How to Turn an Unhappy Customer Into a Raving Fan

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

The most frequent question I get from potential clients is, “What happens if somoene posts something negative about us?”

The truth is that if people are upset with your business, they will find a way to get the word out about your unfair service.  If you’re worried about people posting negative comments about your business, then you might want to re-think the way you’re conducting business in the first place.

Today, businesses are being held more and more responsible by their customers.  If one customer feels upset about the way they were treated they can tarnish the reputation of a business.

Everyone’s heard the saying, “A happy customer tells a friend.  An unhappy customer tells the world.”  The greatest thing about the Internet is that it’s changing that relationship.  The new way business is done is, “A happy customer tells its network.  An unhappy customer tells the world. And an organization demonstrates how it treats its customers.”

Before the Internet, if a customer was unhappy, they would leave your store, never come back and tell all their friends about what bad service they received.  The worst thing for a business would be to lose customers and not know why they were losing customers.  Knowing your problems and confronting them will help any organization retain customers and acquire new ones.

Today, businesses have an exciting opportunity to REALLY understand what their customers want based on reviews they leave on a variety of websites.  They can then implement strategies to address the needs of their customers and provide exceptional service.  Some organizations understand the value this can bring to their business and others do not.

Organizations can do one of two things when a customer complains, they can hide from it and hope it goes away or they can react to it and confront the problem head on.  Here are two examples of how organizations react to customer feedback.

Before I begin my story, and tell you about how to turn an unhappy Customer into a Raving Fan, let me say that I’m not in the habit of complaining about organizations, but when I do it’s because I genuinely enjoy my relationship with the business, but they do something that makes it feel like they are trying to cheat me out of something.  These are the only two complaints I’ve had against any company in the past 10 years, but these companies handled them in two distinctly different ways.

#1 – Big League Dreams in Chino Hills –

The Comment:  “Dissappointed.  I played softball and soccer here since the park opened.  I used to love playing here.  The place was packed and although pricey was still a fun place to get my exercise in for the week and release some stress.  After adding up the seasons played here I’m estimating I’ve spent around $4,000 or so.  On Thursday nights play has gone down from 30 games a night to around 12 and they’ve decided to raise prices . . . I came into the pro shop on the third week of the season to pay my player fee because my coach forgot to mention it to us and it slipped my mind.  The response from the proshop was either you pay a $10 penalty making it $40 or you can’t play.  Considering I’ve been a loyal customer for nearly a decade I expect some allowances to be made for this type of situation.  Not only were they forcing me to pay an additional $10 which made me feel like I was being taken advantage of but they were also condescending and accusatory in blaming me for the oversight.  I go to their park to relax and have a good time, not to feel cheated.  This is my last season at Big League Dreams.  I used to love playing here and I hope they realize that making their customers happy is their number 1 priority.  Deleting comments to Facebook only add to the misguided efforts of their business.  I hope they can turn it around.  I would love to see Big League Dreams be great again.”

The Response:  I originally posted a similar comment to their Facebook page and after many of my friends began liking the comment and reiterating how frustrated they were the administrator deleted my comment adding to my frustration.  I never received any response from Big League Dreams and as a result me and my entire softball team decided to play at another venue.  In addition this comment and others left by frustrated players were left up for all to see.

The Outcome:  Just from our team, Big League Dreams lost close to $4,000 per year in happy, satisfied customers who would have continued to use their fields and be happy to do so.  Yet, when the opportunity arose to fix a minor problem by their staff we felt mistreated and so, we took our business elsewhere.

#2 – 24 Hour Fitness Super Sport – Ontario

The Comment:  “Unhappy.  Tell me if I’m missing something here.  I’ve been a member of 24 hour fitness in Chino Hills for years, my brother and I wanted to join the gym and he gets quoted a price of $39.99, meanwhile, me a loyal customer for years gets quoted at $69.99 because I’m already a member at another gym.  And they won’t let me cancel and renew my membership under this new plan.  Common sense would tell any organization that you treat your customers well . . . instead giving me an ultimatum, pay up or cancel my membership.  I’ve enjoyed my experience at the 24 hour fitness in Chino Hills, but feel angry and dissappointed that an organization as big as 24 would work so hard to try and stick it to their current, loyal customers.  I hope things in the organization change.  Other than that it looked like a nice facility, but you can be sure I will never use 24 hour fitness again.”

