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The art of conversation management. Service management for conversations.

Polle de Maagt (@polledemaagt) for Heliview Conference Service Management

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Hello. I am Polle de Maagt.

I failed in most things during my

life (including being a rock star) but am

still trying to reach #worlddomination.

This time by helping companies change

to be more about acts and

conversations, less about ads.

Guess that makes me a change agent.

Managing expectations ... I only have 25 minutes. That is not enough time to change the world, but it might be enough to change some of your minds. If you have any questions or ideas, just send me a message at polle@insites.eu.

These are crazy times. Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, etc. Social media this and that. The world is changing bladibla.

But it’s not about being on Facebook. Or Twitter. Yes, Twitter is huge. And Facebook even bigger. But they are both platforms, not end

goals. So it really is about if and how both can help you reach your end goal. Which is

most likely not about having a Facebook fan page and more about driving

conversations, customer retention, sales or brand value.

It’s not about being a big brand. With big brands come big problems. Never look

for an excuse in just being a small company with

little budgets. When it comes to connecting with

consumers, real relationships work. And size, for

once, doesn’t matter.

And it certainly isn’t about being the first mover in adopting new technology. Mobile, augmented reality, location

based services are all just awesome.

And yes, there is PR-value in being the

first Augmented Reality bakery in your

neighborhood. But is that really what

you want your consumers to talk

about?

It’s about acts, not ads (and certainly no fancy technology). It is about doing things that people want to pay extra for. It is about doing things that are worth sharing. And building upon your unused potential.

Doing things that people want to pay for: No hassle. Really add value.

Doing things that are worth sharing: KLM Surprise. In other words: what drives conversations, what travels through networks and what helps us being an engaging brand online?

Building upon your unused potential: Il Giglio d’Oro. The BEST service marketing case ever: Il Giglio d’Oro turned their Bed & Breakfast into Italy’s #1 Bed & Breakfast.

Expectation

Over-delivery Makes positive conversations

Over-the-top-delivery Makes negative conversations

Under-delivery Makes negative conversations

Delivery Gives no reason to talk

In the end, it’s all about managing expectations. Under-promise, over-deliver in everything you do. Not only towards customers but

also to your colleagues.

Some businesses felt personal contact cost them money and started callcenters and made it more difficult to contact them. Some businesses started to reward their employees for speed, share of wallet and upselling, not

for service quality or service.

Expectation

Over-delivery Makes positive conversations

Over-the-top-delivery Makes negative conversations

Under-delivery Makes negative conversations

Delivery Gives no reason to talk

How? Observe, facilitate and join conversations. See what your customers are doing and learn from it, help them to talk about you and

actively engage in conversations.

Some businesses felt that helping individuals didn’t make that much sense. You might be surprised that 11% of all organizations doesn’t answer

customer emails. Even more when you know that exceeding customer

expectations builds loyalty (81% repeats, 63% recommends) and falling

below customer expectations erodes loyalty (5%/71%).

So start helping.

Some businesses adopted fancy technology to deal with people. Zappos does an amazing job in making

technology invisible and really

understanding consumers.

(Thanks Steven Verbruggen for the tip!)

Expectation

Over-delivery Makes positive conversations

Over-the-top-delivery Makes negative conversations

Under-delivery Makes negative conversations

Delivery Gives no reason to talk

How? Observe, facilitate and join conversations. See what your customers are doing and learn from it, help them to talk about you and

actively engage in conversations.

Remember this one? The BEST service marketing case ever: Il Giglio d’Oro turned their Bed & Breakfast into Italy’s #1 Bed & Breakfast.

Embed new ways of measuring success. Try measuring the Net Promoter

Score to see how likely it is that your

colleagues will recommend your

company.

With employees/consumers talking, it’s about stuff worth sharing. Ambassadors just want to tell other, so help them! Choqoa support fans by giving them chocolate bars and highlighting them in their newsletter.

Advocacy is the new retention is the new acquisition.

Act on your pot of gold. Recognize both monetary and conversation value.

Expectation

Over-delivery Makes positive conversations

Over-the-top-delivery Makes negative conversations

Under-delivery Makes negative conversations

Delivery Gives no reason to talk

How? Observe, facilitate and join conversations. See what your customers are doing and learn from it, help them to talk about you and

actively engage in conversations.

KLM is 24/7 and realtime. KLM helps customers Monday to Sunday from 8AM to 11PM. That

is almost a 24/7/365 realtime customer support center. Imagine the

implications for your organization.

Proactive versus reactive. Decide on reactive versus proactive and marketing versus service.

Conversations work in every part of the customer/consumer journey. See where you can make a difference.

Where conversations can make a difference. Have a look at the consumer or customer journey: where do

conversations really make the difference in buying behavior?

Difficult? Yes. So, managing change. Implementing conversations and consumer connect isn’t easy. Use different

change mechanisms to gradually change the organization.

You can forget most of the fluffy things I told you in this presentation. But please, remember these 3 things.

Do stuff worth paying for and worth sharing. Acts, not ads.

1)

Build upon your unused potential and use conversations. Recognize you have to change the way you communicate. Commit acts, not ads.

2)

Listen. Facilitate. Join. Repeat.

3)

Read the manual.

Seriously.

Read it.

I hope I was worth sharing. If so, spread the word. Send me an email at polle@insites.eu

or find me on twitter at

@polledemaagt.

Find the presentation at

http://polle.me/heliview11