The document discusses how companies can use online customer communities to improve customer service, marketing, and product development. It recommends that companies focus on building trust with customers, set clear rules and expectations, respond to customer issues quickly but thoughtfully, make the community accessible to all customers, and encourage personal interactions to humanize the customer experience. The goal is to use customer feedback to enhance products and services while strengthening customer loyalty.
21. When Community meets
Customer Service
Product Ideation Immersive Testing Launch Customer Service
New Products, Buyers, Features, Buzz, Promotion, Problems, Questions,
New Uses Pricing, Service Marketing Ideas
22. When Community meets
Customer Service
Customer Service Product Ideation Immersive Testing Launch
Problems, Questions, New Products, Buyers, Features, Buzz, Promotion,
Ideas New Uses Pricing, Service Marketing
23. When Community meets
Customer Service
Customer Service Product Ideation Immersive Testing Launch
Problems, Questions, New Products, Buyers, Features, Buzz, Promotion,
Ideas New Uses Pricing, Service Marketing
Social Effects
There are many different types of gathering spaces for people online. Each one has its own set of social norms. What might be right for Digg may not be right for Flickr.
slide: http://www.4chan.org/
Or, take 4chan/b/, the place where bad actors who've been kicked out of every other community go to bother each other. As you can see by the rules for their community, there basically are no rules. So what's right for them is definitely not okay pretty much anywhere else.
In a support community, getting it wrong can be hazardous.
Externally and internally. There are different ways to engage with your customer community.
For some companies, it is a core support channel; for others, it may be peripheral. Whatever the case, be sure you set your expectations clearly for both your customers and your internal team.
If we could only have one commandment, what would it be? In our experience, the one that matters most is to know your special purpose.
Zappos core values http://about.zappos.com/our-unique-culture/zappos-core-values
"The Tao of Timbuk2" http://www.timbuk2.com/wordpress_cms/customer-service/about/
What do we mean by this? We mean that you have a core set of values or even just one core value or mission that your whole company is bought in on and that you embody so fully it emanates out to your customers.
It's the thing that makes you not just another widget creator or bag seller or software company or service provider. It's your reason for existence beyond just making money.
It's from companies like this that communities emerge or are at least more easily created.
At Get Satisfaction, our special purpose is to enable companies and customers to create meaningful relationships where before they only had transactions;
And the way we go about doing this is by creating a safe, public space for companies and customers to come together, which breeds trust.
It also makes everyday people feel empowered and makes them more willing participants in the life of the company whose products and services they use.
Whatever you do, do it in a way that matters -- that's what creates community. No set of tactics or technologies can make up for the lack of having that. And it should be something that is second nature to everyone in the business, in such a clear way that it rubs off on your customers.
And this special purpose should guide every interaction with your customers.
There are many different types of gathering spaces for people online. Each one has its own set of social norms. What might be right for Digg may not be right for Flickr.
slide: http://www.4chan.org/
Or, take 4chan/b/, the place where bad actors who've been kicked out of every other community go to bother each other. As you can see by the rules for their community, there basically are no rules. So what's right for them is definitely not okay pretty much anywhere else.
In a support community, getting it wrong can be hazardous.
Flickr's community guidelines are a great example of a clear and strong social contract and are a model that many communities follow.
For instance: "Don't be creepy. You know that guy. Don't be that guy."
Need to write your own community guidelines? Flickr is a good place to start: http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne
At Get Satisfaction, we've worked to provide a social contract by way of our Community Guidelines and Company-Customer Pact.
We know that asking companies to meet their customers in a Switzerland of sorts seems like it's asking for unilateral disarmament on the part of the companies. Which of course isn't fair when your customers might be showing up with hand grenades and semi-automatic weapons.
So, we created the Company-Customer Pact, which calls for multilateral disarmament.
For instance, if we're going to expect companies to work hard on the customer's behalf in public, we ask customers to cut them some slack as we know mistakes will get made along the way. It's a two-way street.
Externally and internally. There are different ways to engage with your customer community.
For some companies, it is a core support channel; for others, it may be peripheral. Whatever the case, be sure you set your expectations clearly for both your customers and your internal team.
Establish an internal policy -- even an SLA -- for response.
