Last year, I participated in a project to create a book authored by over 100 bloggers.  The book was designed to discuss why this is the age of conversation, and all proceeds (and I mean ALL) went to Variety, the children’s charity.  Over $10,000 was raised for this worthy cause!  You can still purchase the book through Amazon (see my sidebar - Book Recommendations - for the link).

This year, the project was expanded - greatly - to 237 authors from around the world!   The title of the new book is Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t They Get It? The topic was chosen through a vote of the contributing authors.  Companies are only beginning to understand social media and its impact on business, hence the topic chosen by these smart bloggers (a veritable Who’s Who of marketing and social media).  There are also eight sub-topics underneath that main area.  My chapter is on the topic “Conversation to Action”.  It is entitled “Building Walls Against Competitors” and discusses how to take conversations between companies and customers and start to take action on them to build ongoing relationships, as well as barriers to exit.  I can’t discuss further details of my chapter here; you will have to get the book to see what it is all about.  And you can feel good doing that, as the proceeds from this year’s book again go to Variety Children’s Charity.

Here is the link to buy Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t They Get It?. Get a copy for yourself, and get some extras for client gifts, a gift for your boss, or just because you want to support a good cause.

Update: It has already gotten press!  Here is the link to a Media Post article on the new book.

Here is the list of all the authors of AOC2.  Many thanks to all of them for contributing not only to this great book but to a great cause.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G. Kofi Annan, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter,  James G. Lindberg, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

 By Tim Carroll

(Note: Tim Carroll, our guest blogger today, is my son and joined me in Las Vegas for BlogWorld to get a taste of what blogging is all about.  We got tickets to see Blue Man Group courtesy of PubCon for Blogger’s Night Out.  I asked him to blog about his experience; my experience will be published soon.)

While in Las Vegas with BlogWorld, I got to see the Blue Man Group. The Blue Man Group was cool. There was nothing that I didn’t like about it. I liked the interesting music and the weird instruments that they used. I liked how the show was funny and involved the audience. I liked one part when they were playing the drums and poured paint on them so that when they hit the drums, the paint splattered all over. I also liked another part when they were throwing marshmallows into one blue man’s mouth and he ended up with about 30 in his mouth at one time. I would for sure recommend it to other teens.

(Photo credit: Blue Man Group)

Today’s post has my first video with my new, fun video camera the Flip Minoin addition to some news to share and a question for my smart readers (that’s you!).  Speaking of Flip, welcome to new readers who have come over from Jim Kukral’s blog (he does a show called The Daily Flip), where he did a podcast interview with me called Do You Have Happy Customers?  If you like what you read here at Customers Rock!, please subscribe to my blog.  Thanks!  Now, on with today’s post.

Customer Engagement at FreshBooks

A while back, I wrote about how FreshBooks was engaging customers by taking a roadtrip to a conference in an RV. Along the way, they stopped and had breakfast, lunch, and dinner with their customers.  Very cool.  I was thrilled to be invited to one of their customer dinners when they made a recent stop here in San Diego, CA.  Saul sent me an email and asked if I could join them (I am a FreshBooks customer, too!).  We had a wonderful meal at Buca di Beppo, which serves Italian food family-style on big platters for sharing.  A perfect venue for customers to come together, break bread, and get to know each other.  We swapped stories about our business, about the San Diego economy, and about our new friends at FreshBooks.

The dinner attendees were kind enough to let me take a very short video with my cool new tiny camera (it is smaller than my Blackberry!) around the table, just so you, my readers, could get a feel for this group.  One customer, a friend of mine, was a little shy with the first pass, but he was willing to show his face moments later (see photo above). 

It was a very fun dinner, and I left with both an appreciation for what FreshBooks is doing to engage customers as well as some new friends.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about the video!  The Flip Minois really easy to use, and I think the resolution is pretty good (I promise, my videography skills will improve…).

