Once in a while we - the citizens of the Republic of SEO - are given the opportunity to leave the sanctuary of the Internet and mingle with the everyday leagues of marketers, customer services, and business owners at one of many conferences. I had the luck - nay the privilege - to attend this year’s annual Customer Management World Africa conference at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Although it might sound like your average school outing, this was definitely no trip to the dairy farm! No, this was more like sending a 6 year old to the candy store with a crisp R200 note (roughly $26 for our friend from South Carolina).

Ok - most of the conference did revolve around offline customer management, but there were still some valuable lessons for online brand and customer management. This was what they had to say:

“Customers are the real experts when it comes to knowing your audience.” - Geno Church 

Many of the presentations had one thing in common which made me think about how cool it would be to really have a super power. Err, by “me” I’m referring to your brand. By empowering customers to become passionate about your product you entitle them to become “evangelists”.

“Luckily the Outsurance points’ man are there to help when the traffic lights dead” – Andrew Miller
 
Identifying events or situations that might not be seen as positive and supplying a solution, like an added service, will demonstrate that your brand is one that cares for its customers' needs. CSI (Corporate Social Investment) is the new black!!!

“Create the avenues of conversation with your Customers.” - Mike Smith

By enabling your customer to contact you, you are adding value to their experience with your brand. A bad experience can thus be transformed into a positive attitude towards your brand.

“You pay for the experience, you get the bear for free” – Claira Mallet

Encouraging people to play with your brand creates a sense of co-ownership. If you’re into stuffed toys, or looking for a great gift with an experience, go check out Build a Bear. It's a bit scary for my liking, but definitely an experience none the less.

“14 hours of video get published a minute on YouTube” – Stafford Masie

Customer management is all about creating a favourable experience when customers visit and search for your site. The best way to ensure you achieve this is by utilising all media aspects like text, images, audio, video, (interactive) maps, etc. Creating avenues for people to find your website is as important as running successful SEO and PPC campaigns. Search engines like Google are moving towards supplying more relevant information on the SERPs, like your address, share prices or a map of your location; with even more to come.

“Consumers trust other consumers more than the press.” – Rob Stokes

We all know the value of ORM, but then again, why bother with a few people complaining on their blog posts? The answer is your Google CV. Rob’s quote is so true; if I’m interested in buying a product I Google it, and see what people say about the product. Imagine you have the first two rankings for your brand on Google; followed by one or two (maybe more) negative comments. You would not blame me for reading them, and more than likely I would then consider alternative products. If you manage the situation, however, and comment on the post with a solution or even just the number of someone that could help – it shows that you do have a soul.

“Add heart to your brand” – Jeremy Mansfield

Jeremy, being the joker, opened his presentation with a bit background about where he came from and the hard work it took to reach his current position, hosting the most successful breakfast show in Joburg (and possibly the whole country). His show accounts for a quarter of the profit Primemedia makes, all on its own. He said that one sometimes has to do what’s necessary to make your business a success, and this cut me deep. He completely avoided hiding behind a “closed door”, which would only lead to a separation between his brand and his listeners.

Justin Nurse – previously know as the t-shirt guy – was charismatic as usual and humoured the masses with his funny antics and hilarious t-shirts. He handed them out to the most intelligent questions in the crowd, as well as one to a delegate who managed to find 36 words by scrambling the letters C-U-S-T-O-M-E-R.

If you do find yourself in Johannesburg next year, definitely try and attend the CMWA.