Embracing customers is a very beneficial practice, but it also entails hard work. If you want to embrace your customers, you have to be able to listen, talk, energize, and support those using Social Media. You can embrace your customers and use this connection for the benefit of your business operations only when you have successfully implemented these prerequisites. However, there are two other things you need to remember when you are trying to embrace your customers and give them a place in your company or brand’s operations.

First, you have to realize that your customers can help you whatever type of business, brand, or service you are handling. It does not matter if your product is a video game console, or if your company is involved in consumer service. Whatever it is, your customers will have something to say, and you can use this to help improve your brand and your business. Consumer service operations like a restaurant, for example, have suggestion box placed in prominent parts of their business. They also ask their workers to directly go to customers for their suggestions and their ratings of the restaurant’s service. In a way, this is how it works in Social Media. If you give your customers the proper venue, they will give you the insight and information you need. Unlike energizing the customers (motivating avid consumers to talk about your product) which doesn’t always work for all types of businesses, asking for suggestions is a universal practice.

Just asking for suggestions is not enough, you need to show your customers that you are actively listening and willing to act on their feedback. Your customers should be able to see the feedback and the suggestions they have sent you, and your replies should be visible to the consumers. This gives them the impression that you are actively seeking their input. They will know, once they see the feedback prominently featured in their communities, that you put a premium on their insight. Of course, you do not only present the positive feedback; you have to show them even the negative comments you received as well. When you put the negative comments side by side with the positive ones, you show you’re company is ready to take criticism, that you are willing to acknowledge your weaknesses, and that you are ready to make things better.

Is it wise to prominently include bad comments on your communities? Wouldn’t this give your customers the impression that your service and products are not of quality? As long as there is a balance between the good and bad content, this will most likely be offset. Your customers can still read other negative comments anyway, even if you do not place them on your website or other proper venues. People will criticize your brand regardless; but if you are transparent your customers will see that you are willing to change. Your brand will look more responsive if you are transparent; this, in turn, can also bring more customers your way.

Second, embracing your customers requires you to find the correct balance between skill and humanity. Embracing the customers is proportional to maintaining a stable relationship with your customers; and you need to use a number of strategies in order to make the bond between you and the consumer to work for your brand’s benefit.

By embracing the customers, you promote loyalty among your customers and you compel them to provide you valuable suggestions and insight to help you innovate and develop your product. However, you can make your customers loyal but you can’t process the information they provide you (or you can’t get any information from them at all) without skill. Without humanity, your connection will be all content and no heart. Lacking any of the two key components will defeat the purpose of embracing the customers.

In addition, this does not imply that you are giving complete control to the customers. You need to be able to process what the customers give you and turn it into valuable input. Do not let the customers tell you what to do; instead, use their suggestions and turn it into the fuel that propels your operations. Use their knowledge and your skills to turn this effort into a successful venture.

You need to be humble to effectively listen to your customers and use their knowledge to your benefit - these are two of the things that, if you use wisely, can help you properly innovate and develop products effectively while putting the customers at the center of your operations.