I wanted to talk a little more about the topic of customer engagement.  I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, in light of the changes that business is facing.  Social media, web 2.0 and a shrinking world are putting tremendous pressure on businesses to adapt to the new expectations of their clients.

Traditional companies, especially those who are looking for their customers among Generations X and Y, have a new challenge to rise to.  That challenge can be summed up in one question: Is it fun to do business with you?

There’s no denying it.  Baby Boomers have for years decried the fact that “kids these days” need to be constantly entertained.  And they’re right, of course.  Just look at phones: modern phones are not made for placing calls, they’re made for entertaining.  So if you’re selling a product or service to this group who need to be entertained, what are you doing to entertain them? Again, are you making doing business with you fun?  If you’re not, there’s a pretty good chance you’re not going to survive.

Tomorrow’s customer isn’t going to base their buying decisions primarily on things like features and benefits or price.  Their expectation is that every company will offer great features, benefits and prices.  After all, this is a generation of buyers who knows how to research, and if you’re not in line with the market, you don’t stand a chance.  No, tomorrow’s net-savvy consumer is going to decide whether or not to buy from you based on the entertainment value you provide.

A lot of traditional businesses are having a hard time figuring this out, as evidenced by the way they are using social media and the web.  They put up static web pages and use social media as a mode of free advertising to promote their own agenda.  Folks, that just doesn’t work any more (if it ever really did).  Have a look around: look at the Zappos’ and Chipotles and 37Signals of the world and you see companies who not only are excellent at what they do, but that are fun to do business with.  They get it, and they are thinking, not of their own agendas, but the agendas of the ones who really count: the customers.

So have a look at your own business and ask yourself: am I (or is my company) fun to do business with?  Is there entertainment value in my/our offering?  If not, how can I add it in and be more fun?  Beacuse even if you’re not targeting Gen’s X & Y now, it won’t be long before you will be.

Oh, and their younger siblings and kids?  Let’s just leave it at this: you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

The old rules of business were pretty simple.  In fact, William Dillard once summed them up in three words: Location, location, location.  The idea was that any business could be successful, so long as it was located on the right street corner in the right part of town.  Well, things aren’t that simple any more.

With the rise of the internet and e-commerce, the physical location of your business is less important than it was in the past, especially when your business is service-related or when you sell intangibles or products (like software or web design) that can be delivered online.  Even traditional brick-and-mortar businesses are feeling the effects of this revolution, many of them adding an online store to augment their retail sales and shipping their products around the world.

If location is no longer of primary concern, what, then, are the new rules of business?  I call them the three Cs: content, connection and conversation.

Let’s start by saying that if your business hasn’t joined the online community and started participating in social media, you’re missing the boat in a big way.  It’s time to get on the bus.  That said, you need to pay attention to how you are conducting business online.

Do you see social media marketing as a form of free advertising?  Think again.  If you join the party with that outlook, you’re dead before you begin.  This is where the three Cs kick in, starting with your first step: content.

If you’re going to participate online, start by paying attention to the content you’re providing to your prospects and customers.  And by content, I mean everything you provide to your customers: your websites, your social media profiles, videos, e-brochures and anything else your customers see need to communicate that you are an authority on your subject.  That goes without saying.  But they also need to demonstrate a high level of interest in your customers: what they find interesting and entertaining.  You also need to clearly communicate that you care, not just about their wallets, but about them.  Today’s consumer wants to see that you have a vested interest in them.  Once they do, they’ll be ready for new rule #2: connection.

Once you’ve grabbed the interest of your prospect by providing great content, you need to make it easy for them to establish some kind of connection with you.  Whether it’s a Facebook fan page, a Ning community, an active Twitter stream or a forum on your own website, give your customers somewhere to hang out and chat with other customers.  This is how you start to build a community for your brand; it’s also one way you can really set yourself apart from all the other companies who do exactly what you do for the same price (otherwise known as your competition).  Providing a place for your customers to connect with one another and with you will naturally lead to rule #3: conversation.

Take a quick minute to compare the way Chipotle uses it Facebook fan page to the way General Motors does (or doesn’t).  On Chipotle’s page, you see steady interaction from the folks at Chipotle.  They interact with their customers who take the time to stop by and leave a comment.  They banter, they joke, they fool around, and their customers LOVE them for it.

Now look at GM’s fan page: at the time this post was written, I had to scroll all the way back to December 10th to see a dry, boring reminder about some webinar they were conducting, reminding people to dial in and listen.  Nowhere on the page do you see them engaging with their customers, whether fans or detractors.  As a result, you see a lot of comments on the page making note of the fact that GM is essentially non-responsive to customer concerns.

You’ll notice another difference, as well: General Motors, one of the best-know brands in the world has around 106,000 fans on Facebook while Chipotle, a relatively small chain of burrito restaurants in North America, has almost 530,000.  That’s the difference that conversation makes.

So if you want to make 2010 a banner year for your business, make sure you’re paying attention to the new rules, the three Cs for success in business in our modern era: provide the best content you can to demonstrate that you have your customer in mind, provide them a place to make a connection with you and other customers and, one you’ve got them there, engage them in a conversation to show your level of commitment to their satisfaction.

Those are the new rules of business.  Are you up to the challenge?