FiberGeneration

Feedly And The Customer Satisfaction Fairy Tale

Since last week and the latest Firefox 3 update (3.0.1), I can't get Feedly running any longer. That's a real pitty for me, as I consider Feedly as the best RSS feed reader so far - for once, you can design your own online newspaper at a fingersnap.

Unfortunately, the automatic FX update stopped the service. No chance to re-install the add-on : "The feedly 1.0b3 could not be installed because it is not compatible with Firefox 3.0.1."

So after several attempts, I decided to call on Feedly' support. I discovered the Get Satisfaction service : technical support the Web 2.0 way. Absolutely stunning, for it is the one place you as an end-user can go and call for help on most of your favorite tools and apps. The list of companies currently being supported by Get Satisfaction is definitely impressive, from the smallest newest startup (say... Feedly for instance) to the biggest largest company (say Apple). Twitter seems to be the number one in terms of questions and support team.

Among a few other Web 2.0 apps, Get Satisfaction is typically the sort of tool which every single Enterprise 1.0 should adopt and integrate immediately. It's a fantastic way to keep in touch with your end-users, by proving them how much you care about their satisfaction.

Actually, this type of service is based on an old concept made modern. In this case, it's Usenet and its numerous FAQs and discussion boards at the Web 2.0 sauce. Nothing new ("the people-powered customer service for absolutely everything") but all new (the ease of use and the flexibility).

As soon as I get my own startup up and running, Get Satisfaction will be part of the toolkit.

ps : my own dashboard is here.

Marketing 101 : The Street Rules

You know your product is reaching Mainstream when you see it on 4x3 ads in the streets.

Three posts by Seth Godin I should have written myself

It's about marketing, business development, selling, customers, and us.
First, read "Self promotion", then continue with "The first rule of b2b selling", and finish with "What do you know?".
Now you've got the top-3 rules for a successful business.

Teaching Fiber Optics Basics Without YouTube

So-derle, the Green Fiber Evangelist' video collection got a huge success last week at the training I was delivering to a french telco. For the second time since a quarter of century, I haven't used a single slide as my fiber optics training materials but a web page.

The first time I used a navigator instead of M$ PowerPoint was back in 1996, when my friend Didier Boucher and myself were touring France to evangelize installers and end-users. By then, Netscape Navigator was our best companion, displaying the html pages I created with GoLive and the likes.

Last week, Firefox 3.0 beta and the amazing add-on PicLens were on the party. Thanks to the Internet. Means, thanks to the connection to the Internet. Because, unlike 12 years ago when all the html and jpeg files forming my presentations were on my Mac's hard-disk, today the whole stuff is... on the Cloud. YouTube, Picasaweb, Facebook, etc. : they're all online.

That's the bad thing when you're a connected guy like myself : you do rely a lot on the Internet. It strucked me the hard way this morning, when I was to go on the Green Fiber Evangelist blog to start the training session I'm delivering this week at a large install company : got no LAN connection to start with, hence no Internet connection, hence no online videos, hence no *live* training materials.

Then, the IT guy came to the rescue after lunch, to give me the IP address, DNS servers, proxy settings things to help my Mac go online. It worked, except for one little tiny detail : this company forbids some websites, among which... YouTube. Bye-bye the Green Fiber Evangelist blog (at least for the rest of the week here ;-)

This is kind of weird : a 6,000 employees firm who wants to penetrate the optical networks installation & maintenance business don't authorize ubiquitous access to the Net. By the way, only 600 (six hundred) people out of those 6,000 have an email address. 10%. Who don't even get access to the most popular websites in the world. As my dear former boss Robert is used to say : "there is room for improvement" !

Anyway, Accor hotels do provide free WiFi to their guests. So, thanks to Accor (and Orange), I'm posting this text from my hotel room. After an hour or so spent on downloading all the Green Fiber Evangelist videos on my Mac, with TubeTV.

That's the lesson of the day : never rely too much on the Net. Download vids and pics and copy them on a USB key before going to the customer. And start evangelize people : you need an internet connection to get on the Cloud ;-)

Dear FTTx Contractors, Say Hello To Customer-Facing Coaching

When you think about it, Fiber-To-The-Home is the ultimate experience for outside plant technicians. For the first time ever, those folks are working right in front of the end-user.
That implies a lot of new behavior for the OSP people, as they are kind of the front-desk of the service provider. To make it short : the guy who's installing the fiber at the subscriber' s place is also the ISP' s sales rep.
Hence the need for coaching the OSP technicians to customer-facing situations. Be the best sales rep. That's quite an interesting challenge, for both the trainers and the installers themselves. Have a look at this video, and you'll understand why.

Thumb Up, 37Signals !

Web services firm 37Signals faced a severe network outage earlier today, which lead to a 2-hours long interruption of service. Read here the explanations and apologies of the company to its end-users. This is customer care per the book. Such of quick reaction is the sign of a truly customer-focused enterprise. Thumb up, 37Signals !

