Author Archives: Scott Hornstein

The Network of Me, and What It Can Do For Youtest

We're in the middle of the big bang of media and message.  What we knew is speeding away from us and coming together in new forms that we may not know.

What I know is that looking at it from a marketer's point of view is self-congratulatory, and ultimately self-defeating.  Come, take a walk with me and let's talk….

Anti-Social Behavior, Again. The results of our 2013 email responsiveness researchtest

Here's an easy question – if you send an email to a corporation do you expect a response?  I do.  In 2002 86% of the corporations on my database replied to my email and gave me an answer (not the same).  This year it's 31%, actually 34% for the Financial Times' Most Respected Companies, Fortune's Most Admired Companies and The Reputation Institute's Most Respected Companies.  It was 20% for Business Insider's Most Hated Companies.

Here's the bad news, and the good news….

Long-Term Social Media Successtest

I am a believer in social media, in its potential to create conversations, which create happier customers that stay longer, buy more and bring all their friends.

I am also a realist, and I know that social media will not achieve its potential unless we embrace three basic truths, which are detailed in the attached article, which I hope is interesting and informative.

Ensuring Unflinching Quality in Social, Email and Mobile Correspondence – 3 strategies, 3 tacticstest

By Scott Hornstein

We need immediate triage when it comes to the written word, specifically the messages we receive from companies via email social media, chat and mobile in response to our questions.
It appears to be a perfect storm, where our need for an answer clashes with experience and ability and the result is a mess.  Our request is sent adrift on the roiling waters of grammar, tone and accuracy.  Let’s face it, the customer service folks are the least experienced, least paid and least empowered.

The attached article suggests three strategies and three tactics for ensuring unflinching quality in written correspondence no matter what medium.

A friend shared a great quote, “Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten”.  Rings true.

7-Step Process for Maximizing Webinar Registration, Attendance and Yieldtest

Webinars serve a dual purpose:  to educate or impart specific value; to further the customer
conversation, and, as a by-product, generate high-quality leads.  To achieve all this, we’ve got to generate high-quality registrants, convert as many as possible to attendees and identify high
priority leads for sales – follow-up.  Here’s how to do it in 7 steps (without a lot of romance).

The Wise Trolls Under the Bridge, Part 1test

I don’t get it, but there seems to be a line of thinking that customer care is just about the call center. You know,
the trolls who sit under the bridge – the lowest paid employees who spend the most time with customers. I think that everyone from the cafeteria to the C-suite has got a lot to learn from these trolls. Especially if corporate goals involve powerful differentiation, and maximizing long term profitability.

Continued Decline in Email Responsiveness Creates Enormous Opportunitytest

I don’t get it, but there seems to be a line of thinking that customer care is just about the call center. You know, the trolls who sit under the bridge – the lowest paid employees who spend the most time with customers.

I think that everyone from the cafeteria to the C-suite has got a lot to learn from these trolls. Especially if corporate goals involve powerful differentiation, and maximizing long term profitability.