Feedback Leads To Influence

I think Steve Halling's post yesterday regarding getting to the heart of what a company does for a customer gives me pause for thought about social media and the way it is being approached by many companies and consultants. Public relations people write, write well and often, and so because of this expertise public relations people have come to dominate much of the services in social media. Yet much of public relations involved media outreach, though definitely not all. Such outreach whether pitching or discussing is not the same as using feedback to improve a company and products.

In my reviews of Fortune 500 companies I see companies are thinking about social media and blogging as a way to display thought leadership in their community. I agree that blogs can be used as a way to convey a company's ideas, but at the same time it must be understood that blogging and social media is a two way street. You also have to listen to customers, peers and even competitors if you are going to be successful, and act on that intelligence.

Many writers have talked about influence, how to measure it, which people are influential and even whether it should be measured. The goal of which appears to be to try to influence those people to accept a company's ideas, by either pitching them or by appearing to befriend them. The strategy of promotion while understandable, will not beat I believe a strategy which also combines promotion with market research, operational excellence and product development.

I think Steve Halling's post points to a simpler model. One that I've discussed before, Steve suggests you focus your company's efforts on making sure the customer's experience is the best your company can provide and make a profit. Steve's model is no mere promotion of products and services, but one that is tied to action; a company must strive to be successful if it is going to have a customer promote the company’s activities.

Dell has given the industry the right model in my book. Concentrate on structural changes that please customers at the every day level. Use social media to monitor customer's opinion of your services, if criticized reasonably, take action and make changes not just for the one customer but for the product line to avoid any further instances of complaint. And use two-way communication to gain customer's ideas, which in turn are put into practice as long as the exercise is profitable.

Don’t mistake me, I do think that blogger outreach, even pitching will work for a company, but I’d suggest richer rewards can be obtained when you follow your customer’s opinions and ideas, which where expedient would both improve your company and have your customers evangelizing your efforts.