The Future Of Selling: It's Social

Social media has had an enormous impact on buying behavior with 49% of sellers seeing social media as important to their success. In fact, among the most successful salespeople, over two-thirds believe social media is integral to their sales success.
A good article by OgilvyOne's Brian Fetherstonhaugh

THE F-FACTOR

Consumers are increasingly tapping into their networks of friends, fans, and followers to discover, discuss and purchase goods and services, in ever-more sophisticated ways. As a result, it's never been more important for brands to make sure they too have the F-FACTOR.

Another great article from TrendWatching. 
Read it here

How to Cope with Bad Reviews

With the increasing popularity of user-generated reviews, hoteliers may lament the loss of control over what is being said online, but, as Daniel Edward Craig says, they are  still in full control of how they react.
Below are some suggestions for using negative reviews to effect positive change in your hotel.
1. Speak up.
2. Engage.
3. Show leadership.
4. Take the high road.
5. Make reputation management a priority.
6. Create a cycle of positivity.
7. Prevent escalation.
8. Take the good with the bad.
Read the full article

The Algorithm + the Crowd are Not Enough

In the last decade, the online world has been ruled by two, twin forces: The Crowd and The Algorithm.
The collective “users” of the Internet (The Crowd) create, click, and rate, while mathematical equations add scalability and findability to these overwhelming quantities of data (The Algorithm).
Like the moon over the ocean, the pull of these two forces help create the tides of popularity (and obscurity) on the Internet.
Information is more accessible, useful, and egalitarian than ever before.
But lately, at least to me [the author Rand Fishkin], the weaknesses of this crowdsourced + algorithmic system are showing, and the next revolution feels inevitable.
Read full article: A very interesting take on some of our favourite sites.

Managing Negative Reviews

The problem with most negative reviews is that whatever you do to make amends, sometimes the review just won't go away, particularly if it's been scraped by other sites like Google Places.
This article has tips and links for how to manage negative reviews and also how to go further.
But first and formost,

1. Keep in mind that most of the people who will read your response are potential customers, not the person with the complaint.
2. Put your best foot forward in showing how you deal with customer concerns.
   
3. Don't write your response as soon as you see the review for the first time. Cool down.
   
4. Write a short, non-defensive reply and describe how the issue has been resolved. This will earn you the trust of your future customers.

Read full article

Barbershop Promotes Its Worst Yelp Reviews

Here is a good lesson on how you can turn negative consumer feeback around to your advantage.  Naturally a sense of humour always helps.
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