What if Customers Were the Service? II

More than one year ago I posed the question to Fast Company readers. It was one of the posts that got some of the more interesting comments. Admittedly, at the time my posts also got some visibility on the site - I cannot remember the last time any of them was linked to from any of the sections of the new "community" site. At this juncture, I am a customer of the magazine who volunteers to give it visibility through this site.

I was revisiting with the comments to that post - all legitimate parts of a larger conversation:

• Companies should care about providing support and service to their customers. And we should keep score of who does by voting with our money. No better way to provide feedback than through action. We should also recommend those companies to our family and friends. I have been practicing this for years.

• Culture can be the salvation of companies. It's ironic that such an intangible could potentially help turn around a company and the experience you have of it. It starts with being truthful and honest with each other as employees and continues in the conversation with customers.

• Opportunities exist to help facilitate conversations around hobbies and passions. Use them. Remember the Long Tail. Liz in the comments said: "retailers such as Best Buy would do well to take a cue from the Borders and B&N models of encouraging customer interaction with book clubs, etc. In addition to helping facilitate user groups and discussions -- both planned and informal -- they could no doubt get manufacturer sponsorship and participation." The Hobby Guy agreed 110%.

• Worry less about competitors and more about making your customers happy. It is well documented that if your idea is any good, you will have to spend years pitching it to anyone who will listen to make it happen. Why not try it out yourself and see? The greatest risk is doing nothing and having your customers walk out unhappy to go elsewhere.

• How about giving karma points to customers who are helpful to other customers? From Tommy's comment, a great story: 

"I have had the same experience in Best Buy and wondered the same thing. In my case I was there to pick up a check 4 port network switch for home and noticed a blurry-eyed customer 'wandering' up and down the network gear aisles. I asked him what he was looking for and he said he was trying to share his home DSL connection wirelessly. I walked him through several choices for how to do it, gave him suggestions for brands based on personal experience and even drew the connections out for him on a piece of paper. In about 10 minutes, he knew what he needed to buy and made the purchase. I'm sure a Best Buy staffer could have helped as well, but he said he'd been there for 30 minutes and received no help. They should encourage this type of peer-to-peer support and maybe give the person who helped out a discount card or something. Sorta like Karma points in the open source world."

• Interdependencies abound in the current economic environment. Peer recommendations are often the point of entry into a new customer's life for a brand. Staying in people's lives is then the work of the companies that produce and sell that product - it comes down to service. There is no amount of convincing you will ever do if your performance in that department is lacking. Today at Fast Company expert blog we discuss how to be innovative in customer conversations.

There are many new media tools where the customers are in fact the service. As I'm learning to use FriendFeed, I am seeing more and more evidence of peer support for customer service issues in the discussion threads. When TypePad was acting up, it was people in my Twitter network who helped first, for example.

If I were a company, I would look to strengthen my relationships with customers - listening and participating to the conversation they are having about your brand would be a fine step. What else would you recommend? Are you doing business with companies that are seeking new ways to be helpful?

Comments

[Audrey Julienne]

In the path of social networking and being helpful to your customers & peers, I think we can recognize the Center City Proprietors Association blog project. The objective is for business owners to exchange with other business owners on different subjects: finance, marketing, human relations... sharing their experiences or their specific competences. I'm really looking forward to get that up and running in the next month or so.

[Jennifer Johnston]

Couldn't agree with you more. Timely post for me as I just discovered a new retailer (new to me, that is, they're a chain from Denmark) who has recently launched in our area (Toronto) and had an AMAZING first experience at their store. I immediately texted some friends about it, mentioned it in a phone call shortly after I left the store, and am trying to find out the phone number/contact info for someone in their local management team to let them know how impressed I was and appreciate the level of service and selection I received.
BIG difference from walking out of a competitor not three minutes beforehand and wishing I hadn't had to purchase what I did simply because it was 'the best available' vs what I was really looking for. I ended up buying a few things in the new store and will be returning the 'best I could find' to their competitors. One thing I did notice was the service in the large, established competitor wasn't too bad, although I had to seek it out and was overly apologetic for 'bothering' the sales clerk....NOT a reaction a customer should even get close to!!!

