Customer trust is one of a family businessÕs greatest assets. Technology has become a surprising ally in efforts to build that trust. An online conversation on topics your customers find interesting can translate into greater customer loyalty, higher employee morale, and phenomenal word-of-mouth advertising. At Idyll Untours in Media, Pennsylvania, an unusual travel company I founded in 1975, just such a conversation, started as an experiment, has turned out to be one of our strongest marketing tools.
Businesses have long tried to generate enthusiasm and loyalty to their products through advertising, mail promotions, and public relations. But these traditional channels are a one-way street, generating little feedback from the recipients. With the Internet, we now have a medium for building good will and loyalty to the product by helping customers talk to one another and exchange ideas about their experiences.
Sponsoring an online conversation is far simpler today than most people imagine. You need no special technical staff. The rise of the World Wide Web has spawned a wide range of software and services designed to simplify the arrangements for such conversations. Software packages for online conversation are now available that are sufficiently user-friendly that even moderately capable computer users can handle all the technical tasks.
Many companies already have systems theyÕre using for other purposes that could be applied to developing such a forum. To create a successful forum, the basics are few: software for interactive conversation (the current best choices are either Web-based or use an e-mail service); a dependable facilitator who is socially adept and technically competent; a group of enthusiastic customers to get the conversation started; and most important, consistently high-quality products that people get excited talking about with others.
Creating a sense of community
The business I started as a college professor 25 years ago has served more than 31,000 people and grosses around $6.5 million a year. The success of Idyll Untours resulted from a unique mode of travel in which clients live in a culture, not just on its surface. Living in a European vacation apartment, usually in a private home or chalet with support of friendly local staff, ÒUntouristsÓ do sightseeing of their own choosing and at their own pace, but also get caught up in the rhythms of the local life, shopping, using public transportation, getting to know their hosts and neighbors.
Our electronic conversation was the brainchild of our Web site manager, who realized that we could offer customers better service by sponsoring an e-mail based conversation in which they could answer one anotherÕs travel questions. My daughter, Marilee, now an organizational consultant, worked for me for a decade earlier in her career. It was MarileeÕs suggestion to expand our conversation to reach more of our customers and cover a wider range of subjects. Such a conversation, she proposed, would need to provide the customer with genuinely useful information, not just thinly veiled advertising. If successful, it would not only free up considerable staff time, but also promote values that our company deems important. Along with travel tips and practical packing advice, we invited employees and customers to talk online about their deeper common ground: the love of travel and exploration of other cultures.
When we set up a Web site about two years ago, it was with the idea of advertising our tours and helping customers with practical details about travel. Our 20 employees are constantly on the phone answering questions such as, ÒHow cold is it in Italy in April?Ó In the beginning, a small band of customers, mostly computer-savvy folks, found their way to our site. We discovered in their e-mail exchanges that they were giving each other advice and travel tips. The site was becoming a great time-saver for employees who found they were receiving fewer such queries.
We wanted to broaden this conversation. To get things rolling, we sent personal notes to 400 of our most loyal customers, inviting them to register for the site and join the conversation. They were people whose love of travel had proved so hardy that it was likely to overcome any initial aversion to computers. In addition, we sent out e-mail invitations to all customers who had made inquiries to the company in the past, inviting them to check the site for answers to any further questions they might have.
The conversations took place in Òvirtual time,Ó in contrast to a Òchat room,Ó where participants write comments and receive them as if they were in the same room at the same time. Visitors to our site can post a comment one day and receive responses the next day, in two days, or five daysÑwhenever it is convenient for them. Each comment is clearly labeled with a reference to a previous one. Marilee coached four or five people to serve as facilitators or moderators of the conversation; one was a customer and the rest were employees.
We hoped that the conversation would stir even deeper aspirationsÑvalues that Marilee and I both believed in. Many of us have a powerful wanderlust, a curiosity about other peoples and places, and a love of exploration that runs deep in the soul. What attracted people to our company, both as employees and clients, was a passion for travel that goes beyond superficial contactÑtravel that fosters a depth immersion in a different way of life. Why not use the same tool to talk about peopleÕs deeper interest in different cultures?
To make visitors to the site feel at home, Marilee created screensavers illustrating customer interests and company values. Compelling pictures and quotes invited customers to the electronic conversation. Customers and employees could download this range of images from the site.
With these and other efforts to whet their appetite, more people began posting remarks. Within weeks, our modest conversation had quadrupled in volume. Our main complaint was that peopleÕs electronic mailboxes were overflowing!
