Listening first, then go ahead

 

Solving problems, making products much better, and attracting an increasing number of 

customers are the same goals that all the companies pursue. Listening, talking, energizing, 

and supporting are four primary separate objectives that companies want achieve, 

however, in my opinion, all the objectives are integrate, which means that you should 

consider them as a whole instead of insulation. 

 

First of all, listening is the important premise to achieve any other objectives. "Your brand is what your customers say it is."(Page78)."What do your customers think your brand is 

about? You have to listen."(Page79). If you never listen to your customers, you will never 

know what your customers need which probably your products lack. "listening is the 

easiest way to engage with the groundswell because it's low risk—it doesn't require you 

to put yourself into the conversation."(Page98). As we all know, the best way to listen to 

your customers is monitoring your brand in social media. 

 

 

 Actually, I am a fan of Mini cars, 

although I don't have one yet. I''m 

attracted by its cute outlooking and 

diverse colors,also its high quality. 

In the case study of Mini, Trudy, the 

head of marketing Mini USA, 

decided to market Mini's owners, 

not perspective buys according to 

the monitoring results, which shows 

that "Mini owners would rather see 

themselves as members of an 

exclusive club of people who 

belonged together. They identified 

themselves—and each other—as 

Mini owners."(Page79). After 

checking the website of Mini USA, 

I find that the company is emphasize 

the concept of "Mini Owners", and 

offer a lot of sources to the group. 

People can design their own Minis 

by choosing different colors 

combined different styles of roof, 

seats, doors. Undoubtedly, all

these services give a chance to

customers getting their own cars

whatever they like, which becomes

an identify linking them to Mini.

 

 

What's more, the central function of

talking is solving problems, no

matter viral videos, blogs, social

networks or communities. The 

case of P&G's beinggirl. Com really 

helps me a lot to understand how 

to achieve the objective of talking. 

The website allows girl their most 

embarrassing experiences. "The key 

is, P&G defined a community 

around an issue that attracts girls' 

attention—the problems of growing 

up."(Page123). 

Nevertheless, before you start to talk 

with your customers, you should 

listen to them and know well about 

what they want to talk. In order to 

build up an equal relationship and a 

fair conversation with your 

customers, listening is the 

foundation. Of course, 

"conversations require not just 

listening but responding."(Page126). 

To build the trust, you need to stand 

behind your ustomers, solving their 

troubles and problems. "Because it 

solved customers'problems, instead 

of its own, the customers were 

willing to share."(Page121). 

 

 

 

From my point of view, a talking 

community is a long-term commitment, 

which is a relationship that brand and 

customers rely on each other. Trust is the 

bond linking brand and customers. Like the 

girl in the book who was confused with her 

first period, she trust you, so ask you for 

help. On the other hand, the brand need 

those inquiries to approach their customers 

and get their loyalty to the products. 

Therefore, if you want to achieve the 

objective of talking, listening first, and 

getting into the conversation, making 

friends with your customers.

 

 

Besides, facing a higher risk, energizing is an objective much more difficult to achieve. 

When you open yourself and  provide a stage to customers allowing them to judge you and

your products, the risk is highly increased. Undoubtedly, those reviews including positive

and negative will be shown to all the people who participate in groundswell. You should

remember that "people believe other people more than media."(Page131). To avoid the

conflict with those caustic buyers, the first thing you need to do is listening. Without

listening with enough patience, you will never be able to fix the problem, and then you

will lose your customers.

 

In the case of eBag, "it isn't just listening, and it's not just talking; it's energizing—finding

enthusiast customers and turning them into word-of-mouth machines."(Page130).Word

of mouth succeeds because:"It's believable; It's self-reinforcing; It's self-spreading."

(Page130). I have a experience of energizing. Last month, I ordered a face lotion on Amozon. It sent me email showed the stuff had been delivered on Sept.10th. However, I still didn't

get the lotion on Sept.15th. I called them, and they promised me the full refound. Finally, I

got the lotion as a gift from Amozon. After that, I wrote a review on Amozon telling

everyone the whole thing.

 

 

 

Energizing is so common used in

commercial business, especially in 

the online shopping field. Every

consumer who buys a stuff online

is able to write a review about the

product. What you need to do is

to find out what your customers'

feeling and take action to your

products. Personally, I like M&M's

stuff very much. I can create my

own candies and chocolate with

whatever colors and taste. I am

willing to share with my friends

about the experience with M&M's,

for the reason that I think it is a

perfect gift to other people.

 

 

 

Finally, you will find that people are supporting themselves in groundswell. A great number of people are eager to help others solving problems they experienced before. No matter an

easy opinion of choosing a pair of shoes or a complex technical question about installing a

software, people will be happy to respond strangers on Internet. Still, the first thing you

need to do is to listen to the discussion, and go straight for the objective you want to achieve.