‘Twitter’ & ‘Get Satisfaction’ | Virtual Andon Boards, Sort-of

March 30, 2008 |

IN THE RECENT issue of Fortune magazine there is an article titled “Web 2.0 Gets Over Its Goofing-Off Phase” which discusses the use of Social Media sites to save time and make money. And as we know, It’s All About Time…

In the article there is a section that discusses Twitter and how NY bases video start-up Blip.tv uses twitter to ‘eavesdrop on its customers’. the short of it is that Blip.tv began to hear chatter on Twitter about one its services and was able to quickly correct the problem. Blip.tv COO Dina Kaplan says that “If we hadn’t seen those Twitters, we might not have fixed that problem for six months.”

In a way, to me anyhow, this almost seems like an andon board used on the shop floor in a lean environment. In this case though it’s a virtual andon board used by customers who identify problems or hidden factories indirectly notifying the service provider of a problem through the use of Social Media. The only draw back to this analogy is that the traditional use of an andon board is to quickly identify problems before they reach the customer. In any case, it’s an interesting use of gathering voice of the customer data and sovling problems quickly.

In other virtual VOC related news, also this week I came across Get Satisfaction - The People Powered Customer Service website. The gist of Get Satisfaction is basically ‘a place where people can get the most from the products they use, and where companies are encouraged to get real with their customers’. In digging a little deeper into more detail -

Get Satisfaction is a direct connection between people and companies that fosters problem-solving, promotes sharing, and builds up relationships. Thousands of companies use this neutral space to support customers, exchange ideas, and get feedback about their products and services. Get Satisfaction is open, transparent, and free. You’re free to ask, free to answer, and free to start a new conversation. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate: companies, employees, customers — anyone with an opinion, an answer, or something to say.

This is pretty powerful stuff and to some extent I would think that what Get Satisfaction is doing will help break down the traditional walls of customer feedback and integrate customers/users more intimately into the problem solving process.

Aside from that, Get Satisfaction has a real smooth logo.

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