B.B.King was a consummate performer. He was also a master communicator.

He was clearly one of the hardest working people in show business.

He was always in constant communication with his audience. Whether he was using “Lucille”, his guitar, or a microphone, he could work a crowd like a Baptist preacher.

After every song, when the audience was cheering wildly, he would keep it going by standing to the side to highlight his band and saying “Let ‘em know, they love it.”

Then he would introduce each member and tell a brief story, while the rest of the band vamped.

The audience loved it and you can be sure the band did too.

Businesses should do that. They should always find ways to tell stories and make a fuss over their people.

Like B.B., you should point your employees out, tell a story about how you acquired them and how they work hard every day for you, the customer.

By doing that, you’re showing your customers and your employees how much you care.

You’re also showing people that your company is a wonderful place to spend a good chunk of their life.

Instead of desultory trade show line-up shots, introduce your employees one at a time. If there is a landmark event going on in their life, all the better.

You are also finding a good excuse to constantly communicate with your audience instead of “interrupting” them all the time with annoying messages about how great you are. 🙂

These days, we need to keep the conversation going with our customers. We need to always let them know how hard we’re working for them.

We can’t take for granted that our customers are satisfied just because we haven’t had a complaint in a couple of weeks.

Keep the lines of communication open. Always.

So… let ’em know.