The Response:  Within the hour this posting, I received a call from the same individual that gave me the ultimatum to cancel my membership saying that she had worked out a way we could stay at the club for the agreed upon price for my brother.  Two days later I received another email from the Club Manager asking if there was anything she could do to help me become a part of the club.

The Outcome:  24 Hour Fitness could have missed out on $960 per year from my brother and I.  After posting my original comment, I was committed to never using 24 Hour Fitness again . . . Today, I am telling YOU what a great organization 24 Hour Fitness is.

24 Hour Fitness gets the power of negative reviews, social media and the Internet and will continue to thrive.  Big League Dreams in Chino Hills does not and will continue to struggle.

Review sites, can be extremely valuable to any business.  Most people won’t post negative reviews about a business, they will just refuse to go back.  I wrote those reveiws because I enjoyed spending my time at both places and wanted to continue our relationship.  One company made it easy to do so and the other did not.

The Internet is changing the way business works.  Today’s successful businesses will embrace negative comments as feedback and attempt to fix the problems that upset their customers and not try to hide those comments.  They will embrace them and then work to come up with solutions that will make their customers happy.

Happy customers make frequent customers. And frequent customers make happy businesses.

24 Hour Fitness Super Sport in Ontario

By the way, I revised my Yelp Review for 24 Hour Fitness to read as follows:

“UPDATE:  I received a call from 24 Hour Fitness shortly after posting this comment.  They listened and worked hard to correct the problem.  We are now members of the 24 Hour Fitness in Chino and are thankful that the staff at 24 Hour Fitness took the time to handle our situation in order for us to become customers at 24 Hour Fitness.  While our initial experience was less than ideal the staff, in particular Caren, worked with us to ensure our happiness.  Thank you 24 Hour Fitness and Caren.”

24 Hour Fitness knows how to turn an unhappy customer into a raving fan.  Do you?

At Welborn Social Media we can help turn unhappy customers into raving fans.  We can help monitor what people are saying about you online so you can take action to make sure you retain customers and bring in happy new ones.  Contact Zeb today to find out how Welborn Social Media can help improve your online reputation management and marketing efforts – (909) 973 – 9089.

 

Rodell & Company | An Accountancy Corporation Designed to “Help Your Business Succeed”

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

Rodell & Company recently signed on with Welborn Social Media to help improve their online presence.

Rodell & Company is an accountancy corporation located in Chino Hills, CA, but services clients all across Southern California.  Specializing in management consulting services and traditional accounting engagements (compilations, reviews, audits, tax preparation and planning for business and personal taxes), Rodell & Company is here to “help your business succeed.”

“Our company is committed to serving your business needs. We take pride in focusing in on your business environment and core competencies. Most CPA firms treat you as a client and see you as an account with a budgeted number of annual hours for your engagement. This is where we separate ourselves from our peers. If your business doesn’t succeed, then we have not done our job, hence our mission statement, ‘Helping Your Business Succeed,’ plain and simple.”

Owner, John Rodell is extremely active in the community, he participates heavily in the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce, sponsors Kristie’s Foundation, a local NPO servicing the needs of families with critically ill children, participates in “Chino in the Know” and a variety of other local organizations.

If you’re looking for a CPA, we encourage you to contact John Rodell of Rodell & Company for more information –  (909) 606-3544 ext 117.

David Kramer Recommends Welborn Social Media | Senior Vice President at Los Serranos Country Club

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

David Kramer recommends Welborn Social Media – We began working for Los Serranos Country Club in July, 2008 and have helped foster a thriving online community for golfers who play golf in Southern California and at Los Serranos.  With over 2,500 Facebook fans, over 5,500 Twitter followers, over 100 YouTube videos and over 300 blog posts we have established and maintained an active and vibrant online community.

