least one: the customer they should fire. Not doing so isn’t good for the customer, because they don’t get your full commitment. It’s not good for you and your business because you don’t do your best work and you are constantly stressed about them. And it’s not good for all of your other customers because they sometimes lose out because your focus and commitment is going to the stress-inducing customers. And much of the time, it’s not that your “problem” customers are doing anything wrong or asking for something they shouldn’t. Sometimes it’s just that the two of you aren’t a good fit.
We’ve had to do that once or twice, even in lean times when we couldn’t justify it monetarily. But we knew it was the right thing for our other clients, and our business long term.
4. Roll With Them
A client can have many ups and downs over the years. If you’re truly committed to them, you’ll go along for the ride. And if you’re in the boat next to them during their storms, who do you think they will reach for when the skies clear and business is booming again?
TEXO, our association client I mentioned earlier, has gone through numerous name changes and higher and lower annual budgets, which dictate the level of productions and the venue in which the awards show takes place. Last year, their event took place at the brand new Cowboys Stadium. Most of their members had something to do with the construction of the stadium and it was fitting for them to be in the large venue. We did some larger scale videos for them to go along with the venue. In past years they’ve gone from smaller hotels to the Gaylord Texan. This year, they scaled back a bit, and had their event at the Intercontinental. They had less of a budget this year, but we were still able to create a fun series of videos with their members, and provide clean, beautiful audio/visual services.
Commitment to your customers, like many other types of commitment, isn’t always easy. But it’s simple. A simple decision that you stick with and watch the benefits roll in.
How To Rock Your Event Like MetLife
Every year, MetLife’s Home Loans division has an incentive trip for its top performers, called President’s Club. And for the past 12 years, Magic Video has been providing preproduced and onsite video content for the event. This year’s event was in Las Vegas, with Saturday Night Live as the theme. In addition to producing several skits ahead of time that featured their executives and a live “Weekend Update”, we created a slick show opener in the style of SNL, which you can see here.
And we also shot and edited onsite to create a fun event-recap video as we do every year. But we added a little something to the mix, this year. With an additional set of cameras and a whole new style, we shot throughout the production of the skits and the event, creating a Recap Video 2.0, if you will. We put this project together once we got back from the event. It’s a great, high-energy piece that MetLife folks are going to use as an incentive to their people to promote next year’s President’s Club.
Take a look at the video below. Let us know how we can help you promote your next event, as well as add some fun and energy to the show itself!
When Lending Is Better Than Giving
Kiva.org is our featured charity on magicvideo.com this month. In a nutshell, Kiva is a microlending organization benefiting countless people around the world; people in impoverished areas who would never otherwise have access to funding for starting a company or buying livestock to keep their farms going. Founded in 2005, Kiva has a 98% repayment rate! Incredible.
I found out about this great organization a few months ago after seeing one of its co-founders, Jessica Jackley, give a TED talk. She had an amazing story about starting an amazing company. I encourage you to check out the talk and get all the details about her start.
Kiva.org is certainly a philanthropic site at its heart, in that it asks visitors to lend money to help people in need the world over. But an important distinction about Kiva is that it’s not a charity looking to simply give a hand out. The founders believe (as do I) that there is something inherently empowering in a loan, as opposed to a gift. It tells the recipient that you see them as a business person. They realize that you believe in them enough to trust that they will be successful and pay you back.
And the site itself is laid out so well that it provides such a great experience, allowing visitors to view the profiles and stories of people to whom they can lend, and then decide on where they want their money to go.
Check out this video on how Kiva works:
Then, go here to start lending.
Scott Belsky: How To Avoid The Idea Generation Trap :: Videos :: The 99 Percent
A talk from Scott Belsky on the process of developing new ideas.
Texas Production Roundup
For all of our production folks out there – it’s almost that time again: Texas Production Roundup. Where professionals in the Dallas/Ft. Worth media industry can come out to see the latest and greatest in production gear and services.
Below is a video we made with the Dallas Producers Association, hosted by the lovely and talented Elise Baughman, that has all the details on the upcoming event.
We’ll see you guys out there on May 26th!
For more info on TPR, go to http://texasproductionroundup.com/.
Texas Production Roundup is presented by Dallas Producers Association.
Presenting Sponsor is Videotex. Supporting Sponsors are Stephen Arnold Music, Kennedy’s ENG/EFP Products and Magic Video, Inc.
A Lesson In Service
We all want great service. And as business professionals of one kind or another, we want to give great service.
And then there’s the matter of doing it.
This past weekend in Dallas, Massoum (Magic’s CEO, for those who don’t know) got a call from one our clients in Vegas with a last minute equipment need. So, it’s five o’clock on a Saturday evening and they need two KiPros for an event the next day. We have one, but we need another. Massoum immediately calls Alford Media. Does he get an automated answering service? Does he get someone’s voicemail with a promise to call him back? No. He gets Dan. Dan Thompson to be exact, Alford’s weekend staff member.
Massoum explains his need. Dan is on it. He lets Massoum know within moments that they have one ready with two hard drives to complete the package and that he can pick them up immediately. Massoum then proceeds to Alford and gets the drives. Great service provided by Alford.
But there’s more.
Massoum is planning on using American Airline’s counter-to-counter service to ship the drives since it’s such a last minute need and a quick turnaround. It’s about 7 or 8 o’clock by this point and before he heads over there, Massoum makes sure all is good with taking this to American. Sure enough, with some policy changes anything over a pound requires a preexisting account. Yikes. What now?
