Pay attention, Say Thank You
Church of the Customer recently highlighted a story from the Wall Street Journal about the law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP who in response to low morale and an excessive level of associate turnover initiated a program to encourage partners to show more appreciation and respect to the firm’s associates.
Specifically, the need to say "thank you" and "good job’ and to return associate’s phone calls and not cancel their vacations. As Ben McConnell notes, "that weird common courtesy stuff." When Ben says, "its no joke" I presume he means the facts of the story are true and, C,’mon, do you seriously need to be told to say thank you? It makes you ask some other questions:
- What’s wrong with the partners in this law firm that they are so un-appreciative of their associates?
- How do they treat their clients?
- Do they kick their dogs?
The title of the article asks the question: Does Saying Thank You Help Keep Associates? Well, doesn’t "that weird common courtesy stuff" help" keep" everyone? And, the opposite, being discourteous and unappreciative keeps everyone away.
Saying "thank you" and "good job" demonstrates attention and articulates appreciation. Paying attention and showing appreciation will improve morale and reduce turnover in all of our relationships, personal and professional….you can offer a money-back guarantee on that one.
David Pollard at How to Save the World wrote, "What people seek from others more than anything else, is attention and appreciation. I’ve observed that to be true in boardrooms, bedrooms and barrooms. You want to win over your boss, give him or her your full attention, and acknowledge his or her successes, without being a suck-up about it. You want to win over your audience in a presentation, make lots of eye contact, show empathy for their situation (which means doing your homework in advance) and thank them more than once for their attention and their awesome questions."
A study by Mitchel Adler and NS Fagley (2005) provides some basis for the other side of the equation…why being appreciative is a good thing…they found that being appreciative and expressing appreciation to others enhances feelings of well being; it makes us feel connected to what we have and to our experiences. They find that expressing appreciation builds social bonds and in fact "appreciation was significantly related to life satisfaction and positive affect. Importantly, they believe that even though being appreciative is a disposition, it can be taught. The WSJ article said that Sullivan & Cromwell saw an improvement in turn over after the partners went to charm school.
Another recent article in the Wall Street Journal about the Dali Lama addressed the ability to change our brains through a change in thinking….to actually become more compassionate and empathetic. In a study done with monks during meditation, it was found that indeed meditation could change the function of the brain and importantly, "monks with the most hours of meditation showed the most dramatic brain changes. That was a strong hint that mental training makes it easier for the brain to turn on circuits that underlie compassion and empathy."
So, mother was right: Say thank you, write thank you notes; be appreciative and don’t scrimp on expressing appreciation and gratitude. Should appreciation not come naturally, it is possible to acquire the traits that make it possible….through mental training or meditation. If you do these things you will grow up to have successful personal relationships, loyal customers and clients …and be especially successful at generating positive word of mouth.
Jackie Huba writes about the $800 million dollar company that connects with customers through the "thank you" note written by a sales associate. Andy Sernovitz sent me a handwritten thank you note for blogging at the WOMMA Summit that demonstrated recognition and appreciation that stood apart …I really appreciated that he took the time in our electronic age to write a handwritten note!
The Lesson: Pay attention, listen, observe those around us…let them know that you appreciate them and what they do. Practice it until it comes naturally. You will improve your own sense of well being as well as contribute to theirs. This will become the environment in which you live and work.
Kathy Sierra, in her post Angry/ Negative People Can Be Bad for Your Brain talks about social contagion/emotional contagion…the spread of attitudes throughout populations. She quotes Memetics and Social Contagion"…social scientific research has largely confirmed the thesis that affect, attitudes, beliefs and behavior can indeed spread through populations as if they were somehow infectious.
She quotes the Dali Lama, The fact that there is always a positive side to life is the one thing that gives me a lot of happiness. This world is not perfect. There are problems. But things like happiness and unhappiness are relative. Realizing this gives you hope." Paying attention to the positive side and expressing this to others gives everyone hope.