When I announced my presentation at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce entitled, “How Social Media Can Benefit Any Business,” David Kramer, Senior Vice President at Los Serranos Country Club had these words of encouragement for me:

“We’re in a communications economy where story telling i.e. subjective narrative brings educational value i.e. that has transformational value. Transformation towards health, happiness, easiness and orderliness on all levels of life.  If that value is missing from what a business performs then what is the point?   Certainly not just money$$.

Social media is a reflection of advanced artistry and brain functioning. It’s a vehicle that expands the territory of influence.  It makes everyone more effective and affluent in what they know and how they learn to know.”

David Kramer recommends Welborn Social Media and Los Serranos Country Club has seen the benefits of a thriving online community through the use of social media.  His statements regarding the impact social media can have on any business is simple, yet profound.  We are living in a communications economy, our collective knowledge is growing and those who have the passion to achieve their dreams have a far greater ability to do so than ever before.

Thank you David Kramer for all your encouragement and support . . . it is an absolute pleasure to work for Los Serranos Country Club.

Los Serranos Country Club is located in Chino Hills, CA.  For Southern California golf there is no greater golfing destination.  Please check out the Los Serranos Blog Page, the Los Serranos Facebook Page and the Los Serranos Twitter Page to see some of our work and to connect with Los Serranos Golf & Country Club.

David Kramer Recommends Welborn Social Media

David Kramer and the Kramer Family

 

Thank you David Kramer for the kind words.  To learn more about Welborn Social Media, Zeb Welborn and golf, visit 19th Hole Media.  At 19th Hole Media we provide tips and advice on how to help golf courses grow using social media.

David Kramer also appeared on the Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn where he shares his insights on business and how to grow your business using friendliness and hospitality.

How Social Media Can Benefit Any Business

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

Zeb Welborn will be presenting on How Social Media Can Benefit Any Business at the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce Office at 13150 Seventh St. in Chino, CA on Wednesday, July 25 from 7:30 – 8:30 AM.

Welborn Social Media began in May, 2011 by building excitement for businesses using Internet marketing techniques including social media, website design, search engine optimization, email marketing and pay-per-click advertising campaigns.  Since last year, Welborn Social Media has worked with over twenty companies by developing and enhancing their online presence.

On Wednesday, Zeb Welborn will be presenting about the impact social media can have on any business and will aim to help business owners understand why it’s important to be using social media in today’s economy.  The business world has gone social and for new businesses to thrive it is imperative for businesses to become social businesses.  Becoming a social business means connecting with customers and having an open dialogue between your customers and your business.  The more you are there to solve your customers problems and make them happier the more likely they are to help you build your business.

The breakfast for our presentation this Wednesday will be sponsored by ABC Services.  ABC Services offers turnkey computer and network solutions for businesses, home-based enterprises and individuals.  They can solve your current problems and protect you from future ones.

If you would like to learn how social media can benefit your business we encourage you to visit the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, July 25 at 7:30 AM for our presentation.  We hope to see you there!

Zeb Welborn Presents How Social Media Can Benefit Any Business

 

Social Media Strategies Vs. Tactics | Marketing Vs. Advertising

Lacey and her brother Zeb Welborn founded Welborn Media. She has designed and launched websites, several projects, marketing materials, a podcast, a book and more. Her passions include her family, her friends, creating things and helping businesses grow.
Latest posts by Lacey Welborn (see all)

Marketing vs. Advertising

Advertising: The paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers.

Marketing: The systematic planning, implementation and control of a mix of business activities intended to bring together buyers and sellers for the mutually advantageous exchange or transfer of products.

When talking with business owners and decision makers we are constantly inundated with questions about ROI, or Return on Investment.  While platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google have attempted to address those concerns the fact remains that it is difficult to track the complete ROI benefits social media can bring to a business.  Advertising makes it very easy to track the ROI of a particular campaign because it’s a one-shot deal which can be easily tracked.  Marketing on the other hand is very difficult to assess because it encorporates the overall plan of a business to attract new customers.

