You might not have ever heard of Gary Vaynerchuk, but he’s one bad ass entrepreneur. Proprietor of Wine Library and WineLibrary TV, and a new wine-focused social network (corkd.com). Not to mention this new book (Crush It).
In the world of online entrepreneurs, he’s been hitting the speaking circuit and getting plenty of press on TV. Recently he spoke at FOWA (Future of Web Apps) in London.
WARNING: his talk contains explicit language. Like construction worker explicit. Though, his message is on point (customer service is paramount and is best shown by actually caring about your customers) and he is hilarious. He’s just as funny in his WineLibraryTV stuff. I particularly liked his review of Charles Shaw (aka two buck chuck). If you want to save the 20 minutes, he recommends the Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc but panned the rest.
So, as far his talk at FOWA goes, here are the great points/quotes I gleaned from it (note that some is going to be paraphrased to nix the cursing).
- “subscribing to cable…is like going into McDonald’s and ordering a burger and fries. And then the cashier says, “that’s fine, asshole. But you’re gonna have to pay for the whole menu.” I’ve long wanted just to pay for HBO, Current and ESPN (and maybe the NFL redzone…).
- “Don’t be a dickface. Because people will figure you out.” My highest value is integrity. I really love working with my clients and don’t take them for granted, when I say something I do it. And when I say I really value their business I mean it. It makes me happy beyond belief to hear that my reputation is unsullied and that people respect me (despite what they may think of a colleague or my employer).
- “Customer service is not putting a feedback tab on the left side of your web page. Customer service is answering every single email personally, meaning what you put in them and making your customers genuinely like you.”
His message about customer service and interaction is spot on. It’s pretty refreshing to hear someone so honest and forthright get on the stage at the type of event that often degrades into the constant back-patting of speaker/millionaires.
Enjoy.
Now is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk from Carsonified on Vimeo.