…and you may as well forget about it.
Jeanne Bliss has been the Chief Customer Officer for Lands End, Coldwell Banker, and Allstate, and a recent interview of her by Jackie and Ben over at Church of the Customer got me very excited.
Why?
Because her experience validates the fact that community cultivation (step 2 of Community Driven Marketing) is the most important part of the process.
Part 1, Identification is pretty easy.
Part 3, Activation of your Raving Fans… that’s sexy.
But you can’t skip over Part 2. That’s where you roll up your sleeves and just earn it.
Her 4 points and my recent take on all of them.
- Believe in your employees so that they are free from rules to do what is right. (Here’s one example)
- Being authentic in your communications earns you trust and fans…which leads to profitability (like these guys)
- Customers as the asset of the business (and will be on a balance sheet)
- It’s not a short term play. It’s a relationship (true for your corporate and personal community)
Lesson: If you only think of your customers as $ signs and not as people, this whole community thing is just NOT going to work for you.
This post musically inspired by...Glenn Miller, In The Mood
