Customers are more mobile, choosier, more adorned with options, more judicious with time, more demanding of simplicity, and less tolerant with business-driven organizational procedures and policies.
They also talk more about experiences. What used to be transactional, “I’ll never return” disappointed customers now become petulant gossips on a mission to make sure that businesses are held accountable. On trip advisor: “The waitress was rude”; on Twitter: “I lost my credit card and it’s taken the bank a month to send a new one.”
Social customers say nice things, too — they recommend their “friends” to visit certain restaurants, to buy certain products, and to try certain beers. We have always done this, of course — to our friends in the bar or at the local gym locker room — if its fresh in mind, a nice recommendation is great value gossip! What’s changed is the technological ubiquity of the Web and its ability to electronically network people around the world. And, the fact that these comments can last forever, and be aggregated, counted, double counted, used by competition, and even by a couple in a bar in Wicker Park as the final checkpoint to decide which steak house they would try later that evening.
These networks are a primary source of knowledge-transfer for a growing “social” movement in what our businesses call “customers” and “addressable markets.”
Social networks can create communities of people that have deep feelings and trust towards each other — without ever having met each other. They are a fertile ground for influence and opinion and are completely uncontrollable by business or government except in some countries with totalitarian Internet policies.
So what do businesses do about it?
Some would have you believe that everything has changed and we are heading towards customer anarchy — but I would say quit whining and dry your eyes, the game is still there to be played.
Ultimately, the world is still governed by the forces of supply and demand — innovative products, great service, high availability, and low prices are rewarded by increased business. This has been uninterrupted by the mid 1990s new commerce pattern provided by the Web. It was still true when 3G got launched and it always will be.
Let me illustrate a personal experience that outlines a current case-in-point.
A statement of personal opinion: I don’t enjoy flying transatlantic with United Airlines — for all the obvious reasons.
I was in Glasgow, my Aer Lingus Flight to Chicago was cancelled due to unprecedented volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano being slowly blown across northern Europe by a pitifully weak wind. Aer Lingus had no choice but to ground their aircraft, or else the floating glass and lava would ground them. I am not blaming Aer Lingus, but if United offered me a flight a single day earlier (as soon as it’s safe to fly) then I’m on it. It doesn’t make me a loyal United customer or a disloyal Aer Lingus customer. My experience and rationale is driven mostly by date of arrival home, back to Chicago and my dog, Winston.
My point is everything is becoming commoditized. I am not a fan of United Airlines, but offer me a flight as soon as it’s safe — I’m on it. It’s not just an Act-of-God inspired switch either; if United was 50 percent cheaper I probably would have booked it. If they offered me a free upgrade I would have taken it. If it had wireless Internet I would have gone with it, too. Product innovation (e.g., in flight Wi-Fi), service excellence (bigger seat with free fizzy wine), and price still would shake every bit of brand loyalty out of me.
I’m a person that invests time and money with many businesses; few of these investments have yielded a deep, emotional, loyal connection of any kind. Instead, I find myself becoming increasingly sensitive to the process inefficiencies, lack of imagination, and often flagrant disrespect of my personal time that some of these companies exhibit.
I sense though that things might be changing. Genuinely social and customer-centered business are making progress with some really cool technologies to construct more meaningful relationships that scale, and cross traditional boundaries. The technology is definitely making a difference. Take a look at how quickly and powerfully the community of Volcano refugees connected and inspired each other with ideas (and offers) of how to get home.
While most big businesses can’t rely on this kind of tribal (positive) passion – you do have all the means to use disruptive technologies to make a valuable difference to consumers in this ever-connected world.
Making it really simple — I look forward to:
- being an engaged participant of a community that helps me get the best deals from my chosen suppliers, while actually shaping the organizations future around my experiences. “I’m a 747 and Air-Whitey was my idea.”
- being presented pertinent information wherever I am that helps me replan my schedule when volcanoes erupt, and take advantage of really appropriate offers that make me happy
- having a continuum of choices to engage with my chosen businesses so when I need to get things done I can trigger consistent, efficient, goal-oriented processes from wherever I happen to be.
Leaders that embrace this concept of customer engagement will help customers improve their own experiences and along the way, create a great deal more active-advocates and resulting emotional positivity. I guess the customers will reciprocate enough that shareholders will be pleased, too.
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This blog was also featured on 121media’s Think Customers blog on May 28, 2010