In the hands of the consumer

“Easier said than done.” We’ve all heard it a million times.  And whether we are talking about mustering up the courage to ask your crush to the prom, or helping your company make the leap to listening to and acting on your customer’s wishes and requests, the phrase still rings true.



Taken from WOMMA website: http://womma.org/main/

Chapters 7-10 of Groundswell center on engaging with customers online and how to use this digital communication to let them have a say in your product.

One of the most important ideas to come out of this particular section is the word-of-mouth energizing tactic.  Li & Bernoff quote the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)  when defining the term as, “the most honest form of marketing, building upon people’s natural desire to share their experiences with family, friends and colleagues” (pg. 131).  Perhaps this is why when North American online consumers were asked what review source they trust the most before making a purchase, 83% trust the opinion of a friend or acquaintance who has used the product/service (Figure 7-1, pg. 132).

Anyone familiar with Amazon.com knows they devote a portion of each product display to the customer review section where they solicit those who have purchased the product to let others know what they thought.  They do this through comments and a star rating system of 1-5; one star being poor, and five stars being the best.

Taken from Amazon.com

Take, for example, Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD- the most telling analysis is the 888+ individuals who state exactly how they feel about the product.  Amazon, as it does with all its products has posted all reviews, positive and negative, because they realize as Li & Bernoff also point out, the negative reviews are helpful in lending credibility/believability to all the positive reviews.  This also allows Amazon to hear much quicker where the issues with their product lie (pg. 138, 140). 

A quick scroll through the customer reviews section (where readers can also vote on if the review was useful or not) will illustrate exactly what Li & Bernoff meant when they discussed the value of energizing consumers.  In a continuing effort to help the groundswell community support itself through tactics such as forums, wikis and Q&A blogs, (as discussed in Chapter 8), Amazon has created a Kindle Help Forum page which currently has over 1000 discussions posted.

By the time we reach Chapters 9 & 10 of Groundswell, the question of product innovation is addressed.  While the idea of product development may cause sweat to form on the brow of many company executives, Li & Bernoff offer a simple groundswell solution: Make customers part of your process.

Kindle Forum taken from Amazon.com

“Your customers are chomping at the bit to tell you what to do.  …Whether you’re ready or not, they are now part of your process” (Groundswell, pg.182). Giving customers a voice in your company leads to faster innovation and limitless creativity.

So what do you think; is this tactic easier said than done?