The Great “Friends” Tour '11- A Humorous Look at Who Our Friends & Followers Are in New Media

**Note to Reader: Read in a slight British Accent**
Friends.
Nice word. Positive word.
Webster defines it in the following ways; 1:one attached to another by affection or esteem; 2:one that favors or promotes something.

Let me start by saying I really do like the word ‘friend’. I use it daily when I address people whom I know. “Hello friend”, “How are you friend?” etc.

It always struck me as strangely humorous and in some ways creepy though the way that Facebook and Myspace call everybody ‘friend’.
Make Me Your Friend.
Add To Your Friend List.
69 Friend Requests.

Now, whether they are on your personal or professional sites, you really have to step back here and wonder; How many of these people really are your friends? Do they fall under Webster’s definition #1? Well, how can we tell?

So, in order to better know, love and appreciate the demographic of those that are “my friends” I have decided to do a Marketing Research Project and go and visit each and every individual person signed up to both my personal and business Facebook and Myspace accounts, go to their homes knock on their doors and say, “Hello! According to my Facebook and Myspace we, you and I, are friends. I would there for enjoy coming into your home, sitting on your couch for afternoon tea and see how much we really have in common.”

Now should the visit go smashingly, I will of course maintain them as “friends” perhaps even elevating them to a “favorites” category. However, if the visit should not go brilliantly and I find their response to my unprompted visit to be somewhat course and abrupt, then I shall remove them as my friend. Of course if they are from my business social media account and they have a lot of followers, I may have to reconsider.

Again, this is Marketing research so pie charts, graphs and Power Point presentations must and will display this data to make it all so very official looking. Also, I may need to stay in touch with you, my FohBoh contacts, in case I need a couch to crash on for the night or hit you up for a hot meal at your restaurants while traveling for this project…All in the name of research for our businesses of course.

Then there of course are “Followers” as in “follow me on Twitter” or “your followers”. A rather pretentious and egotistical expression really.
“My followers”.
If you’re a restaurant using Twitter it makes the hospitality biz sound a bit like a cult.
“Come in This Week For All U Can Eat Wings & Our Secret Recipe Lemon-Aid!”
Offer Good Only Until The Mother Ship Arrives or Our Ascension into Godhood.

Now, if you should rather go with Webster’s definition #2, just ignore all the gibberish above as is #2 does pertain more to what you (we) are trying to accomplish through Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, or as I like to call it, MyTwitFace.

So, my friends, have a wonderful day, we have all worked hard so enjoy it with the ones you truly call your friends and be safe.

SOCIAL UN-NETWORKING: 10 PEOPLE, 1 DAY NO SOCIAL MEDIA

I could begin to feel the circuits overheating. 

I had been very active with several different chat groups, creating a new one, researching Social Media related issues for work as well as running and responding to all the Social Media there and making new followers and friends at a rate that would have The Flash look like he was moving at the speed of a Presidential campaign push for Dan Quail.

It needed to slow down or stop for a few hours. I thought, “oh what a lovely little article this would make with me taking the day off from all Social Media”. But, what I thought would be even more effective and challenging would be to take others that I knew who were also Social Media Junkies on the journey with me. So I went into two of the Twitter chat forums I live in, #CustServ and #UsGuys and put forth my quest: I NEED SEVERAL VOLUNTEERS TO GO A WHOLE DAY WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA. WHO’S WITH ME!?

The response was overwhelmingly silent and the roar of the crickets and tumbleweeds was deafening. So I asked several more times and got a small trickle of responses and enlistees. Funny part was, they were all female! Not one guy! Where were my dudes in Twitterville? Where was my Band of Brothers? It was an experiment with all females and only me as the solo male.

The experiment hadn’t even begun and I already had my most interesting statistic so far. Only females volunteered and when I asked 10 different males why they would not join this merry little band, they all had the same answer. “I can’t go a day without it.” Period. Only 2 said it would compromise their work.

