Last Friday, while driving around Salt Lake City, (where we live) my husband and I saw huge banners and signs on businesses congratulating David Archuleta, the American Idol finalist who is also a high school student at Murray High School. Traffic was tied up all over town by cars with orange balloons and pedestrians with orange T-shirts emblazoned with David’s name and slogans of support.
They had a pep rally at the high school, a hot air balloon ride to a nearby stadium where David sang and was presented with awards and basically adored by his millions of screaming fans.
The best part of this story is that David seems like such a nice, ordinary kid. When Ryan Seacrist asked him to join the group he thought was “safe” from elimination from the show, this young gentleman sat down right there on the stage rather than pass judgment on his fellow contestants.
This is a purely human story, with purely human characters. But what makes this possible is the technology that allows millions of Americans to cast votes, real time, to make their opinions heard. I think people probably have more faith in the system that tallies votes for American Idol than they have for the system that elects our presidents – probably because the system is so transparent and so immediate.
More than 30 million votes are cast, and although there are some problems (people can vote as many times as they can push the right buttons on their cell-phones during a 2-hour voting period) people apparently get a big charge out of having a say.
John and I experimented last summer with eBay, we sold a mobile home that John had inherited and a lot of used books that were taking up too much space. In three months we became PowerSellers and we were thrilled to rack up the 158 positive points on our feedback profile. All of our feedback is 100% positive, by the way – which is very hard to do – imagine meeting 158 random people and making ALL of them happy!) We earned a cute little turquoise star and really feel like we’ve accomplished something worthwhile, when really all we did was clear some space in our basement and make some new acquaintances.
The great thing about eBay is that technology allows it to be so transparent and immediate. You can see, real time, who has the thing you’re wanting to buy. You can find out how long the seller has been selling, and you can see how people rate their transaction with that seller. You can see the prices change as people cast bids.
Technology makes it possible to gauge public opinion on any topic. You post your reactions on forums on any topic – from American Idol to EBay to the current political situation in Darfur to the Presidential Election.
How can this help your business?
According to Charlene Li in her book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies you can very powerfully use social networks and related technologies (YouTube, blogs, social networking sites, podcasts, etc.) to reach new consumers, address consumer problems and objections, and place your product or service right where it’s needed when people are most ready to make a purchasing decision.
In about fifteen minutes, without spending any money, you can review your Customer Relationship Management systems and processes – Our CRM Demystified – Customer Relationship Management isn’t Magic article can spark the thought that will let you harness immediate feedback and transform your business!
Let us know what you've tried and what's worked for you.
Best wishes, (and Happy Monday!)
-Paula
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