I got an invite to Facebook a few months ago; ever since I’ve been working out what to do with it.  Uploading a planet so people can send me a space creature isn’t really my thing, and I’m not into vampire games either - well not in the full glare of online publicity!!   With social network tools, and indeed other ‘content’ devices like loyalty cards, you have,as a cutomer, to work out what they can do for you - that’s where good customer research comes in.   

So, I uploaded a respectable number of friends; a real game of trial and error to find my generation.  I ended up thinking of friends who were techies, into online communities, or under 35, and then trying to identify them from the photos of everyone else with the same name!!   I couldn’t understand how one Arab friend looked so different, until my husband pointed out it was a picture of Jack Nicholson!!

Then, I came across my nieces, nephews and godchildren: of course most of this generation are members of Facebook.  So when I next saw them I mentioned I’d found them and got the response that they’d be happy to be ‘friends’.  The only person to turn me down was my son, who didn’t think having his Mum as a friend was cool.  However, his girlfriend was quite happy to link up - a good way to soften up a future ‘mother in law’ for babysitting perhaps!!

Anyway, Facebook is now an excellent way to keep up with my ‘generation xers’ and they share their problems and triumphs - Aunties can be a better ear and allowed to be more eccentric than parents!!  But the most unexpected benefit is that after years of birthday and Christmas presents I now get thank you notes on my wall - a little bit more personal than the ‘Dear Aunty Jean, thank you for the lovely etch-a-sketch you sent me for Christmas’, that I was forced to write on squirrel headed notepaper. 

So what has this got to do with business?  Well,  researching your customer segments for a start - but most of all, the thank you letters just show that if you make something accessible and fun then ‘customers’ will take it up.  That’s how Amazon started, and that is what a good customer experience is all about.     

Many companies are looking for innovative added value service, whilst an increasing number are realizing the benefits of customer communities.  One idea that serves both purposes is to find a logical ‘area or interest’ for your company to build a community of interest around as a service.  A pharmaceuticals company did just that with a women’s group in Africa.  They were providing women with HRT, but found that in African society women going through the menopause felt isolated; what they really needed was support from other women who understood their personal issues.  So the company started a community group for them, helping with organization and materials - not only did this help the women, but it reflected well on the company and they gained more customers and custom.

I have thought of this story this summer whilst I have been laid up with my broken ankle trawling the internet looking for advice on turning scar tissue to ligament, good diets for healing bones, and flexibility exercises.  What experience has taught me is that Doctors don’t tell you everything and you have to take charge of your own recovery.  So what you need is other people to talk to who are in the same boat - there is only so much ‘wittering’ your friends will take.   I eventually found a good site for mutual support at my broken leg. com; basically a community for invalids to help each other through a time that can be very distressing.  Now how easy would it be for a relevant company - a sports clothing company, a medical company, health and fitness companies - to set up and support such a community.  Because the one thing I know from experience so many communities need is time and energetic people to run the show.

So is there a ‘problem’ that your customers have that you could support with a community service?  And serve as good research for you! And if anyone with a broken ankle needs help on their road to recovery do let me know.  I can tell you about everything from beauty treatments to ensure your have the prettiest potted toes, to the regime I’ve learnt to turn that pesky internal scar tissue back into useful ligament!  But more importantly, I can empathise with the emotional roller-coaster.