Organizations are Measured by Openness, Accessibility

How open and accessible online is your company or organization? For that matter, how accessible are personal blogs? We are entering an era in the digital revolution when the brand reputations of organizations will be judged by how well their ability to hear and respond to consumers through Web contact. Most have a lot of work to do before reaching that level of communication.

Research by The News Group Net’s David Henderson while writing “Making News in the Digital Era” and in the interim has shown that many, if not most, online sites – even those of organizations claiming to be immersed in social media – are more like Chinese walls to prevent contact from outside.

Despite listing general Contact information, a site visitor with a question often will not find it easy to reach either the right person or receive a timely and meaningful response.

Glock

By some twist of irony, it is easier to contact the gun maker Glock online than Kraft Foods.

Test it yourself … check the sites of such organizations as Ford.com, Dell.com, Kia.com … the list can go on and on. For all the illusion of the Web and social media delivering more openness and transparency, these and many other companies send a signal that they are in a world by themselves, still doing business in an old-school mentality of pushing out marketing messages and advertising rather than engaging with and listening to customers. Dell is among the worst.

The poster child for such insular corporate behavior is, of course, Toyota, a company that cooked up myth about its products and aggressively goes after those who question that illusion. And, then, there is Microsoft. Well, forget them because they haven’t given a damn for customer opinions for decades.

By contrast, companies like Apple and Zappos have struck gold by listening to customers.

About blogs … Henderson looked closely at many of today’s more popular personal blogs, and despite all the trendy Top 10 tips and superficial pontification by people who have become a new type of celebrity through Twitter, many sites lack a way to contact the blogger. Sure, you can leave a Comment along with all the other groupies but no direct contact.

Henderson wouldn’t go as far as saying such a closed style is hypocritical, just not very open and transparent in the digital era.