News: Cool Customer Engagement Event

If you live on the East Coast, or want to head out there in November, you should check out the upcoming Customer Engagement and Loyalty Summit in Miami.  It is taking place November 17-19 and is focused on taking you beyond creating customer loyalty programs to helping you build customer strategies.  Sessions include looking at customer experience in a low-cost environment (Alaska Airlines), learning how Word of Mouth and WOW service go together (Zappos.com), and a panel on quantifying the benefits of customer loyalty to your CFO (lead by Best Buy).  It looks to be a great event.  Readers of my blog can get a 2 for 1 discount if they mention this code: IUS_CR_001.  If you go, let me know what you think of the event.  It sounds great!

Question: Blogging and Customer Service

My good friend Mack Collier asked a great question on Twitter the other day, and I told him I would re-post it here (as so many of you are focused on customer service). Mack is looking for examples of companies that are using their blog for customer service.  I can think of companies that try to share best practices about using their product in their blog, such as ConstantContact, and also companies that answer frequently asked questions via their blog, such as Sony Playstation’s blog.  If your company is doing this, or if you have seen a good example, please send me email to becky at petraconsultinggroup dot com or leave a comment here at Customers Rock!  I will share all the responses I get and link to you, too!  Thanks for your help!

(Photo credits: B. Carroll, piksel)

In one month, the 2008 BlogWorld conference will be taking place in Las Vegas, NV, and I was chosen to moderate a panel this year!  In case you aren’t familiar with it, BlogWorld is billed as the world’s largest blogging conference and tradeshow.  The way I look at it, it is a great place to come and learn about social media, as many of the sessions go beyond blogging into video, social networking, Twitter, and podcasting.

As for my panel, the title is Creating Customer Loyalty with Social Media.  Here is the abstract:

One of the keys to rockin’ customer retention and loyalty is customer engagement. This session shares some of the best practices in combining social media with customer retention programs, an area relatively unexplored by many companies and social media discussions. Social media provides the ideal channel from which to learn about and interact with customers, both commercial and consumer. It is also a great mechanism for deepening customer relationships and empowering customers to become a company’s best advocates. These two areas are especially important to businesses that want to break-through the noise and grow in spite of difficult economic times. Through the use of blogs, video, social networks, and wikis, executing customer retention programs can be cool again!

My Fabulous Panelists

I am so excited to have some great people on my panel.  I have two outstanding bloggers, Toby Bloomberg and Brian Solis, who will be sharing their perspectives on how companies are using social media to better serve their customers and build relationships.  I also have two brilliant minds from the corporate world, Tony Hsieh of Zappos.com (based in Las Vegas) and Frank Eliason of Comcast.  Both of them are leading their companies with new ways of using social media to get closer to their customers, including use of Twitter.  Expect to see a lively conversation taking place!

Learn About Social Media

Come and meet us in Las Vegas for BlogWorld.  You can use the link in my right sidebar or at the end of my post to save 20% off the price of registration with a special discount code BCYV1PLL (be sure to type this exactly; it is case sensitive) for the first 50 of my readers who sign up before September 1. (And yes, that is an affiliate link - my first foray into this area!)  If you are planning to come, or if you are already signed up, leave me a comment.  Maybe we can do a Customers Rock! meet-up!

Sign up now for BlogWorldExpo 2008

It seems to me that when the US Army Corps of Engineers is blogging, blogs have hit the mainstream.  There was an interesting article in The Military Engineer, May-June 2008, about Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp, USA, Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and his new blog Corps-e-spondence.  In the blog, Gen. Van Antwerp covers a variety of topics such as flooding in the Midwest, the current state of New Orleans, the water crisis, as well as hiring, leadership, and even baseball (see the picture of him throwing out the first pitch at the Cardinal’s game)!

Gen. Van Antwerp was quoted on why he is blogging in the article, as well as in this video on the Army’s media site:

“This is the way of the future.  We should be out there, too - clearly and openly communicating with the American public every chance we get.”

Is it effective?

The blog seems to be a great way to communicate more about what the Army Corps of Engineers does, as there may be many people that don’t really know what types of projects they take on.  It also gives readers a view into the Gen. Van Antwerp’s leadership tenets and style.  The blog is updated every few weeks, and it is already getting a variety of comments.  It could be improved with more interaction from Gen. Van Antwerp back to his commenters to really create a conversation, rather then just a communication tool.

The Army is blogging - what about you?

