Reading Reflection #2 chapter5-8

Li and Bernoff talked about a compelling case in how to listening to the groundswell. A  cancer patient, Lynn Perry, every time he went to the clinic, he needs to wait for several hours before his turn. He said:"There are things that make me question M.D Anderson clinic." He believed that as a cancer patient, his time is more precious than others, but the clinic lets him wait for such a long time to see the doctor. So he made a complaint about the clinic, and M.D Anderson listened and promised to make some improvement. As such advanced and famous clinic, it gives priority to the patients, especially the patients like Perry, who went to the clinic regularly. 

I have to say, M.D Anderson is smart enough to listen to the groundswell.
The corporations like M.D Anderson insist on giving customer priority to speak about their product or service.

I had the same experience when I bought an audio input adapter on Amazon.com. The company who sells the product called the Cable Matters. When I got the product, I find the two connectors of the adapter is in the same color. However, when we use the audio, there are left the channel and right channel. So I think the product is not perfect enough to fit my audio device because it doesn't distinguish the left and right channel. So I emailed the company and told them about my concerns. Surprisingly, they reply me after two weeks with the improved product with the different color in "left" and "right." They also email me to thank me for mentioning mistakes they never noticed before.

After listening to groundswell, the next step goes to "talking with groundswell." In fact, in this step, talking with groundswell needs to engage in the groundswell first.

Many many companies on the Facebook or Instagram post regularly every time they have an announcement or new product release, and we often can notice that customers reply to the posts. Starbucks is an example.

As we can see a lot of comments under the Starbucks posts. And what Starbucks doing good is that Starbucks reply to customers' comments, which will make the customers feel more engaging.

This phenomenon is a pretty good way to listen to the groundswell and know how the customers are thinking about your products. This is a far more efficient way to get customers feedback instead of research on the market.

Creating a community is also a right way of talking to groundswell, and Starbucks does a great job in this aspect. There are a lot of Starbucks lover all around the world. In China, if you choose Starbuck as your coffee choice, people will think you have a good taste. And people who always choose Starbuck have become a community of loyal customers. 

Whenever Starbucks release new designed cups or mugs or giftcards, they will immediately to get one. Some of the limited edition cups need to pay particular attention because it will sold out in one minute after release.

There is a video that Starbucks made to creat a holiday connection with people to make people feel more engaging.

Energizing the groundswell after talking with it can divide into several ways. One way needs to be mentioned the "man-made" groundswell, the agent like BzzAgent. In my perspective, this kind of Agent destroy the market or the normal groundswell. The most precious about groundswell is the sound of people's true thinking about a company, a product, and service. One people's thinking is not so powerful but thousands thinking or judgments can help not only the customers to clarify the "good" or "not so good" products but also help the companies to find out how they can make improvements. Moreover, if people find out there are no negative comments on your products, they might already know that the groundswell is after people's manipulate.

There is an example on the Amazon.com 

As we can see, there are no negative comments and all people give a 5-star comments, but after I get the product, I will probably give a 1 star of comment because it is totally as described on the website.

There is an exciting example of how groundswell helps itself chapter: the traditional technical support calls. These years, I have found that most time when I call for help, the customer service mostly will be an Indian. After research, many companies move their technical support to India to lower their cost. Is that interesting that every time you call, the call is from the other side of the world? Anyway, I have enough patience of waiting in line every time I give a call, and sometimes I still did not get the answer that I want .  However, some companies have built the communities to let customers help themselves to solve problems, which reduce the cost and also solve the problem more efficiently.  

Taobao.com, a Chinese online shoppong website makes a good example of how groundswell helping customers themselves. They built a space to let people ask questions about the products and only the people who bought the products can ask the questions.