Something that has become abundantly clear to me in the 15 years I have been working with customers online, is that even though you design and build cutting edge products, your customers quite often know more about using them that you. Actually, I think this revelation occurs to individuals way before organizations. It is pretty easy to suffer from organizational myopia thinking that we know everything about the products we produce.

It's a company's job to design and build them yes, but it is a customer's job to use them. This is especially relevant when we start to talk about high-tech products, particularly in the B2B sector but can apply to just about anything, computers, guitars or food mixers.

These customers use your products in every conceivable configuration you have thought of, and many others you haven't even imagined yet. They are putting products through their paces in implementations that will have your product teams eyes wide with wonder. These customers are also a prime source of information about how your products work with everyone else's – creating an interoperability task force of a scale way beyond any internal team you could assemble. Think about it for a second.

A loyal and knowledgeable audience, a massive scale proving ground for products and potentially a wealth of product support knowledge... how much of a competitive differentiator could that be? Are you sold yet?

So, how can you tap in to 'the gold that's in them there hills'? Well one approach is bringing this knowledge together through a customer community.

I should probably say my business is communities. I believe in them, I am a little biased, but those who have embraced their communities feel the same way. Right, let's get on with it.

Many people confuse the term 'community' with 'discussion board', and some use it interchangeably. Discussion boards, or forums, can be a legitimate part of a community environment, but many communities don't have forums. I come from the school of thought that says a community is less about the platform and much more about the collective knowledge, expertise and spirit of a group.

Communities can exist around topics wide and narrow. In the consumer world, communities can pop up in the most unlikely places. Take Flickr. It isn't just a photo sharing site, when you peel back the covers, you can see groups of incredibly knowledgeable photographers and artists sharing tips, expertise, and advice on technique. Live Journal isn't just a blogging site, it is a community of writers, poets, artists who discuss every topic imaginable. And GolfWRX isn;t just a place for buyers/sellers of golf equipment, it's one of the most concentrated communities of equipment and player information and swing analysis expertise that there is.

When you are looking to buy a new product, (say a printer or camera) I like the majority of people will do a little research first. This research will consist of a few things. Asking friends I consider knowledgeable for a recommendation, Googling for an online recommendation, say from a trusted source (say Amazon, CNET or a specialist community like DPReview or even an official community like HP's. You're searching for what people are thinking about the product you're interested in. Will it work for you,, does it do what you need, is it compatible with the devices you already have invested in?

Having this open and honest discussion in your domain is a key part of your brand experience. When someone recommends your products, then it's a win. However, in the spirit of openness, there is also value in not recommending a product just to get the sale. A customer's perception of a company can also be positively influenced if you let them know that the product they are thinking is actually probably not going to work for them. They will come back again for advice when they know they will get honest and truthful recommendations. In these instances you're creating stored credit rather than resentment for something that doesn't work.

Outside the buying cycle, communities can help you learn how you can evolve your products to be even more. Organizations like P&G are reworking their products right through the supply chain based on the ideas and feedback of their specialist communities.

When communities help support your audience, you'll find that often it is your customers that have the best, most relevant advice on general issues. I am sure that your call center team would like the ability to offload the most common questions to your community, so they can concentrate on the key high complexity issues.

If you are serious about understanding and working with your most passionate, practical and knowledgeable advocates, then get serious about community.

Next time I am going to delve into why reputation matters in community. Until then, let me know if you have any questions or thoughts. I'd love to hear them.