GearBits

Why TiVo Ignores its Fans

Interesting article over at MarketingProfs.com, which examines why TiVo seems to pay little attention to the throngs of fans and "influencers" over at the TiVo Community website.

The main point in this part-1-of-2 article is that TiVo is more of a sales-oriented company, concerned with making the numbers, than it is a company rooted in evangelism, where the customer is the focal point.

"Our hypothesis is that the TiVo culture is rooted in sales, not evangelism. Evangelism is what’s good for a customer; sales is what’s good for a company. Managing a balance between the two is the challenge for any organization."

The second part of the article offers TiVo six pieces of advice in the form of mandates. They are:
1. Create a Cause
2. Create Community
3. Customer Plus-Delta
4. Napsterize Your Knowledge
5. Create Bite-Size Chunks
6. Build the Buzz

Some of it is patent marketing-ese, the fluffy stuff that fills management books, but there are some nuggets. They say about #3, Customer Plus-Delta, the following:

"TiVo should systematize online community feedback and make it a highly visible system. eBay’s executives convene customer advisory boards of Power Sellers several times per year. Meg Whitman, eBay’s CEO, often leads those sessions. She is a feedback machine who solicits customer input and uses it to make company decisions. ..."

Interesting read...I know of several companies who would be well-served by taking these lessons to heart regarding their own fanatical customer bases. [Thanks to Jeff for the lead.]