Get Satisfaction: A Bold New Way To Get Answers and Feedback

You know your in trouble when the customer service organization of a company or a site assigns you a job ticket. Like, HELLO, I don't want my question answered in the order it was received. I wanted it answered now, thank you very much. And if you have so many issues that you need a job ticket process, well I am not sure I want to do business with you.

Now, flip that nickel over and see the issues facing product people and marketers. There are all these thousands or millions of people forming impressions and stating them to the world and the person that often has the most difficult time finding out what they think is the person that can actually make a difference in the product or in the user's experience.

Get Satisfaction changes the closed, inefficient, and insular customer service process by creating a forum where people and companies can ask questions, get answers, and share opinions about products and services.

And it's easy peasy to play. Check out this simple visual explanation:



What's really cool about the service is that employees can join and help companies make a more positive impression. Now, they could be paid to participate, or simply feel like evangelizing for your offerings.

Companies can feature a "feedback" widget on their site to alert consumers to the Get Satisfaction offering -- a feature that is sure to add both to GS's membership and in overall good feelings from customers.For example, on the day I visited there were 11 active Apple employees answering Qs such as this:



I absolutely loved my visit to the site, and even asked a question about a service I was disappointed in! The site offers a sense of communal wonderfulness that I liked -- the idea that we are not all alone on the Sprint "help" line about to encounter someone that hates their job and has no training or means of actually helping.

And imagine the possibilities of a company asking for feedback on a new product or concept. Actually hearing from actual users in real time. Incredible!

Give Get Satisfaction a try -- as a consumer or a company. You will be very glad you did!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.