Social media success is Retro

The Greatest Generation, the World War II Generation, would be champions in utilizing Social Media to obtain business success.  This generation knew:  

Rule #1:  The customer is always right!
Rule #2:  If you think the customer is wrong, see Rule #1.

The World War II Generation passionately believed that the customer is always right.  Before the self-centered 60's and the self-indulgent 80's, there was the self-sacrificing 40's, when The Greatest Generation crystallized their collective ego.  The ability to perceive the needs of others, and the humility to attempt to meet those needs, allowed The Greatest Generation to build remarkably enduring family owned small businesses by practicing a core value:  The Customer is King. 

This principle dovetails nicely with a fundamental reality of social media:  social media is Word of Mouth on steroids.  If you have the heart of a person from the Greatest Generation, and genuinely care about others, word of mouth advertising will be your friend in the wake of customer interactions.  Social media will cause your positive reputation to spread like wildfire.

Conversely, those who practice sloppy, self-centered customer relations will also have their reputations spread at the speed of light.  And this negative word of mouth through the new media vehicles will quickly cripple their businesses.

The new media tools are not a magic bullet.  Before employing these tools as a strategy for your family owned small business, you must take a very hard look at how you treat your current customers.  Oh, and if you think that ignoring social media will allow you to not address your customer relations and customer service issues, please think again.

Long before The Greatest Generation, King Solomon said "There is nothing new under the sun".  He was right.

The Customer is still King. 

Thanks for sharing 74 seconds of your day,
Smitty