Corporate America: Get a Life!

Companies need to get a clue-train (see book below). 

They must begin to realize that they are effectively a person with a personality. They have a voice. And they live and they breathe. While companies are made up of lots of people, that collective is a singular entity in the mind of, well, everyone.

Most people like to be with other people they like (or people who are like them).  The people who buy networking gear are no different. They're just people.

This same concept is true with businesses - it's just that businesses don't get it.  Most people want to do business with companies they like, companies who treat them right, are responsive, fun and interesting. See these 95 cluetrain themes.

When customers complain, most companies get all bent out of shape and think that the customer is a whiner or jerk.  It's just the opposite.  Customers complain (most of the time) because THEY CARE. They want the products to be better. They feel invested - invested enough to take the time to say something. It might not be what the company wants to hear but at least they care enough to say anything.  It's when customers don't complain that companies should get worried.

Given the choice between two identical products, people will choose the companies they want to do business with. In fact, customers will often select an inferior product if they like the company. The vast majority of companies don't really understand this.  They are cold, corporate, boring, stick to convention and unimaginably predictable.  They think you're either FOR them or AGAINST them - friend or foe. There's no middle ground. But life isn't like that.  And we've taken this to heart.

It's the little things that make a big difference - like providing a CHAT button on your Web site to get to a live person (even if that person can't immediately help you), it's overnighting product to someone who's anxious about getting something resolved (even if that anxiety isn't shared or justified by the company), it's admitting that your products aren't always as plug and play as you say, it's making cell phone numbers available so someone knows they can talk to someone, anyone (when it's convenient for the customer NOT the vendor), if there's some question or issue. It's letting people try out your product because they're scared it won't work right.  Stuff like that.  Customers want to deal with people, not big companies.

Companies need to begin thinking like they are a person - and decide what kind or person they want to be (who would you rather do business with: George Clooney or George Bush?)....exactly!  Now you see.

When some issue comes up, instead of getting a 20 people in a room to perform mental masturbation on some problem at hand, companies merely need to step back and say "if this company was a person, what's really the right thing to do?" Then do that.  Sounds simple, it isn't.

There's basically two kinds of people (and hence two kinds of companies) those who look at a problem or opportunity and can give a million reasons why it can't be solved or it won't work and those who immediate say "YEAH!" then give you a million possibilities of how to get something done.

We're the latter (at least we like to thing so).  Hell, we named our company Ruckus Wireless not Ingenious Networks.