It’s that time of year again: Reflecting on what happened this past year and then trying to predict what kind of year we’re all about to have. You’re about to see a whole mess of news stories pop up expounding on these two themes. Around the office, we’re guilty of this, too. But we’re trying to do our backward prognostication with a bit of a twist. For example, we’ve been trying to brainstorm what we think the best “new” or “breakout” word of 2008 should have been. Merriam-Webster just chose “bailout” as the Word of the Year for 2008, but I would have preferred “borked” or something else more techno-centric. 2007 was good. Remember that? w00t!. Hard to top that one.
Not all of this looking back and peering forward is frivolous. Sometimes, you can stumble across a bona fide useful, practical, and smart story about trends, and I think our very own Leslie stumbled upon one this morning. It’s from the Trendwatching.com Web site, a company that makes it their business to spot high-level trends.
One of their “Half a Dozen Consumer Trends for 2009″ is about customer service, and more specifically, feedback. They see the emergent trend of transparency and authenticity online expanding even more in the coming year. As they lay it out:
FEEDBACK 1.0 (one of those early web phenomena) saw outraged individuals posting scathing reviews, feedback and complaints, often to the delight of other netizens. Brands remained unaware or chose not to listen, dismissing these outbursts the way they’d dismissed any kind of customer dissatisfaction for decades.
FEEDBACK 2.0 (which we’re in right now) is about these rants—and some raves—having gone ‘mass’ (no, make that MASS!). The long-predicted conversation is finally taking place, albeit amongst consumers and not, as intended, between corporations and consumers. Companies have started to take note, but to a large degree still choose to listen, not talk back, trying to ‘learn’ from the for-all-to-see review revolution. Which is surprising, to say the least, since a quick and honest reply or solution can defuse even the most damaging complaint.
FEEDBACK 3.0 (which is building as we speak) will be all about companies joining the conversation, if only to get their side of the story in front of the mass audience that now scans reviews. Expect smart companies to be increasingly able (and to increasingly demand) to post their apologies and solutions, preferably directly alongside reviews from unhappy customers. Expect the same for candid rebuttals by companies who feel (and can prove) that a particular review is unfair or inaccurate, and want to share their side of the story.”
It’s a great read.
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Indeed, the year 2009 will truly be a year of customer feedback since a lot people are so equipped with the latest gadgets and now, it is easy to for people to voice out what’s on their minds. This is a good thing though and the technology had really helped with this kind of process.
indeed, the year 2009 will truly be a year of customer feedback since a lot people are so equipped with the latest gadgets and now, it is easy to for people to voice out what’s on their minds. This is a good thing though and the technology had really helped with this kind of process
I agree that the new buzz will be on feedback. Fortunately, we saw that writing on the wall months ago and are kicking off a program to get that feedback from current and potential customers as I write this.
Yes your right about how its heading, I’m sure marketing & support departments will be working a lot closer together over the next few years!
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[...] control over your Get Satisfaction page. They also have a great blog, which describes 2009 as the year of customer feedback. The next best thing you can do is create a well-monitored forum or a blog where your users can [...]