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Can you Listen?

by Lora Cecere on October 1, 2010 · 0 comments

Customer-centric supply chains have been the dream.  Technologies are making it more feasible, but can you listen?_____________________________________________________________________________________________

In most companies, the group named customer service is mis-named. While the department  is named “customer service” , it really is a group of order takers. Next week at Altitmeter Group’s first conference, The Rise of Social Commerce, I will be presenting on how social technologies have evolved to driven enlightened engagement.  …to put true Service into customer response.   …to accelerate  innvoation.  Consider these two stories from my research for the event:

If only I had the Clout of  Dooce

For leaders (Dell, REI, Newell Rubbermaid), Twitter can enable a customer service transformation. Customers WANT to be heard. Twitter is an enabler. The struggle is helping the organization to Listen.  Sometimes it takes a baseball bat.  The ability to listen happens only through failure. 

Meet Dooce.  When Heather Armstrong (@dooce)’s Whirlpool washing machine broke down, she called the Maytag repair man.  When her calls to the customer service, and the subsequent visit by the repairman did not resolve the problem, she turned to twitter.  Dooce advised her legion of over a million twitter followers to not buy Maytag.  Her first tweet :  “DO NOT EVER BUY A MAYTAG”, was followed in three minutes by a tweet of “ I repeat: OUR MAYTAG EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE”, was followed by “Have I mentioned what a nightmare our experience was with Maytag?” arrived into the inbox of the newly formed Whirlpool’s customer service team It was the team’s 12th tweet.  The incident made national news.

Dooce had an impact.  Today, the Whirlpool customer service team has been transformed to listen to the customer. They meet weekly cross functionally – marketing, customer service, field service and product management—to listen the voice of the customer from Twitter and Facebook.  Unlike @Dooce, I had a great response from Whirlpool customer service.  I had bought a Kitchen Aid mixer that did not have an instruction manual.  I tweeted for help, and had a great response within an hour.  This experience was far different than the one that I experienced with Delta on a delayed flight out of Atlanta on my birthday.  Here is an excerpt from the tweet stream:

@Delta.  You are killing me.  Delta flight 9869 is delayed.  Moved gates in ATL 3X. I will arrive home 7 hours late and miss my birthday party. #travel

@lcecere.  Your flight is not the responsibility of Delta.  It is a code-share partner.  Take up your issue with them.    

Imagine how I felt, siting at C-gates on what was supposed to be my birthday party.  If only I was @Dooce with over a million followers, maybe I would have gotten a more positive response. Unfortunately, for 80% of the companies I interviewed, this is the case.  They are not ready for Dooce. Most are unaware that danger lurks ahead. They are unaware that they can now have meaningful consumer dialogue.

Don’t Wash Your Vegetables

In the research, 20% of companies are using twitter as a listening post for customer sentiment in new product launch.  Consider the case of Newell Rubbermaid’s Product Saver launch presented at South by Southwest by Social Pioneer, Bert Demars:

In short, consumers were using the product without reading  the instructions, and not receiving the desired results.  Without watching the Facebook feedback and having the benefit of syndicated reviews from Bazzarvoice, Newell would have never known.  Because Newell could listen, they were able to reverse the negative consumer sentiment and save the new product launch.  The answer was simple, “Don’t wash your vegetables”.

The connection of twitter stream, syndicated review feedback, and facebook dialogue to R&D happens the most often in consumer durables, high tech and electronics and the largest Consumer Packaged Goods companies (CPG companies).  The use of social technologies as listening posts gives us the ability to listen, but few are up to the task.

What do you think?  Have you seen some great case studies in this area? Are you up to the task?  Customer-centric supply chains are today’s new reality.

Ashes got me Thinking

by Lora Cecere on April 19, 2010 · 6 comments

I had never heard of it.  I still struggle to say it. However, on Friday, Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano taught some valuable lessons. 

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-plah-yer-kuh-duhl, according to the Associated Press) began on Wednesday, and resulted in the cancellation of more than 63,000 flights by Sunday.  One of them was  mine. 

The economic ripples are quickly translating into supply chain realities. They will fill the press for weeks.  They will become the new stories for the supply chain risk management text books; but before this happens, I want to share.  In the middle of this chaos, I had several Eureka moments.  Here I tell my story, what I learned, and why I think that it is important.

-Volatility versus Surprise:  While most of the supply chain risk management plans focus on the management of the supply chain through periods of volatility, there is very little writing on navigating a supply chain through a period of surprise.  Supply chain risk  in a period of surprise is VERY different than management of the supply chain through volatility.

This was clearly a surprise. Unlike a hurricane, there was no early warning system, no pre-planned drills, or carefully crafted procedures.  The reason?  Who would ever have thought that an Iceland volcano would have such a profound affect?

When a surprise happens, the need for the immediacy of data increases.  In this case, I found that twitter was my NEW best friend. This was my Eureka moment.

-Immediacy of Information.  As I descended into the din of chaos at JFK airport in New York, I was able to get real-time pictures, updates, and recommendations.  My Tweetdeck was quickly broadcasting messages on hashtags #ashtag and #EAU.  Both tags were actively tweeting information from around the world, from people that I did not know, and with incredible accuracy.  

I knew that my flight to Milan would not fly two hours ahead of the notification from the Delta medallion service desk.  As the Milan airspace closed, I knew that the Barcelona airport might be a possibility and I had the right flights to ask for. The information was both more accurate and immediate then what I could get on the ground from customer service agents.  As the day progressed, I became a BELIEVER. 

Why it Matters

 As a supply chain risk manager, the first step that I would take in planning for a surprise is to be sure that EVERYONE understands the power of twitter.  Establish the hash tags early, and empower employees to actively tweet information. Embrace social media into your field readiness plans.

I am now rescheduled to fly to Milan on Tuesday.  I will consult twitter before I go to to the Delta website to check flight status.  I will continue to monitor #ASHTAG for information throughout the day tomorrow, and if I get stuck in Europe, you will find me tweeting to look for a hotel. Wish me luck on getting to Europe.

Next week is sure to be a mess.  I wish you luck sorting through the issues, finding out where your freight is, and how to expedite it.  You may want to try twitter.  Consult the #ashtag, it may hold some promise for you in the week of chaos as well.

What do you think?  Any good stories to share on the use of social media to navigate this situation?