Here’s what the rules were: NO Twitter, Facebook,  Four Square, MySpace (as if anyone under the age of 12 has a page there anymore) LinkedIn, Skype, Google Chat, IM’s, Blogging or even texting.

Yes, that’s right texting. I researched other experiments of this nature and 3 out of the 5 I reviewed all categorized ‘texting’ as a Social Media outlet.  According to a Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project report in April of 2010, text messaging has become the primary way that people reach their friends, besting face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging and voice calling as the go-to daily communication tool.

They were allowed to email as is it’s not considered ‘social media’ but rather a regular at work and at home source of communication.

With all my lab rats (and myself) set to run through the maze for a full day I reached out to them via email with their mission and the following 4 questions for them to answer upon the completion of  the day;

 1. Did you snap like a twig, collapse and start using Social Media before the day ended? If so, why?
2. What did you find the biggest challenge or hurdle in this experiment?
3. Do you feel there are TOO MANY SM sites and it causes you distractions throughout the day?
4. Of all the SM sites you are on, which one did you miss the least and feel you could do without?

The votes have been counted. The results…After this commercial break. OK, couldn’t resist the dig at Ryan Seacrest…OK, here we go:

Snap, Twitch and Drool:

Zero out of the 10 people had a Lindsey Lohan style relapse. Everyone stayed the course.  Ellie, a Twitter fanatic reported “a terrible longing for my iphone and kept looking at it and caressing it as if it were a chocolate bar”, while @CaiPalmiter from Twitter said she suffered from paranoia and dreamt of Skyping. Only one person slipped slightly, Sherree (@starry_girl on Twitter), with a texting volley with her husband regarding their dog. You’re off the hook Sherree, I’m a sucker for dogs!

Oh the pain, the pain…

As far as challenges and hurdles an overwhelming 80% said the voyeuristic urge to “peek” and see what others were conversing about in their absence was unbearable. Sherree, stated “It was hard first thing in the morning and when I got home in the evening. Thankfully, my day was full of meetings and deadlines; I didn't have time to want to check things. “I suffered the same day as our friend Sherree as is I actually worked that faithful day.

This One Goes to 11

Are there too many Social Media sites out there creating too much noise and distractions? YES! It seems every time a newer and shinier one comes along we all herald it as the “second coming”. But do we need anymore? According to 90% of the test subjects, no, we don’t.  Ellie informed me “I was definitely less distracted, more focused at work.” Dina, said “it made me realize, I don’t really need half of these sites.”

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

When it came time to say “good morning” to the Social Media sights again the #1 site that was not missed at all by 80% was Four Square! It seemed people just don’t care about being the Mayor of anything or wanting to know where @droolmarks is eating at that very moment.  Very interesting statistic was the #2 least missed site: Facebook! This one floored me. Don’t people check their Facebook more times a day than the time? The one that was missed the most by a staggering 100% was Twitter. As L.J so eloquently phrased it; “I couldn’t live without Twitter. I would die not knowing what to do under my desk all day.” ‘Nuff said.

Feelings, Nothing more than Feelings…
Some key words to note here as well that got tossed around by the majority; “isolated” “lost” “habitual” “slacking” “weird” and the number one word used, “addicted”.

A Jerry Springer Style Final Thought

Social Media is an extraordinary option to commune with our world, learn new things and expand our horizons and meet those we may not be afforded the luxury of doing so in the real world!  But isn’t Social Media now an element of The Real World?

During this little experiment, I learned that I can participate in my social media “neighborhood” without living in it. I can't imagine life without my social media community of friends, followers, business acquaintances and clients. I have a friend or “family” to chat with anytime I want! But I have another life beyond social media.  I have a wife and daughter that don’t chat, IM, Tweet, RT, follow or Skype. At the end of the day, it’s just the three of us in our own world.

I like it there. Think I’ll stay awhile.

