 |
 |
 |
|
03.13.09 Using Online Communities To Listen To Your Customers  By Mike Moran Have you ever wondered how a business can get its customers to willingly talk about what they think? Have you questioned whether it's possible to entice your customers to become advocates for your brand? Or whether it's worth the effort to start an online customer community? If so, you'll probably want to read my interview with Diane Hessan, President & CEO of Communispace, a company that's been helping companies listen to their customers through online communities since 2000. 100 major brands use Communispace, so you might ask yourself whether yours should, too. Me: Your job sounds like a lot of fun. How did you make it to where you are? Lots of folks would like to learn from your career. DH: After my MBA, I went to General Foods (eventually acquired by Kraft) to learn marketing. I experienced, time after time, how the voice of the consumer would completely transform how we operated, and it became my passion. So, I have spent most of my career helping execs listen to customers. The Web and consumer empowerment have led to breakthroughs in how companies can listen, and we've been able to harness this power to drive our business and inspire what we do every day for our clients. I love being a CEO: it's a chance to build the kind of company I always wanted to work for. Me: How was Communispace formed? What did the first few clients do with the service?
DH: We raised our initial venture capital based on an internal community application, helping employees use the Web to share information. It was a great idea (harnessing the collective wisdom of your organization), but it was a total nice-to-have at the time. Our client at Hallmark, Tom Brailsford, suggested that we try creating communities of consumers instead-kind of a focus group on steroids. We listened to him, and the rest is history. Our first clients essentially had a much more primitive version of our software, which we've obviously improved dramatically since then. Even more, we've learned a tremendous amount over the years about how to engage people online, which is what has made us so unique in the market. Our early clients were incredibly adventurous, and most of them are still with us today. Fortunately, we now really know what we're doing and our clients are getting fast payoff on their investments. :-) Me: What kinds of uses can customers make of Communispace today? DH: We only create one kind of customer community, which is to help companies listen to-and act on-the voice of their customers. Clients have their fingers on the pulse of their customers continuously, and the most common results are deep insight, faster innovation, and improved marketing effectiveness. Me: What's the most valuable result that a client has had with your service? DH: We have dozens of clients who have developed breakthrough new products and services using Communispace. Those are my favorite stories, but we hesitate to take all of the credit for it. For instance, people like to say that we helped Kraft create 100-calorie packs, but it was the Nabisco team that took those consumer insights and translated them into the marketplace. Of course, these days, our clients are getting a lot of value by having their fingers on the constantly changing pulse of their consumers. Think about it: if you have great customer data, from last fall, you may as well throw it out. I am so proud of what we do, but we are also really lucky to have amazingly curious clients who listen hard and then rally their organizations to leverage what we are learning from their communities. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Copyright Mike Moran Mike Moran is an IBM Distinguished Engineer, expert on Internet marketing, and the author of Search Engine Marketing, Inc., the best-selling book on search marketing. Mike also writes the popular Biznology newsletter and blog. |
||||||||
|
| ||
-- UKceo is an iEntry, Inc. publication -- iEntry, Inc. 2549 Richmond Rd. Lexington KY, 40509 2009 iEntry, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Legal archives | advertising info | news headlines | free newsletters | comments/feedback | submit article |