One final thought. My cousin, Dr Leonard Berg passed away several weeks ago. He was an incredibly accomplished man who left behind a legacy that truly produced positive change in the lives of people all over the world. At his memorial service one of his children noted that because of his work, he really wasn’t home a lot but she always felt that he was there for her. He was paying attention and she knew that what she did was appreciated; his attitude was contagious.
Tags: Church of the Customer, Ben McConnell Jackie Huba, Andy Sernovitz, WOMMA, Kathy Sierra, David Pollard, Social Contagion, Attention, Dali Lama, Appreciation, Sullivan & Cromwell,Wall Street Journal, Dr. Leonard Berg
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Posts from WOMMA
The remaining posts from the WOMMA conference will be up shortly, both here and at the WOMMA Summit Blog.
As an overall observation, it seems as if the concept of live conference blogging has not quite caught up with the technology. Lack or insufficient wi-fi seems to plaque every conference to one degree or another. At the WOMMA Summit the schedule was full, with sessions back- to- back….with the wi-fi down for most of Day 2, I was left with a number of posts written off line with Qumana, the highly recommended blog editor.
I would have written all of my posts in Qumana except for my not recommended Sony Vaio….the battery lasts about 5 minutes and I have been trying for months to get this and other issues resolved. I will be writing a separate post on this after I pack it up and send it to California (versus the promised "Get warranty repair service at your home or office with Sony Onsite Warranty Service") and open my new MacBook. Sony is another example of the disconnect between marketing and customer service.
So,posts forthcoming….along with my thoughts on the three days of non-stop learning. It was an awesome conference and gave me much to think about.
Tags: WOMMA, Qumana, Sony, Sony Vaio, MacBook, Apple
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Pay Per Post Changes Disclosure Policy Following FTC Announcement
Pay per Post is scheduled to announce a change in their disclosure policy and will require bloggers to disclose that they are being paid for their posts. Techcrunch has an advance copy of the press release and notes that "FTC" is mentioned a number of times thereby indicating that the change was no doubt inspired by the recent FTC announcement on word of mouth marketing.
On December 11th the FTC took the position that companies engaging in word of mouth marketing must disclose the financial relationships that they have with those endorsing their products.ﾃつ They declined to field a full scale investigation of word of mouth marketing practices as requested by Commercial Alert. This announcement highlighted the prominence of the word "disclosure" in a world where traditional advertising has become less believable than personal recommendations and consumer generated media and brandﾃつ "ambassadorships"ﾃつ are becoming increasingly common.
WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) distinguishes between word of mouth marketing, which involves disclosure of relationships, and stealth marketing, which does not. WOMMA recently issued an Ethics Adoption Toolkit for use by companies to develop ethical policies and guidelines for their word of mouth marketing efforts. They have endorsed the FTC position. (Full disclosure: I have blogged for WOMMA conferences and received comped conference fees and hotels)
ﾃつ Commercial Alert, a consumer advocacy group, believes that word of mouth marketers are "perpetuating large scale deception" and that " word of mouth, or buzz marketing as it’s also known, {is} "fundamentally fraudulent and misleading." In October, they petitioned the FTC to require paid "agents" to disclose their relationships and financial compensation with those whose products and services they are endorsing. According to Annys Shinﾃつ of the Washington Post, Commercial Alert mentioned Sony Ericsson’s use of fake tourists in a New York and Seattle campaign in 2002 as well as P&G’s Tremor’s use of teenage volunteers to promote their brands.
ﾃつ The FTC already has a policy on commercial endorsements and deceptive advertising but according to Mary Engle, the FTC director of advertising practices as quoted in the Washington Post, the FTC wanted to be clear on disclosure in light on the increase in word of mouth marketing and the likelihood that consumers would make decisions based upon a presumed independence on the part of product recommendations that was in fact, not independent.
While Commercial Alert calls the FTC announcement a giant Christmas present for the word of mouth marketing industry, Andy Sernovitz, CEO of WOMMA calls the FTC’s efforts "supportive of the industry."
It would seem that the Pay Per Post announcement, which is a reversal of their prior positions on disclosure,ﾃつ indicates that they heard the FTC message as the warning it seems intended to be. This is a good thing.
