How to Inspire Word of Mouth through Customer Service
by Lane Becker
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anaskoo
slide: http://www.4chan.org/
Or, take 4chan/b/, the place where bad actors who've been kicked out of every other community go to bother each other. As you can see by the rules for their community, there basically are no rules. So what's right for them is definitely not okay pretty much anywhere else.
In a support community, getting it wrong can be hazardous.
For some companies, it is a core support channel; for others, it may be peripheral. Whatever the case, be sure you set your expectations clearly for both your customers and your internal team.
Zappos core values http://about.zappos.com/our-unique-culture/zappos-core-values
"The Tao of Timbuk2" http://www.timbuk2.com/wordpress_cms/customer-service/about/
What do we mean by this? We mean that you have a core set of values or even just one core value or mission that your whole company is bought in on and that you embody so fully it emanates out to your customers.
It's from companies like this that communities emerge or are at least more easily created.
And the way we go about doing this is by creating a safe, public space for companies and customers to come together, which breeds trust.
It also makes everyday people feel empowered and makes them more willing participants in the life of the company whose products and services they use.
Whatever you do, do it in a way that matters -- that's what creates community. No set of tactics or technologies can make up for the lack of having that. And it should be something that is second nature to everyone in the business, in such a clear way that it rubs off on your customers.
And this special purpose should guide every interaction with your customers.
slide: http://www.4chan.org/
Or, take 4chan/b/, the place where bad actors who've been kicked out of every other community go to bother each other. As you can see by the rules for their community, there basically are no rules. So what's right for them is definitely not okay pretty much anywhere else.
In a support community, getting it wrong can be hazardous.
Need to write your own community guidelines? Flickr is a good place to start: http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne
We know that asking companies to meet their customers in a Switzerland of sorts seems like it's asking for unilateral disarmament on the part of the companies. Which of course isn't fair when your customers might be showing up with hand grenades and semi-automatic weapons.
So, we created the Company-Customer Pact, which calls for multilateral disarmament.
For instance, if we're going to expect companies to work hard on the customer's behalf in public, we ask customers to cut them some slack as we know mistakes will get made along the way. It's a two-way street.
For some companies, it is a core support channel; for others, it may be peripheral. Whatever the case, be sure you set your expectations clearly for both your customers and your internal team.
Here I want to make the point that if you're creating a community from the ground up, it may make sense to create a rapid-response policy at the beginning so people are more likely to participate. When they see active employee engagement, they themselves are more engaged. If done right, you create long-term, passionate community members.
The magic of customer communities is that you can harness their natural engagement.
And with every question you answer you're getting a broader value because this then creates a body of content that is both an additional draw for your customers and, over time, cuts down on a significant percentage of the more common issues and questions.
What works in the very beginning -- rapid response -- may not work later as you scale. If you've done your work to foster community and create engagement, your customers will be more and more likely to help each other.
If "that guy" is being an ass, take a breath or three. Even sleep on it. Or recuse yourself and ask someone else who is not emotionally invested to jump in.
It's also about pulling in a wide variety of support sources to help your community.
http://everything.typepad.com/
If you want to engage your users, go where they're already engaged. Or where they're confused or having trouble.
This could be through embedding widgets -- not just on your help page but on your product pages, home page, even your blog.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/nytimes?sid=5c10835ebdbf65984c2cdfd31149cf4e&ref=s
http://twitter.com/mightyleaf
Whole Foods: inviting the water buyer into a topic: http://getsatisfaction.com/wholefoods/topics/wonderful_water_wanted
Here in the Whole Foods community, a customer was concerned about the quality of the plastic used in the bottles for their private-label water. The community manager sought out the one person within Whole Foods who is responsible for sourcing the bottles they use for their private label water, who then gave a very comprehensive answer.
A support community is going to be a little more black and white than other kinds of communities.
At Get Satisfaction, we've slimmed outcomes down to a few core ones: Questions and Answers, Problems and Solutions, Ideas and Implementation. These are the bread and butter of a support community.
People will not always be able to get what they came for, so the experience of trying to get to those outcomes has to be satisfying in other ways.
You can turn nasty conversations toward positive outcomes. This is a key moderation technique.
From a customer community standpoint, it's one of the most important.
Now, not every angry customer scenario is going to turn around as this one did. Sometimes you need to come in and re-frame a conversation. Re-framing isn't saying "You can't criticize us" but rather, "Please do so in a constructive way. We invite open public conversation because we want to do a better job. In return you need to help us help you."
So when you feel the temptation to censor, stop yourself and re-frame.
If the customer refuses to shift the conversation toward a productive outcome, if they are obviously a person who can not be appeased and is not looking for a solution
but rather just a venue to rant, then different rules may apply, which we'll get to in Commandment #8.
Remember this with every interaction you engage in -- it all adds up to a picture of who you are and what you stand for to those who only know you virtually.
Virtually all of the evils of online community can be traced back to people being anonymous. When they're anonymous, they feel no accountability for their actions. Now this isn't to say that people should be forced to use their real names, but some persistence of a persona makes a real difference.
Anonymity can result in users like our friend "wouldn't you like to know" who says "You Suck! I've got an idea---why don't you take this thing and shove it. This is the worse thing we have ever dealt with on the internet."
Lead by example by using your real name and your real voice.
Accept personal responsibilities for your actions. Be authentic. Be human. Don't use corporate speak. Your customers will see right through that and you will undermine your authenticity with them.
Accept personal responsibilities for your actions. Be authentic. Be human. Don't use corporate speak. Your customers will see right through that and you will undermine your authenticity with them.