A Customer Aware World

In theory, yes. But so few customers/employees (in the broader world) are as wired-in as those who are aggressive users of social networking technology. For the short-term, a lot of that information will probably have to come with good old-fashioned customer-centered talking rather than technology solutions.

Nobody likes to be treated “the same as everyone else” by a company or a person.

A large part of good customer service comes from really knowing your customers well. The hardest thing to do, in my experience, is to scale this part of your company. Anything I can do to help me understand an individual customer better in an effort to create a better experience for that person and a better relationship is a good thing.

When you have 10 clients its pretty easy. When you have 50 it gets harder. By the time you crest 200, it's much harder. If you're a large retailer, it's impossible.

You want to treat everyone as a unique human and have a real understanding of their needs and struggles so you can focus your effort to help them in a way that is friendly and still efficient.

Sometimes its the little things you know about someone that can help you create this “relationship.”

Some might argue that applying electronic filters to an individual's online profiles in an effort to serve that customer better is not a creating a real relationship, but a false sense of relationship. I'd say that they're right. It's not what we think of as a real human relationship, but if it feels more like a real relationship to the customer, it's still a good thing.

I think this is the way that brands will look to move (in a Minority Report, product placement kinda way), but I think Google are so far ahead – because of the volume of data they hoover from people's activities everyday.

For many other businesses – does that mean that Google will licence their data out to you so you can deliver customised content based on what they know? I wouldn't be surprised.

Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. Sure. there could be a Coup at Google and the world might stop spinning on such an altruistic axis, but there's enough of us want this to work, and we're smarter than *them*, right?

Google is too smart for their own good.

Seriously.

If I got my “15 minutes with Page and Brin”,
I donate it to mankind, by showing them that the rest of the world
does not feel life like the Mountain View Techno Bubble.

I see this day in and day out.
Brilliant so and so at Google. So what?
All the online you could consume if you lived to be 1,000
already on their servers. So what?

They are the least social, most clumsy inept communicators
online today. Do you think their “we know just what you want”
arrogance is even the right approach?

No, it's a symptom of a smug company.

Yes it's a cute trick when sites and stores know
I'm looking for Steely Dan, not henna color hair dye. SO WHAT?

I don't want your site to remember my sock height preference.
*Too much about us is already stored online for targeting.
How many future choices does that cost us?*

No, I want you to integrate 'socially integrated customer experience' by
listening and responding. By picking up the phone or Twitter.

Amazon is a good model for this level of customer-connected service. Glad you’re thinking about how to transfer it to bricks and mortar businesses, Chris. Ex: When I bought my Flip on Amazon, there was no AC charger adapter available, a pain when no USB port was available on the fly. Last week, Amazon sent me an email letting me know that there is now an AC adapter for my cam. Do you think I bought it? Faster than you can say PayPal!! I also picked up one of the five books they showed me in the same email on topics related to others I’ve bought. This is an idea I’m going to think about, too. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

I agree, you need some knowledge of your customers in order to enhance their buying/owning/partnering experience. The more knowledge you have, you more you can customize and personalize that experience.

The (valid?) fear for consumers is that this extensive personal knowledge will be used to exploit, instead of enhance.

Almost every time I think of the logical extension of social media, I think of Minority Report and the individual-specific billboards that make GAP khaki recommendations based on retinal scans.

I think the real challenge here is to focus on an awareness of social media behavior and how that changes the customer service experience. If the business wants to be more customer centric, what is it willing to do to create that closer experience on its traditional customer service, but also using social media?

My company certainly doesn't know who I know.

It doesn't know what it knows though.

Companies in my experience use their existing knowledge and networks poorly.

Like Molly, I think about the state of how close or far we are from Minority Report, that scene with Tom Cruise running away from the talking billboards.

And yet, that's the goal. So who knows? Destiny?

Too many seams exist in the ubiquitous computing infrastructure to make the scenarios practical, much less desirable by many people. It is a large leap to assume that just because a majority of people engage in online social networking or communities that they want those “places” to follow them around.

I would welcome something like this. Imagine a large retailer being able to have a simple profile of you, as mentioned by Chris above, by recognizing my mobile device etc. when I walk in to the store.

If it's done in a way that adds value to me then why not?

I think what you saying is very true. For example, Amazon recognizes me based on my my previous viewing, buying habits, and what book categories I'm most interested. Therefore providing me with recommendations in these areas every time I revisit the site. I do believe that some type of “customer recognition or profile” will continue to grow, and people will certainly expect it.
Those companies that don't provide this added convenience could be viewed upon as having poor customer service. The better you know your customer and they know you is only a benefit in building the brand, relationship, or sale.

