Verizon is taking a solid approach to community development

Becky Carroll is the Community Program Manager for Verizon, she teaches social media at the University of California San Diego, and she does a weekly spot on the local NBC station.  She is, in my opinion, someone who understands how to effectively build a community focused on achieving corporate goals while delivering maximum value to customers.  Becky is the Program Manager for the residential side of the Verizon business while others are responsible for the business and wireless customers as well as social media specific activities (Facebook, Twitter, etc…).  These teams meet frequently to share best practices and to ensure that there is consistency across the communities.

At Verizon, the Community Program Manager is responsible for the strategic oversight of the forums, blogs, an ideation platform, and a unique learning solution.  Her team is small, just a couple of employees, as the forums are managed, almost entirely, by the customers.

So, how large is the Verizon community?  The community exceeds 80,000 members and includes 12 community leaders and countless super users.  Community leaders are customers that work very closely with Verizon, deeply understanding their offerings and who work closely with the community super users (also customers) to ensure they are able to respond to customer questions raised in the forums and elsewhere.  Super users are knowledgeable about specific offerings and are the people responding to the majority of questions raised in the Verizon community.  Verizon personnel monitor that all questions are being responded to, and, if one has been in the system too long without a response they will jump in to correct this problem.

The Verizon idea platform launched late in 2010 (August) and they have already received more than 500 ideas from their customers.  57 of these ideas are being actively worked on, 5 have already been completed, and about a half-dozen more ideas are included in the latest FIOS software upgrade.  Guess what else? Approximately 100 customers who are active in their forums have been given a sneak peek of the latest software.    The customers are actively engaged in the ideation process and are able to become equally engaged in other aspects of the process as well.  Great work Verizon!

One of the areas that excites me most about Verizon’s community solutions is their Room to Learn area, an education-focused portal providing information on general topics ranging from blue ray players to 3D technology and a multitude of other topics.  The Room to learn area does not pitch Verizon solutions.  Instead, it is completely focused on providing advice on how to be a smarter technology consumer.  In the Room to Learn area end-users can take classes and earn certifications, it has already been added to my favorites as the content is really good.

Communities are rapidly moving past the point of simple discussion.  Customers are expecting more engagement, more value, for their time.  Verizon is clearly understanding, and meeting, this need.  What are your customers expecting and are you meeting their needs?