Podcasting Alchemy: Customer Service Transformed Into Gold
Think alchemy is a dead art? The spirit of Merlin is alive and
well via the magic of podcasting. Podcasting is revolutionizing
marketing communications and creating the next level of customer
service. It's tech support on steroids, unlimited one-on-one
time with your customer, and a new commitment to above and
beyond excellence that will make your customers love you.
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The magic's in the medium and podcasting is hot - molten hot. It
wasn't long ago a simple search for podcasting in Google turned
up about 600,000 results. Now, in less than a year's time, the
search boils over with 36,400,000!
And... the numbers are rapidly growing!
Wake up call. Podcasting is exploding. This is the Internet
powerhouse to watch in 2006.
Exactly how is podcasting turning customer service into gold?
Let's take a look inside Merlin's cave and see what going on
with this phenomenon...
First of all, relatively speaking, podcasting provides a
powerful bang for the buck. It's your show, your way, to your
audience... who is looking to you as their subject matter
expert. They want to hear you and through the miracle of RSS,
they simply subscribe once and automatically, each week you have
their attention.
Unlike the splatter of radio ads, podcasting audiences want to
hear what you have to say. And because the focus is on niche
content tailored specifically to your audience, compared to
radio advertising costs, podcasting stomps the competition in
overall cost-effectiveness.
Studies have proven that we retain more of what we hear than
what we see or read. You talk to your customers and they grow to
know you. Tom K., a loyal listener of a popular podcast about
digital camcorders had this to say, "With podcasting it's
personal. It's one-on-one. I feel like I get to know the host
and I grow to trust what they're saying. You can tell if
someone's on the level when you spend time with them each week."
Little wonder customers are feeling loyal to their podcast
programs. This is beyond branding... this is alchemy turning the
relationship into familiarity and trust.
What else is it but pure gold when you earn the loyalty of your
customers? Earn... well yes, indeed... the old fashioned way...
as the once popular commercial stated, "we earn it".
The more you shine the light on the benefits to your customer,
the more you gain position and value in your customer's mind.
Here's a few ideas:
Technical Support : Make your support folks into customer
superstars. Providing detailed technical support for your
product ensures a positive customer experience and loyalty.
Bring your support staff into your show and teach your customers
how to use your product or service and most importantly, how to
correct any problems that may arise. Plus, this saves you money
in human capital and costs of customer support.
Preview of New Features or Services : What better way to get
market research than to ask your customers what they want and
what they think about proposed new products. Podcasting opens
the door to two-way communications as your customers post
comments and send emails providing you valuable insights.
Share Best Practices : How are your customers using your
product or service? Have you heard of an innovative way to get
additional value from your product? Many times you'll hear from
a customer how they have developed a new or more efficient way
to use your product and podcasting gives you the forum to share
these tips. That's just a few of the creative ways podcasting is
opening new possibilities each day. The sky's the limit so now
is the time to bring your company into the podcasting revolution.
Get a MP3 player or simply listen from your computer and explore
the myriad of podcasting shows out there. You're going to be
amazed, enthused, and eager to get involved.
Go for it! Turn your customer service into gold!