Massoum calls Dan back. This is not Alford’s problem. Certainly not Dan’s problem. But Massoum explains his dilema and what does Dan say? ”No problem.” He let him know that Alford has an account and they would be glad to ship it for him. It was too late for a flight then, so Dan met Massoum at 8am the next morning at Alford, took the KiPros to American, and then immediately got all subsequent tracking info to Massoum when he returned.
The KiPros arrived in great shape. Massoum and our clients were happy.
Wow.
We all tout the ability to provide great service. Alford gives it everyday. Yes, even on the weekends.
Click here to learn how they can help you.
Video Marketing For All Industries
This month Magic is featured as the cover story for IDA Universal magazine. IDA is the Independent Distributors Association, an international organization dedicated to independent dealers, manufacturers and distributors in the aftermarket heavy equipment industry. Wow. That’s specific. Yes, IDA is certainly involved in what you’d call a niche market. It just so happens to be a huge one as well.
IDA has been a client of ours for several years now. And yes, I’m sharing the news of our cover because we at Magic are extremely honored that they chose to use our story as an example of video marketing in action. But I share this for another reason:
For all the marketers, event planners, association members and more out there, IDA represents a great example of an industry making sure that they don’t get left behind. They are made up of members whose lives and livelihoods are entrenched in heavy machinery and the face to face relationships involved in it. Social media, video marketing and website design aren’t necessarily on their high-priority lists.
But IDA, (and Nancy Estes, Executive Director and Editor for IDA Universal in particular) are making sure that their association as a whole and their individual members are staying current in the marketplace. Just one way they’re doing this is with a brand new website that not only features an IDA video on the home page, but a members page where numerous members are showcased in clips talking about their companies and the importance of IDA.
Following IDA’s cue, you can boost your profile and appeal in the social media world, on your website and even email marketing with the use of video. And yes, of course, we can help you with that.
To check out IDA’s new site check out www.idaparts.org. You’ll see the main video we put together for them on the home page. To see the full magazine online, click here.
Magic Helps MM2 Win Awards
MM2 is a talented public relations company located in Dallas, TX. They recently worked on a campaign for the insurance company, Hartford to get the word out in Dallas about their mission to help fix Dallas streets. MM2 did work across several media platforms, including tv, web and radio.
MM2 contacted Magic Video to put together a highlight video using material from all these platforms to present to Hartford. In addition to pleasing Hartford, the public relations company has since used the video to enter and win several award competitions, including the 2010 Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Silver Anvil Award – which is considered the public relation industry’s highest honor. In fact, MM2 was the youngest agency of all 59 award winners to take home a Silver Anvil!
According to Nikki Lopez of MM2, “This highlight video really brings to life the thinking, messaging and execution that went into this campaign.”
We congratulate MM2 on their great success and we’re glad we could be a part of it.
New Product Demo – Panasonic AG-AF100
Magic Video has recently teamed up Barak Epstein and the good folks at Videotex to start bringing you some great new product demos. They’ll be showing all the ins and outs of each product.
This week is the Panasonic AG-AF100, Panasonic’s first answer to the DSLR rage that’s been going on.
The first video is a great overview of the camera. The second gets a little more in depth for those who are wanting some of the nitty gritty details.
Enjoy the videos. Massoum and Barak are both at NAB next week looking for more products and will be bringing back more to share here soon.
Corporate Reality
I just finished an outstanding book - Rework, by 37signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. The book is made up of quick, concise insights to challenge the way we think about business.
In one of the sections, they talk about allowing your customers to go behind the scenes of your company:
Give people a backstage pass and show them how your business works. Imagine that someone wanted to make a reality show about your business. What would they share? Now stop waiting for someone else and do it yourself.
How brilliant is this? We’ve actually been pitching this idea now for a couple of months – an online “reality show” of your business. Instead of a simple introductory video or (say it ain’t so) no video at all on your site, what if your current and potential customers were glued to their computers learning about your company? And what if they kept coming back? The benefit:
Letting people behind the curtain changes your relationship with them. They’ll feel a bond with you and see you as human beings instead of a faceless company.
And we’re not talking drama here – we’re talking insight. Think HGTV rather than MTV. And yes, just like the “reality” shows you watch now, they can be scripted. So you can be sure to get your company’s message across.
See the whole “Go Behind the Scenes” section of the book below. And then go pick up the book. You can learn more about the book and 37signals athttp://37signals.com/rework.
Go behind the scenes
Give people a backstage pass and show them how your business works. Imagine that someone wanted to make a reality show about your business. What would they share? Now stop waiting for someone else and do it yourself.
Think no one will care? Think again. Even seemingly boring jobs can be fascinating when presented right. What could be more boring than commercial fishing and trucking? Yet the Discovery Channel and History Channel have turned these professions into highly rated shows: Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers.
It doesn’t need to be a dangerous job, either. People love finding out the little secrets of all kinds of businesses, even one that makes those tiny marshmallows in breakfast cereals. That’s why Food Network’s Unwrapped – which explores the secrets behind lunch-box treats, soda pop, movie candy, and more – is such a popular program.
People are curious about how things are made. It’s why they like factory tours and behind-the-scenes footage on DVDs. They want to see how sets are built, how the animation is done, how the director cast the film, etc. They want to know how and why other people make decisions.
Letting people behind the curtain changes your relationship with them. They’ll feel a bond with you and see you as human beings instead of a faceless company. They’ll see the sweat and effort that goes into what you sell. They’ll develop a deeper level of understanding and appreciation for what you do.
Excerpt from Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson reprinted here with permission.
