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August 12, 2008
Love is all you need. (Plus maybe a blog, Twitter, and an 800 number.)
Posted by Howard Greenstein at 6:24 PM
I was intrigued when the very attractive woman next to me said, "I was supposed to leave, but his first two slides had me hooked and I’m not going anywhere."
This happened last Thursday at Social Media Camp New York, during a session entitled "How to Make Love to your Customers," run by a guy named Saul Colt. Saul Colt is a big man and he absolutely packed a room full of women (and some men) with his topic and approach. The love we're talking about is setting up a company philosophy that treats all interactions with customers as parts of relationship creation.
"Making love to customers is not a campaign, but a lifestyle," says Saul in his talk. What does he mean? "Making love to your customers is not something that you can do for a certain amount of time--it is a company commitment. You can’t run this like an ad campaign--customers will sense when it is over and leave you. Over-exceeding expectations means treating your customers better than any other company relationship your customer has ever had." This is something the Nordstrom executive or a manager at the Four Seasons would smile knowingly and nod at.
Saul’s company, Freshbooks.com, where he's Chief of Magic, spends time, effort, people, and resources on creating relationships with customers. The central assumption in these relationships is that Freshbooks employees love their customers--even if the customers have something bad to say. Saul considers this a great opportunity to turn a detractor into someone who realizes how much Freshbooks loves him or her.
For example, it is tough to find a phone number for most web companies, but Freshbooks' number is on the top of the home page. The company even brags on its blog about its commitment to answering the phone. And employees do blog--to inform customers, to answer questions, and to begin to create relationships. Their forums are another place where they listen to customers, take feedback, and improve their products. If you Twitter @Freshbooks, you'll get an answer--often 24 hours a day. They're obsessed with making customers happy and answering questions and requests. They use the web to create opportunities to meet, greet, and connect with customers in person, because nothing takes the place of direct interaction.
Whenever Saul or other top Freshbooks staff travel, they email customers, twitter, post about it in the blog, and use all the company’s media to let customers know they'll be in town. Then they buy dinner. Last week in Boston, 16 customers showed up, and two of them left with new business for their own companies. Imagine if all your vendors introduced you to new customers while buying you dinner! This love initiative is the foundation of a sexy word-of-mouth campaign. Freshbooks uses the word love all the time: "We tell customers who ask how and why we answer all the questions that we get, 'We answer because we love.'"
Another subtle point: Saul discussed this concept, and the actions that back it up, for thirty minutes and, aside from the logo on his slides, never once mentioned his company or what it does. In fact, he spent so much time not mentioning it, and instead talking about caring, that at the end, people were demanding to know what Freshbooks does, and how they can get some. (It's an invoice, expense and time tracking service online for entrepreneurs and small businesses.)
Love doesn't necessarily pay the bills, of course. But Saul says his philosophy "will deliver an incredible ROI that can't be tracked in a traditional way." So, what's the ROI for loving your customers, and how does Freshbooks measure it? Saul starts with the number of new customers and inquiries he gets in a given period, and then subtracts all the leads he got from promo codes, direct marketing efforts, banner ads, and blog posts. The balance, he figures--which amounts to a large percentage of the company's customers--come from the customer love initiative. He also tracks twitter mentions, unsolicited blog posts, and the number of answers where users respond to questions for other users in forums. If he can't track it traditionally, he figures, it must be love!
For Freshbooks, this means their outreach is a many-splendored thing.
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Freshbooks has the magic in more ways than one.
When I had my first issue with Freshbooks, Saul reached out to me and even offered to call and walk me through what I was frustrated with. Since then we've talked on the phone, they've asked me to be a Fresh Face, emailed and sent me flowers.
Is it wonder I'm an extremely happy Freshbooks customer? Indeed, I am in love.
I was at the Social Media Camp and had a chance to meet Saul personally. While I only caught the tail end of his presentation, I was immediately sucked into the conversations that were happening in the room. Saul knows his stuff and we can all learn a thing or two about how to treat our customers. Nay, I mean love our customers. As someone who has been on the receiving end of terrible customer service, it's refreshing to see this type of culture in a company. My only hope is that more companies will follow suit and change how their customers feel about them. A tip of the hat to FreshBooks.com for taking the lead in this.
-Jason
Once I began reading Saul's blog - The Smartest Man In The World (at http://www.saulcolt.blogspot.com/)- I became hooked quickly. This is a guy who really lives the idea of putting the customer at the center of everything you do. I look forward to seeing one his live presentations for myself!
Stephanie Fierman
http://www.stephaniefiermanmarketingdaily.com
This article has made my Mom very proud!
Saul Colt
Head of Magic
FreshBooks.com
great article. Met Saul several times and everyhting he says and does is so original.
Saul is the real deal and 100% right.
Copy what he does and you'll be rich, famous, and happy.
Saul, thank your mom for the check :-)
Seriously, great to see the comments here and the pick up on other sides like The Marketing Mentor: http://www.marketingmixblog.com/2008/08/what-does-it-ta.html
Freshbooks loves me, and I love Freshbooks. And Saul. It's just one big mutual admiration society.
Gotta love that!
Cheers,
Connie
What's not to love? I was a bit gun-shy, having fallen for heart-throb brands but burned by their love-em-and-leave-em products. Freshbooks and Saul have both got it going on. Cue the Barry White...
Saul has gone from a curiosity to a full-fledged mentor. I was hooked on his product AFTER being hooked on him.
Saul Colt is my constant.
I attended Social Media Camp New York and I suppose I'm one of the few people not impressed by Freshbooks and, in particular, Saul. I thought that his presentation on how to make love to your customers was interesting and unique and I wanted to ask him a few questions. He didn't appear to be as jolly and good natured when he wasn't speaking to a group.
I waited until he was alone and approached him and he quickly brushed me off. I figured he was busy so I walked away but I waited because I thought he just had to go grab something and couldn't talk.
Then I see 2 people approach him and he stopped to talk to them, so once again I waited patiently. 5 minutes later, after the 2 people left, I approached him again and said hello. Once again, he brushed me off and didn't even acknowledge me.
At this point I just thought he was rude and walked away. I was a bit shocked and I guess this is why I turned back to look at him. He looked right back at me and made a gesture as if he was drawing a heart.
I first thought he was just rude but his glance and gesture indicate that he purposely brushed me off, for whatever reason and then made it a point to let me know that he did it.
That guy has issues.
Hey Ralph,
I apologize if you were unable to speak to me and I assure you that I didn't brush you off or make strange heart drawing gestures...that just isn't me. I purposely make time to speak to everyone I can at these events and I am not sure how you didn't get to speak top me. I stayed to the very end and was available to everyone.
Anyway if you would like to chat you can feel free to email me (saul(at)freshbooks.com and or give me a call at 866-303-6061 and I will answer any questions you have....or if you really are interested, I will be in NYC on September 4th and would be happy to buy you a cup of coffee
Saul Colt
Head of Magic
FreshBooks
Hey Ralph,
I am sorry you feel I brushed you off but I assure you I don't brush anyone off. Relationship building is something I take pride in and I purposely make an effort to speak to everyone in any room I am in. As for the hand gestures ect...I have to say that really doesn't sound like me...that being said if you have any questions or comments I am happy to spend time with you by email or by phone whenever you wish.
My contact info is available everywhere on the web and if you have time on Sept 4th I will be back in NYC and would be happy to buy you a coffee!
Saul Colt
Head of Magic
FreshBooks
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