Here I want to make the point that if you're creating a community from the ground up, it may make sense to create a rapid-response policy at the beginning so people are more likely to participate. When they see active employee engagement, they themselves are more engaged. If done right, you create long-term, passionate community members.
The magic of customer communities is that you can harness their natural engagement.
And with every question you answer you're getting a broader value because this then creates a body of content that is both an additional draw for your customers and, over time, cuts down on a significant percentage of the more common issues and questions.
Evolve your policy as the community grows.
What works in the very beginning -- rapid response -- may not work later as you scale. If you've done your work to foster community and create engagement, your customers will be more and more likely to help each other.
And when your policy is rapid response, always remember to do so only when there is no malice in your heart.
If "that guy" is being an ass, take a breath or three. Even sleep on it. Or recuse yourself and ask someone else who is not emotionally invested to jump in.
This isn't just about getting a volume of traffic but is about getting diversity of people. A diverse community is a healthy community.
It's also about pulling in a wide variety of support sources to help your community. 
Weave community throughout the user experience.
http://everything.typepad.com/
If you want to engage your users, go where they're already engaged. Or where they're confused or having trouble.
This could be through embedding widgets -- not just on your help page but on your product pages, home page, even your blog.
This could also be through Twittering...
http://twitter.com/mightyleaf
Pull in subject matter experts inside and outside your company.
Whole Foods: inviting the water buyer into a topic: http://getsatisfaction.com/wholefoods/topics/wonderful_water_wanted
Here in the Whole Foods community, a customer was concerned about the quality of the plastic used in the bottles for their private-label water. The community manager sought out the one person within Whole Foods who is responsible for sourcing the bottles they use for their private label water, who then gave a very comprehensive answer.
People will judge customer communities based on their ability to achieve their goal. Either they got what they came for, a reasonable proxy, or they got nothing.
A support community is going to be a little more black and white than other kinds of communities.
At Get Satisfaction, we've slimmed outcomes down to a few core ones: Questions and Answers, Problems and Solutions, Ideas and Implementation. These are the bread and butter of a support community.
People will not always be able to get what they came for, so the experience of trying to get to those outcomes has to be satisfying in other ways.
People are often surprised after ranting at Comcast when Frank Eliason or someone else from the ComcastCares team shows up, apologizes, and gets their issue dealt with right away.
Don't be afraid to say I'm sorry. And don't be defensive.
You can turn nasty conversations toward positive outcomes. This is a key moderation technique.
From a customer community standpoint, it's one of the most important.
"Help us help you"
Now, not every angry customer scenario is going to turn around as this one did. Sometimes you need to come in and re-frame a conversation. Re-framing isn't saying "You can't criticize us" but rather, "Please do so in a constructive way. We invite open public conversation because we want to do a better job. In return you need to help us help you."
So when you feel the temptation to censor, stop yourself and re-frame.
If the customer refuses to shift the conversation toward a productive outcome, if they are obviously a person who can not be appeased and is not looking for a solution
but rather just a venue to rant, then different rules may apply, which we'll get to in Commandment #8.
Online reputation is made by countless public interactions around the web over the course of many years.
Remember this with every interaction you engage in -- it all adds up to a picture of who you are and what you stand for to those who only know you virtually. 
Discourage anonymity.
Virtually all of the evils of online community can be traced back to people being anonymous. When they're anonymous, they feel no accountability for their actions. Now this isn't to say that people should be forced to use their real names, but some persistence of a persona makes a real difference.
http://getsatisfaction.com/twitterfeed/topics/you_suck3
Anonymity can result in users like our friend "wouldn't you like to know" who says "You Suck! I've got an idea---why don't you take this thing and shove it. This is the worse thing we have ever dealt with on the internet."
Lead by example by using your real name and your real voice.
The fact is, community management isn't for the faint of heart, but if you're using a fake identity and are hiding from people, it doesn't breed an environment of trust.
Accept personal responsibilities for your actions. Be authentic. Be human. Don't use corporate speak. Your customers will see right through that and you will undermine your authenticity with them.
The fact is, community management isn't for the faint of heart, but if you're using a fake identity and are hiding from people, it doesn't breed an environment of trust.
Accept personal responsibilities for your actions. Be authentic. Be human. Don't use corporate speak. Your customers will see right through that and you will undermine your authenticity with them.