新实践：提高透明度能巩固客户忠诚度

    “今晚生意怎么样？”我们问道。那位UberX司机耸耸肩说：“还好现在节过完了。”途中，我们反复聊到了打车软件Uber的定价策略，定价的理由和所需时间，以及在新年夜高峰时间定价机制的作用原理。这位司机跟我们分享了他的策略。他会在某个社区的十字路口等待，而不是四处转圈。“如果我是距离最近的出租车，软件会将用户分配给我。如果我没有快速响应，软件就会把客户分配给下一辆车。”

    值得一提的是，作为一个独立的个体，这位司机对Uber的策略、定价和车辆分配系统的运行方式竟然如此了解。他改变了自己的决策和行为，选择有价值的时间和地点开展工作，从自己掌握的信息中获益。Uber通过向司机公开这些信息，吸引了大批用户，包括出租车司机和其他职业的驾驶人员。

    透明，也就是把公司的做法、政策、算法，甚至代码、经营数据和未来计划，全部提供给客户、员工或商业合作伙伴，这种做法与传统的商业惯例截然相反。而且，透明还能提高公司及合作伙伴的动力。为什么？因为放松控制和暴露弱点可以提高忠诚度，深化客户关系，揭示公司尚未意识到的问题，刺激创新，提高核心产品或服务的价值，使参与者可以采取独立的措施，为共同的目标而努力。

    2008年，达美乐比萨（Domino's Pizza）在互联网上进行了客户调查。客户明确表达了自己的感受：他们不喜欢比萨的硬皮、沙司或奶酪。客户调查或许并不新鲜，但达美乐比萨却不同寻常地采取了更加开放的做法——把调查结果公开，同时邀请客户帮忙来解决这些问题。这家公司在18个月时间里在社交媒体上收到了成千上万条信息；虽然它失去了一些客户，但它还是邀请老客户品尝公司的比萨，同时不断做出改变。

    2009年底，这家公司的产品重新上市，同时推出了一系列商业广告，其中把公司遇到的麻烦和解决方案作为卖点。结果客户反响积极。而且，达美乐并不是把这种做法作为一次性的尝试。它继续维护与客户的这种关系。目前，这家公司在Facebook上的粉丝超过了900万人，在Twitter上的粉丝也达到48.3万人。2014年2月，达美乐比萨的股票从2009年的7.73美元上涨到了72.18美元。

    调查并不新鲜，但科技使商家能够更容易地吸引更多的人参与调查，把调查变成可以持续的对话。达美乐发现，参与调查的客户、员工和店主都是被解决问题的挑战性所吸引。而且，科技使各家公司更容易将这种开放的态度扩展到提供辅助产品与服务的供应商、经销商和其他合作伙伴。

    "How's business tonight?" we asked. The UberX driver shrugged, "Better now the holidays are over." For the rest of the ride, we went back and forth on what Uber was doing with pricing and why and for how long, and how peak pricing had played out over New Year's Eve. The driver shared his strategy for waiting near a particular neighborhood intersection rather than circling. "If I am the closest car, it assigns to me. If I don't respond quickly, it assigns to the next car."

    It was notable how much the driver, an independent entity, knew about Uber's strategy, pricing, and the way the ride assignment system worked. He changed his decisions and behavior to benefit from that information by choosing when and where it was worthwhile for him to work. By making all of this clear to drivers, Uber has attracted a large base of drivers, including from the ranks of cabbies and other professionals.

    Transparency -- making the practices, policies, algorithms, and even code, operating data, and future plans available to customers, employees, or business partners -- runs counter to traditional business practices. It also has the potential to raise the tide for companies and their business partners. How? Loosening tight control and exposing vulnerabilities can increase loyalty and deepen relationships, reveal problems companies aren't yet aware of, spur innovation, increase the value of a core product or service, and enable participants to take independent actions that serve a common goal.

    In 2008, Domino's Pizza (DPZ) took to the Internet to survey its customers. The customers made their feelings clear: They didn't love the crust, the sauce, or the cheese. Perhaps nothing new in a customer survey, but then Domino's took the unusual step of opening up further -- actually sharing the survey results publicly and asking customers to help fix the problems. In 18 months, the company received thousands of messages through social media; it invited regular customers to try its pizzas and made changes along the way, even while it lost some customers.

    When the company relaunched its product at the end of 2009 with a series of commercials featuring its troubles and solutions, customer response was largely positive. And rather than a one-time experiment, Domino's continued the relationship and now has more than 9 million fans on Facebook (FB) and 483 thousand followers on Twitter (TWTR). The company's stock has risen to $72.18 in February 2014 from $7.73 in 2009.

    Surveys aren't new. But technology makes it easier to involve more participants and to turn surveys into conversations that continue over time. Domino's discovered that the types of customers, employees, and store-owners who get involved are those who are intrigued by the challenge of solving problems. Technology makes it easier for companies to extend openness to suppliers, vendors, and other partners who provide complementary products and services.