CHAPTER 9

Scalable Intimacy

The human element exists in everything we do. Human connections and friendships are influential and part of every decision we make. Many in the business world think that we have taken the human element out and made it all about process or metrics; this is false. Trust is a big component in the social world and very difficult for brands to earn. The reason is that we tend to trust people, not logos. This human element comes out in the best of Customer experiences and also on the social web.

When you are dealing with a company’s Customer Service team, or representative, or even a waiter or waitress at your local diner, what experiences do you remember? Was it the experience that was efficient and delivered exactly what you wanted? Usually it was that waitress or waiter who connected with your family, made a nice comment, or played with the kids. If you are speaking to a service representative and small talk led to a connection, you tend to remember that as well. Unfortunately, due to many reasons, personal connections are often hard to come by when dealing with Customer Service. Hopefully, the lessons in this book can help change that!

Within social media, the human element plays a colossal role. Radian 6, a Salesforce.com company, is a leader in the social listening space and is a listening tool for the social web. When I first started working with them I did not even know what Radian 6 was. My first interactions were via Twitter with their head of marketing, ...

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