Is Anybody Listening?

Is Anybody Listening?

February 6, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Leo Buscaglia

 

Can You Hear Me Now?(image discovered on Google via smartinsights.com)

One of the greatest opportunities we all have with the social revolution for business is an opportunity to listen. And for customers, a big opportunity to be heard.

Before YELP, Google, Facebook and the like, it was much harder to really know what people were saying about our salons, companies and brands. It was also not so easy for an everyday person, like me, to reach out to a mentor, a community, a brand. The social revolution has changed that, forever.

Today, the challenge for all of us is to learn how to become good listeners. And the payoff can be huge if we do. How do we do it? The following is my list of a few ways you can become a listening business.

1. Care
You have to care. If you care, you will take the time, energy and resources available to you to become a listening company. This is always the first step.

2. Make Listening A Priority
When I hear people express to me their concern about the time and energy it takes to engage on the social and digital web, my answer is always…”What could possibly be more important than engaging with and listening to your customers?”

As business becomes more social, it’s time to look at your systems, processes and activities and adjust them to meet up with the expectations of the connected customer.

You can also set most of your social pages to alert you when there is activity on your pages. If it matters, you will find the time and resources.

3. Engage On The Platforms That Matter
If you are a salon owner or work in a salon, platforms such as YELP, Google Places, CitySearch, Foursquare and Facebook are awesome listening platforms as is Twitter. Simply search the name of your business. If you are in the product business, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google are all great places to listen.

Social Business Leaders Care. They Engage. They Respond.
Recently, one of my biggest biz mentors and super smart thought leaders in the social + digital space Chris Brogan was listening. How do I know he was listening? He responded. To both an email I sent him, and a tweet. And I am not talking about auto-responded, I mean really responded, with love, attention and grace. Why? Because he cares and understands the power of one person, one tweet, one email at a time. He is a true daymaker in my book. If you are in business today, you are a social business too.

This is a pic of our Twitter convo after our email convo, in which Chris took the time to read one of my blog posts inspired by him and share his thoughts with me. Can you believe that? One of my awesome mentors who I have never met responded to my email. A true OMG moment for me. And this all took place early on a Sunday morning. Yep. Sunday morning. I heart him.

Chris Brogan Tweet

My challenge to you is to take an honest look at your daily activities, and begin to carve out time to really listen to what people are saying about you, your salon, your company and your brand. Believe me, they are talking. Are you listening?

How are you listening on the social web? I would love for you to share your thoughts in the comments or you can share your story with me. I am listening.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)

Passion Squared email

You’ve Got Mail

February 4, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“In a way, the Web is like your Hollywood agent: It speaks for you whenever you are not around to comment.”

Chris Brogan & Julien Smith, authors of Trust Agents

 

Passion Squared email

If your business is up 50% over last year, you clearly are doing something awesome and may not need to read this post. If it’s not, I encourage you to stay with me and hear me out on the topic of email marketing or what I like to call inbox marketing.

Yes, It’s Still A Powerful Tool
While you may hear that email is falling by the wayside with the rise of social platforms, that is simply not true. Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to engage your clients and actually make sales happen. How you ask?

How Inbox Marketing Drives Sales
1. It keeps clients connected to your salon, shows them you care, and reminds them you are around.

2. It allows you to share salon news, say thank you, introduce promotions, launch new products and services and reminders to make reservations.

3. It drives traffic to your website which in turn can drive sales.

How Do I Know This? (besides researching the topic at length)
The #1 referral traffic source for Passion Squared is from our weekly emails. More people visit our site from the emails we send then from any other referral platform.

My clients and friends Nigel Sampson and Daria Di Benedetto, owners of Whole Body Method in Los Angeles sold over $5000 in packages from ONE single email campaign. Their business is up over 50% from last year, and while there are several factors as to why they have experienced this awesome growth, focused and consistent email marketing is one of them.

I had a chance to chat with Benjamin Jay, co-owner of the Hair Loft ltd in Chicago. He was awesome enough to share his most recent success story using email to engage clients and generate revenue.  Check it out.

“So this holiday we really wanted to have a great season. One of the things we did was send out a note to our guests that hadn’t been in in 6 weeks and did not have a future reservation on the schedule letting them know what our upcoming holiday hours were going to be and giving them a link to make their reservation online. No discounts, because there was no need! Holidays are already our (and most people’s) best times of the year so we didn’t need to discount what was in high demand. Through these marketing emails, we booked an additional $1600 into our last 3 weeks of the Holidays.”

Benjamin Jay

These are the email campaigns that generated that additional $1600 in revenue over the Holidays for the Hair Loft ltd. Beautiful and on point.

