The Social Customer Manifesto

Random Tip: Getting MS Word 2007 To Default To .doc, not .docx

Random tip for Microsoft Office Word 2007 users that I just learned:  MS Word defaults to saving documents in the new .docx format, which is incompatible with all the existing versions of Word that are out there.  So, to send a file to someone who has the older version, you have to go through an annoying "Save as..." loop every time (which you'll invariably forget when it's most important).

However, my friend Korbett just alerted me to the fact that there is a four-levels-deep setting that can make Word 2007 default to save in the friendlier .doc format instead of .docx.  Here's the sequence:

"Office" button =>
"Word Options" button (it's hidden down at the bottom) =>
"Save" link =>
"Save Files in this Format" = Word 97-2003

There ya go.

Thought For The Day

Conversation evolves humanity's software.  This has a larger reach than the "traditional" kind of evolution, which merely evolves our hardware.

Related: "What we call 'authority' is the right we give others to author us, to change us."

Is It Christmas?

As retailers crank up the marketing machine, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday and BuyMoreStuff Tuesday come to pass, it warms my heart to find a site like this:

http://isitchristmas.com

(Note to Dave Winer:  you'll be pleased to know isitchristmas has an RSS feed.)

Support Tags: The Reciprocal of Customer Support

One of the primary models for "customer support" is the triage method.  While the definitions vary, these three support levels are usually defined as some variant on the following:

• Level 1: The Level 1 support team is the first point of contact in the incident response process. Customer service personnel are responsible for call handling, triage, problem characterization, and resolution of basic problems. Oftentimes, Level 1 Support answers questions by consulting lists of frequently-asked questions (FAQs).

• Level 2: The Level 2 support team is staffed with support engineers assigned by product type. The support engineers are responsible for lab-based simulation, difficult problem resolution, defect correction or escalation management to Level 3 support.

• Level 3: The Level 3 support team is staffed with senior analysts, program managers, and development engineers dedicated to working on the critical problems. They are responsible for confirmation of defects, including complex failures, performing interoperability studies, and enacting engineering level changes to permanently resolve any issues in released products.

But, there are other, customer-centric models that could exist (raise the VRM flag here, charge the hill, etc.), other models that do not inflict the vendor's silo and processes on the customer who just wants to get the damn thing fixed.  Paul Sweeney asks:

"To post a blunt example, I leave a comment on the recent Service Untitled post about a poor experience he had with Toyota. How does Toyota sense this? who should get a call, what "interaction opportunity should be offered"? Could they "sense" that this particular post was about the fact that a particular part did not function well, or that a particular dealer wasn't all that friendly? How could Enterprise 2.0 solutions re-design how this is handled?"

Great question.  This is a logical progression from the thoughts I had ("We're Listening") and Alex Barnett ("Support Tagging") Stowe Boyd and Greg Narain posited as well ("Support Tag Beacons") on the idea of "support tags" (or "beacons" as Stowe and Greg call them, although the "Beacon" term has been co-opted by Facebook these days, more here and here on that).

Extra credit:  The Consortium for Service Innovation on swarming as a customer support model

Men Without Clues

Sean Coon's impassioned take on what's wrong with the music industry (and RIAA in particular) is a must-read on how to do all the wrong things and, in the process, destroy any hope you ever had for a relationship with a customer. The best quote is...actually, I can't pick just one.  It's a great piece.   Here's the link.

Slingshot Upgrade

"The more I think about it, the more VRM [Vendor Relationship Management] makes sense. If you think about vendor customer interactions as an arms race then you have to admit that vendors have invested heavily in their weapons while customers are still playing with slingshots. Time to recalibrate." - Denis Pombriant

"What makes [VRM] so compelling is what it calls upon business to do. The truth is that the customer control of the business ecosystem is just part of what actually has gone on with consumers in the past three years or so. What may or may not have occurred to you is that the change has been social, not commercial.  Customers are in command of their own destiny because they are humans with new ways to communicate with those of their own kind." - Paul Greenberg

photo credit: aidan jones

Networking Opportunities: Social Networking for Business

"There are clear signs that momentum is building for enterprise implementation of social networks as tools to improve internal communication and to deepen customer relationships. The growing number of companies offering private-label social network solutions, as well as IBM's recent entry into the field with its Lotus Connections social software platform for business, is a sure sign of increased demand." - Nancy Davis Kho, EContent Magazine

Half Moon Bay Morning

Enterprise Social Networking

"The more I think about social networks in the enterprise, the more convinced I am that there are great business applications for the technology. The networks won’t be ad based, though." - Bruce Richardson, AMR Research.

Indeed.  But, I'm biased. :-)

Bonus reading: Social Networking for Businesses and Associations

Tom Peters: What Is A Customer Relationship?

Over at the Tom Peters blog, Steve Yastrow asks:

"What is a customer relationship?"

The definition that Yastrow finally offers is a good start.  Yastrow offers:

"A relationship is an ongoing conversation with a customer..."

(He later offers a longer version which reads "A relationship is an ongoing conversation with a customer...in which the customer never thinks of you without thinking of the two of you."  I think the longer version muddles the point a bit.  I also think the longer version is a little creepy, in a Sting/Police, "Every Breath You Take" stalker-y kind of way.  But I digress.)

Yastrow's definition is almost precisely aligned with a post that I made here in 2005 (paraphrased: "A customer relationship is a set of linked conversations over time"), which itself harkened back to a conversation with Doc Searls back in 2004.

This is really important, critical stuff.

Creation of this type of customer relationship has a number of prerequisites.

