Valeria,

Thank you for sharing. I was unaware of this option. However, I don't know that I would use it. But if I did, it is most needed in the airlines industry, wherein the latest customer satisfaction survey (out today) records dismal results.

Great find, Valeria. Do you think this works on kids? : )

Valeria:

Interesting posting on SuggestionBox - great idea to localize a suggestion function. To move beyond suggestions and tap into customer and employee sourced innovations we created brainstorm exchange. Consider this an invitation to you to take a look at www.brainstormexchange.com. It gives you, companies of all sizes and even non-profits, an easy to use, free or very affordable solution to solicit and collect ideas from customers, suppliers, employees, and other companies.

@Lewis - I learned about SuggestionBox on Twitter. There is one open for SouthWest Airlines, which is interesting given that they are probably the one airline that is responsive and listens to customers. How would we get the ones who need to have one to adopt it, or something similar?

@Ann - wow, that opens up a whole new application. Hope someone is listening ;-)

@Robert - thank you for sharing. What I'm seeing is a lot of ideation brewing. It will be interesting to see where execution and experience will take us. I'll take a look.

Thanks for the post, Valeria. I actually just met with the guys from SuggestionBox on Thursday (they are based in the same town as I am); great guys with great ideas! There is a lot of potential there.

I just like that there are easy-to-use tools for companies to gather customer feedback and input - no excuses now! :)

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing, one fresh
idea and you can change the world, keep
up the great work.

@Becky - I thought you would have met them. Saw you added BJ to your Twitter stream ;-) I vote for action and yes, no excuses.

@FranchiseWhale - one personal note and you can actually get attention.

Thank you for the posting Valeria! It's great to see so many people in the customer-centric world seeing the value that we're trying to deliver to companies and their customers. What we're truly trying to do is create a centralized place for global improvement. Seeing companies and customers working together finally has provided an open door for solutions like ours and the other great tools out there.

@Lewis - One of the verticals that we are targeting with upcoming new content.

@Ann - Maybe a SuggestionBoxForKids.com?

@Becky - Thanks for the kind words. It was great to meet face to face get invaluable feedback.

If any of you would like to try us out, shoot me an email for promo code bj at suggestionbox.com

Valeria - thanks for bringing wider attention to this potentially very useful application. As with any initiative that incorporates customer relations and product development, it comes down to two very key elements: listening and action.

The first step - listening - is such a key ingredient of success in marketing today. I believe you recently did a post about listening more than you speak. This is especially important when it comes to soliciting (and receiving) feedback. If you don't care what your customers have to say, don't even bother to appear to care. If you're not willing to listen, then nothing that they say will matter.

Similarly, if they take the time to voice their opinions, odds are that they'll also want to see something happen, even if it's an acknowledgment that you heard them and you're working on something (or unable to work on it for some reason). But be careful - while many customers just want a place to be heard these days, there is also a growing faction that wants to see action and results. If a company cannot reasonably accommodate, they should be upfront with customers in order to effectively set expectations.

Ciao Valeria,

Questa idea e fantastica! Signore Mininni ha scritto qualcosa circa Starbucks che fosse simile:

http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2008/05/starbucks_building_innovation.html

The idea is pretty cool actually. But it would be cool if they can make a widget that can be included on a company's website and takes you directly to a customized landing page after which the standard process is followed.

@BJ - thank you for coming in. Shekar here proposes a widget. Maybe you already have one. I will go back and check.

@Scott - that is what concerns me most when I hear of management saying "let's start a blog" or "yeah, get the ball rolling on this social media thing," without being focused on process and implications. Once you open the door, guests may come in and you will need to back up your intent with action. I blog extensively about this point. It's not a savings account for your marketing spend, or a shortcut to pushing yet more messages.

@Neil - I saw the post,thank you. From the many comments, we can tell it is a topic people are passionate about. And for good reason.

@Shekar - maybe they already have one, and I missed it. BJ here is part of the team.

Nella nostra azienda proveremo qualche cosa di simile.

Spero che non apra la scatola di Pandora.

Neil:

People who fear a Pandora box, are those who plan to do nothing with the feedback. The others will thrive on it and use it to improve their services/products.

Le buone sfide verranno dalla scatola di Pandora.

http://www.ideascale.com/
similar concept but seems a bit more ambitious

Valeria, ora progettiamo di fare il vostro suggerimento molto presto.

Grazie infinite per la raccomandazione eccellente.

Very interesting.

But a blog is a type of suggestion box, where people can give the company ideas on how to improve, and how many orgs are using a blog?

I hope that a thank you message is delivered to people who post a suggestion in the box.

Only about 2% of internet users every generate content in the form of posts or comments. But the wealth of good feedback will give a company a competitive edge.

Corporate arrogance, that's the real problem here.

BTW your "type knowhow" is not working correctly. It's automatically filled in, as a cookie perhaps from my past visits to this site.

@Patricia - thank you for the suggestion and the link. I'll check it out!

@Neil - you're quite welcome.

@Vaspers - thank you should be included, yes. I think that organizations might actually grasp the concept of the suggestion box before they figure out how to use a blog effectively. The blog is content intensive, this is process intensive. I also get the automatic fill from knowhow.

Questa idea dice grazi infinite ai vostri clienti e che tutte sono importanti.