I’d be a rich man if I earned a dollar each time a CEO, CMO, Brand Manager etc. expressed their concern over the increasing consumer voice on social media. And how it was a nuisance and screwing up everything. About their wish list of being able to curb that voice or “control” the space, if they could!
The insecurity about this consumer voice is felt as much by companies and brands, as by politicians. Perhaps more so with the latter. Which is why we have heard of crazy things like legislation to control the space or even banning some of the platforms!
The fact is that these folks are living in denial. Hoping that a reality will disappear – which never happens!
I have tried hard in my own small way, to convince some of these people to accept reality, and in fact, look at this as an opportunity. Some convert. Others still remain disbelievers. And want to “delete any negative that comes about me / my brand / my company / my party”!
Well, I would have never expected an ally in the form of Narendra Modi, to help me make my point! But as I sat through a long speech by him, addressing the India Today Conclave 2013, in Delhi, I found a very interesting clip that can be a lesson for other politicians as well as brand managers and CXOs alike.
Check out the specific 3 minutes of the talk, that I am referring to, here below:
Here are the few key points that you can see here:
1. Instead of being afraid of the online voice, Modi encourages it
2. He actually gives the example of a local government officer who could be “threatened” by a citizen that ‘address my concern or I will go online’
3. As a “CEO” of Gujarat, he believes that by empowering the citizens in this manner, he is able to locate the inefficiencies in his system and work on correcting those
4. At his level, he personally gets involved in the grievance redressal effort, as a consequence of this online effort; for the “CEO”, it is his opportunity of a direct connect with his “customers”
5. And then he talks of the method! Which is most heartwarming for me, as this is exactly what WE DO in our social media listening efforts. About bucketing issues in various heads and drilling down further into each head, and working on the ground, to fix the systems at all places, and then continue monitoring, to see if the complains reduce!
While Modi makes no specific mention of Social Media or Social Media Monitoring or Social CRM or Online Reputation Management, what he has given are those exact gems! Which every CXO and every politician must understand. And rather than viewing the space as a threat, view it as an opportunity and convert it to your advantage!
Key takeaways for CXOs and other politicians, from this Modi message:
1. Encourage a system for grievance redressal. Running away from it is like brushing things under the carpet. They don’t go away. Perhaps spread the rot more and start stinking. Best to deal with the issues!
2. Online space, whether your own or a public forum like social media, can be used well, to get this feedback loop to happen. Enable it and encourage it. Don’t curb it, don’t hate it, don’t hide it!
3. Listen to the feedback. Don’t just delegate it to some junior officer. Get the data at the most senior level. It is your direct contact with the consumer on ground. You will not get a better view of your consumer. All other views, whether coming through the hierarchy of your organisation or through commissioned market surveys, are “filtered” opinions, often tweaked to either show you what you’d like to see, or show you what your juniors want you to know!! Social media and direct feedback from the consumer, is unadulterated!
4. Beyond the specific issues that the individual customers are facing, look at the patterns. Categorise the feedback into buckets. Understand what are in those buckets, understand larger systemic challenges that you have, and then get to work to fix those.
5. Continue to listen, even as you are fixing the issues on ground. And then keep reviewing the changes via the feedback loop. Do you sense the change? Are fewer complaints coming in? Are there actually people sharing the good feel on account of the change you brought about? That is your true measure, and the long term dividend of the exercise.
Yes, if Narendra Modi can do it, why can’t other politicians?? And if politicians can do it, CEOs and CMOs and Brand Managers should definitely be able to do it also??
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