Our Online Dialogue partner and social expert Maurice Beerthuyzen has for his new customer dialogues blog wrote an article on the importance of structured online dialogue.

We have actually only been online for roughly 16 years. Starting in 1996, the first websites went on the air in the Netherlands. A brief history of the online world and how we eventually ended up with unstructured customer dialogues.

Most dialogues conducted by companies until now were structured. A web form consists of fixed fields and if you call a company you often end up in a call menu. Today's company wants to contact you as efficiently as possible.

However, most of the dialogues we have are unstructured. As humans, we don't communicate through scripts and forms. And so it's not surprising if companies and customers sometimes talk past each other.

Companies are often unable to talk to customers in an unstructured way. This is not allowed (takes too much time) and is also often considered scary (‘I might say something that is not right’). Then they prefer cold and impersonal communication via call scripts, forms and email templates.

We come from a time where efficiency and automation key were. In the ’80s and ’90s, we automated the whole business world. We got call centers and customer services. ICT became more and more important. The emphasis was on the product. As a customer, you had to put up with that. At most Frits Bom was concerned about your fate. But only once a week, on Saturday evenings.

Internet

Initially, the same game was played on the Internet as described above. Until soon forums and blogs made their appearance. Suddenly there were venues where customers could share their opinions to their heart's content.

Companies became vulnerable online as a result. If 20 customers shout that product X is not working properly, it must be true, right? Dell was one of the first victims of public opinion. With Dell Hell as eternally retrievable case. Many companies would follow afterward.

Social media

And then suddenly there was social media, around 2006. At least, someone at some point went interactive venues so named. Actually, social media were always there: forums and blogs could also be categorized under social media.

Social media like Twitter are a lot more accessible and open than a forum, though. Consequence: posting messages has never been easier. Result: faster escalation of issues and even more buzz around a topic.

Around 2007, the first business applications came through social media. UPC started webcare, T-Mobile made its first attempt. Many companies followed. Through webcare we now promise improvement, apologize. And again... and again....

Webcare and beyond

Some companies now dare to use webcare to have an informal dialogue with their customers. But beyond social media, not much has changed yet. Products are not yet adjusted immediately in response to complaints, and if they are, it takes months if not years before improvements can be applied. That is therefore the reason that webcare departments are often little more than ‘excuse makers. The link to solving the real problem has not yet been made.

Transparent

We live in an age where we can check a lot online. Take a look at the September 2012 House of Representatives elections. Everything there revolved around the checking the truth. That was created in part by social networking. Everyone is a publicist. Deceit and lies are coming to light more often and faster as a result.

And companies are feeling it firsthand:

• Why do I have to pay for a call to customer service....
• ...while on Twitter I am being helped for free?
• Why does answering an email take 24 hours....
• ...On Tros Radar, you guys are on me within an hour!

So we have quite a bit to do:

• We as companies must learn to have informal unstructured dialogues
• We need to organize customer dialogues better (no more silos)
• We need to learn from customer signals and be open as a company:
• Continuous communication with your customers
• Faster processes and service delivery
• A more transparent dialogue

Are you already working on this?

Getting started!

Improving your dialogues with customers does not come without a struggle. You will need to get your entire company on board with this change. Are you conducting upbeat dialogues on the front end, but nothing is happening inside the walls of the company? Sooner or later your dialogues will be punctured.

Change is desperately needed. Gartner recently warned That if you are 2014 not connected to social media you are slowly out of business goes.

Originally posted on September 28, 2012 at Maurice's customer dialogues blog.