Building Your Own Pocket of Greatness

There are two Best Buy stores that are less than a 15 minute drive from my home. For the past several years, I've instinctively gone to the one that's "in town" because that's the general direction I went for most of my shopping. Unfortunately, I was often turned off by long lines, crowded parking lots, and indifferent service. I like Best Buy's selection of products, so recently I tried shopping at the other store near my home that was "out of town". This store was a whole new world. Every time I've been there I was greeted by a friendly, knowledgeable associate who helped me make a good purchase. And, there was always plenty of parking and rarely a line at the cash registers.

Same chain of stores. Different locations. World of difference.

Jim Collins, the Good to Great guru, wrote, "you can build a pocket of greatness without executive power, in the middle of an organization." He argues you can find ways to create a great team, department, or business unit regardless of your company's reputation, your boss's capabilities, or the resources at your disposal. Today's economic climate presents a perfect opportunity to stand out from the crowd and demonstrate your value.

Resources
Jim Collins has a great website with lots of tools. You can also check out my recent interview on NBC San Diego.

Receiving the gift of (online) customer feedback

There is a growing list of websites that are dedicated to allowing customers to share feedback and reviews with each other and even the companies they are rating. These sites can be a powerful tool for companies that are willing to listen and act on what they hear. The sites can also dramatically hurt businesses that aren't paying attention or are unwilling to take corrective action.

Here are just a few sources I've found to be quite helpful:

consumersearch. This handy website compiles product reviews from multiple sources. Last night, I used it to check out vacuum cleaners. I've wanted a Dyson for awhile, but Consumer Reports gave it mediocre ratings. A quick check on consumersearch revealed that most people were overwhelmingly satisfied with it. I wonder if the Dirt Devil and Hoover folks are checking this site?

yelp and kudzu. These websites feature user-generated reviews of local area businesses. These are great sites for small businesses to be aware of.

Get Satisfaction. This site takes it a step further by allowing customers to provide each other with tips and ideas on resolving customer complaints. This site primarily features larger companies, and the smart ones are joining in on the conversation to spot (and fix!) customer complaints quickly.

epinions. Another great site for customer feedback, especially on service providers.

Industry-specific Feedback
There are a lot of website that offer feedback for your specific industry and a customer-focused company would do well to pay attention to what your customers are saying. The hospitality industry has many sources to choose from, including Expedia, Travelocity, and Hotels.com. I've also used Service Magic to find home improvement contractors and even get quotes from registered service providers.

Check out this helpful article from Inc. Magazine for more information on customer feedback tools.