Tapping into customer good will
The companyÕs customers had always been IdyllÕs best salespeople. But none of us in the firm had realized the extent to which electronic conversation could unleash the power of that excellent word-of-mouth. Almost immediately upon expanding the conversation, to our surprise and delight, customers began posting glowing testimonials to the product. This sort of endorsement has a level of authenticity no amount of advertising or public relations can match. A sample of comments customers have placed there:
ÒWeÕve been traveling to Europe with Idyll for almost 20 years, and have been singing praises for the many wonderful and enlightening experiences that we have had. We enjoy traveling the Idyll way because it gives us such a great opportunity on each trip to see a more personal view of the people, the way of life, the marketing and dining experiences, various modes of transportation, as well as the scenery, and gain a chance to have friendships with some of the people whose paths we cross.Ó
We continue to be astounded by the marketing that our customers do for us. Repeat customers enjoy sharing their experience with newcomers. This not only saves employee time but builds the first-time travelerÕs confidence:
ÒI think you will find Austria every bit as wonderful, if not more so, than Switzerland. At least we did. We were in Kuchl, which is a beautiful small town about 5 miles south of Salzburg. We stayed in a lovely chalet-type house at the foot of the mountains. The train is about a 5 minute walk through a beautiful neighborhood and across a charming river. We found the train system perfect for the type of sightseeing we wanted to do.Ó
In this way, Òcross-sellingÓ occurs naturally, thanks to the lively pace and range of topics in the conversation:
ÒI am signed up for an Untour to Prague/ Budapest this May and am sorry there are not more postings about Prague/Budapest. However, there are so many passionate postings about other Untours destinations, I am seriously considering some destinations I wouldnÕt have otherwise considered.Ó
Customers also create esprit de corps, and even suggest new product offerings:
ÒWouldnÕt it be great if some Idyllchatters [participants in the conversation] could travel together? Knowing each other better makes people Ôreal,Õ and is there anything better than real people? Yay for our team!Ó
Market research at the ready
One of my most delightful duties is selecting new destinations for the travel services we sell. With our online conversation, we can do market research that makes my choices more informed. Informal focus groups emerge almost spontaneously. Case in point: Over the years, there had been considerable customer interest in an Untour on a Greek island, but Idyll has never started such a program. My hesitation was a matter of practical logistics. The linchpin of the Untour travel experience is staying in a home base over a period of several weeks. Customers had been inquiring about many Greek islands that are quite small. The variety of day trips possible from the home base would have been limited. I worried that customers might tire of their home base too quickly.
We asked about this question on our electronic conversation and received dozens of replies from people who agreed that, yes, they wanted to see Greece, but several weeks on one island alone would be too much for them. Without this economical and quick link to customer opinion, we would have undoubtedly spent thousands of dollars on a product line that was likely to fail.
When the conversation lags, moderators will often give it a jump start by raising questions about some news event. After the crash of a Swissair jet last year off Newfoundland, we agonized over whether to discuss this development, so potentially upsetting to travelers. We decided that, on the contrary, some discussion of the crash might help to allay peopleÕs anxieties and fears of air travel. We turned out to be right.
First of all, the moderator informed people that no Untourists had been on the plane. One of our most valued customers also broke the ice with this posting:
ÒSwissair #111 crashed today, at least my today. ThatÕs terrible...but most of us know and agree that plane travel is the safest form of transportation. It was SwissairÕs first crash of any significance in 20 years. I had an experience that may help anyone out there who is worried. It was in 1979, the day after the engine fell off a DC-10 at OÕHare airport in Chicago.... We all knew about the crash when we got to the Zurich airport. An announcement was made to the effect that our plane for Boston was to be delayed an hour; no other explanation. After some time in the air, I asked the MaÎtre de la Cabine what had been the delay, since Swissair is very punctual. He took me aside and asked if I knew about the Chicago crash. I said that I did. I also knew that the preliminary cause in that crash was suspected to be metal fatigue in the bolts holding the engine on the wing (this was later found not to be the cause). He told me that Swissair had taken all the engines off their DC-10s that day, while we waited, and put new ones in. Thus, the delay. I decided there and then that Swissair was my airline.
ÒSorry if this worries anyone, but I think it should do the opposite. Remember, statistically, you are more likely to die in bed at home than anywhere else.Ó
Keeping cyberspace civil
For most of us, online conversations are still a novelty. The media depict cyberspace as a wild world peopled by nerds and pornographers. One of our biggest challenges is to provide an inviting atmosphere for conversation. It needs to be spicy enough to keep busy people engaged, yet safe enough to encourage them to say what they think.
Periodically, we post a series of rules of ÒnetiquetteÓ to remind people that civility needs to be maintained in the exchanges. Among them: ÒLimit the length of your posting.Ó ÒTake topics of interest only to one or two people into e-mail, rather than the general discussion.Ó ÒNo personal attacks. Be careful with humorÑespecially sarcasm.Ó ÒAsk peopleÕs permission if you want to quote their words in a context outside Idyllchat.Ó
Our customers are mostly people 40 or older with children, solid citizens who are not inclined to misbehave. Many of them are older couples with the leisure and resources to travel. The vast majority of comments come from experienced travelers answering questions or offering advice to others. There is only an occasional sour note, as when one seasoned traveler offered this tip:
ÒWomen should never carry purses; they are totally unnecessary. I broke my wife of the habit years ago. She wears a money belt.Ó
This posting drew an immediate response from a woman, who fired back:
ÒWhat does he mean Ôbroke her of her habit?Õ What is she, a horse? A little more respect please!Ó
Of course, without hearing this manÕs tone of voice or seeing his body language, we have difficulty judging the intent of his comment, but several other participants did find the comment unfortunate. Misunderstandings like this are common. It is also possible to see a mild disagreement quickly escalate into insults.
