1. The document discusses how the Open University is embracing cultural and consumer shifts in the digital age and moving towards a more open and collaborative approach with customers. 2. It explores how customers now have more ways to share knowledge and opinions online and expect more open relationships and two-way conversations with organizations. 3. The Open University is examining how to better listen to customers, engage with them on digital platforms, and respond to feedback in order to build stronger relationships and empower learners.

1. Ian Roddis | @ianroddis Laura Dewis | @lauradee 27 September 2008 ‘ e’ to business: how the OU is embracing cultural and consumer shifts

2. Authors/Subject Matter Experts Create Schema Versions Workflows Metadata Security Designers/Editors Systems Manage Multiple Doc Types L&T activities Assessment Supplements Course Texts Deliver Multiple Output Types AN ePUBLISHING PLATFORM VLE/OpenLearn Print/PDF Handheld/ Wireless CD-ROM/ DVD-ROM

3. Stats and conversion rates Visit/Visitor Trends Conversion Trends

5. “ A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.” The Cluetrain Manifesto (1999)

7. What it means to our customers “ (More) people <like me>” “ I can talk to them when, where and how I want.” “ I don’t need to listen to your corporate voice, I have a million other people who’ve <lived you> to tell me the real deal.” “ The crowd will average it out for me.” “ Then I’ll decide.”

8. “ RIGHT NOW, your customers are writing about your products on blogs and recutting your commercials on YouTube. They are defining you on Wikipedia and ganging up on you on social networking sites like Facebook.” Groundswell

10. “ Ultimately, what matters is the message, and it has to emerge from the experience of media, not be inserted into it. Jonathan Salem Baskin

11. Relationships What do people think about us? [Activity] Google <OU review>; <OU any good>; <OU complaints>

12. Relationships: our students

13. Relationships; empowered customers? http://wabbit42.blogspot.com/2008/03/m150-song.html

14. Relationships; monitoring <Laura> PageFlakes (how we monitor) Sentiment mining Voices of content/discontent Influencing

16. Listen Try talking to the OU Tell the OU something important to you as a customer? [Activity] Visit www.open.ac.uk and ‘contact us’

17. Listen; Starbucks http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/apex/ideaHome

18. Listen; Dell http://wabbit42.blogspot.com/2008/03/m150-song.html

19. Listen; Dell http://www.dellideastorm.com/

21. Questions to think about Would we listen, or do we know best ? Are we happy to be challenged? Are we happy to change? Do we care about customer contentment? (After all we assess their worth) How reactive to the customer are we? How do we handle feedback/suggestions? If they don’t do it <here> they’ll do it <there>

23. (Used to) seek rationality in linear models

24. Complex customer journey

25. Complex customer journey

27. <Pause> Listening beats talking Relationships beat transactions Open beats closed

28. Key behavioural characteristics Embed Share Contribute Rate Listen Partner

30. Platform

31. Platform: family <Laura> VC’s speech; Twitter; Qik; Seesmic Questions of openness; how do academics, student services staff engage in Platform | Facebook | YouTube? Anonymous, member of community? Expert view

34. Environment and behaviours Far out there | Out there | near here | here | insider

36. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg96RSsrXk0

37. It’s easy to miss something you’re not looking for.

39. Tipping point

40. Visualising our extended network

41. Measuring attention (open university)