Customer feedback online: now there's a fashionable trend

Manar Al Hinai notes that when it comes to companies, the best thing they can do to make things better for customers is to listen.

Marketers and businesses conduct surveys and monitor focus groups to improve their products and increase sales. Russell Boyce / Reuters

I was lying on my bed the other night, contemplating whether to go out and watch a movie with my friends or stay in, when I received a BlackBerry Messenger text from my cousin.

A few days after launching her virtual multi-brand fashion products store, where she conducts sales through a dedicated group on BlackBerry, she sent a questionnaire asking group members about her business venture.

My cousin's questionnaire approach is not something original or new, although I did feel it was a bit premature.

Marketers and businesses conduct surveys and monitor focus groups for the same reasons: to improve their products; ultimately increase sales; and to retain customer loyalty.

I have always been an advocate of surveys and focus groups, and I am constantly delighted to take part in product development discussions. I believe that the least a company can do is to take customers' considerations into account.

And even though the main objective behind focus groups for some businesses is to increase profits, others also genuinely consider their customers' needs.

Aaron Schwartz, the founder of Modify, a small watch company in California, is among those to have benefited from the modern evolution of the focus groups concept.

His company's slogan says it all: "We're not craftsmen. We're just good listeners".

Mr Schwartz's watch line is not targeted to the typical fancy watch lover, but rather to young, trendy customers who want to wear budget-friendly, edgy and customised watches, with the opportunity to mix and match the face and straps of their timepieces, hence the company's trade name of Modify.

Given that his company's main goal is to listen to its customers, Mr Schwartz has been devoted to Facebook from day one.

And even though he has built a following of more than 2,000 fans, he felt Facebook was not the ideal platform to engage in one-to-one conversations that would provide him with an insight on what his customers really wanted.

So Mr Schwartz turned to Napkin Lab, a program founded in 2010 that directs fans and followers from social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook into structured online focus groups.

Napkin Labs can be installed as Facebook applications, or apps, free of charge, or can be run as custom-made websites at a monthly cost of US$99 (Dh363) and up.

Business owners can ask their followers questions related to their business through various "labs" - groups dedicated to different topics.

How cool is that? There is no more any need to drag people to meetings.

As well as responding from the comfort of their homes, or mobile phones, followers can also generate faster responses. Think about how much money business owners could save instead of taking participants out to dinner, or paying their travel expenses.

As I run a fashion line, I could ask participants in my lab to chip in with ideas about what colours to introduce, or where to launch my line next, with the push of a button.

Participants can view and comment on what others post, creating a real dialogue feel.

The lab also has interactive features. For instance, a business person could run a "challenge" such as "Help me come up with names for my products".

Not only will lab runners receive great ideas and responses but they will make their customers feel involved in the production process; a guarantee of generating word-of-mouth publicity within social circles.

Napkin Labs is not the only company that turns customers into idea-pitchers. Other providers include UserVoice and Jive.

I decided to experiment with the focus group concept the old-fashioned way.

I sent an email to my fashion label's Facebook followers asking them what their favourite colour was, and what would they like to see in my upcoming collection.

It was overwhelming to see how much my customers wanted to be involved. They even suggested design ideas if I ever wanted to expand my fashion line to include men's clothing.

It is amazing how simple applications installed on social networking accounts can advance businesses. I cannot wait to run my own lab.

Manar Al Hinai is a fashion designer and writer. She can be followed on Twitter: @manar_alhinai