Image credit: Karl-Erik Bennion

I had a whole box of party favors leftover because I overestimated the number of kids attending. I contacted the company to ask if I could return the unopened party favors for a refund. The company said to keep it, and they’ll issue a refund. Sure, it may cost more for me to send it back and for the company to deal with the return. But to me, the company surprised and delighted me. I have made more purchases after that.

My daughter is a hostess and waitress at a nearby eatery. She had a great day until our family dined there. We were her last customers and she messed up our order. We did not complain. Instead, we told her it was OK and we know mistakes happen. Nonetheless, our drinks were free.

I’ve posted other customer service experiences. In looking at how I land new clients, I find the majority come from word of mouth recommendations. That tells me customer service must play an important role in my career as a writer. I represent me and what you get is me. Customer service is more than just doing great work with a smile. Customer service is also a marketing tool.

I believe the following actions make up the customer service element of a writer’s business:

1. Provide excellent results: You can be the nicest and easiest person in the world, but it won’t save you if you repeatedly submit poor quality work. The client will give up. This isn’t the same thing as perfection. I could keep perfecting this post, but I had to stop and let it go.
2. Meet deadlines: Are you on schedule? Late? Or constantly asking for deadline extensions? Good writers plan ahead so they don’t fall into the last minute trap, which could lead to sacrificing quality.
3. Listen: Let go of what’s on your mind and listen to what the client says so you can understand. Don’t be in a hurry to share your thoughts and experience. It’s easy to miss what the client really wants. Respond by reflecting on what the client said instead of turning it around to make it about you. I received an article request from a client, but the client didn’t like the direction the article took. Several colleagues reviewed the article request and the article. They all agreed I met the request. It doesn’t matter if it was the client’s fault or mine. I collected more information from the client and rewrote it. (See #7.)
4. Make it easy to work with you: Are you easy to work with? Do you fight every edited word? Are you listening to the client’s preferences and styles? Do you follow the client’s process? Are you accessible? Some of the busiest authors are also the most accessible. More accessible than plenty of unknowns.
5. Stay cool: No matter how the client behaves or acts, your attitude and response to the client should never burn bridges. Even if you go separate ways, the client can still talk about you. Sometimes your personalities and styles don’t mesh. It happens. One client wanted web content that didn’t reflect content standards. It was better to separate than to give the client what he wanted. What he wanted wasn’t what I could deliver. Furthermore,  I would not have enjoyed the work, which brings us to…
6. Enjoy the work: Do you hate the work? That will affect your attitude and everything else about the project. Maybe you need to let go. It’s OK to work toward assignments you love and enjoy. Your passion will shine through and make a difference in your outlook, which in turn affects service. I find I procrastinate more on work that I dread. I’m lucky that’s not an issue anymore.
7. Fix mistakes: Problems happen. We all make mistakes. Really. It’s HOW you handle those mistakes that can make the difference between great and lousy customer service.
8. Respond quickly: How quickly do you return calls and emails? Even if you’re swamped, at least acknowledge you received the message and will get back to the person.
9. Solve problems: Do you work to help clients with their problems? Find another or better solution? Some people try to push their solutions on the clients to make it work rather than adapt to clients’ needs.
10. Be honest: A client overpaid me. I emailed the client to let him know and subtracted the overpaid amount in the next invoice. Yes, it’s hard to be truthful in some situations. Telling the truth can do less damage than telling lies and getting found out. Besides, you feel better about yourself. It also creates goodwill.

Regarding perfectionism, Christina Katz said it better than I could. “I’ve given up the tireless quest for perfection for a looser, friendlier style of working with myself and others. I also no longer worry, inordinately, about what other people think of me. I don’t fret about whether they think my service is or isn’t up to snuff. Instead, if my service isn’t momentarily the greatest–because I’m human, so of course this happens from time to time–I apologize and move on,” she says.

How do you provide great customer service?

.1984.

What do you think of when you see that year? What if I add the term “Apple?”

For me, the famous Orwellian Super Bowl commercial comes to mind. Do you even remember who won the Super Bowl that year? Or even who played in it?

Super Bowl commercials had yet to become the subject of water cooler talk in 1984. How strange is it to hear that Apple originally planned to run its commercial during the college bowl games only to move it to the Super Bowl because it was cheaper? The Apple commercial is responsible for kicking off the Super Bowl super ads that have stolen the show — especially when the game was a blowout.

Why did this commercial receive such buzz? It’s not like we’d never seen a good or different one before.

Are you struggling to come up with an idea for a marketing campaign or any campaign for getting the word out there when your budget is limited and every media is overcrowded? Even in this day and age with TiVO skipping commercials and information overload, it’s possible to break in. It takes creativity and pushing at least one of six buttons.

Hughes shows which six secrets, or as he calls them “six buttons of buzz,” that Apple hit upon with this commercial. Not only does he talk about the six buttons, but also he covers the six steps to creating a buzz worthy campaign:

The six buttons to creating successful word-of-mouth campaigns:

1. The taboo – sex, lies, and bathroom humor.
2. The unusual.
3. The outrageous.
4. The hilarious
5. The remarkable.
6. The secret – both the revealed and unrevealed.

The six steps to creating a campaign while integrating at least one of the buttons:

1. Push the right button.
2. Capture the media.
3. Advertise for attention.
4. Climb the mountain.
5. Discover creativity.
6. Police your product.

Hughes writes conversationally with wit, much like what you see in the high quality blogs and he easily engages readers. Hughes could readily spout marketing jargon, but he doesn’t. Nor does he come across as a know-it-all. He genuinely wants to show how buzzmarketing works and backs up the six buttons and six steps with real life examples that experienced ‘super buzzing.’ We need more business books like this.

The examples include the Pepsi Challenge (I prefer Coca-Cola to Pepsi and have taken plenty of challenges to prove it), Rit Dye, Ford Mustang, and of course, Hughes’ own campaign coup — Half.com. It takes no time to read the book as it flows like good fiction. Whether your budget is small or large, the examples and ideas from the book show how to create a campaign worth much more without spending an extra buck.

Do you hear buzzing? That’s the sound this book is generating as the publicist behind it spreads the word to reviewers and bloggers. When I post a review, it doesn’t just show up in one place. Expect to find it posted in two other places and linked to from two newsletters. Now that’s spreading the word — or should I say ‘buzz.’ Hughes lives what he preaches.

Anyone who wants to give attention to anything will benefit from the book.

Title: Buzzmarketing
Author: Mark Hughes
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
ISBN: 1591840929
Date: July 2005
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Cover Price: USD: $23.95 Amazon: $16.29