Are you using Facebook for your business? It works particularly well if you can create a ‘community’ for your business, product or service.
Here are a few tips to successfully engage your customers on Facebook.

Tip 1: Ask questions
One of the easiest ways to engage with others on Facebook is to ask questions. People love to talk about themselves and offer their thoughts. The more comments and "Likes" you get on your posts, the more likely they are to appear higher in users' feeds.
Ask questions starting with Would, Where, Should etc.
These questions drive “Likes” as fans will use “Like” as a way of voting yes on a question.
Keywords such as "where," "when," "would," and "should" spark the highest level of engagement on Facebook. "Would," in particular, drives spikes in "Likes" due to fans using "Like" as a way of voting yes on a question.

Tip 2: Interact and engage
When people write comments on your posts or wall,
participate in the discussion. Again, the longer a thread is, the higher it will likely rank in your fans' Facebook news feeds.
 
Tip 3: Make it interesting! 
Use relevant photos, videos, coupons etc. instead of just posting items with text. They love visual items. They tend to forward interesting items to others.
Photos of staff and ‘behind the scenes’, photos of customers enjoying your product or service etc.

Tip 4: Include links within posts
Link to news items on your website and if you use Mailchimp for newsletters, you can automatically post them to Facebook and your website. This is an easy way to spread information simultaneously through a variety of channels.

Tip 5: Encourage people to ‘Like’ your Facebook page
Always ask your customers to’ Like’ your Facebook page through newsletters, your website, email etc. 
Please like ours... Go to: https://www.facebook.com/MarketingWhizz

Tip 7: Facebook ‘guidelines’ for staff
If you have other people in your company posting information to Facebook, ensure you have guidelines on what information to put on and what not. Don’t forget that whatever is posted on Facebook is a reflection of your business! Also watch grammar and spelling!

Till next week, Marijke

PS: are you using Facebook for your business? If so, how successful is it for you? (you can leave a comment below)

It is no secret: I am passionate about customer service. I get a real kick out of providing the best possible service to my clients and as a customer favour businesses that provide great service too. 

Businesses that provide great service benefit as their customers will keep coming back for more. What restaurants to you like to go to and why do you go there? It’s usually the friendly service and great  food that do the trick.

One thing that businesses with great service have in common is that they also have great internal customer
service.

What is internal customer service? 
Internal customer service is the service we provide fellow employees and other departments within our own businesses, as well as our suppliers and anyone else with whom we work to get our jobs done. 
 
It is what we do when a colleague asks for information he or she needs to complete her main task for the day; it is what
we say when the marketing person asks for the addresses of good contacts; it is how we greet the front line manager when he walks into our office with an "I need something from you" expression on his face.

Why is internal customer service so important?
In helping others at work, you help your company succeed. Superior internal customer service improves morale,   productivity, employee retention, external customer service and, ultimately, profitability. 
I see businesses with happy staff that do this very well, and sadly, I also see businesses where it's the opposite.

Below are some tips to improve your internal  customer service:

1. Set customer service standards. 
With your team, create customer service standards (both internal and external). Thinking through the process and
setting standards for response times for things like emails, phone calls or internal requests help to set expectations for employees. Employees should be held accountable for responding to a co-worker’s request within a predetermined
period of time.

2. Lead by example
Lead by example: treat others like you want to be treated. Be friendly, compliment staff where possible (catch them doing something good!!), encourage them and show your appreciation. Don’t EVER criticize them in public. It is humiliating for them and reflects badly on you.

3. Regard your co-workers as customers 
Treat your co-workers with respect: regard them as your customers. Understand that helping your colleagues do their jobs more successfully helps your organization and you. Therefore they are your customers. Treat them like VIPs!

4.  Exceed your internal customers' expectations.
When someone exceeds your expectations, how do you feel? Most people feel delighted, excited, upbeat and very, very positive about that person and his or her organisation. Think what you can accomplish in your organisation by exceeding the expectations of fellow employees. 
 
5. Say thank you.
A simple, genuine "thank you" goes much farther to create an atmosphere of sharing and helping than two such
small words would suggest. Even when it is a person's job to provide information
or a product to you, tell them "thank you" when they have done it. Express your appreciation of their timeliness in providing it. Explain how it has made your job much easier. Show them your delight when they exceed your expectations.

6. Train your staff
Train your staff the importance of customer
service, both internal and external. It can be a useful to hire someone to help you. (Note: at SMARTtraining, we offer these services and have helped many businesses improve their external and internal customer service). 

7. Manage performance
Standards and training are important, but unless employees are held accountable for expected behaviour, these are pointless. This is why it’s important to have a performance review process that incorporates employee expectations with goals that are tied to pay and reward systems.


So, if you have great internal customer service systems in plance, your staff will be happier and will be able to provide better service both internally and externally. This will ultimately lead to better profitability! 

If you need help with your customer service, let us know!

Till next week, Marijke

PS: if you have any comments to this tip, please click the add comment box below!

Last week, I flew back to NZ through Dubai. It's a large busy airport with many eating outlets.

There was a young man (see pic above) who was trying to get people to come to the restaurant he works for, located one floor above - accessible by elevator only.
Not the greatest location...

The way he was trying to get people to come to the restaurant was as follows: He had a big smile :) and held an ipad with great photos of the food they offered.

He walked up to us and you couldn't help but look at the appealing food photos on the i-pad he was holding. As he talked, he flicked through the photos.

A simple but very effective way to sell! An image says more than 1,000 words, and combined with a great smile, he managed to get a lot of people through the door!

Is there a way you could use this tool for your business?
If you have a restaurant with someone standing outside to attract customers (like they do here in Queenstown), this would be a great way to interact with people - rather than just stand there and smile.

If you have another type of business and you have an i-pad (or smartphone with you), why not load some great images or a brief presentation? So when people ask you what you do, you can show them!

Till next week, Marijke

I'm sorry but won't be publishing any tips for 2 weeks as I am overseas on bereavement leave.
Kind regards, Marijke