More of The Beatles take on Customer Service: BECAUSE

Yeah I was the 5th Beatle until they got tired of me screaming

"WOW! Your The Beatles" in recording sessions.

We hear the expressions “Authentic You” and “Be Authentic” used a lot lately. Personally, I don’t get bothered by its use or as some feel, over use. It’s a philosophy I subscribe to the best I can in my personal life.

You can just tell when someone has it and when they don’t especially in the field of Customer Service.  We choose our friends based on their being authenticity and a bond based on a foundation, a feeling of trust and joy. The same can be said about the customer service representatives we deal with on a constant bases.

I constantly tell CSR’s at speaking engagements that people can go anywhere to get a product like the ones they sell, be it down the block or on the internet. But what keeps the consumer coming back are them. The individual.  The CSR’s the “get it”. The guests are there daily or frequent to see their “friends “where they know it’s safe and the customer service is great! Make that exceptional!

I deal with retail businesses where their CSR’s interact daily face to face with guests and yes, they have an easier time of it because they can learn guests names etc. But the philosophy applies to CSR’s online and via phone activity as well. It’s what I call the BECAUSE factor.

Being

Engaging

Centered &

Authentic

Ultimately

Serves

Everyone

By following the BECAUSE factor it simply benefits the CSR, the guest and the company as a whole. All it takes is a person who “gets it” as far as how to deal with humans on a genuine level to make a difference all around. That CSR may not have all the answers, but if they stay focused on the customer, if they stay concerned and engaging with the guest, problems will dissipate in their severity at a much faster pace than an with an “auto response”.

Let me give you an example. We have a Starbucks near our house (go figure) that we go to as it’s the only one near us (go figure that one too).  Even if there was a Tim Horton or Café De Spend Tu Dinero Here within reach, I would still choose to go to Starbucks. The CSR’s there are friendly, polite, accommodating and more importantly they know me. 

There is one CSR, Jasmine, who I saw once when my 2 year old daughter and I went there for coffee and juice after a grueling music class. When I saw her again 2 weeks while on a solo visit she asked me, “So where is that adorable little one today?”

WOW! One meeting. One time serving me and she remembered! Guess who I look for when I’m there? Jasmine! She gets BECAUSE. But it’s not just her. It’s Tanim who always knows I have a Half Decaf-Half Regular Black so I don’t leap out of my skin and send my ADD into overdrive with regular high octane coffee! It’s also the dude whose name I don’t know with the goatee (looked for him for a pic with him but not working) who knows what my wife drinks and makes it a point to play with my 2 year old when we are on line.

These are the people I like to reward with my business and my time BECAUSE…!

Customers who feel they have been treated well and in an authentic manner have a 70% chance of returning to a business they have developed a relationship with even after just one positive visit.

BIGresearch, an Ohio-based market intelligence firm, asked thousands of shoppers what kind of customer service they expected. Customers said they sought friendly, authentically polite service and wanted to feel that a company valued them more than the sale. They look for value, but define it as more than the price of a product; it also includes the service they receive. According to the survey, 71 percent said they stopped doing business with a company due to bad customer service.

So, before you have to go chasing down unhappy guests asking why they left and they just tell you, BECAUSE, train your staff in the Beatle version of BECAUSE. It will HELP you in THE END during the Customer Service REVOLUTION.

Peace and Happy New Year!

Tales of The Heart from Twitterville: Touching the Soul Not Just The Wallet

Over the last couple of months I have rundown ways for you to navigate your way through Twitterville to maximize your visit to that fair little hamlet.
But, I’m going to lighten the load a bit this week and tell you what fun you can have and what a difference you can make while visiting this exciting internet village with some of the “interesting” things that have happened in my travels…

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Being the eyes, voice and hears of our Twitter account I have about 850 faces embedded in my mind. As I make my way through our stores and even on the streets of NYC, I am constantly seeing the actual 3 dimensional fleshy faces of the followers of our restaurant.
Of course I have Twitter on my Blackberry so I am able to interact instantly with the people in my neighborhood.

