Social Media Helps Me Help You
Two experiences in the past 2 days have spurred this post.
This morning I spent a solid 30 minutes on the My Starbucks Idea site. I discovered it via Shel Holtz, who reminds us that this is a much-welcomed copy of Dell’s IdeaStorm site. The concept is to use a Digg-like voting system to let folks proffer and vote on each other’s ideas about how to improve the Starbucks Experience.
I spend a lot of time in Starbucks. Wherever I go, there they are; the coffee’s consistently good; it’s a convenient place for a quick meeting. My wife is a regular, too. I shudder to think how much of our disposable income is devoted to the Seattle giant…
But by the same token, this “investment” motivates me to want to make Starbucks even better.
As a consumer, I am happy to tell a company “how to get better” if they give me a neat, simple way to do so – and, in particular, if I think there’s a decent chance that “my voice will be heard.”
The 2nd experience came during a meeting with a national theater chain. The get-together was ostensibly about Social Media and PR concepts, but in the course of the conversation I found myself ranting (productively/constructively) about simple things that could be done to improve the basic experience.
For example, as the parent of teenagers it’s often my job to idle in the car until the movie lets out… if Yahoo Movies says the movie is 110 minutes, I show up ~110 minutes after the show was slated to start – and invariably wind up waiting for 5 – 15 minutes because the stated showtimes & duration don’t account for the previews.
“Why not find a way to let people know when they’ll actually be exiting the theater?” I asked our hosts. “As a parent, you’ll save me gas, boredom, frustration (and WORRY! – if the kids are let out 15 minutes ‘late,’ I am freaking out).”
This silly suggestion elicited a bemused but grateful “hmmm.” They even wrote it down! Victory!
Reflecting on the satisfaction I felt when I saw those pens put to paper; and on the sense of empowerment I experienced at My Starbucks Idea, I was reminded that everyone – everyone! – wears an invisible placard around their neck that reads, “Make Me Feel Important.”
The brands that empower consumers to feel important and impactful are the brands I expect to win in the long-term.
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Comments
Todd,
I wish more companies were as proactive as Starbucks and Dell. But organizations are too scared to hear negative feedback, especially when it is publicly shared, like on blogs or forums. They are missing out on an opportunity to get real feedback from real people who are, above all, their clients - not some [industry] specialists. When a company is open for comments or even criticism, both, the company itself and its customers, are better off.
Posted by: Tatiana Tugbaeva | March 26, 2008 01:45 PM
I think vehicles like this teach an important lesson. Conversation's great, but really it's a vehicle to engage. Engaged customers are the end result of the conversation process. Allowing the to co-create with the company is the best form of engagement possible.
Posted by: Geoff Livingston | March 26, 2008 08:35 PM
Todd, the movie-time idea is brilliant: simple, but practical. As a father of a teenage daughter, I've had similar experiences.
Let's take this one step further: I'd even be happy to sign up for a text-messaging service that sent me messages at intervals of my choosing ("Movie ends in 30 minutes ... movie ends in 10 minutes...) Airlines can do it, so I'm sure theatres can as well.
Here's hoping you get some more feedback here on your idea, and that you can forward it to the company.
Posted by: Bryan Person, BryanPerson.com | March 27, 2008 06:19 PM
A couple weeks ago, I got an REI members e-mail and it had a survey. Sometimes they give you coupons if you take surveys so I took it and they basically asked, "if we blogged would you read it?" and "if we participated in Facebook, Myspace or other social media would you read and pay attention?".
I basically said, "sure I'd probably read one or two blogs since I'm not THAT into REI. But they should do it anyway for people who ARE into it."
It was a nice way to plug social media and feel like my opinion mattered a bit.
Posted by: Megan | March 29, 2008 04:32 PM