The Social Customer Manifesto

If Cluetrain was the shot heard round the world, then this is certainly its echo.

It is clear that customers across all industries are getting really tired of being spun, misled, and lied to. Individuals like Jon Stewart are taking very public approaches to complaining about horrible service when they see it. Eliot Spitzer appears to be single-handedly taking down the insurance industry for shafting its customers (and it looks like he has his eye on the music industry next).

Customers simply aren't taking it anymore. And if an organization is not opening up to them, and not interacting with them, and not meeting their needs, those customers are going to make sure the organization knows about it. Maybe not today, but soon…and that's if the organization is lucky. More likely, those same customers will just go away and never come back.

On this front, there are a few trends that we've identified from the customer's point of view. They are listed below. And this is known to be an incomplete list.

We need to build it out together with stories, comments, criticisms, debate and insights. There are no spectators anymore.

Participate.

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THE SOCIAL CUSTOMER MANIFESTO

• I want to have a say.

• I don't want to do business with idiots.

• I want to know when something is wrong, and what you're going to do to fix it.

• I want to help shape things that I'll find useful.

• I want to connect with others who are working on similar problems.

• I don't want to be called by another salesperson. Ever. (Unless they have something useful. Then I want it yesterday.)

• I want to buy things on my schedule, not yours. I don't care if it's the end of your quarter.

• I want to know your selling process.

• I want to tell you when you're screwing up. Conversely, I'm happy to tell you the things that you are doing well. I may even tell you what your competitors are doing.

• I want to do business with companies that act in a transparent and ethical manner.

• I want to know what's next. We're in partnership…where should we go?
  

Comments

[Mike Collins]

Looking at your blog, I see it has features I'd like to emulate. If I post a comment does it appear immediately or is there an editorial delay? Was this blog written from scratch or does the code come from an available source?

[Sophia]

This is an amazing blog.

To add to your social customer manifesto.

I am not interested in products that "I really need".

If h20 is your main ingredient, next.

If sugar or corn syrup is your main ingredient, next.

If your dell can do the same thing my computer does, next, especially if "I really need it".

If a celebrity is pitching your product, next.

If a celebrity in a reality show is pitching your product, next.

If you blog or podcast about your product in any way that is not real, next.

Then......Next

[Phyllis]

The Social Customer Manifesto appears to be quite appropriate for College Students also... A good thing to share with administrators, instructors, and staff at Professional Development gatherings.

[der kamerad eks]

what i find truly amazing, is that as individuals, we understand the importance of being human. we speak about valuing honesty among other moral and ethical converns (the environment, poverty, social injustice).

but when we find ourselves part of a larger group (a corporation, a nation, a population of consumers) we seem to "forget" these things.

yes, the consuming public is becoming more aware, and more demanding, but we're not there YET.

the isolated incidence of "consumer revolution" (sony's rootkit scandal being the most recent) isn't a threat to the business of spin yet. a coincidence, mob rule, herd mentality.

i fully agree when you say "There are no spectators anymore", and i thank you for putting this on the table.

[LJAB]

Someone needs to fwd this to Six Apart, who have totally forgotten the ethics they claimed to have when they bought LiveJournal.

[Mei Lin Fung]

Dear Crhis

I just linked AGAIN to the Social Customer Manifesto -

The Social Media workshop sizzled!

Glad I was there for an important moment in time, in SF.

Mei Lin

[christopher carfi]

mei lin...so glad you were there as well! thank you for sharing the time with us.

[Tomas Wong]

Hi, I only care that I have my mother proud of me. Because I know that my father hates me so I really don’t care if he is proud of me or not. I have tryed to walk the strait and narrow path and faltered afew time. But, at the end of the day I would like to know that my Mother was proud I was her son
I am sorry if it to you not interestingly.

[Tomas Wong]

Hi, I only care that I have my mother proud of me. Because I know that my father hates me so I really don’t care if he is proud of me or not. I have tryed to walk the strait and narrow path and faltered afew time. But, at the end of the day I would like to know that my Mother was proud I was her son
I am sorry if it to you not interestingly.

[Kamil]

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[Ted]

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thanks you admin.

[Prem Rao]

Excellent points. Thank you for a very thought provoking article.

Here are a few more that come to my mind:

1. I want you to remember me
2. I will tell my complaint just once.
3. I have more choice than ever before and I intend to use it!

[Alex -S-]

"2. I will tell my complaint just once."
Well - maybe twice - the second time being when i blog about it - and hopefully you've got the sense to be monitoring the blogosphere to hear said complaint. :)

And i'd just like to add:
We customers are like elephants, we never forget!

[Mark Krupinski]

I'm a firm believer in the power of social media - but what do you do when a company has no social media visibility? The only thing I see is to harness on the social media resources being used around the brand in question.

For example, my friend Jeremy has an issue with a local BMW dealership where they have put up a wall of "...not my problem..." and there are absolutely not additional places to go outside of the phone calls he's made.

see: http://homeculinaire.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-land-rover-battle.html

He's now calling upon the local twitter-ites in Central Florida.

Any other ideas?

[legs]

Also aware that survived ofmy apartment fell.

[Eyal Rofe]

Hi Christopher,

Can you help me understand this sentence...

"I want to connect with others who are working on similar problems"

Who are the others? customers? service support? competitors?

What kind of problems? the problems your product solves? the problems you are facing right now?

Nice to read you,

Eyal

[christopher carfi]

Yes, Eyal, that's exactly right. The "others" in this case are peers (i.e. other customers) who are experiencing similar issues, and trying to achieve similar goals.

[Eyal Rofe]

thx
:)

[Bedrift]

I will never do business with such idiots.

Norway

[düzce haber]

Someone needs to fwd this to Six Apart, who have totally forgotten the ethics they claimed to have when they bought LiveJournal...

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[Call center]

Reading the entire social customer manifesto helps me realize how important strong customer relationships are to build our business - not simply for bottom-line growth, but for the people who patronize us because they believe in us.

[Call center]

Reading the entire social customer manifesto helps me realize how important strong customer relationships are to build our business - not simply for bottom-line growth, but for the people who patronize us because they believe in us.

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