First thoughts

 

Getting signed up to use this website is easy.  It doesn’t present any new or different challenges compared to other online tools and services.  I like the fact that anyone can sign up and that companies are taking the step to use a service like this to hear from their users and communities. This shows that they are willing to become vulnerable in order to give more power to their target public, which can ultimately increase the satisfaction of their customer base. 

 

Site set-up

 

Company sites are organized in a way that easily allows their customers to report and discuss problems, make suggestions, share ideas and see what questions have yet to be answered. There are many tags available so users can find conversations about their specific concerns or ideas more efficiently.  There are also a number of links and options to help you better understand the company.  The green boxes around employees’ names help users identify who is helping them – the community or the employees.  It’s amazing how much the community helps.  The community does most of the work.

 

Benefit to user-friendliness and variety of options

 

As a user of this service, you have the opportunity to really gauge how customer service savvy a company is as well as build an online community that can really help you save time and make a product more meaningful for you.  For example, your community can help you solve problems that haven’t yet occurred for you and give you insight into other ways a service or product can make your life easier. 

 

This service also allows you to do the same for your community as well as make suggestions and share ideas about how the product can be improved.  

 

Another very interesting feature is the use of emoticons to establish the satisfaction level associated with the answers and information provided. 

 

Company rep profiles

 

Company reps are very easily found.  They sit at the top right-hand side of the company page and are bound by a green box.  All of the reps icons link to their profiles, which provide a variety of information. The information available varies from rep to rep. It may include where they live and other ways you can reach them online including, but not limited to: Twitter feeds, blogs, Flickr accounts and del.icio.us. 

 

The reps profiles also include the number of replies they have made and which ones have been tagged as useful.  This is helpful because it directs users to information considered useful by the community. 

 

Get Satisfaction: Twitter

 

Twitter has 14 employees who are waiting to hear from their public.  This is a significant employee base compared to other companies.  Problems that have currently been discussed include: complaints about upholding terms of service agreement (these are the ones that are particularly worrisome and get many replies), deleting old accounts, poor quality profile pictures, inability to see previous tweets and various challenges receiving SMS updates.  Other questions have also been asked regarding pagination coming back and adding more international sites.

 

How are they managing?

 

Most often, community members reply before employees.  An interesting option for those reading replies is that they can choose to tell the person whether their suggestion or advice has solved the problem.  This is great for the community because it helps direct individuals to the solutions that work and also provides positive feedback for the person giving the solution.  This way everyone can get satisfaction!

 

There are also emoticons available for users when they get replies and they can share how they are feeling by using them.  Lots of sad faces in the community should  definitely be a warning to any company. 

 

Get Satisfaction: Apple

 

Surprisingly, Apple only has one employee participating.  This is a shock given the reputation of Apple in the world.  Most of the replies come from the community and not the company.  Not only is there only one rep, but the rep has no information available in his profile.  Essentially the community is doing all of the work for Apple. 

 

Some complaints posted include: plastic eroding around the edge of the keyboard, iPhones not automatically connecting to wifi network and desktop icons missing from the desktop.  Some other Apple user questions include: iPhones being available through other carriers than AT&T and where to find an Apple support line. 

 

Maybe they should consider some more reps.

 

Final thoughts

 

Get Satisfaction is a site that can work very well if you use it your advantage.  You can get a lot of support from a community that uses and believes in the same service or product that you do.  The community is by far the best part of the service.  The people within it are the ones that most often will help you get the answers you need and even coach you along the way. 

 

The more I learn about online communities the more I feel connected with everyone.