A Look Back At 2006 – The Customer Really Is In Charge

This is my look back at 2006 from the current issue of CRMGuru.

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Companies Are Actually Engaging in Conversations With Customers

By Christopher Carfi, Cerado Inc.

In 2004, there were a few odd shakes. Some organizations noticed them, but most ignored them, perhaps attributing them to the distant passing of large truck.

In 2005, a few small, but noticeable, cracks appeared in the fortifications that separated The Corporation from its customers.

In 2006, the cracks widened. For some organizations, portions of the fortifications began to crumble and crash to the ground, casting away long-held beliefs and practices as they fell. It was the year the reliance on one-way “control” of the customer began to give way to “conversations” in earnest.

While viewing the world through the three-sided prism of “sales,” marketing” and “service” still holds as a reasonable way to characterize the breadth of CRM, these changes in customer relations affected all three areas very differently.

Sales

For some in sales, “CRM” is synonymous with Sales Force Automation (SFA). The problem is, very few customers want to be “managed” by their sales representatives. In 2006, those customers who “weren’t going to take it anymore” started taking up arms.

We’ve entered an era rich with cheap, easy, accessible of online tools to publish in nearly any format. Consequently, 2006 saw an explosion of words, photos and videos of customers documenting their experiences with products of nearly every stripe. Did you see the photos of the exploding Dell laptop in Osaka? If you didn’t, search on “dell laptop fire.” Those pictures sparked Dell to recall more than 4 million laptop batteries, and the incident ultimately may cost Sony, which manufactured the batteries, hundreds of millions of dollars. Millions of customers shared their experiences with companies with the world via their personal blogs, as well as through online communities such as TripAdvisor. Consequently, salespeople have been put in the unenviable position of competing in a world where the customer is, in many cases, better-informed than they are.

Another trend that affects sales is the rise of a new type of corporate customer: the “bizsumer.” These are individuals within large organizations who are making buying decisions at an individual level, oftentimes as a means to “get things done” in their groups without having to deal with the bureaucracy of their own organization.

The bizsumer is purchasing tools for project management, collaboration, business social networking and other systems at a price point that is often below the radar of centralized organizational planning-and usually delivered as an online service. (Joe Kraus, CEO of collaboration provider Jot, calls this purchasing things that are “expensable,” rather than “approvable.”) As such, sales has needed to embrace tactics that are much more common in the mass-market realm, such as online ordering and payment by credit card, which is a marked shift in the customer engagement process.

Marketing and PR

Of the three primary CRM areas, the areas of marketing and public relations made the most strides with respect to customer engagement. Not only startups but also behemoths such as General Motors, Microsoft, IBM and Sun Microsystems have embraced social technologies such as blogs and podcasts in a big way, as a method of getting their message out and engaging customers in the conversation about their products. These processes of engagement with customers through social media, however, need to be done correctly, and with unassailable ethics and transparency. As an example, Wal-Mart and Edelman, a PR firm, found themselves in significant hot water in October 2006, when it came to light that a blog framed as a “grassroots” effort of regular, everyday folk (“Jim and Laura,” who were driving their RV across the country, from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart and documenting it) was actually a planned marketing campaign, paid for by Wal-Mart and supported by Edelman. Customer engagement is highly important in strategic business planning, the data gathered can help immensely with how they want to market their products/services. Using device tracking software from companies like Epsilon can add to this and provide a solid connection with customers leading to a potentially positive outcome.

Anyway, it turned out that “Jim” and “Laura” were professional journalists on assignment. (“Jim” was Jim Thresher, a photojournalist for The Washington Post, and “Laura” was Laura St. Claire, a professional freelancer.) With incredible research tools at their fingertips, customers now can ferret out the truth about products and companies in only a few clicks. Despite such missteps, through social networking, other companies began to put a more human face on their organizations. An increasing number of companies are engaging with their customers directly online; answering their questions in the public square; and moving away from “marketingspeak” and toward developing deeper relationships with their customers based on actual interpersonal trust.

Beacons

And then came “support tagging.” Stowe Boyd and Greg Narain, of the social application firm Blue Whale Labs, call these tags “beacons.” A beacon is a post in a public place, such as a personal blog, meant to draw the attention of a service provider to an issue the customer is having with the company’s products. In essence, beacons turn the service model upside down, drawing companies to the customer’s site to help them, rather than forcing the customers to go through the often onerous support process prescribed by the vendor organization. (The vendor organizations respond to such beacons through diligent, often automated, monitoring of search engine results for new items containing their company name, their products or relevant phrases.)

