Last week BurrellesLuce had the pleasure of presenting a webinar with Scott H. Cytron, ABC, president Cytron and Company, on How to Maintain Client Satisfaction. Click here to view the recording of the presentation or download the slides at your convenience.
In today’s economy retaining a client or customer is not only easier than finding a new one, it also costs less in time and resources. Yet, organizations may need a boost to determine what their customers need in order to nurture and solidify this very important long-term relationship and continue to provide value that bolsters the bottom line.
Most PR, marketing, and communications, professionals know that engaging with clients is key to measuring satisfaction. However, many struggle with asking the right questions and fostering the relationship.
Here are just some of the takeaways from Scott Cytron’s presentation:
- 3-step rule to happy clients: Trust + Loyalty + Referrals.
- Put yourself in front of the client, ideally in person if possible.
- Pick up the phone. When was the last time you called?
- Know what you’re going to ask the client.
The results of your conversation should provide you with some concrete feedback. Ideally, the best result would be “no surprises.” However, “good feedback” is always great too. If the client gives you “not-so-good feedback,” see it as an opportunity to dig deeper. Scott reminds us that “All hope is not lost” and to “turn negatives into positives and call in the Calvary.”
Depending on your organization, clients, and goals – surveys may be another way to gain client feedback. There is no one-size-fits-all survey, but Scott provides some pointers to increase success, including keeping it short, making it available online, and setting a return deadline. Whatever feedback you gain from the survey, it is important to use the results in a positive way and not just forget about them.
Scott offers other insights during the webinar. Click here to download the recording of the presentation or download the slides at your convenience.
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Scott Cytron, ABC, is a frequent speaker on growth strategies and organizational communications, including using social media for business building and retention. He is president of Cytron and Company, a consultancy specializing in public relations, marketing, and communications activities for clients in professional services (accounting, healthcare, financial planning, legal) and B2B product/services.
I am thrilled to have attended the 2012 Philadelphia Public Relations Association 
An overwhelming amount of news has been about Facebook’s new 
As 2011 winds to a close, no year would be complete without a wrap-up list of some kind. In that spirit, we are counting down the 20 Top BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas posts in 2011. In today’s post we will be highlighting numbers 20 to 11.
Hollow-Point Bullets Prompt Solid Online Response Tips
Monday, February 13th, 2012How does this domestic squabble translate to business? Other than being a teenager’s “crisis” I don’t know that it does, but it does strike me to remind everyone the importance of responding to negative comments online.
Here are my top tips for dealing with negative comments online:
1. Stay calm. Don’t let your adrenaline (fight or flight urge) get the best of you and cloud your judgment.
2. Respond publicly. Mirroring the original format is very powerful. Dominoe’ss Pizza is probably the best case study of this when they had their viral video crisis in 2009.
3. Be courteous*. Offer acknowledgement or an apology, whichever is most appropriate, with sincerity and gratitude for the opportunity to address the matter. *If you run into a troll refrain from calling them out until you have done your due diligence of their misdeed or erroneous feedback.
4. Provide resolution. In some cases this means a refund or some other compensation for the problem. In other cases this will mean “agreeing to disagree” on what is fair and what you can do based on the feedback.
5. Reflect.
a. Why did this person take their grievance public?
b. Was this the only forum available to address the concern?
c. What are the opportunities you have to improve your product or
service to strengthen your relationship with all of your customers?
d. Did you provide resolution to the issue?
6. Be thankful. REMEMBER: Negative can be positive. Your public response will demonstrate your commitment to your clientele. Also, when a customer is talking to you, even sometimes negatively, you are still communicating and can improve the situation.
At BurrellesLuce public comments are primarily responded to by either our account managers or the marketing team. These are the people who are closest with our existing clients and who manage the external communication and social media interactions. This post by Mack Collier further reinforces the importance of public responses and provides additional resources of how companies have fared much better when they respond to negative feedback. This list is meant to be a primer and I welcome your feedback and additional tips for the Fresh Ideas readers.
Tags: BurrellesLuce, business, communication, crisis, Dad Uses Facebook to Teach Daughter a Lesson, Dominoes Pizza, Facebook, Fresh Ideas, IT, Johna Burke, Mack Collier, media, Media Relations, negative comments, online, public responses, resources, tips, transparent, video
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