Out of Control: Letting Go to Win

The universe has interesting timing, that's for sure. This weekend, I made a note about something I wanted to converse about here. This morning, I stumbled upon this - well, twittered upon really. http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/09/27/live-from-mixx-seth-godin-on-brand-tribes/

Seth as usual puts it better than anyone. Short to the point. "We've branded ourselves to death."

I've had numerous discussions on communities, brands, and tribes. Convincing execs about the importance of flipping that funnel and allowing your clients to create communities is one of those hard conversations. As with many things, it seems like a great idea, but one that instills an awful amount of fear.
Yes, we want to converse with our clients not at them.
Yes, we want their opinions and ideas.
Yes, we want them to share those opinions and ideas with each other- and evangelize our service or product, or teach each other about new ways to use it.

Uhhh, but no, we are afraid of doing it "in public." After all, what if they say something negative.

Working with a service company, we all know things break. If it didn't we wouldn't have a business. In any relationship, business or otherwise, things break down. What makes or breaks the relationship is how you deal with things when things break down.

You can't create a community. You can build the space, invite people in. But they create the community.

I've been part of a community of fans for the last couple years. It's not something I'd ever be involved in- those always seemed to be for the true geeks. But it is truly a committee. One wonderful Italian guy set it up and just let it go. Intervention only when things truly gets out of hand and could potentially be harmful. The rules are simple and few. And for the most part, unnecessary.

This is a tribe of smart, funny, irreverent people. They are real people- doctors, lawyers, professors, a lot of creatives. So, opinionated people with a common bond. Our common bond happens to be music. But many tribes are built around art, music, sports teams and yes, companies.

We share a common bond but we are far from the same. There are differences of opinions. Not everyone is nice all the time. There's love, hate, tears and laughter. And it's those shared experiences that bring everyone together. For the most part, people are respectful. And when they aren't? The tribe is amazingly self- correcting.

And that's the key. Tribes are self correcting. they will lead you, tell you where to go. If you watch the tribe, it will give you insight to what they want, what they need, and what they don't even know they need you. You will discover similarities, patterns and interests you never knew your customers had.

And you'll be all the greater for watching, listening and learning.

Let your tribe go. If there are negative viewpoints, listen, look, respond. Show you care. Over the top? Watch. If the criticism is warranted, it's your opportunity to make serious changes that will improve your business. If it's unwarranted? Watch the tribe- they'll self correct. There'll be feedback and differing opinions and your customers will defend you- honestly. And that's a more genuine return than any spin you could put on it.

Don't try to control your community. If you do, it's no more than an online game. Let it go, and it has the opportunity to become a tribe of the best business advisers you'll ever have.