Our economy is bad right now and every day, we see more and more companies failing. We see protests on the left and on the right where people voice their discontent with the situation. We see businesses end, corporations end, banks fail, and any other number of signs of a system in break down.
People are scrambling for answers. Some people see easy solutions that tend to be kind of jackassed in results. Other people turn to religion or blame (or both). Some people throw their hands in the air and claim there is no way to fix this mess. It's finished, broken, and it's only a matter of time before we're all suffering in some rather unpleasant ways.
I'm not going to presume there are easy answers or quick fixes. I will, however, maintain there are rather obvious starting points and guidelines. One of the most important stating points is communication.
Now, I'm not talking about just holding up signs and chanting. I'm not talking about ranting on Facebook or Youtube. I'm not talking about bumper stickers or angry vlogs. In all of these cases, you will find one side speaking, but rarely two. No, what I mean is communication, true, open and honest dialogue about the problems we're facing and ways to get out of them.
Any company who doesn't listen to its consumers is on its way to failure. This doesn't mean you always have to do everything your consumers demand. Honestly, that would probably drive you insane. However, giving them a forum for expressing their ideas and concerns is very important. Not only does it give you feedback concerning ways to improve your product, it also makes the consumer feel valued. When we feel value, we will place value. When we feel a company is loyal to us, we will be loyal to that company.
Sometimes, it just takes a little work on your part.
I've gotten into this habit of doing customer service surveys for products I use, such as online games and the like. I used to avoid such things like plague, as they took up time and tended to repeat themselves. However, a while back I did one for a Facebook game and actually noticed changes, specifically ones I had mentioned.
I'm not going to pretend my lone voice was the catalyst to the change. I'm cocky, but not that much. Rather, in a logical way, I'm going to assume that the concerns and frustrations I found with the game were the same ones others were finding as well. People actually read the survey, saw the same things mentioned over and over again, and made the changes.
However, after the changes happened, I found myself being far more positive about the game. The frustration I'd felt about glitches and stalls, while not leaving me completely, did subside, as I had faith they would be worked on and the game would improve. In fact, knowing the company had an interest in making the game better gave me more patience where the game was concerned.
While the practical point of the survey (finding ways to improve the game) was important, the emotional impact of the survey has a greater value. Giving the consumer a voice gives them an awareness of their own power. It makes them feel like the product is something they and the producer are in partnership to improve. This creates an emotional investment in the consumer. One is far less likely to walk away from something when one has an emotional investment in it.
I think one of the biggest flaws a lot of companies (and people) have is this almost obsessive need to deny any and all mistakes. We see businesses try to deny any wrong doing all the time. This pattern of behavior needs to stop. We need to move past the "deny at all costs" and be willing to admit that things aren't always perfect. And instead of saying to the customer "Oh yes well we did that correctly and you're insane and irrational for believing otherwise," we should be willing and open enough to say, "Yes, that was a mistake. I can tell you are dissatisfied. What would you like for us to do differently?"
Many people cringe at that idea. I get that. If in the situation, I think I would cringe as well. However, denial of the truth isn't going to make things get better. All it will do is allow you to waste a lot of energy trying to cover up what went wrong.
I realize this is easier to say than to do. Changing the way we communicate is always work. It also has risks. It opens us up to others and exposes our flaws. The thing is, our flaws are pretty obvious anyway. Best to get them out in the open. For one thing, that is a very liberating experience.
For another thing? It may just be the catalyst to changes that can be the difference between us pulling out of this economic slump and us ending up, as a nation, in the poor house.
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