One day I was checking in with one of my promo ambassadors on location and spotted two people who are followers from an insurance office and have been obsessed with finding out who I was. Who was the man behind the icon? As one of them passed me I noticed she had purchased a pasta and was wearing a stylish yellow blouse that was a magnet for pasta sauce. As she left the establishment I began to write her a message that said, “I hope you enjoy the pasta! Do be careful though with a yellow shirt!”
She whizzed around, looked from left to right and grabbed urgently at her co-worker. She put her food down and started frantically typing. “Where R U?”
“I’m in your Blackberry silly! Haha” I wrote back!
They charged back into the store and grilled the poor manager who admirably kept a straight face while saying he didn’t know who I was.
The urgency to find out who I was grew.
The Game was afoot!
A few days passed and I once again was in the same location and noticed the same young lady and a different coworker at the salad bar. I decided to get a little bolder and walked along the side of the pair as they approached the cashier. Standing 4 feet from them I wrote the coworker this time; “Personally, Ed, I would have gotten the Sesame Ginger Dressing, but that’s me.”
Quickly tucking the Blackberry into my pocket, I veered off and faded into the crowd.
To watch the pair of them approach every customer that was typing on a Blackberry thinking it was me, was Candid Camera worthy material! I of course brought them lunch on their next visit for being such great sports.
Still to this day they wonder; who was that masked MetroMan?

Happy Birthday To You!

A good eye catches when Tweeters are celebrating birthdays and this eye loves a good birthday! When ever I do catch one, I of course offer to buy them a piece of cake when they visit us that day which pretty much guarantees they will bring a pal with them (up sell Twitter style!). I decided to take it a step further though. I knew this person was in our locations all the time and added some bells and whistles to their birthday cake treat.
The guest was instructed by me to tell the manager that they were “sent by MetroMan for free cake”. What they didn’t know was I had sent our promo team, who was in the field that day, to that store to sing Happy Birthday and put birthday hats on their heads. When they checked in with our GM, he smiled and signaled the promo team waiting to the side. Her reaction was that of a 5 year olds when the Magician arrives for their Birthday Party.
They had a blast and they of course chatted about it on Twitter to all their local friends who signed on to follow us!

Smile (Though Your Heart is Aching)

While running one of our contests on a gloomy rainy morning, I noticed one of our followers had posted a picture of herself with the Tweet message saying, “Does this look sad enough?”
Curious, I Tweeted her. “Not doing the contest today? Why so blue?”
Turns out her father had passed away the day before and she was unable to return to home to attend the funeral due to finances. I had remembered that at one point she had Tweeted us questioning why we didn’t carry Honey Nut Cheerios as a cereal selection as is it was her favorite. So I called the store she ordered from regularly and had the manager check her order history to see what she enjoyed ordering on a regular bases. From there, we created a small gift basket with her favorite lunch and snacks and right in the center, a box of Honey Nut Cheerios and delivered it to her that morning.
She was so overwhelmed with gratitude she could not stop talking about us on Twitter and even came by the store to hug our manager.

The point I think I’m trying to make here is not one of just breaking down the Fourth Wall of Twitter or any other Marketing tools we use to touch our customer base for goodwill points, but doing things from a Human stand point.

If we all took the time to stop and listen and watch what others days are like, and we as an industry can make that person’s day a little brighter and put a smile on their face, then we, my friends, have earned our mantle of “hospitality industry.”

John Lennon once said, "Once we realize we are all the same people we are all of the same Earth, then we can just get on with it." Let’s get on with it and bring a little genuine thoughtfulness to our industry through the power of Marketing.

Eat Well. Live Well. Peace.

Twitter Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life" Social Media Edition

“Yes, Clarence.  A man down on earth needs our help.’

“Splendid! Is he sick?”

“No. Worse. He's discouraged. At exactly ten forty-five P.M., earth-time, that man will be thinking seriously of throwing away God's greatest gift. You will spend that hour getting acquainted with Twitter Bailey.”