Does a blog fit into your organization’s goals for interacting with customers?  Could you use it to better listen to what customers have to tell you?  Perhaps your company could use a blog to create a discussion around certain topics of interest to your customers.    Setting goals before starting a blog is key to making this social media tool successful.

 Those two topics go together, as Starbucks is a company that works to empower its employees (which they call “partners”) in order to improve the customer experience.  Their recent “We’ll Make Your Beverage Right” focus is a good example of this strategy.  More on Starbucks below, as well as in a post coming soon.

I am busy getting ready for a customer service workshop tomorrow, entitled “The Importance of 5-Star Service in a  Tough Economy”.  If you have a minute to send me your definition of 5-Star Service, I would love to include it!  You can send me email (becky at petraconsultinggroup dot com) or just leave a comment in this post.  I posted the question on Twitter as well as LinkedIn and have received nearly 20 responses from around the world.  I will summarize in a future post.

In the meantime, here are a few additional items to help start off your week. 

Re-Experiencing Starbucks Podcast

Jay Ehret and I spent some time together recently (about 24 minutes, actually) on a podcast, where we discussed the latest happenings at Starbucks as part of our Re-Experiencing Starbucks Project.  We are watching Starbucks from a customer’s perspective to see what kind of difference the changes are making (or not) to the customer experience. 

Here are some of the topics from the show:

1. Improving the U.S. business with training, tools and new products.
2. Re-igniting the emotional attachment with customers through the experience.
3. Re-aligning and streamlining organizational structure for the benefit of the experience.
4. International expansion.

You can find the podcast itself at Jay’s blog. Don’t forget to tell Jay that I sent ‘ya!

Blog Book Tour

I am honored to be one of the reviewers of Sybil Stershic’s new book, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most, which is about taking care of employees so they take care of your customers.  Sybil’s publisher, WME Books, is hosting a Blog Book Tour; here are the scheduled stops:

• June 3rd - Lisa Rosendahl at HR Thoughts
• June 4th - Chris Bailey at Bailey Work/Play:The Alchemy of Soulful Work 
• June 5th - Toby Bloomberg at Diva Marketing
• June 6th - Becky Carroll at Customers Rock!

And next week:

• June 9th - Paul Hebert at Incentive Intelligence
• June 10th - Phil Gerbyshak, Slacker Manager.

I will be giving a review of the book as well as conducting an interview with Sybil.  Let me know if you have any questions for me to include!

(Side note: I have other book reviews coming up soon; this may turn out to be book week!  Reviews are pending for Michael Port, Darren Rowse, Tsufit, and Lewis Green… stay tuned, as they all have great books in different areas which include blogging, PR, sales, and employee/customer focus.)

 Last spring, the first Age of Conversation (AOC) book was put together by a very smart group of bloggers, lead by Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton.  Over 100 bloggers each contributed 400 words on one topic: conversation.  The result was a book highlighting the thinking of a lot of smart people in marketing, PR, and advertising from around the world.  I was fortunate enough to be included in the book.  All book proceeds went to Variety Children’s Charity.

Today, Chris Wilson is hosting an AOC Bum Rush to try and move the book up the charts at Amazon and raise as much money as possible for Variety.

So, if you have been waiting to buy your copy, or if you would like to give it as a thoughtful gift for customers or clients, today is your day to buy it and get the most impact from your money.

Use this link to buy the book at Amazon, then spread the word!  Follow Chris on Twitter or at his blog to watch it move up the charts and benefit Variety.

Enjoy!

The more I talk about and use social media, the more I have been stressing a few key points.

• Social media is one tool in the toolbox for interacting with customers.  It will work well if customers are willing to engage in that medium!
• Social media is a great tool to help create and strengthen relationships.
• It is all about the people.

In my recent talk on Social Media and Customer Loyalty for the Direct Marketing Association, I used the case study of the Washington Humane Society.  Tara de Nicolas is their director of marketing, primary author of their blog, and director of their social media strategy - which includes Facebook, MySpace, flickr, and YouTube, for the moment.  (For more info on their blog, see Geoff Livingston’s post where he interviewed Tara - thanks for the info, Geoff!)  Tara and her team use their social media channels to connect with potential adopters, families that have already adopted, and donors.  Quite a community has developed, with the photos of the WHS staff being one of the areas that are most widely viewed.  As Tara told me in my interview with her, it is all about connecting with the people and putting a face on the Society.  Way to go, Tara and team!

