CrossSelling & UpSelling is the path to increasing your AOV (Average Order Value) and higher AOV's is the path to sustainable online community. Great post here on how to cross and up sell.

Social media and commerce don't have to be an oxymoron.

Set Social Expectations & Then BEAT THEM
Michael Jordan knew how to set expectations and then beat them. I was lucky enough to see him play several playoff games and the superstar could will his game to another level.

There are no secrets on the court or in business today. When Michael Jordan took over a game it was clear what was going on and THAT is what must have made playing against him maddening.

Michael Jordan's Nissan car dealership in Durham could learn a lesson in social media marketing from their namesake. The car dealership recently underwent an extensive renovation that must have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

One of the innovations was a much better waiting room with worktables and away from the damn TV. I pulled up next to an AC outlet during my last stay and worked while my car's oil was being changed.

Michael Jordan's Nissan installed a window from the shinny new workroom out to the garage. Great idea, but a loaded gun too (much like social media). Once you show me a window on to your world all things become theater.

The experience of watching my car leave the garage and then NOT to be called to transact the $50 oil change for twenty minutes when I was in a hurry to get to work was frustrating (despite being able to use their Wi-Fi and do work). The window CREATED AN EXPECTATION.

Think of your social media efforts as creating an expectation too. If your company or brand is on social media your customers and supporters have an expectation that you will keep them informed (provide a window into your thinking and actions) and include them in some meaningful way in your process.

"Include in some meaningful way" can mean responding to questions or @yourtwitter notes to forming special teams and requesting feedback from your social channel. Social media is a CONVERSATION and those who listen more than they speak and care more than they don't are using social media marketing to kick the stuffing out of competitors who don't get it.

I asked to see the service manager and he told me he was down three people and offered a free oil change next time. Good (not great) response. The great response would have been to ask me a question and elicit the feedback I'm writing here.

The great response to customer dissatisfaction is to FIND the kernel of the discontent and then learn from it to improve. The manager, so caught up in his own problems, missed a chance to excel like the man whose name is on the building :)