So this holiday we really wanted to have a great season. One of the things we did was send out a note to our guests that hadn't been in in 6 weeks and did not have a future reservation on the schedule letting them know what our upcoming holiday hours were going to be and giving them a link to make their reservation online. No discounts, because there was no need! Holidays are already our (and most people's) best times of the year so we didn't need to discount what was in high demand. Through these marketing emails, we booked an additional $1600 into our last 3 weeks of the Holidays.

the hair loft ltd email two

Now think about yourself as a customer.  How many times have you been driven to purchase something from your favorite store or made a reservation because of an email they sent you? Come on, be honest.

Ok Nina, This Is Awesome, But Now What Do I Do?
1. Be sure your website allows clients to actually take action such as making a reservation, purchasing a gift card, a package or series of services. Many salon software programs have online booking as a feature or option. Use it.

2. Be sure to choose the right email platform for you, preferably one that is super easy to use, provides reports on your campaign performance, etc. I LOVE MailChimp, it’s FREE (up to 2000 subscribers), super easy to use, and highly social, meaning its easy to share on your social sites, etc. Many salon software programs also offer integrated email platforms, be sure to check with your provider to see what is available.

3. Be sure you have a place on your website for clients to “opt in” to receive emails from you. Also be sure they can subscribe on your Facebook page with a tab provided by your email platform. MailChimp has a super cool Facebook tab that is easy to use.

This is what a subscribe Facebook Tab looks like from MailChimp. Passion Squared inbox lovePassion Squared Subscribe Facebook Tab

This is what Passion Squared email opt in looks like on the home page of our website. Feel free to subscribe to get weekly inspiration and education from me :) Passion Squared email opt in

Do you have a success story to share about inbox marketing for your business? Please feel free to share it in the comments if you feel compelled or click here to share your story with me or to learn more about the power of inbox marketing.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)

Seth Godin

Showing Up Is Overrrated

February 1, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Your job is to surprise and delight and to change the agenda.”

Seth Godin

 

Seth Godin

I am a huge fan of Seth Godin, as many of you know by how many times his message and books are discussed on my blog. He is not only super smart, but I love how simply he presents meaningful and important business concepts which apply both to small and big business.  His post earlier this week really resonated with me, then while sitting with a dear friend at dinner the other night, she brought up the exact same post he wrote, which to me was a sign I needed to blog about it and share it.

Here is Seth’s post from January 28th in case you missed it.

Beyond showing up
“You’ve probably got that part nailed. Butt in seat, smile on your face. We often run into people who understand their job to be showing up on time to do the work that’s assigned.

We’ve moved way beyond that now. Showing up and taking notes isn’t your job. Your job is to surprise and delight and to change the agenda. Your job is to escalate, reset expectations and make us delighted that you are part of the team.

Showing up is overrated. Necessary but not nearly sufficient.”

Wow. Awesome message, right? Now here is my take-away from his post, something for all of us to consider as team members and leaders.

Are You Just Showing Up?
As a team member, you have a responsibility to your leaders, teammates and customers to do more than just show up. If you have an idea, an aha or a breakthrough, it needs to be shared. If you have a way of making a service, product or system better, it needs to be shared. If you have a skill, a talent, or a way to make the customer experience better, it needs to be shared. Your job is to escalate, as Seth says.

Now, this is different than bitching and complaining. That is not the message here at all. This is about being an active participant in your world, and to help make it better.

Have You Created A Just Show Up Culture?
Now on the flip side, if you are a leader, manager or owner, have you created an environment where your team members can participate in the business and be part of delighting your customers or one that shoots down anyone who offers ideas, solutions and better or different ways of doing things?  Be really honest with yourself on this one. You see, what happens when you stop listening as a leader, or brush off your teams ideas and suggestions time and time again, they naturally will become spectators, not participants. Wouldn’t you? Think about it.

What do you really want? Butts in seats that just show up ready to take notes or passionate participants wanting and needing to make a difference?

To get more daily wisdom from the awesome Seth Godin, I highly recommend subscribing to his blog.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)

Word of Mouth

The Multiplier Effect

January 28, 2013Nina KovnerENGAGE, GROW

“Learn to make customers really, really happy. It doesn’t take much more than that.”

 Andy Sernovitz

Word of mouth.  The foundation of every successful business and most definitely the foundation of a salons success.  It’s almost such a common phrase and concept that we forget the power of it.

Check out our fave biz guru Gary Vaynerchuk on what he calls The Multiplier Effect of the social web, in other words, the POWER of the social + digital web to ignite word of mouth.  It’s short, so press play and we will review after.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY1skOtCSBs

Simple concept? Yes. Easy to execute and make happen? Not so much.

Here is what it takes:
1. Caring
2. Listening
3. Engaging

If you only did those 3 things, there is no doubt in our minds that you will begin to see how the social + digital web can super charge your word of mouth and in turn, your business.

Give it a try.

If you are serious about super charging your word of mouth both online and off, we offer one-on-one mentoring to help you craft the ultimate plan.  To learn more about Passion Squared Mentoring, click here.  We look forward to helping you ignite your passion and live your dream.

(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)