Having been a co-founder of the Technology Leadership Group back in 2002, I’ve just been made Chairman of all the Leadership Groups at the Prince’s Trust. Collectively they have over 170 members and patrons – almost all of them ‘blue chip’ corporates. Indeed, collectively they are the Prince’s Trust’s largest single form of private sector fundraising and have actually boosted their contributions to the Trust in the last year when most other charities have seen declines.
Anyway, my responsibilities now include the Retail Leadership Group where Ian Cheshire, CEO of Kingfisher, is a Committee member. So it was with added interest that I read this anecdote in Financial Times 18th Jan 11. I report it not just because I thought it was rather amusing but because it does show how social technologies are invading the retail sector with unexpected results!
Social fixer - Source - Financial Times 18th Feb 11
Kingfisher chief executive Ian Cheshire is striving to weld together the slightly incompatible worlds of social networking and DIY.
The owner of the B&Q and Screwfix chains in the UK is planning a smartphone app designed to appeal to White Van Man, who is much more likely to place internet orders via mobile phone devices.
The initiatives come as the new “send us your pictures” function on the Screwfix website is already causing much merriment in the boardroom at Kingfisher.
“Customers have been uploading photos to our forums, typically pictures of problems, asking ‘What do you think of this?’,” Mr Cheshire explained.
One went up a few weeks ago stating: “I’ve got a problem with this pump I’ve installed on a central heating system. Can anyone help?”
Fifteen minutes later another tradesman posted the following reply: “Your main problem is that is not a pump.”