A friend of mine recently gave me a copy of “What Would Google Do” by Jeff Jarvis. I have read it, and found it quite intriguing. Although it might not apply to all businesses around the globe, Jarvis gives great advice.
While reading it, I realized the Google Rules apply to IWMS as well. I started to explore the possibilities of the Google Rules for IWMS. Based on the Google Rules I wanted to derive ten new rules of IWMS (and hopefully other ERP, CMMS and CAFM Solutions as well).
The result of this exploration is this post series. (#10NR)
Before we dive into the Google Rules for IWMS first Jeff Jarvis’ Law learned on the Internet:
Give the people control and we will use it. Don’t, and you will lose us. That is the essential rule of the new age. Previously, the powerful— companies, institutions, and governments—believed they were in control, and they were. But no more. Now the internet allows us to speak to the world, to organize ourselves, to find and spread information, to challenge old ways, to retake control. (Jarvis, 2009)
Why? Because we can.
Companies must learn that they are better off when they cede control to their customers. Give us control, we will use it, and you will win. (Jarvis, 2009)
Rule #1: New Relationship
Your worst customer is your friend; you best customer is your partner
A stated above power has fundamentally shifted, and if you want to win you have to play by the new rules.
“Though we in business have said for years that the customer knows best and that the customer is boss, now we have to mean it. The customer is in control. If the customer isn’t in control, there’ll be hell to pay.” (Jarvis, 2009)
Your worst customer is your friend
With all tools available out there (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) customers can inflict serious damage to your brand if they are not treated with respect. In his book, Jarvis describes an excellent case about an angry customer devastating the reputation of a company.
Although the case might not be applicable for all IWMS vendors, you can learn something from it. First and foremost, customers don’t complain because they like too. In fact, nobody does. Customers complain because they feel something needs to be improved. Don’t consider this as a problem, but embrace it.
Customers that complain offer you a great possibility to improve your products and services. They take the time to help you, and to ensure their complaints don’t turn into an online rage, you need to deal with those accordingly.
So, what should I do then?
Find out what people think about your organization, your products and services
You need to know what is being written about you online (besides here on IWMSNews obviously;-)).
Here are some tips about how to do this. A combination of Google and social media enables you to easily retrieve that information. In this example I’m looking for the following information:
- Everything about TRIRIGA on Facebook via Google
http://www.google.com/search?sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=tririga+site:facebook.com - Everything about ARCHIBUS on Twitter via Twitter Search
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Archibus - Everything about Planon on Twitter via Google
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=planon+site:twitter.com - Everything about Skire’s Unifier Product via Twitter Search
https://twitter.com//search/skire%20unifier - Interesting Blogs
20 IWMS, CAFM and CMMS Blogs To Watch in 2011
Using these queries you should be able to find a lot of information about your organization, your products and your services. The next step is to do something with this information.
Engage with your customers instead of running away or hiding
Complaints don’t go away. As most information can be retrieved by anyone, you simply can’t ignore it. Contact the individuals that complain directly and explain to them that you are trying to understand their problem, and that you want to fix it. Customers will feel appreciated by the personal touch.
No longer do customers accept organizations as their suppliers. Customers want to communicate with people. Learn from their ideas for improvement. Don’t involve only support staff, but also R&D, or whomever is required to solve the customer’s problem.
Encourage them to blog about it.
Create a culture of sharing ideas
Customers have great ideas on how to improve your products and services. Obviously not all ideas are equally good, but the more you can stimulate a culture of sharing ideas, the stronger the relationship between you and your customer becomes.
According to Jarvis:
The single greatest transformative power of the internet and Google has little to do with technology or media or even business. It’s about people and making new connections among them. It all comes back to relationships.
Resources
Jarvis, J. (2009). What Would Google Do. New York: HarperBusiness.
10NR, IWMS
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