Gordon McLean

Who are the experts?

In a couple of weeks time I’m going to an industry conference where I’ll be standing in front of a room of fellow professionals and talking about social media models and the different ways they can be used to create, disseminate, and collect information. Unfortunately last night instead of diligently researching and preparing my presentation I was at the cinema watching Some Like It Hot (yes, the Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon movie). I mention this only as a means to highlight the fact that I am far from being an expert when it comes to how best to use social media.

That said, as we are hurtling forwards with our plans to unleash Ciboodle Crowd within our own developer community website, I guess it’s safe to say that I’m not a beginner either. Hey, if nothing else it’ll give me something to talk about when I’m at the conference.

The crossover of information as part of the customer experience remains an interesting one and with social media driving more and more informal interactions between customers, it’s becoming more prevalent in both my profession (Technical Communications) and the wider Customer Relationship Management industry. Continue reading…

Marketing Team

Are You Ready to Serve the Now Generation?

Self-service is increasingly being recognized as a critical path of the customer experience, prompting some self styled business gurus to quip that in fact, “the best service is no service.”

While many of us prefer the hand-holding that only human to human interaction can facilitate, the data suggests that a majority of us prefer to be the masters of our own destiny; the captains of our own ships; the makers of our own fate. After all, if social psychologists are to be believed then those with a higher internal locus of control make far happier individuals. But enough with the pop-psychology 101.

Continue reading…