A reasonably diplomatic moderator, however, can quickly avert this kind of problem. Marilee sent the offended woman in the above example a private e-mail reminding her that our ground rules caution participants to avoid personal attacks. The woman replied graciously:
ÒI truly appreciate your lovely note and suggestions. ThereÕs lots to learn besides the technical...Ó
Our experience has been that what you put in, you get back: If the participants are civil, mature adults, able to thoughtfully receive feedback, the atmosphere can be delightful. The man who had posted the original remark good-naturedly acknowledged his part in a possible cyber-misunderstanding:
ÒI even enjoy the letters telling me that IÕm a jerk for misusing the word Ôbreak.Õ Apologies to my wife and all you feminists out there.Ó
A third participant helped to further defuse the flareup:
ÒEd sounds like a guy who could really be counted on for a good dose of levity (and I am a feminist)!Ó
This sort of positive online community spirit is not difficult to achieve if you have a core group of participants who have a constructive common interest, and you support them with a conscientious moderator who can steer comments in the right direction. The chemistry of our online conversation is appreciated by the participants:
ÒHaving been on-line with Idyllchat now for a week or so...it makes me feel like I ÔbelongÕ to a real community of folks with similar interests.Ó
Of course, every human community has troublemakers. And since anyone is free to access our site, we never know who will turn up. Four months into our electronic conversation we were confronted with the first instance of abusive language. A Web surfer, disgruntled at receiving the e-mail conversation in error, posted a frustrated profanity.
Normally, the Internet service provider (ISP) that regulates the traffic has a Òprofanity filterÓ that instantly kills any scurrilous language before it reaches the participants. The filter can also block any undesirables from joining the conversation. In this case the ISP had made some adjustments in its system and failed to reinstall the anti-profanity feature.
We immediately had this technical shield reset. Even before we did, however, loyal community members, to avoid any further discourtesy, chastised the offenderÕs negative tone. We then reminded everyone of the ÒnetiquetteÓ rules, drawing a sigh of relief from a few participants.
Inspired by values
The business advantages of giving a soapbox to your satisfied customers are obvious. Of course, one obvious limitation to this strategy is that customer satisfaction must be high before you tap into it.
What has been a source of even more enduring satisfaction to me is the deeper level of loyalty and community that has emerged between our customers and those who work in our company. It helps our employees put a face on the customer, giving them the will to go the extra mile in service.
At 74, I am part of a senior generation that often looks askance at todayÕs computer hype. Despite my daughterÕs urging, I resisted the electronic-conversation project at first. I was skeptical that it could forge lasting, meaningful links between people. This posting from a customer dispelled my doubts:
ÒExactly four weeks ago, my beloved husband lost his battle with lymphoma. During these long months of chemo and caregiving, Idyllchat has provided a welcome diversion, especially the notes about Kandersteg [in Switzerland], where we spent two delightful weeks last July. Although a chemical engineer... Bob was also a professional musician and spent many leisure hours by the radio or CD player with a baton ÔconductingÕ his favorite music. We attended a concert by the Kandersteg brass band.... The conductor was in a playful mood and offered the baton to Bob, never dreaming that a lifelong ambition was about to be realized! Bob grabbed the baton, gave a big downbeat, and conducted the band in a spirited march. The look on the conductorÕs face was priceless. Unfortunately we had no camera, but noticed two gentlemen videotaping.... The four of us [were invited to one of the menÕs] vacation chalet for a ÔviewingÕ and aperitif. We were treated with cordiality and friendship and enjoyed our try at communication with his French-speaking wife.
ÒWe played the videotape again last week after BobÕs funeral, and as our whole family watched his joy while conducting, I sent along another mental thank-you to the gentleman from Paris who made possible this visual memory that we can always treasure. Thank you, too, Idyll for putting us in the right place at the right time.Ó
To think that our company could offer this extraordinary level of support to a customerÑcomfort in her husbandÕs last daysÑis very rewarding for me. And for this woman to share such an emotional moment with numerous others, through our electronic conversation, speaks volumes for the trust she holds, not only for our company but for her fellow Untourists.
Except in their role as moderators, so far employees have not had to contribute much to the electronic conversation. But many of them visit the site frequently and not only find the conversations extremely helpful in working with customers, but are inspired by values they find reflected there. As I grow older, I realize that I want my company to leave a legacy that runs deeper than mere profitability. I want to know that the goods and services we offer make a real difference in the quality of peopleÕs lives. The trust and connection that participants in our conversations demonstrate toward one another, and their respect for the cultures they visit, provide me more meaning than any amount of financial success might offer.
I hope that my faithfulness to my principles, as I have built the business, has set the stage for this deeper contribution. The number of people registered to participate in our online conversation rises and falls; right now there are between 300 and 500. IÕm encouraged that the energy of the group now maintains itself. Throughout the day, the changing images on our Idyll screensavers remind them of our common ties. The useful, intelligent tone of the conversation keeps them returning again and again, forging an increasingly resilient connection with our company.