• Actively listening to the customer - A conversation requires multiple parties be present and interacting.  If you're the only one speaking, it's not a conversation.  It's a monologue.
• Memory - Relationships are long-running.  They are not atomic points in time, like transactions.  As such, both customer and vendor need to be able to remember what's been said and exchanged in the past.
• A long-term view - Relationships (typically) don't have clearly defined end points.  A relationship is, in most cases, intended to be an ongoing concern.

This puts a responsibility on the vendor to track conversations over time.  But let me pose a question.  For you, as a customer...if you want a relationship with a vendor, how do you track your interactions with that vendor over time?  For example, how do you track things when you're searching for a solution, or when you've bought something, or when you have a question or support issue?  Note cards?  Post-its?  Excel?  Simply "remembering?"

This issue becomes extremely relevant as we move into a VRM-enabled (VRM=Vendor Relationship Management) world.  Because if we want buyers and sellers to build mutually beneficial relationships, both need to be involved, and both need to be able to contribute their portions of the conversation history to the dialog.

photo credit: AyG

VRM Rogue Wave

Tara Hunt writes an open letter to marketers:

"At every step of the way, I have to lament the fact that I was missing yet ANOTHER item to complete my experience…yet…when I turned around to seek out those items, NOBODY WAS THERE. Nada. Nope. Y’all were too busy running around the interwebs sending unsolicited emails, gaming Google search results, planting awful banner ads where nobody wants them and setting up MySpace and Facebook pages that everyone mocks.

You see where I’m getting with this?

Now, my buddy Doc Searls and a group of really smart folks have been working on this thing called VRM (stands for Vendor Relationship Management), which gets at solving the issue that I’m talking about. In basic terms, it puts the customer in charge of when the vendor can deliver messages.

Now, I know what you are thinking: “Customers in charge? What about ME? I’m trained to get the word out there! Haven’t you ever heard of branding?” Yep. I’ve heard of it and I also see it declining in relevance. Truly long lasting brands are those who build RELATIONSHIPS with their customers, who then go off and recommend them to others they have RELATIONSHIPS with. Those pop up ads? Billboards? Television commercials? They are just interrupting people, which ends up annoying them. Do you stay in a RELATIONSHIP with someone you are annoyed with? Nope.

Believe me, this VRM stuff is not only good for customers, but it is good for YOU as well. It puts you firmly in the position of being exactly where you need to be (available) when the customer has money in hand, poised to purchase. It puts you in the role of helpful sidekick. It makes you indispensably useful."

Read the whole thing here.

The Best Policy

"Be open with customers. Be honest always, and let them into your business. The huge upside to your customers “getting involved” is that they will come with terrific ideas that will grow your business and customer loyalty." - Kim Proctor

The Wizard of ID

Interesting.

"Early next year the government of British Columbia plans to introduce a virtual ID card for its citizens. The virtual ID is actually a document that will reside on a user's computer and will enable him or her to access any and all British Columbia government Web sites and use their services.The virtual ID contains a bare minimum of information about a user; namely, whether the individual is over the age of 19, a British Columbia resident, or a student.

The virtual ID also protects a user's personal information from being stolen as that info is no longer stored at the various government agencies, but is kept at an online government service, BCeID. In addition, the virtual ID protects a user's privacy as the government can't track what sites a citizen visits. The greatest advantage for citizens is "they have control over their personal information," says Ian Bailey, director of application architecture, Office of the Chief Information Officer. 'It's really about control. You're in complete control.'"

More about it here.

Very interesting indeed.  A little more poking around regarding BCeID, where we learn a bit more:

"BCeID is an online service that makes it possible for you to use your Login ID and password to sign in securely to BCeID participating Government online services.

With a BCeID you can:

• Sign in to government participating sites using your BCeID and a single password so you don’t have to remember a different Login ID and password at every website.
• With BCeID, you don’t need to enrol for a Login ID and password at each new site you visit --- simply use the Login ID and password that you enrolled as your BCeID to sign in to any participating government site or service.

There are two types of BCeID:

Basic BCeID - Allows you to access Online Services that need to recognize your account when you return, and do not require to know who you are.  To obtain a Basic BCeID there is no verification of your identity and registration is completed entirely online.

Business BCeID - Allows you to access Online Services that require that your business organization’s unique identity must be verified and where you are acting in a business capacity as an authorized representative of the business (i.e. not as an individual). Business BCeID may be used by representatives of companies, partnerships, sole proprietorships or organizations including municipalities and not-for-profit societies. Additional accounts for employees can be created as required. "

I'm especially intrigued by this section of the BCeID Privacy Policy:

"6.1 Customers [ed.- they called us "customers" - I like this already...] have a right to access their personal information, subject to limited exceptions.

6.2 A customer can access their own key identity information and contact information by utilizing BCeID’s online Profile Management tools.

6.3 It is unlikely that BCeID would hold additional personal information about a customer, beyond that stated in policy 6.2. In the unlikely event that additional personal information has been collected (where unusual account activity is detected, for example) a request to review that information may be made in writing under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to the Information Management Branch at the Ministry of Finance.

6.4 All written requests for access to personal information will be responded to within 30 business days, unless grounds exist to extend that time period. Where grounds exist to extend the time period for responding, the customer will receive a written notice of the extension and the reasons for the extension.

6.5 If a request for access to personal information is refused in full or in part, the customer will be notified in writing. The written response will provide the reasons for the refusal and the recourse that is available to the customer.

A clear privacy policy, an ability for customers to control their own information, a stated service level commitment for disputes?  Holy cow.  We need to learn more about this in the context of VRM, methinks.

Making a Mess

"We are about to witness the loud noise and mess that happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object." - Bernard Lunn on VRM (go ahead and click that link)