Comments on: will social media improve your customer experience? http://www.ceforprofit.com/2009/04/will-social-media-improve-your-customer-experience/ insights from author linda ireland Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:50:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Linda http://www.ceforprofit.com/2009/04/will-social-media-improve-your-customer-experience/comment-page-1/#comment-104 Linda Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:49:13 +0000 http://www.customerexperienceforprofit.com/blog/?p=50#comment-104 Patrick - I love that you got us back into the shoes of the customer with your comments. And you're right, increasing numbers of customers of all kinds are moving their center of gravity online in the social sphere. Looks like we are two of them. I've noticed that depending on the need or desire I'm out to solve, social media factors differently into the experience I want to have. Demographically, who hangs out in which social community also varies (as this <a href="http://bit.ly/xvawh" rel="nofollow">great resource</a> from Kent Lewis shows) So if you're making social media choices on behalf of an organization out for profitable growth - keeping that target customer and experience in mind will help. Thanks for stopping by and sharing some good thinking. Any more ideas? Patrick – I love that you got us back into the shoes of the customer with your comments. And you’re right, increasing numbers of customers of all kinds are moving their center of gravity online in the social sphere. Looks like we are two of them.

I’ve noticed that depending on the need or desire I’m out to solve, social media factors differently into the experience I want to have. Demographically, who hangs out in which social community also varies (as this great resource from Kent Lewis shows) So if you’re making social media choices on behalf of an organization out for profitable growth – keeping that target customer and experience in mind will help. Thanks for stopping by and sharing some good thinking. Any more ideas?

]]> By: Patrick Bultema http://www.ceforprofit.com/2009/04/will-social-media-improve-your-customer-experience/comment-page-1/#comment-103 Patrick Bultema Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:42:07 +0000 http://www.customerexperienceforprofit.com/blog/?p=50#comment-103 Good post. I do think Social Media is an element of online customer experience. However, I don't agree with the comments here that Social Media is just another communications channel. I think it is something more. In fact, I think customers are setting up "residence" online. It has much more of a identity based, holistic quality of presence. As a result, I think the "residence" customers are setting up online is increasingly more important than their street address ... and definitely more important than their landline phone number. So I do think Social Media is one of the key elements of this new, emerging customer experience phenomenon online. Patrick Good post. I do think Social Media is an element of online customer experience. However, I don’t agree with the comments here that Social Media is just another communications channel. I think it is something more. In fact, I think customers are setting up “residence” online. It has much more of a identity based, holistic quality of presence. As a result, I think the “residence” customers are setting up online is increasingly more important than their street address … and definitely more important than their landline phone number.

So I do think Social Media is one of the key elements of this new, emerging customer experience phenomenon online.

Patrick

]]> By: Linda http://www.ceforprofit.com/2009/04/will-social-media-improve-your-customer-experience/comment-page-1/#comment-87 Linda Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:09:48 +0000 http://www.customerexperienceforprofit.com/blog/?p=50#comment-87 Kathy, I like that you start with ROI as the outcome of SM efforts - and end by noting that a focus on the customer must be the driver of such choices. I often use a line of falling dominos as an analogy to illustrate that point: If a company uses a clearly defined picture how it can solve a need, problem or desire for a carefully chosen target customer, than choices like "how much social media & how fast" become easier and you make more money. This could be the key to the excellent "HOW to be customer centric" question you pose. If I'm 24 and trying to find a job the SM choices Monster.com makes will be different than what Microsoft might do if I'm a 54 year old CIO out to improve security of my company's data. In other words, could using the need and target customer be the "customer centric" focus you suggest? Thanks for stopping by. Kathy, I like that you start with ROI as the outcome of SM efforts – and end by noting that a focus on the customer must be the driver of such choices. I often use a line of falling dominos as an analogy to illustrate that point: If a company uses a clearly defined picture how it can solve a need, problem or desire for a carefully chosen target customer, than choices like “how much social media & how fast” become easier and you make more money.

This could be the key to the excellent “HOW to be customer centric” question you pose. If I’m 24 and trying to find a job the SM choices Monster.com makes will be different than what Microsoft might do if I’m a 54 year old CIO out to improve security of my company’s data. In other words, could using the need and target customer be the “customer centric” focus you suggest? Thanks for stopping by.

]]> By: Kathy Herrmann http://www.ceforprofit.com/2009/04/will-social-media-improve-your-customer-experience/comment-page-1/#comment-85 Kathy Herrmann Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:48:57 +0000 http://www.customerexperienceforprofit.com/blog/?p=50#comment-85 Linda - Thanks for further stimulating the SM and customer service discussion. You make a good point that companies should give thought to whether participating SM initiatives make sense for a company. It all comes back to ROI -- and with social media, a large of what will drive the ongoing investment cost is related to salaries. Part of what companies need to realize, though, is their customers are out there participating in SM whether they are or not. And to ClickFox's point, the results of SM can be pretty immediate and in some cases, far reaching. As to Moaz's observations on SM failures....It seems to me it all comes down to customer-centricity. Companies that pay attention to customers (and find the right balance with cost to service) are going to seek out the right social media to interact. And although today's Web 2.0 focuses on online media, phone calls and emails are another form of legitimate social media. Companies that fail to pay attention and listen to customers will fail at worst or achieve lower profits, at best, than they might if they partnered with their customers. So to me, the question isn't whether a company should be customer centric but how. And the answer to how is driven by your customers. Via what formats do they want to be served. Ask them and observe them. They'll guide companies to where they should be. Linda – Thanks for further stimulating the SM and customer service discussion.

You make a good point that companies should give thought to whether participating SM initiatives make sense for a company. It all comes back to ROI — and with social media, a large of what will drive the ongoing investment cost is related to salaries.

Part of what companies need to realize, though, is their customers are out there participating in SM whether they are or not. And to ClickFox’s point, the results of SM can be pretty immediate and in some cases, far reaching.

As to Moaz’s observations on SM failures….It seems to me it all comes down to customer-centricity. Companies that pay attention to customers (and find the right balance with cost to service) are going to seek out the right social media to interact. And although today’s Web 2.0 focuses on online media, phone calls and emails are another form of legitimate social media.

Companies that fail to pay attention and listen to customers will fail at worst or achieve lower profits, at best, than they might if they partnered with their customers.

So to me, the question isn’t whether a company should be customer centric but how. And the answer to how is driven by your customers. Via what formats do they want to be served. Ask them and observe them. They’ll guide companies to where they should be.

]]> By: Linda http://www.ceforprofit.com/2009/04/will-social-media-improve-your-customer-experience/comment-page-1/#comment-13 Linda Fri, 08 May 2009 03:40:45 +0000 http://www.customerexperienceforprofit.com/blog/?p=50#comment-13 ClickFox, Your point that “social networks (as are popular blogs) can damage or enhance your brand in ways that were harder to do before” is a powerful one. Social media is instant and potent.. And I suspect you, Micheal Maoz and I might all agree with the old adage that you shouldn’t ask a question if you don’t want to hear the answer. In other words, don’t enage in social media if you don’t incorporate what you hear and learn into actions that continually improve your cusotmer experience. Thanks for the comment! ClickFox, Your point that “social networks (as are popular blogs) can damage or enhance your brand in ways that were harder to do before” is a powerful one. Social media is instant and potent.. And I suspect you, Micheal Maoz and I might all agree with the old adage that you shouldn’t ask a question if you don’t want to hear the answer. In other words, don’t enage in social media if you don’t incorporate what you hear and learn into actions that continually improve your cusotmer experience. Thanks for the comment!

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