Marketing is a strategy, and advertising is a tactic that can be an implementation of a marketing strategy. However, advertising does not usually work alone toward its goal. Other tactics such as market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement are implemented alongside advertising. All of these elements must not only work independently but they also must work together towards the bigger goal. A tactical executive may be very skilled at putting into motion plans to get results, but fail to see the bigger picture. That is why they may confuse advertising for marketing. Strategic executives will have a better grasp on bigger concepts, but may not understand the best way to reach their customers.

In Chet Holmes’ book, The Ultimate Sales Machine, he tells us there are three types of executives, “A full 90 percent are what I call ‘tactical executives,’ while 9 percent are what I’d call ‘strategic executives.’ And only 1 percent – the most effective executives – possess the rare combination of both tactical and strategic abilities.”

Ultimate Sales Machine, Three Types of Executives. 90% Tactical, 9% Strategic, 1% Both

Holmes goes on to say, “Tactical executives think only in terms of making the sale for today. They don’t understand strategy . . . Strategic executives will often look at the situation from a global perspective and see if they can develop some high-level strategy that might help to solve the problem. These executives are brilliant. They create concepts, ideas, and strategies that most would never adopt. But strategic executives are not good at, or interested in, tactics. Hence, I’ve seen many big ideas that never come to fruition because strategic executives fail in the implementation of their big ideas.”
How far ahead do you see?
The executive who thinks both tactically and strategically can develop the big ideas and the big strategies and also use discipline and determination to see those brilliant strategies implemented at the tactical level. And just for the record, the second type of executive, the strategist, can often be paired with a strong tactician and be very successful. However, the strategist may have to keep explaining and selling his or her ideas again and again to the tactical executive.”

Social media is most effective when it is used as a strategy and not a tactic.  While a social media campaign can include some tactics and advertising features, it is most successful when used as a tool to market to potential and current customers.  When done properly social media can have a profound impact on any business.

To use social media properly it is imperative to become a social business.

 

The Hunger Games, Reputation Management and Our Newest Clients

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

The excitement about the new movie, The Hunger Games has led to a social media explosion. The marketing team for The Hunger Games movie have used social media effectively to promote the new movie. In The Hunger Games and Social Media, we’ve pointed out the ways in which they’ve used social media to promote the movie . . . some you can use directly to promote your business.
Hunger Games Movie uses Social Media Marketing

Lately we’ve been receiving a lot of interest from businesses about managing their online reputation. With websites like Yelp, Angies List and Apartment Finder, it’s no wonder . . . online ratings can have a significant impact on your bottom line. As online reputation managers we can come up with plans and policies designed to make your ratings on those sites higher. If you’re interested in finding out more about how we can improve your online reputation be sure to read our article, Yelp, Angie’s List and Other’s Spur New Career Path . . . Reputation Manager.
Angie's List Super Service Award for System 1

We’ve been extremely busy as we’ve begun working with two of our newest clients:

  • Technology4Medicine is a leader in laser and photon technology for dentists. The use of photons in medicine and healthcare can be used to improve our quality of life. The laser equipment Technology4Medicine uses reduces the use of drugs, can be minimally or non-invasive, reduces or eliminates pain, and allows for faster recovery time. This is great news for providers and patients.
  • Transparent Mortgage is attempting to make the mortgage process more transparent giving the consumer full access to the mortgage process. They have a strong commitment to raising the industry standards for client care, open access to information, and social and ethical responsibility.

Technology4Medicine and Transparent Mortgage are incredible organizations and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with passionate leaders to expand their online presence.

Lastly, remember we can give custom presentations to any business who’s interested in seeing how Internet marketing and social media can help their business grow. Call us today at (909) 973 – 9089 to set up an appointment.

Who’s Your Ideal Customer?

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

Ideal Customer vs. Average Customer by Cynthia De La Torre

Who’s your ideal customer? Depending on your business, the difference between average and ideal customers could be hundreds, thousands or millions of dollars.

The average customer is someone who buys the product or service and has no relationship with the business beyond the buying and selling of goods.

The ideal customer is someone who continually buys the product or service and promotes the product or service to others.

