Say howdy to Insidr and Glome

One is Insidr, which is “rewriting the Rules of customer support” by giving you a way to “connect directly to real people who have worked in big companies and are willing to help when the company can’t or won’t.” You post a question, offer a bounty for an answer, and get an answer from an insider at the company. So far those include (copied and pasted from Insidr’s about/learn page):

• AT&T
• BANK OF AMERICA
• COMCAST
• DIRECTV
• DISH NETWORK
• SPRINT
• T-MOBILE
• UNITED AIRLINES
• VERIZON

I asked a question regarding United Airlines, with which I’ve flown .82 million miles so far. The question had nothing to do with customer service, but rather with looking for a connection inside the airline, with whom I might talk about publishing a book of aerial photos (such as these) taken from United planes, timed to publish about the time United’s new large-window Boeing “Dreamliner” 787s come into service. It’s a long shot, but a fun one.

I think Insidr qualifies as a fourth party (as described this blog post and this ProjectVRM wiki article). That is, one working primarily for the customer, rather than for the vendor. That Insidr is paid by customers places it on the side of customers financially, which is significant — and novel, in an age when most new Web-based businesses still look for revenue coming from sellers “targeting” customers rather than customers expressing their own intentions, in their own ways.

Here’s a TechCrunch piece about Insidr. (I was given a heads-up that TechCrunch might call to get the VRM angle, but that didn’t happen.)

[Update…] I spoke with Antony Brydon, Insidr’s CEO. He made it clear that the term “Insider” is not limited to people working for the company, and in fact is refers to the collection of experts who are proximal to the company rather than inside the company — though it might include those too. He also begs our indulgence of Insidr’s learning process. They’re just getting started.

The other new VRM entry is Glome.  “Stop being a product” says the main copy on the index page. @glomeinc‘s Twitter page says,

Glome Inc@GlomeInc Helsinki, Finland
Media startup aiming to change the way advertisers connect with customers online. Buzzwords: VRM, User controlled data, online privacy, open API:s

The first and only tweet so far there says,

Glome Inc. is officially founded. Stay tuned for private beta invite instructions. #glomeinc #vrm #privacy #changetheworld

I tweeted back,

@GlomeInc Tell us more about your #VRMwork. DM me if you need to keep it private for now.

We’ll see how that goes. Meanwhile, it’s good to know that both companies fly the #VRM flag.

Here’s Zemanta‘s list of Related Articles:

• Link roundup (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Insidr Brings ‘Insider’ Customer Service Expertise To The Masses (techcrunch.com)
• What makes a VRM tool VRM? (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Working for you (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Radio Roundtable: The customer service edition – social customers, Insidr, and Klout scores (customscoop.com)
• VRooMing along (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• VRM at SXSW 2012 (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Insidr Helps When Big Company Customer Service Can’t or Won’t (prweb.com)
• Digging Ray Fisk’s Customer Liberation Manifesto (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Personal RFP (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Lawsuits as a business model (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• Customer Service – a United Airlines nightmare (mentorsonline.wordpress.com)
• Agency (blogs.law.harvard.edu)
• VRM Box using a different headphone amp? (gearslutz.com)