Social Business Sandy

BIZTECHBUZZ in the world of social, cognitive, IoT and startups

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Join me July 31st on GET BOLD for Social Business!

July 24, 2013 / / 4 Comments

Today, everyone is talking about social.  You hear about politicians, movie stars, and everyone in between talking about social, using social with Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. 

But you’re a business.  What does all this mean to you? 

Sure, your business has a website, and it probably has a social media executive responsible for posting and /or monitoring comments about your company that might be posted on Twitter or Facebook by customers.  But ask yourself….is your company a social business company?  Are you leveraging social to be more customer-driven?  Are your employees engaged with social in their jobs?  Are you really utilizing the tools and techniques that social offers to improve your business and take advantage of opportunities for growth?

Join me on Wednesday, July 31, on the Victory Circle Radio hour as I talk about my book, “Get Bold”, in which I provide a framework for social.   www.victorycircles.com/radio-show

I’ll also share some case studies of companies who have successfully used social technology to connect with customers, helping them create communities and experiences they need.  According to a recent study, some 60% of customers use social media to discover new brands and products; 46% of customers use it to strongly influence their purchase decisions; and 40% check social media before making purchase decisions.  Your customers are already connecting and talking about your brand.  Are you connecting with them so they can become brand advocates?  I’ll share examples of customers who have successfully used social technologies to listen to and respond to their customers.

Becoming a social business is about more than simply building a social network.  It’s about offering information and services that your customers and partners need.  There are companies who have successfully used social technologies and offered meaningful services to their customers, while gaining critical feedback from the customers.  It’s about collecting and understanding the data that’s available on the various networks.  About 81% of purchasers get product purchase advice from social networks.  You need to know who is saying what, and know how to tap into the conversation. 

Today, it’s an economic reality that social is here to stay.  According to an IBM study, during the next 5 years, 95% of standout organizations will focus on getting closer to the customer.  Join me on Victory Circle Radio on July 31 and hear how my social framework can help you become a social business.

3 Cool Social Products!

May 15, 2013 / / 0 Comments

I discovered these interesting products on social.

I’d love ones that you’ve seen!

  1. Higi –It like a Klout score that combines your  eating and activity habits, all the while ranking your score, scoring pictures of food for calories and protein , etc.   They have ‘stations’ set up in drugstores so that you can weigh in, test your blood pressure, etc while combining your “community”  or friends into your overall score.  VERY cool!
  2. Virtual Receptionist / Concierge  — So you are a smaller or medium company and you cannot afford an assistant, see this video that allows you to have a virtual and smart assistant.   Very furturist — I just landed at an airport and I was directed by an virtual concierge!
  3. Cuelight Pool Table – Yes, gaming!  Cuelight allows you to transform any pool table into a digitally-enhanced video experience. High-definition imagery responds in real-time to every shot. User-selectable themes yield infinite possibilities.   It is real and is already in the Paradise Tower Penthouse, Hard Rock Hotel & CasinoTM, Las Vegas and the Esquire SoHo apartment.  Check it out!

Social is Personal. My story. It is powerful.

April 30, 2013 / / 4 Comments

The power of social is everywhere.

But no where as relevant than in personal life.

My dad was placed in the hospital for emergency brain surgery.   I got the news while in Vegas, and booked the first flight out.  I had to wait for the plane for over 6 hours — hoping to get home in time.

I was going crazy in the wait — and really needed to talk to someone.

So I did something I usually don’t do — I posted something very personal on Facebook about my dad.  Much to my surprise, within minutes I had response from friends all over the world.   The outpouring was overwhelming — over 500 comments plus dozens of calls.

  • I had calls from friends that I had not heard from since High School.
  • Prayers poured in
  • Comments of encouragement came in texts, comments, tweets
  • And I didn’t feel alone

No one gave up either — days and weeks went by ….. and the love flowed in through twitter, facebook and beyond.

I talk about the power of social in business — and the power there is very strong and real.  But this personal impact — priceless.

Social Tip of the Week! Turn off Retweets!

April 26, 2013 / / 1 Comment

Do you follow somebody on twitter who publishes great content but also tends to retweet anything (like anyone who thanks them), thus making it really hard for you to spot the interesting pieces in the mass of tweets? Than try this useful function: To turn off a person’s retweets, go on their profile, click on the little person icon next to the following button and select “Turn off retweets”. One exception: This only works for retweets sent by using the retweet button, not for those with RT at the beginning of the tweet.

Social Business Governance: Relationship over Rules

March 27, 2013 / / 0 Comments
I have been meeting with a lot of clients and see a lot of discussion around governance and structure required.   In a survey done in 1Q 2013, we see 2.7X the focus on developing social business governance. 
 
Because there is no natural organizational owner of “social,” an effective governance structure must balance  responsiveness and inclusiveness. 

Being inclusive means engaging stakeholders early and broadly to build shared understandings and expectations.  Responsiveness provides for clear accountability and speed in decision making.  The  challenge is to build governance structures and processes that accomplish both.

Having a relationship with your employees not just rules makes a huge difference in how successful you are!

Achieving the transformative value of becoming a Social Business involves connecting all parts of the organization (including channels, partners and customers) in new ways.  It often requires quite new ways of managing people, flatter organizations, and significant cultural change.  While becoming social provides individual flexibility, it’s important that the change achieves the unifying value for the company  of the new goals and culture. 

A strong governance program facilitates coordinated change.  The governance is led by two complementary leadership groups who’s members include the major “organizational structures” (e.g., LOBs, Finance, Supply Chain, HR, Channel Management,  …). 

The first, the Executive Sponsor Group, defines the strategic linkage and goals   of becoming a social business.  Members are leaders across the organization.  The second is a Digital Council.  These are executives who are responsible for the organization-wide, execution creation of the Social Business plan.  The representatives are often the social business leaders in their respective LOBs and functional areas, which ensures focus on the vertical and horizontal needs.

governance

The Digital Council focuses on the key areas of a social program:

  • Community Management – Provides a common approach to drive change and adoption at and across the LOB and functional level.  It includes actions like community management, Content Management, community analytics, and best practices.  While the focus is value at the  LOB / functional level, the governance processes has a Center of Excellent that shares best practices to create a common social voice and approach across and outside the organization. 
  • Metrics and Measurement –  Covers all elements of data and measurement.  Starts with analytics / listening to guide the where and how to engage socially.  This includes internal analytics of social networks, expertise, and projects, as well as the external listening and analytics.  This group also is responsible for creating and automating the overall program measurements to track success, progress on the plan, and social return.
  • Reputation and Risk Management – Focuses on 3 main areas:  1. regulatory risk and compliance(if relevant),  social record retention for general discovery, and other legal and financial risks;    2. policies, guidelines and processes for the organization and associates to participate in social media (for example, IBM’s Social Computing Guidelines); and    3. proactively managing the organization’s reputation and having a defined plan to respond to various levels of negative media or emergencies.
  • Standards – This group focuses on process and technical standards for a social business.  While LOBs, major business functions, etc. require the freedom to build their social programs tailored to their needs, the Standards group ensures that the overall company can be nimble in connecting across boundaries in ways not always anticipated.  Standards for brand and ways of connecting with partners, channels, clients, etc. ensure that the company is viewed as coordinated and focused on needs vs. a “collection of parts.”   On the technical side, a common social business framework enables the new ways of working.