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An idea to please customers
Good Experience reader Brian F. suggests this clever idea:
I was using Google last weekend to search for an answer to a tricky question about rollercoasters, but I was having trouble coming up with the best search string. Since the question came from my 6 year old son, he was watching politely. Finally, I told him I was a little frustrated because I had already done a whole bunch of different searches and nothing was working. My son said, in all sincerity, "Did you try typing 'please' at the end?"It was a brilliant idea, really, and it got me thinking, so I tried taking a look at how "please" changed a whole bunch of searches. "Microsoft" returned the company website, of course, but "Microsoft Please" returned all sorts of links from customers or customer advocates. Same with "Google" and "Google please." My own company returned a slightly embarrassing "please try again later" page from our company domain.
It would be cool if "please" at the end somehow improved your search results and took you to a more cordial web, but in the real world it might be just as cool to see companies set up "Please" domains. So, microsoft.com/please or please.google.com always took me to a consumer advocacy page where I could politely ask a question or tell them what I thought and they could, if nothing else, politely listen.
I have used a similar tactic in consulting when trying to discover the unmet needs of customers. Simply use the string "I wish COMPANY NAME" in Google search types and you will be surprised at how much low hanging fruit there is for improving the basics.
I would suggest that if you're using an online search site to do research, then using Google isn't the way to go. You see, you should try a search engine that helps you by suggesting alternative words or by grouping results. Try Yahoo or Clusty.com for two examples. Don't get me wrong. I am a huge fan of Google, but I also know when to use it, and when to use something else.