Josh Bernoff: “Customer service IS marketing” – Empowered Employees
Written by: on October 25, 2010
Forrester analyst and Groundswell author Josh Bernoff talks about his new book Empowered and why empowering your employees with tools like twitter is key to marketing and company growth in 2010:
Favorite quote: In the next five years what’s the #1 consequence of a typical company that doesn’t embrace this empowered lifestyle for their employees? “I’d say irrelevance.”
Having finished reading Empowered, the main thing that stuck out to me is how quick failure to adapt to new technology can wreck a successful company. The desire to keep things as they are with minimal innovation usually leads to an epic fail. This year I’ve personally witnessed a company with 30 employees lose over 66% of it’s clients and employees – because it didn’t take this shift seriously enough and listen.
Does your company have a need to listen to its customers? Most companies felt that the cheaper and more automated the customer service could be performed the better. The SHIFT? Now listening is the game. It IS your marketing and what people talk about – if you are not listening how do you expect to get good word of mouth leading to sales? Good customer service IS your #1 marketing effort. Empowered is about understanding that your customers have broadcasting power online and that listening to them and amplifying their reach is your job.
Who is working with your customers/clients on a daily basis? Your employees right? Thus a manager/CEO’s job is to unleash employees to listen to customers and evolve your business.
Do you agree with the post it? What are you doing now to evolve? Any tips for companies taking steps to improve their listening?