Customer-centric Communication

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Customer-centric Communications

Who are you? Who cares?



Your Speaker

Amy KenigsbergPrincipal

Consultant

Bachelor of Journalism, magazine & newspaper journalismMBA20+ years in PR, marcom, and content marketingExperience ranges from the first Internet agency to GEindustries from alumni relations to telecom, internal and external commCo-founder, K2 Global Communications, international PR, social media, marcom, and content marketing



The Critical WhoYour Customer



The Customer Isn’t Always Right

The customer just IS





What’s in it for me?



If you cannot answer that question from your customer’s perspective, you won’t be in business very long.



Customer-focused Messaging• FIRST• Needs • Desires• Role within the organization• Role across industries

• THEN THE PRODUCT



Building Internal Consensus

Everyone must know “What’s in it for me”





The Internal Audience

• Employees

• Every employee

• Every department

• Clerical to CEO



Buy-in & Collaboration• Every single stakeholder MUST be included

• Every member of senior management and department heads

• Decisions MUST be made – What is the overall corporate messaging?

• Decisions MUST be implemented – This is the hard part.

• Whoever manages the process must be ready for the blame



Requirements

•Consistent messages

•Buy-in

•OPEN communication channels



Delivery Channels



Be Aware of “Telephone”



You’re NOT DONE• Need SYSTEMATIC, ongoing communications

• Daily/weekly newsletter• NOTHING formal

• Two-three sentence status updates from each department, e.g.• Sales lists potential customers

• Tech support lists issues for the sales engineer

• Marketing provides link to new version of product brochure

• Regular “Stand-up” meetings

• Ongoing communication to department heads regarding management initiatives



All customer-facing team members need to be on the same page



The Failed SaleInside sales rep has the customer ready to

buy – Based on information he received from the product manager

The inside sales rep schedules a follow-up call with the CTO. The CTO disputes every spec made to the customer by the sales rep



Communicating with Your Customer

Make that first impression over and over and over and over and over and over again



What Do You Want to Achieve?

• Drive more sales

• Too general

• Drive sales in markets A, B & C

• Too general

• Drives sales in markets A, B & C from C-level and project managers



You all know the cliché

You only get one chance to make a first impression



It’s a Lie!



No one is going to notice your first impression

• They just got a text

• They are in traffic

• They are using What’s Up



Pay Attention! (Not!)

Statistic Verification

Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of

Medicine, The Associated Press

Research Date: April 2nd, 2015

The average attention span in 2015 8.25 seconds

The average attention span in 2000 12 seconds

The average attention span of a gold

fish9 seconds



Customer Communications Channels• Website• Social media• Blog• Analyst report• Analyst blog• RSS• Newsletter• Print



All Communications Should Appeal to Clearly Defined Audiences



Reaching Your Targets

• You have your goal

• You know your audience

• Find out who is influencing them

• Journalists

• Bloggers

• Analysts

• Peers



Multiple Audiences

•Clearly define the messages for each

• Separate efforts

• Separate materials

• Two landing pages/website sections, etc.



Your Content Needs to Focus On

•News You Can Use

•Objective statistics that help the industry

•Content that adds to the conversation

•Controversial



Social Media

• Friend-to-friend communications channels

• The medium is the message

• Social is political, commercial, promotional, self-indulgent



Content Marketing

• The Ultimate “What’s in it for me” focus

• What information can you pass along to your customers that will

• Make their jobs easier

• Reduce the hassles they face

• Improve their lives

• Increase their wealth

• Reduce their stress



Newsletters

• Still the #1 means of communications, with highest ROI

• No more than two per month – don’t want to be spam

• Headlines are critical – Free, sale, etc. filtered out

• Google

• Separate email boxes

• Recycle



Conferences

• Make appointments in advance

• The ONLY time to meet journalist and analysts in person

• Make your booth fun

• KISS

• Export Institute - MWC & others

• EXPENSIVE

• Targeted



Public Relations, K2 Style

Building relationships with influencers to create third-party endorsements, attracting customers to buy and/or repeat purchase



Paid Opportunities

•Banner advertising

•Retargeting

•Newsletter sponsorship

•Video ads



The ProcessGetting it Done



Retarget with your content, not just your latest sale



What’s in it for me??



Everything needs to follow…



Reduce: Get Down to Tachlis

•What information do you possess that can create objective reports for your industry?

• Use cases

• Customer statistics



Reuse Your Content

• “Sell” it as a blog to a targeted media outlet

• Promote their usage on social media

• Put a link to their site on yours

• Send the content in your newsletter – with an “As seen in”



Recycle• December comes every year

• Predictions

• Holidays

• Back to school

• Are the same people reading your blog?

• Do they even remember what you wrote?



The Real Secret: Don’t Be a One-Hit Wonder

The Sales Channel Depends on LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS: Persistence, persistence, persistence



A Bit More on Content Distribution

• Exclusivity v. “the masses”

• Type of impact v. quantity

• Check with your SEO expert (un-indexing, etc.)

• Target, target, target

• If published: Always post their link your website



Measurement• Higher website traffic

• Consider quantity v. quality• Six visits – One registration

• Thousands of visits – Nothing

• More downloads

• Increase in newsletter subscribers

• Growth of conversion rates

• Incoming media inquiries

PR trade industry associations are still debating measurement standards after 30+ years



Bonus SectionThe Little Things Mean a Lot



What is News?

• Industry specific

• General

• Product news

• Corporate data

• Deals with major partners

• Company news

• Reputation building• Expertise

• Analysis

• Opinion



NOT News

• We’re going to a show (unless…)

• We met with a potential investor

• We’re taking it on the road

• We’re joining 20 other Israeli companies at…



The Press Release• Newsworthy only!• Be clear about your key messages

• What’s in it for me? Journalist/reader

• Inverted pyramid – get to the point• Who, what, when, where, why , how• Compelling writing gets read• Generate interest/tease, don’t bore or be overly granular• Human-sounding quotes only• Streamline the approval process



“Local” Coverage• Israel

• A LOT OF COMPETITION

• DO NOT expect local coverage

• Foreign media based in Israel

• Approach on a one-to-one basis

• Potential success only on a slow news day after much persistence



The Relationship with the Journalist

• She IS doing you a favor by speaking with you

• NEVER cancel unless a dire emergency

• Be prepared, especially for curves

• Most communication occurs by email• NEVER attach anything

• Get to the point, keep it short

• Use bold/underlining



You are an Israeli Company…Or Not?• You ARE an Israeli company

• Politics

• NEUTRAL: “I don’t feel it would be fair or appropriate to use this as a political forum. Our focus is on sharing our technology to everyone’s benefit.”

• You AREN’T• R&D is in Israel

• Stick to the story



Present a Professional Face• Have a professional, native English speaker review

your website

• While it may appear to be English, many Israeli sites are in “Heblish”• The cow brown that jumped over the moon.

• The brown cow jumped over the moon.

• He is getting into the place.

• He entered.



Spelling Counts

•Any typo in a website or marketing material significantly reduces your credibility• If you cannot be bothered to spell correctly or have

your materials proofread, you’re undermining confidence in your company and products



And Your Name Is?

• רוני

• Ronny

• Ronnie

• Roni

• Ronni

• Ronie

• Ronney

NEVER misspell anyone’s name• Ask how his/her name is spelled• Check LinkedIn, etc.



Questions?Thanks!