Gary Vaynerchuk, author of The Thank You Economy, and Guy Kawasaki, author of Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, fundamentally exhort us in their recent books to focus on connecting with customers!

In the case of Enchantment, it's about developing a mutually beneficial and voluntary relationship based on three pillars of Likeability, Trustworthiness and Perfect Product/Service.

In the case of the Thank You Economy, it's about leveraging a world of caring for customers who demand "authenticity, originality, creativity, honesty, and good intent" from the companies they do business with. [See Brand Marketing Evolution: Unscripted and Human.]

Two sides of the same coin, no?

I didn't originally intend to discuss Guy and Gary in one post. However, after seeing Guy Kawasaki Speak at Inbound Marketing Summit and hearing Gary Vaynerchuk on MarketingProfs, I kept mashing the two in my brain... given how both focus intensely on connecting with customers.

In his presentation Kawasaki made interesting points about [enchanting] trustworthiness.

1. To achieve trustworthiness, the order in which trust occurs matter. You must trust others first [e.g., Zappos, Amazon and Nordstrom exemplify this].

2. We must strive to be bakers [those who believe that all will benefit from a rising tide] rather than eaters [i.e., a zero sum game].

3. He urged us to default to a 'yes' attitude.

Vaynerchuk said to use "good intent to set everything in motion" and empower people [i.e., open a "give a crap" department]. The focus is on quality not quantity, on intense caring, engagement and followup, and on using the tools of social media for genuine social interaction.

Both authors have plenty more to say, in person and in their books, and I encourage you to learn more.

However, as it relates to connecting with customers and the Gary/Guy observations, what have you noticed? How are you going about enchanting your customers? How do you default to yes? How successful is your 'give a crap' deparment? How are you using the tools of social media to connect and interact?

Let me know in the comments!

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Other few other resources for you:

• The Art of Enchantment: How Guy Kawasaki Will Change Your Business
• Gary Vaynerchuk's "The Thank You Economy"
• Book Excerpt: Gary Vaynerchuk's The Thank You Economy