Biz-Community (Cape Town)
Erika Morphy
26 March 2008
Cape Town — Having your customers comment on your policies, products or employment practices is one thing. Having them suggest ideas for improving said policies and products - in a public forum where participants can vote on these ideas, no less - is an entirely different matter.
How well a company can handle customer participation in its business - beyond, that is, spending their money to purchase its products - is unclear. Few companies have actually put in place Web sites where customers can log on and advise the management what to do, said Mack Collier, whose blog, Viral Garden, focuses on marketing and social media.
Dell with its implementation of Ideastorm, is one notable example, he told CRM Buyer.
Now, so is Starbucks. Through MyStarbucksIdea, the company proposes to take suggestions from customers on what changes they would like to see Starbucks make, Collier says in his post. The community then votes on their favorites and provides comments.
Collier thinks the site is a great idea - and fervently hopes Starbucks doesn't flub it. He's not casting aspersions on the firm. He just believes, in general, that few companies are prepared to handle an onslaught of advice from their customers.
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