Blogging is also about connecting with others, mostly online.  Recently, I have had the opportunity to connect live with two wonderful blogging friends: Doug Hanna of ServiceUntitled and Toby Bloomberg of Diva Marketing Blog: see the photos at the top of the blog post!

As much fun as it is to send emails and connect via blogs, there is nothing like a good ole fashioned face-to-face meeting to strengthen relationships.  Doug and I had the opportunity to connect in San Francisco for the Customer Service is the New Marketing conference, put on by Get Satisfaction, where we both gave workshops.  Toby and I met up for dinner when she came to San Diego to give a workshop for the American Marketing Association.  Both meet-ups were great fun, and I could see the blog personalities in the person, very clearly.  Toby even sent me a nice thank-you note afterwards, with a small toss of her trademark pink boa.  Thanks, Toby!!

A whole group of marketing and PR bloggers is getting together next month in New York City for a Blogger Social, put on by CK and Drew McLellan - wish I could be there!  Steve Woodruff is even profiling all the bloggers who are attending to help them get to know each other better.  You guys all rock!

Social media is indeed about building relationships and making existing bonds stronger.  It is a great way to get to know customers, as well as to make your organization seem more personal and authentic.  Use it as part of your marketing strategy, but be sure to complement it with the old-fashioned way of building relationships - face time - where you can.

 Customer Service Conference in San Francisco, February 4 

In just two weeks, I am hosting a lunch workshop at the Customer Service is the New Marketing event in San Francisco, CA on Monday, February 4.  I am honored to be on a program also featuring speakers from Zappos, Virgin America, Flickr, Google, and Geek Squad (to name a few).  My blogging friend Doug Hanna from Service Untitled will also be hosting a lunch workshop, along with some other smart folks.

There has been some debate as to whether customer service is the new marketing.  I would say that everyone who is in customer service is also doing marketing, as every touch to the customer counts.  Often, it is these customer touches that make the most impact, as the customer spends more time using a product or service than purchasing it (one hopes!).  Customer service is the face of the company, and organizations that see it as only a cost are missing a trick.

There is still time to register for the conference.  The price is $495 for this fabulous one-day event being held at the gorgeous Presidio in San Francisco.  Customers Rock! readers can get a 15% discount if you use the code CRNT when registering; here is the link. 

Come to the event, and make sure to say HI to me and tell me you are reading Customers Rock!  I’ll even buy you a drink at the after-event bash.

 Call for Authors for Round Two of Age of Conversation

Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton are at it again.  They are spearheading the effort to create the 2008 edition of the Age of Conversation book.  Over 100 authors from around the world came together to write short essays and raise money for Variety Children’s Charity; not one penny went to any of us.  The book focused on this conversation age and what it means to marketers and businesses.

Some of you expressed disappointment that you missed out on the last book.  Here is your chance!  Just email Drew and let him know you want to participate.  See his post (linked to his name above) to find out the rules.  You can even vote on the topic (on Drew’s blog).

I am going to be in again; come join me!

Update: Here is a list so far of those planning to contribute this year:

Drew McLellan, Luc Debaiseieux, Ryan Karpeles, Greg Verdino, Lori Magno, Gavin Heaton, Connie Reece, The Kaiser, Katie Chatfield, Tim Jackson, Doug Meacham, C.B. Whittemore, Becky Carroll, Gordon Whitehead, Daniel B. Honigman, Daria Rasmussen, Jay Ehret, Jasmin Tragas, Jamey Shiels, Organic Frog, Bill Gammell, Nathan Snell, Stephen Landau, Stephen Collins, Stephen Smith, Mark Earls, Steven Verbruggen, Neil Perkin, Brett Macfarlane, Dino Demopoulos, Chris Wilson, Asi Sharabi, Mike Sansone, Angela Maiers, Sandy Renshaw.

Here is the list of contributors from last year, and many of these are now friends as well.