The Power of the Thumb

As a customer of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, I appreciate and enjoy the opportunity to see how my friends and family are doing but I am beginning to really love the education I am getting by following a bunch of people I have never met. I never thought that this would be my cup of tea, but I am totally loving it. I have started to read up on the latest business trends around social marketing and the emerging field of Customer Experience. Through this casual reading, I have come to realize the power of being a customer in this emerging social world.

I know what you are thinking ... yeah, that's old news. Probably for you but while I have been updating my FB page and adding connections in LinkedIn, I never valued the voice that these platforms had until now. I participated because it is a social norm to do so.

In my experience, this describes who is on Facebook or LinkedIn:

−       Every Age Group

−       Every level of tech sophistication

−       Pretty much, everyone is doing it

−       Parents and Grandparents sharing the latest pictures of family life

−       Professionals of every kind seeking contacts (current, past colleagues and classmates)

−       Every business, small and large has a page

−       Your friends present, past and future

−       Your neighbors

−       Your family (all over the world)

−       The people that you see at the local grocery store, the dry cleaners, the cleaning person and the landscapers

−       Bargain Hunters galore

−       Brand Loyalists

−       Extra-Curricular activity groups including those crazy Fantasy Team owners

If this is right, then it just shows how powerful we as consumers really are. However, I am not so sure that the people in this group understand their "social" power. The average consumer does not think about how their one comment or thumbs up can reflect on a brand. The power of the thumb is insane and rapidly gaining strength. I propose that as a consumer, we redefine how we want our customer experience to be and start a new movement, Occupy the Thumb. Ok, far fetched, but is it really?

I also realized that that we are consumers of, well, consumers. We "buy" into each other's opinions. As a basic testament to this theory, think about the Like button or the symbol of the Thumb. This simple thumbs up is a sign that whatever is on that link is customer approved and therefore “my” friends will like it too. It was cool for family photos and personal quotes but now I can “Like” an entire company, product or customer experience.

However, what if I don't like it?

While this industry is still emerging and taking shape, I truly believe there are some unbelievable opportunities to design great customer experience solutions using the social space for input and experimentation. Every person reading this blog should invest in tweeting, writing and discussing your personal service moments. Make sure you go to the company pages and share your comments to your network as well. You will be surprised by the influence you have. So the next time you want to complain or thank someone for a great experience, skip the part where you ask for the store manager or supervisor if it is on the phone. Just take it over to their Facebook page and Twitter handle and see what happens.

As a new business owner, I have been spending time developing concepts for products specifically to address how the service experience can be improved by using customers as champions for change. It is my belief that businesses that invest in defining a great Customer Experience program and that can execute with a balanced team of marketing, operations, sales and technology will be able to reap the financial rewards of attracting more customers and developing a stronger base of loyal brand advocates. Businesses want long term relationships with their customers so just consider the old saying, “Happy Wife, Happy Life”.

My head is spinning with a plethora of ideas and I hope I can get them out to market in 2012.  In the meantime, I will continue to share my service experiences as well as anyone who wants to share theirs via this blog. I hope this blog can be a place where customers and businesses check in, share and rate service moments.

If you have recently shared a service experience via your network, please post it in the comments as well or send to @thecxfactory on Twitter or post on Facebook (link above).

It is almost Friday!

Michelle,

the customer experience factory!