Doing Product Marketing The Web 2.0 Way

Remember Zattoo ? The beta is available since a couple of days only, and people start googling for "zattoo for iphone". See here.
Would I be part of the Product Marketing team at the startup, I would immediately digg a little bit further : someone searching something so specific is a potential user. Or a potential rival. Actually, it doesn't matter, because IMHO the equation is simple : search = opportunity.
That's what most of the french businesses don't understand with the Web 2.0 : it helps you developping new products faster and better, for specific needs and/or applications and/or end-users.

Crossing The Chasm, By Steve Jobs

Just one day after the announcement of the iPhone price drop, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has posted an open letter to all iPhone customers on Apple's website. Read it here. That is pure Art Of Marketing. And another fantastic example of Apple' s focus on its customers. I wonder how many CEOs in the World would do the same in such situation : act, apologize, and explain.

That Is Product Marketing For Dummies

Imagine your favorite car maker goes wild, trumpeting all around the planet with its brand new world-class top-range model, which is supposed to make your life even better, bringing you so many new features that it's going to be the ultimate driver experience.
Now, imagine that a few months after release, this guy offers you to downgrade to the previous generation, because the new one shows some unrecoverable weaknesses in real world conditions.
That's exactly what Lenovo is offering to its customers : downgrading from Windows Vista to Windows XP. See here.
Redmond, you have a problem.

This Is Not Sign-In Confirmation Web 2.0 Style ;-)

Got this message in my inbox this morning.

Definitely not a Web 2.0 thing, not mentionning the IP address !

Here's an example of a perfect approach, by the new people search engine Spock.
   
Everything is in there, including the gentle way to please the customer : " You are one of the first people ...", so she feels proud to be considered as a VIP.

Also, you may notice the full URL link in post-scriptum : most of the Web 2.0 startups add such a link for you to copy & paste in case the direct hyperlink don't work. Here's my advice : always check if the sign-up confirmation email includes the full URL link. If not, it means the company / startup doesn't care that much about you...

Netflix: How to build a killer community

It's Crossing The Chasm at the Web 2.0 Age. Read Webware' Harrison Hoffman report here.

Customers Relationships Management 101

FSJ has it right. When your customer faces a problem with a new product of yours, better apologize and get this product replaced free of charge rather then explaining he made a mistake. You'll make this guy happy, and in the meantime you'll learn a lot about potential misuse of this product. Hence its next revision will be even better, and you'll be able to thank your customer for his great contribution to the improvements.

" For the record, there have been zero problems with iPhone. Zero. Those "dead spots" aren't actually dead spots. Yes, people have brought some back and we've given them replacements. That's not because there was anything wrong with the phones. But it's easier to just give them a new phone and make them happy than to explain to them that they're screwing up when they use the phone, and that they probably need to have their big fat stupid fingers whittled down. FYI, all Apple employees who want or need finger-reduction surgery will get subsidies from the company. See your benefits representative. "

Full article here. Fun, as usual. Plus, read this amazing story about the guy who went to surgery in order to better use his new iPhone. 

The Big Biz 3.0 Picture

Because everything * Web 2.0 For The Customer * is in there, here is Patricia Seybold' s Biz 3.0 again.
There is no priority list, as every single 'principle' is as critical as the others. Keep in mind : customer relationships is a constant, open loop.

   

Enterprise 2.0 vs. Biz 3.0

There is an ongoing discussion all over the Internet about the impact of the Web 2.0 technologies onto the internal mechanisms and behaviors of the enterprise. Of course, the tagline is Enterprise 2.0.
To get the flavor, read those detailed articles here and here, and watch the slideshow created by Scott Gavin here.

For all mind-opening or comprehensive those works are, there is one big yet crucial mistake done by their authors : they completely forget the customer. The client. The guy who pays you for the service you offered to him. In summary, the guy who makes your business.

Patricia Seybold, author of Outside Innovation, has it right : " our customers lead us beyond a customer-empowered Web strategy to a customer outcome-driven business strategy ".
Her article "WHAT’S BEYOND WEB 2.0 AND ENTERPRISE 2.0? BIZ 3.0!" is a must-read for those of you who want to understand what Web 2.0 can real bring out to your business, today, and tomorrow.

See the table Patricia has created to summarize her thoughts (and mine ! thanks to... the Wbe 2.0, I don't have to do it myself ;-). It's all in there.

Put the customer at the center of your enterprise flow chart instead of somewhere at the right hand side, and you'll be ready for the Biz 3.0 era. Which will come pretty soon, when one knows how quickly the Web 2.0 has changed our daily lives.

It's about customer relationships management, er. : it's about your business

Andy Hanselman has posted a must-have presentation on Slideshare. With this "practical guide to creating competitive advantage and improving business performance", Andy goes right to the point : the only way for any business to be successful on the long run is to get what he call " devoted customers " (ed. note : i prefer using the terminology " loyal customers ", as I am myself devoted to their own success ;-)

post-scriptum : Slideshare seems to become more business-oriented those days. A very good news.

iPhone Sales Pitch

New York Times' technologist David Pogue does great selling the iPhone.