Previous to this assignment, I had never asked questions on Quora before, and only used the website in passing. After Sean Kernan’s presentation, I had a bit more insight on how the website operates and how I could use it to my benefit. Our client, Florida Ticket Firm, was the focus of this assignment. To brainstorm on the best way to help our client grow, I asked 3 questions: 1. ‘What would be the best way for a ticket firm to grow their clientele?’, 2. ‘What do clients look for in a ticketing firm?’, and 3. ‘What is the best way to get your service to stand apart from its competitors?’. I believe these 3 questions get to the root of the issue in gaining tractionto the Florida Ticket Firm Website and making it a number one choice.

To ensure I got quality responses, I made sure to send each question to the maximum 25 Quora users. I chose specific categories for each question so specialists in the area would be able to see them and provide valid responses. Question number one did not receive any responses, but questions #2 and #3 received a few insightful answers. For question #2, my goal was to find out what exactly clients look for in a ticket firm so we I am able to further find what changes Florida Ticket Firm should make to become the ideal ticket firm. I received one response, which was: “accuracy, speed, value, ease of use, ease of communication, expertise, systems integration, automation”. Though this answer was slightly vague, it does make good points. These are all things that I personally look for in a website, so it makes sense that they would be sought after qualities in a ticket firm. These would be something to take into account for Florida Ticket Firm’s UX. Question #3 received 4 responses, which were: 

1. “Do something different and delight your customers.”
2. “Provide good products for customer and you have to believe in the product in order to sell it. Don’t worry about competition but worry about what people are seeking and need first. If you keep this in mind and learn and work hard to get it, you are way ahead of other companies.”
3. “First, be in business while doing business. Uninterrupted time to hear, evaluate and help make decisions best fitting your client needs is ABSOLUTELY paramount. When your focus is divided, you may miss key details or worse, your clients may find your mental division off-putting. Lay aside ALL ELSE and focus on winning the client over with attention, knowledge, sincerity, concern and winning solutions. Second, follow up, whether you are making the deal, sealing it or seeing how satisfied your clients are with choices you’ve helped them make, services you’ve provided or goods you’ve brought to them. And finally, service what you sell and act as if you are staking your reputation on what you do, because you are. Disappointed clients rarely ever return or find you new ones. Satisfied clients sing your praises and help you forge a solid business.”
4. “‘Offer  a better service’ and ‘be customer focused’ is right but not actionable. The key is to understand your customers better than the competition. Mainly in four areas:

• What problems are they trying to solve (including the emotional component of these problems) – customer needs
• How are customers grouped based on these needs – segmentation. You may decide you want to focus on one segment while your competitors go after everyone
• What is the ‘total solution’ meaning how do people want to buy and what other things need to be in place for their problem to be solved – complete product
• How much are they willing to pay to solve the problem – problem validation and pricing.
• If you understand these four things, it will be clear what you can do to beat your competition.” 

All of these responses were extremely insightful and given from a business point of view. My personal favorite response was #3. It focused more on the client’s experience and feelings which is valuable because satisfied customers lead to them coming back as well as bringing in new ones. All of these responses can be used to improve Florida Ticket Firm as a whole and are aimed towards making them stand out against other ticketing firms. Overall, my experience with Quora was a helpful one.