The conversation was still humming from the first question, however needed to move on at that point.
Q2: Play the “What if” game. Addressing the above deficiencies, remove all barriers and let the imagination roll. (For example, what if CRM systems were filled up by buyers not salespeople) Use the “In a perfect world” scenario when plugging in a social media solution. What does that world look like?
@BethHarte peppered in a few “What if” statements to get people thinking, like:
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | @mattceni What if they could get product/service information online, from *other* customers, is sales still needed? #socialmedia |
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | What if customers wanted to talk to employees, but were stopped by a gatekeeper? #socialmedia |
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | @ajmunn How could User Generated Value benefit a business scenario? Give us a “what if” #socialmedia |
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | @apowerpoint Is it possible to flip the relationships that exist btwn businesses & customers so that customers are in charge? #socialmedia |
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | What if all employees were compensated on their level of customer ambassador engagements? Would that work? #socialmedia |
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | What if we took the concept of “sales” away. How could businesses use social media? (Meaning indirect/relations vs. direct/push)#socialmedia |
And it got the wheels turning.
| Don_NSI@twitter.com (Don Baker) | @BethHarte – excellent point: opt-in to prospect status via SM #socialmedia |
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | @markkrupinski IdeaStorm is a great example of how customers influence product development. #socialmedia |
| dariasteigman@twitter.com (Daria Steigman) | @apowerpoint Can we use #socialmedia to speed decision making in orgs.? Are there ways we can to harness data, for example? |
For Don_NSI’s question, this actually does exist as an integration into company CRM platforms, (ie Social CRM)
Then a relatively new term came up: User Generated Value
| Marc_Meyer@twitter.com (Marc Meyer) | @ajmunn #socialmedia love this—->UGV user generated value |
| ajmunn@twitter.com (Alasdair Munn) | @BethHarte UGV deals with intelligent search, tagging permissions, etc #socialmedia |
| ajmunn@twitter.com (Alasdair Munn) | @BethHarte UGV some instances where dialogue not relevant. However tracking & understanding how ppl use yr content is valuable #socialmedia |
| ajmunn@twitter.com (Alasdair Munn) | @BethHarte re: UGV so allwing tagging, bookmarking, profile & permissions based preferences U understand what content they use #socialmedia |
Then an interesting dialogue happened around the notion of compensating or rewarding employees for better customer “service”. My take was, “Do / how do you hold employees accountable for better relationships inside and outside the corporate walls”. Very Intriguing:
| hoovers@twitter.com (Hoovers) | RT @BethHarte: What if all employees were compensated on their level of customer ambassador engagements? Would that work? #socialmedia |
| ajmunn@twitter.com (Alasdair Munn) | @BethHarte co deals in niche mkt. no desire by audience to overtly engage. Using underlying tools tells u how they use site #socialmedia |
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | @Don_NSI How, then do we get businesses to realize that the customers are in charge, not them? #socialmedia |
| B2BOnlineMktg@twitter.com (B2B Online Marketing) | RT @MelisMc: Looking for ROI studies that relate to social marketing and B2B conversion rates. Does anyone know of any? #socialmedia #b2b |
| MattJMcD@twitter.com (Matt J McDonald) | @BethHarte opens things up to gaming the system. and how can you measure that? #socialmedia |
| sonicric@twitter.com (rick) | people treat the sm success as a bit of a competition. companies can exploit that #socialmedia |
| waxgirl333@twitter.com (waxgirl333) | @BethHarte no because it would be too easy to manipulate the customer feedback mechanism #socialmedia |
| nhamilt@twitter.com (nhamilt) | @BethHarte we start by showing them the conversations their customers are already having WITHOUT them #socialmedia |
| sonicric@twitter.com (rick) | @bethharte maybe not compensated but called out / rewarded #socialmedia |
| jeanniecw@twitter.com (Jeannie Walters) | RT @BethHarte: What if all employees were compensated on their level of customer ambassador engagements? Would that work? #socialmedia |
| BronnersXmas@twitter.com (Lori Libka) | @BethHarte Businesses must commit 2 establishing/building relationships thru SM, not just using as posting/announcement sites. #socialmedia |
| sonnygill@twitter.com (Sonny Gill) | @waxgirl333 Agreed – it leaves too much room for gaming and unauthentic communication for the sake of compensation. #socialmedia |
| BethHarte@twitter.com (Beth Harte) | So, would employees not give up cash (i.e. pay) in lieu of potentially even more cash for doing good by the customer? #socialmedia |
A little Gem almost squeezed through when discussing employees ability to drive revenues through social engagement
| lisat2@twitter.com (lisat2) | One ROI impetus in retail will be 10 minute inventory depletion via crowdsourcing event- that will catch CEO attention #socialmedia |
AHH, Yes! The old ROI trick. Make social account back to either increase in revenues or decrease in costs. That is a sure-fire way to get management’s attention. I do know of a few instances of Lisat2′s thought, but through mobile. When bars, retail stores have patrons opt into text message campaigns to receive special offers. There are a few examples of product selling out due to a well timed interaction through mobile.
Love to hear your thoughts on this also. Chime in.
