This and That: Recent Twitter and Facebook Postings on Service Matters

• More customers are lost each year through simple, benign neglect than any other single reason.

• Do you find it difficult to keep customers focused on MOVING FORWARD during the Summer Doldrums? Are you certain it's the CUSTOMERS and not YOU?
  

• Lesson in Delighting Customers: We took our old, broken bird feeder back to Wild Birds Unlimited to test the Lifetime Warranty. It's REAL.. Full replacement, no questions. Just a big smile. Delightful!

• Lesson in Brand Loyalty: A full 40% of Blackberry (and other Smartphone) users claim they would switch to Apple's iPhone for their next purchase. Only 14% of non-Blackberry Smartphone users would switch to a Blackberry, according to a new study by Crowd Science. These numbers would qualify as a stampede and bring ill tidings to the formerly dominant text messenger. Is Blackberry just too BORING?
  

• Even iconic brands can take a tumble. Coca-Cola, one of the nation's most recognizable, suffered a 25% decline in customer loyalty in 2008 vs. 2007, according to new study.

• Only 14% of Executives say CEOs have Good Reputation. According to a new study, two-thirds of US corporate executives believe that the reputation of CEOs in general is largely NEGATIVE, and most agree that this reputation can only be fixed if CEOs become more ACCOUNTABLE and communicate more OPENLY.

• Do you understand how your customers make buying decisions? The process can range from a "gut feeling" to a corporate committee. Levels of authorized spending come into play. Increasingly procurement specialists take control and you can expect them to lob off another 5% to 15% of your price. More than ever: plan your price and plan your approach.
  

• It is far more difficult to earn a customer than it is to make a sale.

• It is as simple as this: to customers YOU are the company.

• UNdelighted Customers! The third annual study of customer satisfaction with contact centers reports that customers "are nearly twice as likely to recommend the company to others if they think the contact center is in the U.S., while they are three times more likely to defect if they believe it is based offshore.
  

• Ask yourself: What customer haven't you spoken with in the past week and why?

• A UK study shows Social Media is hot initiative with email marketers. A full 66% plan to integrate the two channels in 2009 and 48% already have strategy in place to achieve their goal.

• Did you socialize your customers 2009 goals with your staff? Did you get in the boat with them on a particular initiative?
  

• Do you have pictures of happy customers? Keep a digital camera handy for your next client site-visit.
  
  
• According to online security experts at MacAfee the MOST DANGEROUS terms to search on Google, Yahoo, Live, AOL and Ask in the US, are: "word unscrambler," "lyrics," "MySpace" and "free music downloads". DELIGHT CUSTOMERS! Still safe.

• Customer Satisfaction can never successfully be managed REACTIVELY. Once behind the "pain curve" it is exceedingly difficult, often impossible, to repair relationships. Only those PROACTIVELY demonstrating commitment, planning, initiative, and value -- have the opportunity to DELIGHT CUSTOMERS!

• Facebook has continued tremendous growth. Latest figures reveal it grew from 104 million to 113 million monthly unique; an 8.54% increase. Visits grew from 1.63 billion to 1.74 billion, solidifying Facebook's position as the Number 3 site on the internet.