One way only, please follow! That is the strategy most company profiles on Facebook are currently pursuing.
The problem, however, runs deep in corporate cultures that have not evolved alongside the internet. One-way communication was used to inform, because the internet was first used as a source of information. Then users discovered the internet as a way to present themselves. Through Web 2.0, and later social networks, users realised that their own opinion can make a real difference.
The explosive density of connections, users’ spontaneous activity and waves of collective outrage are shifting power from the supplier to the consumer and creating a power that cannot be controlled (Dr Peter Kruse, 5 July 2010, 4th session, public hearing on the impact of digitalisation).
Companies need to realise that customers want their opinions to be heard. Customers are particularly surprised when companies actually respond. Dialogue with customers offers a unique chance to give the company a human face and build strong customer loyalty. Companies that are close to the market in this way cannot predict where things will move. But with a degree of empathy, they can detect how society is resonating. That allows them to influence certain issues before they escalate.
For this to happen, the board or management has to be convinced of the value of communicating with customers. Only once decision-makers recognise the change can the factors that underpin a company’s success, such as a degree of transparency and clear guiding principles, be put in place.
Traditional corporate cultures, such as those in the financial industry, will find this particularly hard. But this industry, too, has to face up to the change, because networks will develop a momentum that nobody will be able to ignore. “So in that sense you could say: if you’re not willing, then I’ll need… patience” (Dr Peter Kruse, 5 July 2010, 4th session, public hearing on the impact of digitalisation).