Retinal Scans? Pah! So last decade. How about sensors picking up your scent and analysing the molecules and *then* giving you ads.

Imaging the billboard offering you products based on what your pheromones where doing… Okay, maybe not – but you get the idea!

I think Google wants to make it as ubiquitous as that – they are mining data and learning all the time how to use it to influence (manipulate?) behaviour. As other types of infrastructure become part of our lives then we can continue to mash the data and inputs together.

Did anyone imagine you could send a tweet to a computer in Canada that would water a community garden? Nope, but it's here… and it works!

Anyway, I'm wide-eyed in wonder at what's next!

And yet, most companies still don't even customize and personalize email communication with their customers, when all the data to do so is sitting right there on the server. Ridiculous. All trends point to 1:1. Google search results. Facebook news feed algorithm. ISPs delivering email to inbox or spambox based on your interaction frequency. Content isn't king. Personalized content is king. I'd sure like to be able to give individual people recommendations for which blog posts to read, based on what they've liked in the past – Netflix style. Someone needs to make a WordPress plug-in for that.

It would be interesting if companies like Starbucks tuned into Foursquare and granted a newly crowned Foursquare mayor a free latte or something when they visited. Companies would greatly benefit if they awarded people for their loyalty. That Foursquare mayor/starbucks junkie would probably tweet about his free latte and that would just encourage more people to participate. But I agree with M: variety is the spice of life, because if consumers were always getting this type of attention, they'd take it for granted, and would lose its value.

It is true that ppl get used to a certain type of treatment! The great thing about social media is that it's always changing and so ways to “reward” ppl for their input are as unlimited as the medium. FWIW, I could go for a dbl shot espresso right now. ;o) Best, Molly

Hey Chris Brogan COMMUNITY,
Can anyone point me in the direction with a link to Chris' post with the song Fireflies by Owl City and the cool writing.

THANK YOU! : )

I wrote about Fireflies?

I like your example of your airline. This gets the point across, rather effectively, that social tools are not just about broadcasting or PR and that customer service does not only exist at point of complaint.
I keep hearing people say that social media is just a communication owned by the customer. While that can certainly be part of it, it is not the entirety. Your airline making your ticket buying and processing experience more intuitive certainly helps the customer, but it also is valuable for the airline, and not just in terms of customer service or sales. Having intelligent systems based off your users history and experience helps with routing, pricing, seasonal trends, capacity predictions, service offerings, lead generation, marketing collateral etc.
Social tools that help the organization perform better do not have to always directly touch the end customer, but that's ok. The end result is a better connected, resourced and able organization who can better service customer needs.

Your point about leveraging a tool like Foursquare for customer service and brand building is spot on. I'm a newbie on Foursquare (heck, I even have a badge for that!) still trying to assess the value, but I can start to appreciate the potential, especially with one of your favorite brands, Roger Smith Hotel.

You pull up in your cab, virtually check in on Foursquare, Roger Smith sees this post and that you're about to walk through the door, and then begins the preparation of your real-world check-in even before you've paid for the cab.

“People expect a certain level of customer service as table stakes to the game. In the new, much more wired world, I believe we’re asking for more. I want my airlines to know just how often I fly, which seat I tend to choose, how often I upgrade, and whether I normally check my bag. Think about how helpful they could be if they did something with that information.”

I just said this to my wife last week. Why do I constantly have to tell companies the same things over and over. Airlines was my example as well. I book my flights for business through the same site every time with the same login. It never fails that I end up changing seats and flights from the defaults.

This would be great for businesses such as credit cards, my cable company, and Sears. Heck, Amazon does a wee bit of it, but could do so much more. They were offering me Blu-Ray versions of movies long before I had a player for them.

Why not set preferences on phone calls as well. Pizza Hut has been doing that for years with their system. They know my most common ordered combo just by my phone number.

Am I concerned about privacy? Heck no. In an age where my attention is constantly diverted and expectations are rising, why worry about someone knowing my favorite pizza. The convenience out weighs any potential issues with someone else knowing that.

A step up game changer might even be an automatic review of recent purchases with recommendations at the checkout when I shop in person. This would work at Best Buy and Borders where I use my membership card at checkout. Or how about custom tailored coupons at the grocery?