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Audrey - thank you for pointing that out. It will be interesting to see adoption. How will contribution be made? Will members author posts? Do they envision a moderator or community person taking on a consistent flow of content?

@Jennifer - it is quite rare to have such a gratifying first experience, isn't it? Especially, let's face it, in a retail environment. In some cases, I do wonder, do stores get what they deserve in customer behavior? Stocked shelves, a clean space, pleasant and helpful staff are conducive to better behavior. I think about trips to Nordstrom and the piano player - such a festive atmosphere. Having to settle for something when you have your sights on something else, I am totally with you on that experience. Thank you for sharing your story.

[martha]

Thanks for sharing the article...

[Rudy]

Thank you for such great insights. I particularly appreciate the last bullet point about interdependencies being essential with the current (and future) economic situation. The company that remembers that it's all about customer retention (through communication and service) will be the one that weathers the storm.

[peter]

Hi Valeria,

Two conversations came up today which touch on this topic.

The first is who is the customer? My feeling is that in public companies (and the public psyche) the real customer has become the shareholder - the consumer is simply treated as an input into the business model that helps delivers on the promise to the only customers - the shareholders.

Perhaps it's always been this way?

The second is that the relationship goes both ways - the one question a customer/consumer never asks is how can I be a more appreciative consumer.

It seems consumers are like a goldfish with a voracious appetite - once around the tank and I've forgotten everything but my immediate need.

I was discussing this with a friend who had a bad check in experience - the airline had delivered safe, cost effective and timely travel to the place he wanted to go - but this didn't go on the ledger when weighing up customer service.

He was never again going to fly with that airline.

How did the enormity of being able to fly be overtaken by a check in problem? When did we lose sight of how special it is to live now ? Why has inconvenience trumped awe when we consume daily what was unimaginable a generation ago.

If capitalism is to renew, I say we begin by appreciating what we consume and those who provide it .

Thanks Valeria,

Peter

Imagine if you were a company, that went out o That's sad - we want companies to be more human than human (I've mentioned this before) -

[Ari Herzog]

Of course customers are the service. Taking a step beyond, I commented on ReadWriteWeb a while back on a thread about semantic technologies that customers should generate the advertising: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/semantic_web_advertising.php#comment-114244

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Rudy - I think each executive in a company should spend at least four weeks a year in customer service roles. Might things change a little? Maybe. But we would surely have a lot more fun on the customer side! Joking aside, it is indeed a good idea not to take customers for granted.

@Peter - yes, we've had this conversation. The thing is that marketers want us to be tidy and neat inside their charts and funnels. But we are messy and we change our mind. I am beginning to see the attitude of entitlement many bring to their behavior. A man in a car rushing you because they did not make the light (happened today) so he needs to put everyone in danger to make a point. Which is? Soccer moms who park their SUV or minivan in the middle of the running trail so they don't need to walk an extra 15 feet to the field I've got the pictures to prove it ;-). That is just sad, but real indeed. It was George Bernard Show who said: "This is the true joy in life - being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances."

@Ari - except for I wouldn't as a customer. I would not generate any ads. Maybe tell stories, I do that already about the products and services that impress me. Thank you for suggesting and providing context.

[peter]

The rushing man/soccer mum - is our lost patience seen most starkly in the roots of the current economic crisis. People no longer wanted to wait to be wealthy.

What's interesting about rushing man/soccer mum is that I suspect they never lose patience with themselves watching TV or their myspace page.

Both missing the lights and watching the TV are equally unproductive - but we get upset at 30 seconds and are oblivious to the thousands of seconds we waste.

Its a topsy turvy world