YouTube offers companies 15 minutes of customer service success

With the recent development by YouTube to allow users to upload 15 minutes of videos to their account; there are a bevy of new ways that customer service professionals can utilize this resource to help and connect with customers on a digital level. Tony Bradley of PCWorld showcases two ways that that companies can use the extra 5 minutes to connect with their customers and team.

Customer Support. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is comprised of thousands of pictures streamed together. Rather than explaining processes like installation, configuration, or troubleshooting in a manual, or with text and images on a Web page, create customer service video clips for common tasks and post them on YouTube. Video clips will be appreciated by customers, and take some of the burden off of the help desk.

Training. Businesses can use YouTube to deliver effective training. Simply giving a training manual to an employee has mixed results--they may not really read it and they may not really understand it if they do. Paying a trainer, or delegating another employee to conduct training costs money, and results may vary depending on the trainer. A video clip allows you to record the training exactly as it should be delivered, and re-use it over and over without incurring any additional costs.

How else do you envision YouTube's new service helping you and your business?

NACCM 2010 Speaker Spotlight: Joey Fitts

Joey Fitts, Co-Author,
Drive Business Performance: Enabling a Culture of Intelligent Execution

Joey Fitts has spent his personal and professional helping people and organizations achieve their goals. Fitts’ focus is on bridging the gap between people, information and performance. His passionate insights and unwavering drive have guided the information and performance development efforts of many of the world’s leading organizations.

Fitts is recognized as an authority on business intelligence, performance management, and strategy execution. A frequent international speaker, Fitts has presented in over 20 countries and been featured in newspaper, radio and magazine media across North America, Europe and Asia.

Fitts has consulted over 25 of the Fortune 500, guest lectured Harvard Executive Education programs and the Stanford Executive Briefings, been featured in the SuccessFactors Research Thought Leader Network, raised over $16M in venture capital, and served on the Board of Advisors for InterVivos and the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).

Joey's bio courtesy of JoeyFitts.com

Join Joey for his presentation, "Drive Business Performance: How Leaders Enable a Culture of Intelligent Execution" at 11:20am on Day 2 of NACCM 2010! Learn more about the program and register today!

Using social media to re-connect with consumers on and off-line

Retail is but a platform for people to engage in a sensorial way with brands. The dialogue is happening off-shelves. With the help of technology the consumer are in the driving seat, able with a cell phone to compare prices, review promotions, ask their friends for advice or order online for a better offer. Retail need to be part of this conversation to compete and leverage their teams to respond.

Learn more in "From Brick to Click: Designing to Peak Emotions: Using Social Media to Re-connect with Consumers On and Off-Line" keynote presentation by Marc Gobe, President of Emotional Branding and Author of Emotional Branding on Wednesday, September 29th at The Category Leadership Conference in Chicago. Register today and save $200 off the standard rate.

Should the US Government regulate airline customer service?

Allen Howell of Forbes.com covers the interesting topic of airline customer service regulation. We thought the question was particularly thought-provoking so we're opening it to our Customer 1st readers. What do you think?

As Howell points out in his article, the question of government influence with customer service can be tricky, especially with a government regulated industry like air travel.

Let us know your thoughts via Twitter!

Free Webinar - Linking VOC to the Bottom Line: Strategies for Uncovering Researchers' Holy Grail

Date/Time: Thu, Aug 5, 2010 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT
Register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/158148440
Mention priority code MWS0034BLOG

In Maritz Research's 2010 Voice of the Customer Challenges and Practices Study, client-side researchers indicated their biggest challenges were linking survey measures to financial/business results and linking VOC information to internal business processes and metrics. Our own clients have told us that the ability to link survey research information to other business information is the "Holy Grail" within their companies.

As a leader in Customer Experience Measurement, Maritz Research is proud to present Keith Chrzan, Vice President, Marketing Sciences, who will discuss our unique perspective regarding the formal, statistical process that enables us to connect various types of data sources to others. Keith will discuss the varying levels of linkage sophistication, the obstacles that face marketers wishing to perform linkage, and the experience we've gained with a large number of linkage engagements. Researchers, operations leaders and those charged with performance improvement in their company's channels will find this discussion an essential primer before attempting to connect the Voice of their Customers to other business data.

Keith is the DVP of Marketing Sciences at Maritz Research. He has over twenty-five years of experience on the client and supplier sides of the marketing research industry. His experience includes positions as Director of Marketing Research at Boehringer Mannheim Diagnostics and Managing Director of Marketing Sciences at IntelliQuest, Inc, an Austin, Texas-based marketing research consultancy serving the technology industry. Keith is well - respected in the marketing sciences industry and has the ability to make complex statistics not only understandable but fun.

We look forward to your attendance. Don't miss it!

Register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/158148440

NACCM 2010 Speaker Spotlight: Stew Leonard, Jr

Stew Leonard Jr. is currently the president and chief executive officer of Stew Leonard's, one of the most unique food retailers in the world.

Stew Leonard's is family-owned and operated, with four food stores and five wine shops in Norwalk, Danbury and Newington, Connecticut, as well as in Yonkers and East Farmingdale, New York.

After receiving his MBA from UCLA, Stew learned the food business by working every job in the store, including filling in for the store's mascot, Wow the Cow.

Stew Leonard's has grown to employ 2,400 Team Members, has annual sales of nearly $400 million, and has been named as one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the past seven consecutive years.

Stew travels throughout the year to farms, ranches, piers, and wineries and loves to cook. His love of wine has led him to his current studies to become a sommelier. He is the author of two cookbooks, You Can Do It, with Bryan Miller, the former restaurant critic for the New York Times and Stew Leonard's Winning Recipes. He has also published two children's books with his wife, Kim, on water safety: Stewie The Duck Learns to Swim and Swimming Lessons with Stewie The Duck. His newest children's book, The Healthy Way, was published in February 2007 and focuses on helping children to learn how to incorporate healthy eating and activity in a fun, engaging way.

Stew will be presenting, "The Customer Is ALWAYS Right!" on October 26, 2010 at the 8th Annual North American Conference on Conference Management! Click here to learn more about the event.

Stew's biography courtesy of StewLeonards.com