The Role of the Chief Listening Officer

So, there is a lot of discussion as to the purpose of the latest buzz role within large businesses; the ‘Chief Listening Officer’.

It sounds silly, we know. In fact, I do rather like to think that as an Account Manager, the term ‘Good Will Ambassador’ should most certainly be written into my job spec. However, the appointment of an individual whose role is solely based on engaging with consumer thoughts and most likely, gripes, must certainly be considered within brands.

Customer Think, “Customer-Centric Business Strategists”, believes that consumers will “remain loyal only to those who demonstrate that they value their relationship. In this chaotic and complex life, trust will become more critical, and companies that can earn and retain a customer's trust will be in a privileged position. They will have the edge in selling to that customer.”

Today, in the social networking space, the potential to engage and proactively tackle customer issues not only one on one, but en masse, is endless and brands must be aware that the social networking space cannot be overlooked as an area in which great damage can be done to a brand or product’s reputation. At this point we must of course reference the Stephen Fry vs Sony Vaio rampage.

Not only can individual customer gripes be tackled, a CLO can also track trends and patterns, positive and negative feedback, and hopefully, improve a brand’s products to better suit the needs of their customer in the first place!

Using Stephen Fry vs Sony Vaio as just one example (Stephen Fry is currently being followed on Twitter by 680,885 tweeters), we believe that appointing the role of a Chief Listening Officer, hammy as it sounds, is a jolly good idea.

Alternatively, brands are more than welcome to give Bluhalo a call and we can assist you in keeping your ears to the ground!