From "The Social Customer"

Very recent post by Christopher Carfi (The Social Customer blog) in which he talks of the journey from Transactions, through Conversation and Relationships, and onto Community.

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"From Transactions To Community

Have been road-testing this model over the past few months, most recently with the fine folks from Blue Marble Marketing, and would love your feedback as well.

The interactions between customers and vendors are in a state of flux, and, as best as I can tell, are moving up through the levels shown in the graphic to the right. These are as follows:

The Transaction stage: At this point, both customer and vendor are thinking of their interaction as a "one shot" deal. The vendor's trying to sell something, the customer is going to buy something, and that's it. Historical knowlege of the other party, as well as the potential for future interactions, is not even really part of the equation. At least in most "traditional" markets, most organizations are still mired at the "transactional" level. Push, push, push...the vendor creates a product, markets it, spins it, and tries to reap as much short-term profit as possible. It's a "one size fits all" type of interaction, and if the customer doesn't like it, he or she can go elsewhere. And customers will.

The challenge from going from "Transaction" to "Conversation": You need to stop talking, and listen."

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