When it works, a representative from the vendor organization, or even an individual who may be part of a larger enthusiast community, will connect with the customer in the customer’s space and resolve the issue.

So I would call 2006 a sea-change year for CRM. Sales faced an ever-more-vigilant buyer. Marketing engaged with customers-and was called to task when it went overboard. Support is actually-surprise-supporting the customer, as opposed to purely being a cost center. The customer really is in charge.

(link)

November 29, 2006

Business Social Networking Breaks Out Of The Walled Garden

Today, am very happy to announce a significant development that Cerado has made with Haystack networking, our social networking service for businesses and associations.

What we’ve created is a novel way for an organization to easily create profiles of its externally facing individuals (e.g. sales, marketing, support in the corporate realm, or members for associations or groups), and allow prospective customers or members to interact with those profiles via a Flash-based player. Through this player, these profiles can be embedded into any website or blog (just like a YouTube video can be embedded in any site).

Examples of how it looks “in the wild” are included in this post, and on this page here, and on the sidebar here. Additionally, some answers to frequently asked questions are included below.

We’re really, really happy about this, and think this is an innovation that will greatly accelerate the adoption of social networking into the enterprise.

But, more importantly…what are your thoughts?

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What it is: An embeddable organizational directory that can be integrated with any website with a single click.

Why it matters: What YouTube did for sharing video, Cerado has done for business-oriented social networks. The embeddable Haystack networking directory enables anyone visiting any website, blog or other online destination to have simple access to the profiles of the individuals who are part of a business, association or organization.

Why it’s different: The philosophy behind Cerado’s Haystack networking is to turn the sales process around 180 degrees, and enable CUSTOMERS to choose with whom they want to deal within an organization. (This is in stark contrast to the “traditional” sales model, where a representative from a geographic location is foisted upon an unsuspecting customer.) The capabilities being announced here enable companies, associations and organizations to easily allow prospective customers or prospective members to connect with externally-facing individuals from their organizations.

Extended geek details: We believe this is first business-oriented social network that can be easily embedded into websites or blogs. We’ve created an embeddable, Flash-based widget that can be directly embedded into blog posts, blog templates, web pages, or any other type of site, enabling access to an entire organization’s externally-facing individuals.

What it costs: Haystack networking widgets are included in every Haystack networking subscription plan, including our free plans.

How you get it: Every Cerado Haystack network has a Haystack networking directory widget that can be embedded into any web site. Simply go to the Haystack networking page for the company, association, or organization, copy the “embed” link provided, and paste it into the web page in which you want to embed the Haystack network directory.

November 22, 2006

Building “Word Of Mouth” Capabilities Into Online Apps

Andy Sernovitz
Originally uploaded by christophercarfi.

Had a chance to meet Andy Sernovitz in Chicago a few weeks back (along with some other great folks). Andy is the CEO of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, also known as WOMMA.

Have been flipping through his new book on word of mouth marketing, and there are a number of good points and checklists. The one he keeps coming back to: “Put a tell-a-friend form on every page of your website.” (Just checked, and yes, the WOMMA site does this. Excellent consistency!)

Some other things on Andy’s list:

Create a blog
Put a special offer in an easily forwardable email
Come up with one buzzworthy topic — keep it simple
Let your talkers sign up for a private newsletter
Do something unexpected
Be nice

From the “eating our own dogfood” department, here are three examples of ways we’ve built these kinds of tools into Haystack networking.

Number 1: Every network has a “SHARE URL” link

Every network our customers create has a SHARE URL link built in, that allows them — or anyone viewing the network — to send the URL to a colleague easily and quickly. One click, it’s selected, and can be copy-pasted into an email. Simple, fast.

Here’s an example from the Social Media Club haystack.

Number 2: The “Invite” link

Every person registered on the system can also invite others to join the Haystacks to which they belong with two clicks. (We limit the number of invitations to discourage spammers, and only registered users can send invitations.)

Here’s an example from the Speakers Wiki haystack.

Number 3: I can’t tell you about Number 3 yet. It’s in final testing this week prior to the holiday here in the States, but the early feedback is that it’s a big winner, perhaps even game-changing in the business social networking space. If you’re subscribed you’ll know about it as soon as it’s public when we release it into the wild next week.

