Author: sandraanncarter (Page 122 of 137)

Do you see anything missing from this truck?

Businesses are changing how they communicate with their customers. The telephone, an email address, and even a web site URL are often being replaced with social networking icons, near-universal symbols that direct customers to interact with a business via Facebook and LinkedIn, or to reach out and ask questions via Twitter. This transformational shift in how businesses communicate will have a profound impact on the Social Business requirements to effectively communicate, inside and outside the corporate firewall.

What changes have you made in your communications as a Social Business!!!

This past weekend I watched a segment on Social Detox.   What is Social Detox?  It is about “you” giving up all your “devices” like your iphone, ipad, computer, and gaming platforms and go to the “real” world!

According to a recent survey by American Express, 79% of travelers expect to remain connected to their mobile devices on their next vacation. Among those planning to check email, 68% say they will do so for work.

Oops that’s me!   I did try to give up my Tweeting for Lent but it just didn’t work. So I gave up chocalate instead.  Much easier!

As I dug around, I found that some hotels have introduced “digital detox” packages that offer discounts to customers who forgo using smartphones and laptops during their stay, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Among the hotels offering such packages: the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, the Hotel Monaco Chicago, the Quincy in Washington, D.C., the Teton Mountain Lodge & Spa in Teton Village, Wyo. and the Lake Placid Lodge in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Has anyone gone to one?! I’d love to hear about it!

Sandy

I found this quite interesting!  If all US Internet Time was condensed into an hour. The fastest growing usages would be:

1.  Social Networks/Blogs

2.  Portals

3.  Instant Messaging

4.  Games

Happy Monday!

This is our series on Monday of new Social Business Words, that didn’t exist before Social came on the scene!  At the end of the series, I will share a full glossary of terms for your use!

Today’s term is one of my favorites!  Social Business Digital Council!

A Social Business Digital Council is a cross-organizational body (marketing, HR, product development, supply chain, customer service, and more). In the most successful cases, it is cochaired by a line of business and IT. The mission is to explore best practices to share and replicate in the company. In addition, the Council should help craft the Social Computing Guidelines, set up a content activation strategy, create a Risk Management and Reputation Management plan, and provide guidance. It is not set up to be a blocker of social tools and techniques but rather a promoter of Social Business for competitive advantage.

How many of you have Digital Councils?   I ran a Digital Council at IBM for our IBM SOA Group, and am on a few as a guest of my clients.  I’d love ot hear what yours looks like and how successful it is! 

Last week, President Obama hosted a TWITTER Town Hall Meeting, a first of it’s kind. 

Tens of thousands of questions were tweeted to #AskObama on Twitter about the economy, health care and other important issues. The response was amazing.”

Goals of the Twitter Town Hall –

Every once in a while someone really amazes you. And extends you help and experience.   That happened to me at an Avnet Conference last year.  I met Jeff Gitomer and a great relationship has formed.  He has advised me on my new Thought leadership book GET BOLD.  

Why am I writing about this on the Social Business Blog?!

Well, the common thread that Jeff and I shared was seeing the vision of Social.   I think you know that Jeffrey Gitomer’sSocial BOOM! is on Amazon today.  Over the past 20 years, Jeffrey has established himself as a global authority on sales and customer loyalty, and one of the most widely read business authors of all time. His books have appeared on best seller lists more than 750 times, and have sold millions copies worldwide.

Social BOOM!, Jeffrey’s newest breakthrough book, is everyone’s guide to catching, riding, and mastering the tidal wave of business social media that is sweeping across the globe and changing the face of business forever. This is your step-by-step plan to attract, engage, and connect worldwide through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

This is our continuing Social Business Monday Word of the Day!

Crowdsourcing;  Leveraging the wisdom of the crowd to generate new ideas and to refine ideas that exist, as well as vote on the “best” idea. Crowdsourcing leverages the collective intelligence of many people to try to solve a problem or generate new ideas. Crowdsourcing is also sometime referred to as “wisdom of the crowd” or “collective intelligence”

Crowdsourcing is an important part of your strategy.   It is about soliciting customer wants leveraging the blogosphere.  Leading companies engender loyalty by directly involving customers in defining emerging needs, constantly tuning offerings to satisfy the customers’ rapidly changing preferences. These leading companies leverage their clients and potential clients by making sure they are providing what customers want tomorrow, instead of what they wanted yesterday.

Throughout the global world, crowdsourcing with customers is a new competitive trend. Collaboration across different channels to create new products and services is becoming tablestakes. Companies are increasingly expected (by their clients) to follow them wherever they communicate with or about them through all possible channels. Not surprisingly, standouts are 13% more focused on new or different channels. It opens up new ways to engage with customers to harness their creativity and co-create to develop new products and service models.

Have you done it?   Share your results!

Today I took my daughters to the pool.  My youngest is taking lessons and is now on the swim team.  While in the past she has not been able to even come close to my oldest daughter’s speed, today, she exceeded it and won the races between the two of them!

Yes, even on my holiday, I think about Social  Business and how this analogy could help my clients! 

My oldest is  more atheletic and determined.  But her form was not the best, and she splashed more than stroked. She really doesn’t want anyone to show her how it is done, because she is so confident in her own abilities.  The youngest had been taught by someone more experience and glided through the water focusing more on her form, her goal, and the techniques and won the race.

I was thinking about this in regards to my clients in Social Business.  I see many companies who are so talented and passionate about their product and clients.  But with Social, they jump in the water and splash around their excitement.   They don’t have a plan, and they have not studied best practices, and so while the motivation is great, the results are not up to what they could be.

Then I have other clients who focus on learning from the best, practicing inside their 4 walls, and then begin their quest to better serve their clients.  Those companies who focus on their goals, their culture, and the way they reach their clients are winning today.

Which one are you?