“Sir...If I should accomplish this mission...I mean, uh, might I perhaps win my wings? I've been waiting for over

two hundred years now, sir...and people are beginning to talk.”

“Clarence, you do a good job with Twitter Bailey and you'll get your wings.”

Twitter Bailey stood on the edge of the bridge overlooking Internet Fall’s river with his heals shaking under the pressure of his personal pain and from the frigid air that called to him to take the step into the icy waters below. But his concentration in assessing his dire situation was disrupted by the soft voice of a familiar stranger that made his way through the snowy night air.

“Excuse me son, but, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Clarence said.

“Get out of here ya crazy old man. This isn’t any of your business. The world would be a better place without old Twitter Bailey to push around.”

Clarence asked Twitter why he was doing this. Twitter turned to him, beads of sweat freezing above his eyebrows and told Clarence what drove him to such actions.

“Well, there are those that are saying that I depersonalize the human condition and force people to forget what it’s like to have real conversations, friendships, relationships all because of my limitations with 140 characters! They say I’m at fault for people losing the power to properly express themselves and focus on the real things surrounding them. I just wanted to bring people together is all. I just don’t feel it’s a wonderful life with me around.”

Clarence chuckled and placed his hand on Twitters now calmed and receptive shoulders and he told Twitter who he was, why he was here and that he had the ability to show him a world that had no Twitter Bailey and what a very different place it would be.

And with that, the snow stopped falling and the night took on a very different feel. The sound of a man startled Twitter and he turned around to find a fellow he recognized as Ernie Verizon stranded in the snow with his car. Twitter went running over to see if he could help his old friend out but Ernie didn’t recognize him. Because in this world, Twitter didn’t exists. Ernie had no signal on his phone due the phone reception being down but had some 3G connection. So he had access to his email but had no real time messaging to contact his wife to send AAA.

 “You see Twitter,” said Clarence, if you were here, your abilities may have allowed him to get an instant call for help heard. And it’s not just in this case. If you weren’t here millions of people may not have the opportunity to reach out to likeminded people like themselves. Communities are built, small charities are discovered, ideas are shared and yes, real world friendships can be made. But that’s where the human aspect comes in Twitter. That’s when the individual makes the determination to take it into a real world situation once a level of trust and sharing has been achieved. It’s all what the individual chooses to do with you.

“Think of the people of Iran during their conflict with the government. Would we have had the images and the stories of the injustices to its people were it not for you? Would the man suffering from cancer who couldn’t find a Doctor he trusted in his health network have found an out of network doctor he liked who agreed to treat him had it not been through reaching out to others through you? Would the shy and withdrawn young lady who thought she had no friends have found the group of likeminded thinkers who shared her passions ever have come out of her shell and become a self confident leader?

Twitter Bailey stood up and looked Clarence in the eyes and reached over to hug him and said, “Clarence I think you may have earned your wings tonight!” And with that Twitter Bailey ran through the streets of Internet Falls crying out Merry Christmas to all around him. He ran as fast as he could to get home to see his tweetheart and their three little tweets who were so worried about their dear Twitter Bailey.

People poured in the door behind him tossing 140 character messages of good cheer and positive vibes into a large basket on a table when in walked his brother in social media, Harry Facebook and cried out. “To my brother Twitter Bailey, the richest guy with acquaintances and friends in town!”

And just as he said that a small bell on the Bailey family Christmas tree rang and the littlest tweet turned to his father Twitter and said, “Every time a bell rings, an angel get’s its wings.” Twitter Bailey smiled and winked to the sky saying, ‘way to go Clarence!”

 And up in heaven, Clarence sat at his laptop with a shiny new set of wings and signed on to follow Twitter Bailey. His message simply read, “It’s a wonderful life, isn’t it?”

  

Happy Holidays to all and to all a good night.

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Ty…Out….