October 9, 2006

Facebook: A Great Way To Hobble A Brand

There’s been a ton of Facebook news recently, first with their “privacy trainwreck” (which was not really a “privacy” issue per se, but more of a perceived exposure issue, more here from danah and here from Doc), and most recently with the opening up of Facebook to all comers.

Now, with respect to this issue, Facebook’s Carolyn Abram writes:

“I’ve been asked to explain why we’re launching this expansion. You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again; here at Facebook, we want to help people understand their world. We started at one school, and realized over and over again that this site was useful to everyone—not just to Harvard students, not just to college students, not just to students, not just to former students. We’ve kept growing to accommodate this fact.”

This is very interesting, I must add with a bit of irony, as three days prior, Facebook’s Abram wrote:

“I have received and rejected over eighty friend requests from people I don’t know. It’s not because I’m a terrible person, and it’s not because I think all of my would-be friends were sketchy people; it’s because I wasn’t comfortable with people I didn’t know seeing my information.”

danah adds:

“Facebook is open. I’ve already received friend requests from companies selling their wares by creating a Profile. I am also faced with more contexts than i can deal with.”

This context-switching is the challenge that other “mass market” brands in the social media area are going to continue to have as they expand. As danah noted directly above, there are certain aspects of one’s persona that are “in context” in one case and “out of context” in others. (Here’s a real-world example, snark here.)

This issue is especially acute when trying to force-fit a mass-market brand into the business context. Design decisions that may that have worked fine in one context might be jarring in another. For example, I recently received a Facebook “friend request” from Stowe Boyd, who I know professionally. After accepting the request, I was presented with the following screen (click to enlarge):

Some of the choices (e.g. “We dated” and “We hooked up,” in particular) just don’t work in the business context.

Bottom line: When designing a system that may be used in multiple contexts, it’s critical that the people using the system have the ability to tailor it to their world. One-size-fits-all decisions can’t work and, even worse, will undermine the brand’s credibility in the market.

September 26, 2006

The Top Ten Ways Businesses, Associations and Organizations Can Use Social Networking

(Update January 2007: Welcome, Lotusphere attendees! Thanks for stopping by and making this one of the popular Dogear’d articles at the show. Please note a greatly expanded version of this article is available as an e-Book and as an online slideshow. )

Businesses of today have the best luck when it comes to growing and marketing their services or products because they have access to the shiny new internet, something that would not have been around back in the day. Not only that, the internet continues to evolve – it has new and improved features to it and each one can suit certain businesses, this ranges with the package or the provider! See this comcast internet provider as an example. The internet has brought with it a golden new era as well – social networking. This plays an extremely vital role in business presence amongst its industry and its customers. Having said this, here are the top ten (and two bonus) ways that businesses, associations and organizations can use social networking in the professional sphere. Some of these are ways to use social networking to connect with customers and members, some focus on internal organizational communication, some focus on the network as the way to find knowledge within the organization. Enjoy!

Customer and Member Relationship Development
Customer satisfaction is at an all-time low, perhaps as a result reduced business focus on actual relationships, and an increased business focus on “customer relationship management” systems emphasizing management of data rather than personal connections. Online social networks allow a prospective customer or prospective member to easily facilitate a real, human-level connection with individuals within an organization. This enables genuine business relationships to form and puts an authentic human face on the interaction, changing the external perception of an organization from a sterile, faceless behemoth into a collection of individuals who are ready to help. With the help of tools such as big data and business intelligence, a better overview and educational feedback can be obtained from the customers, judging on their satisfaction rates. Something that businesses need to do to keep up with their target audience’s demand.

Customer Support (Connecting The Customer With The Right Resource)
Successful customer support achieves a number of goals. Basic customer service includes, of course, assisting customers when they have problems or questions about an organization’s products. However, online networks enable exceptional customer support that goes beyond the basics, which allows customers to connect with experts in an organization who have deep knowledge in a particular area. Similarly, a strong online network enables experts within an organization to be alerted when a problem that requires their knowledge comes into the customer support queue, and facilitates the creation of strong communities in the form of valuable user groups and member networks.

Use The Network To Find An Expert Or Locate Implicit Knowledge
Only a fraction of an organization’s “knowledge” exists in databases. Another fraction exists in the form of explicit documents and reports that may be found on an organizational intranet. The vast majority of organizational knowledge, however, exists only in the heads of its members. Inside an organization, online networks with even basic profiles of its individuals’ experience, location and interests can greatly reduce the time required for organizational problem-solving, through enabling faster connection between a questioner and the person who has solved similar problems in the past.