As an entrepreneur, I learned early on that my success was dependent upon having people invested in my business and sharing my business with others. The Tutoring Solution, which provides tutoring for students across Southern California, was able to locate these ideal customers through email and social media campaigns. These ideal customers loved our product, loved the relationship I had developed with them, and encouraged other parents with kids in need to sign up for our tutoring services. One parent emailed her entire school telling them what a great job we were doing with her son, another encouraged five different families to receive tutoring from us and another, a High School Counselor, continues to refer every struggling student she comes across our way. These connections are not made by chance, they are fostered and have resulted in thousands of dollars in increased revenue.

Facebook and Twitter have given businesses the opportunity to locate these ideal customers and develop a win-win relationship that, when used effectively, will result in increased revenue. Not only do they make it easy to identify our ideal customers, but Facebook and Twitter encourage our customers to be more like our ideal customers. Every time they “like” our page, every time they “comment” on our page,and every time they “share” one of our posts, they are acting like a sales machine for our business.

Welborn Social Media has helped locate these ideal customers for the businesses we work. At Scrapbook Expo we developed a strong relationship with a scrapbooker from Georgia who continually re-tweeted our stuff. We connected with her and she told us she was contacting all of her Scrapbooking friends from across the United States to attend one of the Scrapbook Expos. Not only that, but she was sending our sales messages off to everyone she knew. Similarly, at Los Serranos, we located two fervent supporters of the golf course; we encouraged a stronger relationship which has resulted in the creation of our 19th Hole Stories where golfers share their most memorable events at the golf course and have taken their weekly golf match from a rival course to ours. At WireSpeed Systems we connected with Cisco Systems – the largest producer of computer networking equipment – where they made us their SuperFan of the month and consequently shared our business with more than 225,00o of their followers.

Facebook and Twitter give us the opportunity to identify, connect and grow our relationship with our biggest supporters. In the tutoring business, this has resulted in thousands of dollars in increased revenue. In other businesses, it could mean much, much more.

By its very nature, Facebook and Twitter encourage the sharing of information, and people will share what is important to them. If you give them an opportunity to connect with your business and make it easy for them to share your product or service, your business will benefit. If you want to make more money for your business, find who’s your ideal customer. From my experiences there is no easier way to find your ideal customers than through social media.

Contact Zeb Welborn today at (909) 973 – 9089 to schedule a free personalized presentation to demonstrate how we can help grow your business.

Leap Year Gives Us One Extra Day to Gain Customers for Your Business

The owner of Welborn Social Media and the founder of The Tutoring Solution.My goal is to help business owners share the passion they have for their business with as many potential customers as possible.By helping passionate people achieve their dreams I am helping to create a society of passionate leaders that will help inspire others to make their dreams a reality.

It’s a leap year this year and even with the extra day, February flew by for Welborn Social Media. Now we’re well into March and looking forward to the new projects we’re working on through the end of the month to help gain customers for your business.

Facebook has made some major changes to individual’s profile pages incorporating them in the Timeline. At the end of March they’re switching Business pages over to timeline view as well. Stay tuned for Lacey’s tips on Facebook layout design for the new Facebook Cover Image as we start to create some exciting new designs.

After becoming annoyed with telemarketers, an excess of commercials, and distracting web advertisements we shared some of our favorite things about social media marketing.  Social Media is the Preferred Marketing for Everyone because it’s not intrusive and allows customers to seek access to your business.

The potential of Facebook is limitless.  In The Pyramid Scheme of Facebook Likes, we wrote about how building a large Facebook following can give you access to a much larger customer base.

We’re especially glad for the extra day this year. We are wonderfully busy and that doesn’t show any sign of stopping! We have several new clients and are excited to begin implementing their social media plans in the upcoming weeks.

We want to help gain customers for your business. We believe that social media marketing is the best marketing for for both the business and the consumer.  And, we know that social media, when done right, can benefit any business. If you or anyone you know is interested in growing their business contact us for a free presentation Welborn Social Media can have on any business.

Call Zeb Welborn for a custom presentation – (909) 973 – 9089