There’s a business adage that states, “It can take 20 years to earn a customer, but only a few minutes to lose one.” I thought of this as I read the conclusion of Naked Conversations, and of a theory from my public relations course – the notion that organizations make connections with specific publics in ways that suit both parties.
Here’s why: bloggers fall into two camps – those who provide entertainment/information and those who pursue commerce. We’ll assume plenty of overlap. Now, presupposing the commerce-oriented bloggers overcome the barriers to entry we considered a few weeks ago, they write to reach their publics and win new business. Scoble and Israel caution them to do so in a way that entices business, not chases after it.
By way of example, the authors mention English Cut, a site run by a British tailor, and HiHowaYa, a site run by a New Hampshire restaurant owner. Both the tailor shop and the restaurant have been open for years, and their owners have carefully fostered relationships with their customers. Their blogs have become extensions of their shops – outposts on the corners of the global bazaar.
Yet, neither business relies exclusively on its blog to nurture customer relationships. The cornerstone of each remains a quality product backed by excellent service. And, both probably understand that a single unhappy customer could mean bad news, whether he is in the shop or out in cyberspace.
Does this represent the best way of doing business? The old way? Perhaps it just represents one way. A good product and excellent service are not dependent on a store front, and a successful business doesn’t require years of history. As more and more businesses set up shop exclusively online, such as the purveyors of gourmet foods mentioned in the book, various publics will assert the ways in which they want to be reached. Some will demand the type of in-person service they’ve come to expect, like Melissa explained in her recent post. Others will leap at the opportunity to discover products sold from far-flung places. And some will adapt to whatever everyone else is doing. One way or another, though, if customers are unhappy, they will make their feelings known and possibly go elsewhere.
The great thing about a free market is that, ultimately, the market decides who succeeds, who fails, and how. Maybe the conversations that Scoble and Israel urge will take off. Maybe something yet to be invented will instead. But as the authors assert (and which even a skeptical Luddite will admit):
There has been a lot of innovation stirring behind the scenes, and many of these new technologies are related to blogging and social media…These technologies are shaping how businesses communicate and how people find and share information. The next technical innovation may surprise us, but the general direction toward social media seems obvious. The big picture is clearer than it has been in many years…We have entered into a new era of communications (Naked Conversations, pp. 225-226).
This week’s question: Scoble and Israel mention a book called Purple Cows, by Seth Godin. Purple Cows are remarkable products and services, as defined by the market and the attention paid by consumers. I described some Purple Cows in a recent post, including custom Nikes. What Purple Cows have you discovered recently? Include links so readers can discover them, too!
