How did Dell do it?

Why companies are not in control anymore?

This video provides a nice summary of previous chapters we've read of groundswell. Charlene not only explained the importance of a bottom up approach to engage users to review and help innovate for product development, but also the value of building a culture of commenting, in which some control of branding must be let go. With groundswell, everyone is able to comment and publish. Therefore, it is important to listen to what the customers have to say, and respond appropriately. It is in a company's best interest to embrace it well, and make the most of what social media has to offer. As we have learned from Chapter 10, the transformation that dell went through was not easy. 

Go to Idea Storm

First of all, Dell observed the conversations among users about why are they no longer interested in Dell's products. It took Dell months before they published their first blog post that responded to the problems. With social media today, anyone can be a publisher, and any users are able to post reviews of any product, and these information cannot be controlled or contained. Instead of letting the conversation go on, Dell chose to get involved, and commit to listening to the customers. It may seem simple that companies should be investing time and resources in hearing from its customers, so that they can better improve their products and better market their customers. However, it takes a lot of courage from a company to change the way things work. 

Embracing groundswell is really about letting go of the control and trusting that the customers would help innovate, and improve the products. One of the steps that Dell took was to have a forum where customers could discuss about issues that they are concerned with, or share ideas that they have (Idea storm). Changes happened step by step, and each stepping stone lead to a progression. The biggest challenge is to gain executive support from within the company. For companies with long history like Dell, each worker see himself as  "I am my position": Every worker has a fixed position and responsibilities in the company, and they often forget the ultimate goal to work together to meet the need of an organization. Success of a company requires more than partial effort from each worker, but mutual effort of each person to come together as a unit. To convince each department to trust the customers' needs and give up control of the brand message was revolutionary for Dell. However, if you stop and think about it, people are talking about your brand and product anyways, why not have them discuss at a forum where you can read, monitor, and facilitate the conversation? It is not necessarily giving up control for nothing in return, because being engaged in customers conversation would help building close relationships and trust. Digital media can no longer be a supplement of a campaign, but in the center of attention. 

With IdeaStorm, Dell was able to talking directly to customers, as an online barnstorm sessions for customers to participate in. "Product development is hard. Why not let your customers help you with it? (P.181)"To involve customers into the innovation process, is to hear what new products or service they'd like to see Dell develop. After listening to, talking with, energizing, and supporting groundswell, you have gained insights from the customers, and these insights could be beneficial for the company's future development. Ideal Storm allows customers to develop empathy for the company and think in the company's position. Making customers an integral part of the way Dell innovates, is to use the knowledge that customers have about what is wrong with the product and how to fix it. This is one of the approaches that Dell took, in order to embrace groundswell, and adapt to changes that comes with the transformation. 

Read more about Idea Storm on Wikipedia

Even if the responding customers are not a representative collections of the entire customer population, the activist always help to define expectation, and provide useful ideas (Crowd-sourcing). But don't just ask for opinions, follow through and act upon these suggestions! Stay authentic and honest to earn your customer's trust! After building a community of contributors or speculators, solutions to common issues or problems would be available to all customers, which would lower the number of people that would come to Dell for solutions. This is an example of how a Dell customer helped Dell in products innovation.

If you plan to embrace groundswell, do so when you are ready because there is no way to back out once you have opened the door. What is out in the internet is not erasable and it will always be there for others to reference to it. Be aware of the context that you post because people are going to decide if they should become a fan or not based on your context. On the final note, check this video out about how embracing groundswell benefited Dell. 

How has groundswell helped Dell?