Ease Post-Acquisition Integration
Even though acquisitions are on the upswing, a majority of mergers and acquisitions fail within three years of inception. The most common cause of failure is a lack of alignment and understanding between individuals in the acquiring and acquired organizations (and especially regarding transactions that take place after merging). However, those risks could be mitigated by taking the help of corporate law firms like LC Lawyers (those interested can search for mergers and acquisitions hong kong on the Internet) who are known to provide smooth and trouble-free merger and acquisition services. Besides this, online social networks can also help with the understanding of post-acquisition integration. Online social networks, giving a view to the “real” individuals within the organizations, aid in the creation of understanding between both parties by allowing members of both organizations to view each other as a collection of individuals, rather than an amorphous “them.”

Provide The “Whole Product”
It is rare that a single organization can provide all the pieces needed to meet a customer’s entire need. For example, even though a real estate agent aids in the process of buying a home, an entire network of other service providers, such as title companies, banks, insurance agents, contractors, and others, is required in order to fully meet the customer’s need. By creating a strong network of complementary providers with similar philosophies and business practices, a single service provider can provide a much greater proposition to a prospective customer than an individual working without the benefit of the network. For example, websites of service providers like Modern Maids could look to give you a comprehensive cleaning solution for cleaning service houston, for different kinds of spaces.

Understand And Visualize The Actual Communication Paths Within The Organization
While an organizational chart may show the reporting or budgeting hierarchy of an organization, the connections in an online social network create the actual flow of information for an organization. Explicitly creating a social network within the organization can help all members better understand how information gets shared and highlights the areas within the organization that are truly responsible for effecting change, turning the “company directory” into a living, breathing knowledge network.

Supercharge Meeting Facilitation And Preparation
The unfortunate part of meetings and conferences is that it always seems like you don’t run into the people you really want to meet until the final day of the event, when you run into them randomly in the buffet line. A dedicated online social network created before the event enables attendees to use their time at the event more efficiently, by enabling attendees to determine who they want to connect with before they even leave home.

Increasing The Value And Extend The “Shelf Life” Of Conferences
Similar to the above point, creating an online social network of event attendees extends the “shelf life” of a conference, enabling the attendees to remain connected and take action on the items discussed at the event. This can evolve a meeting, event or conference from a “one time” occurrence into the catalyst of a community that more effectively achieves its goals.

Pull Together The “All-Star Team” That’s Right For This Customer
Especially in service organizations, creating the right set of skills and culture are both key to creating a connection with a prospective customer. An internal social networking system enables the individuals responsible to creating relationships with prospects to pull together the “right” team to meet both the prospective customer’s needs and, at the same time, pull together the unique group of individuals who will resonate with the prospect at a personal level as well.

Share Knowledge
By connecting an social network with basic subscription technologies (such as RSS, or “Really Simple Syndication”), an individual can easily “subscribe” to updates from customers and colleagues. This enables a straightforward way to stay abreast of the goings-on in projects of interest, as well as a way to share knowledge within an organization without additional effort. It also addresses the issue of email overload, as knowledge is pulled by those who have a need or interest for updates, rather the updates being pushed to those who may have only tangential interest in an issue.

Differentiate Your Service With Brand You
In a number of industries, the fit between customer and service provider is the differentiator. If a customer can easily identify his or her areas of commonality with a prospective service provider such as a financial planner, real estate agent or insurance provider, that customer can have some assurance that the service provider will understand the customer’s point-of-view, and provide the type of service that the customer expects and supports.

Prepare For Coming Demographic Changes In Business
Although online social networks are relatively new to business, the MySpace and Facebook generation has grown up with them. By the time these individuals enter the workforce, online social networking with simply be a part of the fabric of business, and the organizations that have determined how to best integrate them into their operations will be the ones that are most successful.

See some more examples here.

May 18, 2006

A Conversation With Eric Mattson At MarketingMonger

Eric Mattson of MarketingMonger is on a mission to have 1,000 conversations with marketers, and to present them all as podcasts. Eric writes:

“For the 20th podcast in my project, I connected with Chris Carfi of Cerado.

I first ran across Chris’s blog when he published his original Social Customer Manifesto.

Then I heard interesting things about Cerado’s Haystack social networking software for businesses.

So I was excited to get a chance to talk with Chris about his social customer philosophy, his entrepreneurial efforts with Cerado, Haystack’s success to date and more.”

A link to his summary of the call here, and have a listen to the mp3 file here.

Thanks for the invitation, Eric!