The Idea in Brief
Many Internet superstars owe much of their success to the active and passive contributions made by countless people from outside their organizations. Consider:
- Wikipedia’s cyber-encyclopedia is written and updated by unpaid amateurs—creating a free resource that’s as accurate as Encyclopaedia Britannica’s online edition.
- Ebay, the online store, leaves it up to customers to fill its “shelves” with goods to sell.
- Skype, the Internet phone company, incurs almost no capital costs because its system is built on the unused processing capacity of its customers’ personal computers.
But as Intuit’s founder Scott Cook explains, user contribution isn’t just for online enterprises. Forward-thinking businesses in traditional industries—from consumer goods to groceries to automobiles—have started leveraging it. And they’re reaping impressive benefits: better customer service, reduced costs, smarter innovation.
How to get user volunteers working for your company? Start by understanding the possibilities.
The Idea in Practice
Understand the Possibilities
User contribution systems can help you better handle many important business activities. For instance:
- Customer service. Host an online support forum, where customers can answer each other’s troubleshooting questions gratis. Power users can often answer tough questions even the company cannot.
- Marketing. Engage customers with your products by giving them a forum for exchanging personal experiences.
Example:
Procter & Gamble learned that young girls feel uncomfortable viewing feminine hygiene product ads on TV around friends and family. P&G created its BeingGirl Web site to let teens and preteens anonymously share questions, experiences, and advice. The site discreetly advertises P&G’s Always and Tampax brands. It’s three times more effective as a marketing tool than comparably priced TV advertising.
- Capital resources. Get customers to contribute needed capital or to reduce the need for capital expenditures.
Example:
Honda captures real-time traffic data from Honda owner’s GPS systems. Each vehicle automatically reports its speed and location, forming a data stream Honda aggregates with other traffic data to provide reports on traffic jams and other conditions to Honda drivers subscribing to the company’s InterNavi service. Users get enhanced traffic information; the company spends nothing on the capital infrastructure.
- Design and development. Capture user contributions to tackle design challenges.
Example:
The Mozilla Foundation’s open source Web browser, Firefox, was created (and is regularly updated by) communities of unpaid volunteer developers. This low-cost business model has made Mozilla one of the most “profitable” nonprofits.
- Production. “Delegate” some or all of your production process to users.
Example:
Fox Television’s American Idol show relies on viewers (through their votes for performers) to make decisions producers traditionally make. It relies on amateur performers to provide entertainment usually provided by high-priced stars.
Get Started
User contribution puts control in others’ hands, which scares some managers. To move their mind-set:
- Ask nervous managers to find and use contribution systems that interest them personally. Then get them brainstorming systems that might solve customer or employee problems.
- Challenge them to create contribution solutions they’re passionate about and to experiment with small batches of users. Tell them it’s okay to fail—if they share lessons with other teams.
- Protect experiments from your company’s natural control instincts: Name someone with big-time clout to break through barriers when initiatives encounter resistance.
♦ PODCAST: Listen to an interview with Intuit’s Scott Cook
