Comments on: Customer Participation and Social Media Rocker Chris Brogan

By: Teri Hautzinger

Teri Hautzinger — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:31:03 +0000

My father was a pioneer in marketing and taught me at a young age that the “Customer is King”. Since then (and I’m not soo young anymore) that philosophy continues to drive my thinking and approach. Active listening, participating and interacting with customers, stake holders and advisors is not only essential but basically will define who survives going forward. The communication mechanisms are so much more dynamic, easily accessible, and cheap now that customers have a true voice; and they are using it. This kind of opportunity to personalize our relationships with our customers should be a marketers dream. The challenge is turning these relationships and knowledge into quick response and action. As a for profit marketer, moving into a non profit leadership role makes this even more complicated since “marketing” is a foreign concept and social media is not even a thought.
Any advice, help in the non – profit social media world would be appreciated.

By: Stef Amoureuse

Stef Amoureuse — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:12:39 +0000

When all the business companies understand that the customer should be on first place , the world would become better place

Thanks for sharing. Interesting article.

By: Becky Carroll

Becky Carroll — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:23:46 +0000

Glad you liked it, Shanatu.

REA in Toronto – Thanks for pointing out the difference between listening and participation. I like participation because it is 2-way. We get our customers to engage with us/interact with us, and we learn something new about them in each interaction. The most successful companies take those learnings and apply them to action more quickly than their competitors.

By: real estate agent in Toronto

real estate agent in Toronto — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:18:32 +0000

I’m a real estate agent in Toronto and I have to agree with your views. I haven’t called it “participation” in my business – I have called it “interaction” – but it seems to come down to the same thing. Good customer service means listening and responding. For me, that might mean listening to a buyer’s needs in a home and then really researching to find that perfect house. For someone in the retail industry, that might mean looking to find exactly what a customer is searching for. In the past, I was told to “listen” to customers, but I don’t think that really captures the essence of what is being discussed as well as “participation” or “interaction.” You can “listen” to a customer, nod your head, smile, and still completely fail to deliver. I certainly prefer the idea of “participation.”