Be ignorant!

I was catching up on my blog reading the other night. So many blogs - so little time! Babak Nivi's blog caught my eye. Kevin Lawver has been a big proponent of passion, speaking up at numerous times on the subject. Passion needs focus. Together you create a winning proposition. But what to focus on? We had great news recently that AOL went to the top of the charts when Neilsen changed their rating methods. Kevin rightly pointed out that we need to bring passion in to play to create compelling products for our visitors. This is where focus comes in. It is too easy to get pre-occupied with our standing against other players in the market. BAbak Nivi hits it squarely on the head in his blog - "Ignore the competition."

The competition is a distraction. The focus must be on the customer and their needs. Gather their feedback. Understand what they need and want from the sites and services you build for them. Deliver on those needs and wants. Stay focused on the customer and they will recognize your commitment. The approach breeds loyalty because they know you are responsive to their needs.

There is a company down in Chapel Hill, NC that embodies this concept. Near-Time, Inc. provides a great wiki platform. The platform is only half the story. I have had the opportunity to spend time developing solutions using their platform. What blows me away is their customer service which is nothing short of amazing. I have directly witnessed them respond to a bug with a feature on their site AND implement the fix AND provide feedback and assistance to utilize the new feature in a matter of hours. Yes hours! They are passionate about gathering and responding to feedback and implementing new features in their platform as a result of that feedback. Their service keeps improving because users provide feedback. They provide feedback because they know it will be acted upon. Everyone wins.

While the personal service offered by Near-Time may not easily scale to a global operation like AOL. The fanatical focus and passion to understand users is a lesson that can be adopted in any organization.

Where could AOL change customer perception by ramping up the focus on user needs? Are there examples where AOL is already setting a shining example? speak up. Let others know where success is occuring. Leave a comment below.