THINKing » listening http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog My CreativeTeam Thinks About Creativity, Marketing, PR & Social Media Wed, 16 May 2012 18:53:40 +0000 en hourly 1 Tap The Crowd http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/crowdsourcing/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/crowdsourcing/#comments Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:59:53 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2589 Photo credit: Piresco from morguefile.com We talk a lot about listening, and some companies are beginning to give it a try. But, too often, the company doesn’t really hear because it is too focused on what it wants, not what the customer is asking for. At other times, companies get customer input but don’t ferret out [...]]]>


Photo credit: Piresco from morguefile.com

We talk a lot about listening, and some companies are beginning to give it a try. But, too often, the company doesn’t really hear because it is too focused on what it wants, not what the customer is asking for. At other times, companies get customer input but don’t ferret out what a customer really wants.

We believe in going to the crowd to get input and for ideas to help us stay ahead of our competitors.  And, so does Ross Shafer, author of the new book, Grab More Market Share: How to Wrangle Business Away from Lazy Competitors. He says crowdsourcing can often be a company’s best way of gauging its customer and improving its product  or service. Says Shafer,

Don’t insist that you know what your customers want or how they want it. You need to crowdsource  – a way for you to connect with the part of culture that already knows you: your fans. By admitting you don’t know everything, you can ask your fans for their help in developing new products or services.

He points out a couple of good examples:

  • Starbucks uses the website www.mystarbucksidea.com to solicit new innovations and ideas.
  • Boeing cut a year off the design process by crowdsourcing for its successful 787 Dreamliner

What about you? Are you listening to the crowd, or actively soliciting ideas from your fans? Tell us about your crowdsourcing efforts.

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