Tags: PayPerPost, FTC, WOMMA, Commercial Alert, disclosure, Marianne Richmond, ethics, blogs,,ﾃつ Andy Sernovitz, Mary Engle, Washington Post, Sony Ericsson, P&G, Tremor
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Heading to WOMMA….
Lots of excitement in DC next week….I’ll be live blogging the WOMMA Summit along with Josh Hallet. Stop by the blogger table and say "hello." Check out the blog and posts and photos tagged WOMMA . I will also be posting here and on Blogher.
Also Monday night, Toby Bloomberg, who is moderating a panel at the Healthcare Blogging Summit on the Strategy & Tactics for Healthcare Blogging, has organized a Bipartisan Blogger Wonk…all the details are at Diva Marketing. If you are in DC, don’t miss it….
See you there!
Tags: WOMMA, Toby Bloomberg, Josh Hallet, Blogher, Marianne Richmond,ﾃつ Healthcare Blogging Summit
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Snakes on a Plane: Bad Is The New Good
Yes, I am really writing a second post on Snakes on a Plane. Why? Because my 13 year old son asked me this morning if he could go see it. His reason? "Because I heard it was really stupid and I want to go see what its about."
And that just about sums up the impact of all that blogger buzz translated into the spoken word of the target demo (Mack pointed out today that I wasn’t in the target demo, but I am the mother of two card carrying members of the target demo so I do think I have a proxy opinion).
Now, Seth Godin pointed out today that awareness doesn’t translate into purchases. He said, " I fear that people are missing a fundamental truth: just because people know who you are doesn’t mean they’re going to buy what you sell." It is indeed a fundamental truth that seems to be frequently forgotten, or at least disregarded. But, what about "Because I heard it was really stupid and I want to go see what its about."
Well, I asked my son who else was going to the movie he named two friends. When he says "I heard" it doesn’t mean he read a blog (THAT he thinks defines stupid), read it in the newspaper, or saw it on the evening news. Most likely he saw the trailer at another movie (he has gone about twice a week this summer) and/or saw commercials on ESPN. He and his friends most likely "talked" about the movie on IMs. It is highly possible that their were more than the three of them "talking" about the movie and "how stupid" it was online. OK, the sample size is small. But, I think it gives credence to the "its the experience, stupid" contingent. Mack, you called it
Jackie Huba wrote a post about the five lessons to be learned from Snakes on a Plane. Number 5: "The experience is the difference between profit and failure. SoaP was not just a film but a film-going experience…. some people said it was the most fun they’d had at a movie in years. That’s welcome news for an industry whose revenues keep declining."
So, when I picked my son up from the movie he got in the car, grinned and said, "It was awesome, mom."
"Awesome?"
"Yes, he said, It was so bad it was hysterically funny." And there you have it….it was funny. They had fun. OK, maybe not THE "film going experience" but a positive nonetheless. They are not going to go out and buy rubber snakes and go see it twenty more times.They are not planning an audience participation party. But, they will tell their friends, who will tell their friends…..This may just make the difference between profit and failure.
Now, I am not taking back anything else I said previously, even, " I think part of the experience is a good movie; a good experience requires a good movie." I will revise the definition of "good movie." They thought it was FUNNY….this made it a good movie. This made it a good experience. In my opinion, Seth Godin is right: "The best way to succeed is to have a really great product." OK, well this one we will just call a good experience. Bad is the new good. Or the new awesome.
I still believe that bloggers could focus on more deserving movies. Like Karl Long wrote, "Dear Blogosphere, Can We Promote A Better Movie Than SoaP to Promote Next Time?" But then again, the MSM is hanging onto the Jon Benet Ramsey/Mark Karr story for dear life. John Stewart nailed that one. CNN, Fox, and MSNBC really didn’t cover the plane carrying Mark Karr taxing down the runway, live. Did they?
Tags: Snakes on a Plane, SoaP, Seth Godin, Marianne Richmond, Jackie Huba, John Stewart, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, bloggers, blogs, word of mouth Mack Collier, Karl Long
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