Subscribe in a readerServing customer communities online. Lee LeFever has written a blog entry on serving customer communities online, in which he provides some practical advice and tips. [Column Two]
Lee LeFever does it again with an excellent article about points to consider when establishing an online community and the benefits of such community to the bottom line of your organization.
A key point LeFever drives home is to be a community first and on-line second. This is something I can't stress enough, relationships are not built in any one medium, it takes multiple interactions through various communications channels.
Several steps to building a community were outlined. (1) Document the major needs of your customer base, (2) Segment customers into logical interest groups, (3) Match the needs outlined in step 1 with those groups in step 2, (4) Build on-line communications tools around this base. More details available in the original article.
In step 1, I'd rather you look at the desires customers have as it relates to what they are willing to purchase. Focus on a few areas to start, then build your community on early accomplishments. A successful on-line community can reduce your cost of delivering customer support, improve customer relationships, and increase the knowledge sharing between customers.
/ active-members | b2b-websites /
By Justin Hitt at October 1, 2003 2:31 AM
Subscribe in a reader
251
