
How companies should treat their most enthusiastic customers - ad
http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21711011-research-shows-firms-ignore-passionate-consumers-their-peril-how-companies-should
======
marklyon
I'm currently enjoying a special experience courtesy of a company that
recognizes and supports its enthusiastic customers. They provide a service and
are about to launch a new offering. Instead of just dropping the new thing
into the market, they emailed me (and a number of other highly-engaged
customers who tweet about them and otherwise get involved) and gave me a free
weekend of the new thing. It's freaking amazing and I'm looking forward to
being able to tell everyone I know about it once the launch happens.

It's also much easier to forgive faults and lapses when a company has engaged
you in the past. I certainly don't expect every interaction with a business to
be perfect, but when they have good service recovery and make me feel
appreciated, I'm not going to get bent out of shape if something is amiss. For
example, Starwood has done a great job of making sure I enjoy the many nights
I spend in hotels. It's not always perfect, but their expert handling of the
times it has been imperfect are actually what make me loyal to them when I
have options on where to stay.

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etimberg
The portion of the article regarding The Innovators Dilemma is very important.
It's easy to get so focused on the enthusiastic users that you forget about
everyone else. Balancing between those two concerns is hard, and it's even
harder to have to tell your enthusiastic users that you're not giving them
what they want immediately.

~~~
myowncrapulence
This is why companies that can properly classify their user base and serve
compartmentalized/customized products to those specific niches flourish.

If you are making a product for everyone, you'll eventually dissolve. This is
what I see Apple's problem as being right now. They're shifting their entire
OS towards the lowest common denominator which are casual users. Meanwhile
their OS is becoming more and more like the new Windows.

~~~
akvadrako
Apple has always been focused on usability and simplicity at the expense of
power. Remember the one button mouse or first desktop without any external
media options?

But also, do you really think causal users care about Thunderbolt 3.1? Or
previously, Firewire 800? And want a $3000 laptop that can drive two 5K
screens?

I realise you talked about the OS, but it's the same deal. Apple OS'es were
always dumbed-down compared to Windows - just compare the control panels and
application "installation" features. Have you seen Group Policies?

~~~
myowncrapulence
Ease-of-use /= stupid

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LyalinDotCom
This is why we here at Microsoft (in the developer side of things at least)
have an "MVP" programs. This program is something I really love and am proud
of as it lets us connect, take early feedback from (under NDA) and invest in
our biggest developer platform fans. They do a lot for us, so its well
deserved.

[https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/](https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/)

~~~
paulddraper
On the developer side of things, Google has the Google Developers Experts
(GDE) program. It plays a very similar role.
[https://developers.google.com/experts/](https://developers.google.com/experts/)

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noonespecial
I'm just going to throw this out without comment or naming names.

Never ever _attack_ your most enthusiastic customers.

~~~
JumpCrisscross
Never say never. Unyieldingly binding your company to its most-enthusiastic
customers at a single point in time ossifies it. Kodak and Blackberry, it
could be argued, failed by refusing to bail on sinking ships.

~~~
Godel_unicode
Binding!=attacking

~~~
csydas
I think you're misunderstanding their point. The gp was saying don't ever
attack your most enthusiastic customers, parent was suggesting there is equal
potential for harm in refusing to detach from your enthusiasts and citing
Kodak as an example. Sometimes your most enthusiastic customers are also out
of touch with how the rest of the industry is heading - it's easy to get
complacent and fall from the top.

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keithpeter
_" Eric von Hippel of MIT’s Sloan School of Management has found that about
80% of breakthroughs in scientific instruments came from “lead-users” rather
than the manufacturers."_

It seems to me the main focus of OA is on enthusiast end-users or members of
the public who become fans.

The 'lead users' for scientific instruments are the scientists in laboratories
doing research. Almost by definition, they will be using instruments in new
ways/pushing the limits and so feedback from them is critical to the
manufacturers of scientific instruments. More like a craftsman/patron
relationship.

Struck me as a different kettle of fish.

~~~
xbryanx
Similar to the IBM story. the principles resonate across different consumer
types.

