CHAPTER 16
Driving Change in an Organization
It was not all fun or constant success at Comcast. There were many bumps in the long, winding road, which is to be expected whenever change is happening in an organization. The important thing is to understand where Customers are coming from and try to provide them the context they need in return. Social media is live and open for the world to see, and sometimes your company needs to be open as well. This is against the grain of how businesses have traditionally worked, as many companies prefer a controlled message approach. The downside to that is that others are already having the conversation out there without the company.
Product leaders sometimes get upset over commentary from Customers or service representatives, whether it is during calls or broadcast via social media. This is because as leaders, we tend to be passionate about our product, and we would never want to see negative commentary from anyone. However, sometimes negative feedback is imperative to bring about change. If something is not working, it makes sense to alert someone that it is not working and ask when he or she can expect it to be working again. Customers do not like canned responses, as they would like to know that you are listening to them and that you understand their needs.
The other challenge is that in social media or during a Customer call, you do not always have time to wait for businesses to make a decision. Imagine if you called a company with a complaint ...
