EightBlack.

Seth Godin refers to a good article here, by Steve Outing of Editor & Publisher out of the US.

It follows on from my previous post about the importance of blogging, especially by the CEO.

In the article, Outing discusses why “big” newspapers need to act small, but the argument holds true for any mid to large sized organisation.

“Big” companies don’t interact much with actual customers, certainly not one-on-one. That’s why newspapers should learn to do it.

* Blogging from the top. The editor and/or publisher should have a blog, and use it to engage with and communicate with readers and advertisers. I don’t mean fluffy blogs, either. If the top editor’s blog reads like a press release, there’s little point in having the blog.

Godin suggest these characteristics as vital for an effective CEO blog (and they apply perfectly to editor/publisher blogs): Candor. Urgency. Timeliness. Pithiness. Controversy.

Big companies don’t let their chief executives communicate with the customers in direct, honest ways. They communicate through their PR departments. They don’t tell the real inside story publicly. They respond to controversy only when forced. This is “big” behavior. … A newspaper company leader in the Internet era should do just the opposite, and act small.

I dont think big companies today can risk alienating (or worse, fail to acknowledge or communicate) with their customer base.

The internet - and the avenues it provides (blogs, posts to forums, instant feedback) makes it easier for the “lonely voice of the sole customer” to be heard. There’s also the very risk that if the complaint or concern hits the right emotional chord with others, then the viral nature of the post to the blog or to the online community can and will result in a PR nightmare that becomes virtually impossible to contain.

My good friend, Glenn Vardy sent me this email the other day. It demonstrates that unfortunately there are still some companies out there who just dont get it.

If ever there was a reason for a group of customers to revolt and “blog the company out of existence” then this would be it.

It’s just another example of the inmates running the asylum.

The context of the email was a customer service response to “speed related” issues for customers of an ISP called Exetel.

See below - and tell me whether or not you actually believe what you are reading as you get to the last paragraph. I’ve edited/removed a couple of paragraphs for times sake, but you’ll get the idea.

—–Original Message—–
From: Exetel Notification [mailto:donotreply@exetel.com.au]
Sent: Friday, 16 June 2006 12:54 PM
To: glenn@xxx.xxx
Subject: Ongoing Speed Issues For Some Customers

Dear: MR GLENN VARDY

Exetel uses the Optus ADSL national backhaul for all WA, SA, NT, VIC, TAS
and QLD customers and for an increasing number of NSW customers.

Over the past week there have been an increasing number of speed issues
experienced by Exetel users connected to Exetel via the Optus ADSL network;
mainly in NSW, but also in some other locations.

Exetel has been attempting to get a resolution of these issues but has had
no success to date.

Exetel met with Optus today to determine when the current issues will be
fully resolved. At this time there is no information that can be provided.

As information becomes available we will publish it on the Exetel Forum
here: http://forum.exetel.com.au/viewtopic.php?p=133588#133588.

Please do not call or email support, or management, about this issue as
there is nothing more that we can advise you of at this time.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this causes.

Exetel Management

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 9th, 2006 at 7:49 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.