I am now a mobile social customer and my mobile experience is getting richer and richer every day. And for the most part my iPhone applications address nearly all of my information needs. According those who count things, there are now more than 200,000 iPhone and over 100,000 Android applications. And of course my most favorite application is Major League Baseball at Bat 2010, the most popular of all iPhone applications.
The new version of iPhone 4 includes an embedded Nike+ iPod application that enables you to count calories, plot distances and time and create playlists of music to work out too and keep a history of your workouts. I am not sure what kind of revenue this will provide for Nike, but it sure is genius in my view and it allows Nike to connect with the mobile social customer and those Gen Xer's and Millennials that can still work out. Of course nearly all of these applications are available on the iPad, which in my view is a larger richer landscape for interacting with the Internet.
I have been a business traveler over 21 years and have averaged some years 20-25 weeks a year on the road; my worst year was 32 weeks. I am one of those sick individuals that hit a million miles on United five years ago, one time a flight attendant told me that I see her more than my wife. During this time I have practiced many "road savvy basics" which have kept me out of trouble in various places and countries, including Latin America. And as a social customer I employ my mobile device in new and exciting ways that helps me find the information that I need about a restaurant, a hotel, a service, a bar, or a product. With the Internet at my disposal I can easily check on the reviews of just about any service or product with the help of Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc and others. Just for fun I have posted my latest update from Yelp this year:
- Total number of reviews 36
- Your profile has been viewed 403 times.
- You've received 1 compliment.
- Your reviews have 22 Useful, 11 Funny, and 6Cool votes.
As you can see with Yelp, this year alone more than 400 people have read my reviews and viewed my profile. The same is true for TripAdvisor which notified me that several hundred people read my review of the Houstonian.
My favorite iPhone application for finding nearly anything is AroundMe. This is indeed one of the most powerful applications I have seen and the embedded geolocation maps are great. AroundMe knows where I am and presents me with a list of information in categories like:
- Banks ATMs
- Bars
- Coffee
- Gas Stations
- Hospitals
- Hotels
- Movie Theaters
- Pharmacies
- Restaurants
- Supermarkets
- Taxis
- Theaters
- Weather
Each category lists the closest businesses to me and at the top of the list there is usually and add for something related. With AroundMe once I find business I can easily switch to a map which leverages my location and provides me with directions to it. I have found AroundMe to be tremendously valuable on the road and it will search and find cigar bars and everything you could imagine and it is integrated with Google Ads for business to leverage like Ticketliquidator.com in the Theater section. Another application I use on the road is Roadside, which shows you eclectic monuments and places around your location.
Perhaps the most shocking application is the new SexOffenders iPhone application which can quickly pull up a list of registered sex offenders in an area. Not only does it show you a list of names but also the photos of offenders and their crimes. You might be surprised at how many are in your neighborhood.
Net/Net
I am a Social Customer: Know Me, You Get My Business and I Promote Yours
This is the headline from an earlier blog this year and there is no doubt that social customers are already challenging companies and organizations globally especially from a customer service perspective and I know I am. Those companies that create and execute new innovative strategies and tactics in the social customer era will be the winners. Laggards that don't listen to and ignore the voice of the social customers will pay the ultimate price in brand reputation, because social media is the "new word of mouth marketing platform." Again the social customer controls your brand more now than ever.
What are my characteristics and how have they changed since 2009?
- I am connected nearly all the time (now to everything.)
- I expect you to know me (Smart companies are interacting with me on my social media peer groups like Starwood for example.)
- I operate within my own ecosystem of organizations, peer groups, businesses and services (which is expanding with each iPhone app.)
- I use technology like a car; I put the key in and go where I want to go.
- I am active in social media peer groups that are important professionally and personally (I find trusted information here.)
- I am important to your bottom line, (more than ever.)
- I am demanding, I have high expectations and I seek the best value, (and I now a new suite of tools to find that value.)
- I get nearly all my information from applications on my smart device.
- I don't go to your website unless I really have to, (and I probably won't now.)
- I can be any age a millennial, a digital native or retired (I am now from the Greatest Generation, The Baby Boomers, The GenX'ers and the Millennials.
As a customer service person, what do think is most important about my characteristics? You should know how I use technology, understand my ecosystem and its ecology, and I expect you to know about me. I am there my profile is on nearly every site I visit and post my opinion. The big question still remains how you will interact with me in the channels of influence I participate in? And how will you deliver to me the level of customer service that I expect from you? You need to ask yourself one question, do you really want me as a customer? And more importantly is your company ready for the social customer? Today I don't think most companies aren't ready for the social customer and the laggards won't address them until they understand the social customer controls their brand.