Social Business Is A Paradigm Shift

As a business leader, should you care about incorporating social business into your company if a non-social model is making money and appeasing the Wall Street gods?

The answer is still “yes.”

Today’s customers expect companies to connect with them within their preferred channels -- and not yours. While some customers continue to prefer traditional business channels of phone and email, there is a groundswell demand for social connectivity.

What’s also important to understand is

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Focus Podcast–Promise of Social CRM, Pt 1

Dr. Natalie and I hosted the first roundtable in our Simplifying Social Business roundtable series, sponsored by Focus. 

Today's roundtable was The Promise of Social CRM, pt 1. We talked about the social business model and began to define Social CRM.

We want to thank Focus for the opportunity to share our social business thought leadership today and in the coming weeks.

Be sure to look over the Q&A. There’s a great handful of conversations that started around the roundtable.

The Promise Of Social CRM–Just Published!

If you are in business today you’re inundated by the plethora of information about social business, social CRM, and social media and the like. 

It’s true, social media has changed how we interact – at least in our personal lives.

The bigger question for business leaders, though, is whether social media will help them solve their business problems. And if so, then the question becomes one of how to combine traditional business methods with social media to do so.

Answering those questions is a passion I share with Dr. Natalie Petouhoff. To help business leaders, we’ve teamed together to write an eBook series called Simplifying Social Business. Look for it on Kindle and Nook.

 

Buy from Kindle -- The Promise of Social CRM

Buy from Nook -- The Promise of Social CRM

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Simplifying Social Business - eBooks & Roundtables

This week and next are going to be exciting in the Kathyverse. In conjunction with Dr. Natalie Petouhoff, I’m launching the Simplifying Social Business ebook series on Kindle and Nook.

In addition, starting next week, Natalie and I will host on ongoing weekly Focus roundtable series on the same topics.

Woo hoo!

In the eBooks, as well as the weekly Focus roundtables, Dr. Natalie and I discuss what business leaders need to know to successfully implement holistic social strategies. We’ll arm folks to effectively break down siloes to engage, influence, collaborate, and create with customers, partners, and employees using the social business model.

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VOTE YES - 5 Steps to Humanize A Brand & Get Social Media ROI

The social business model is fundamentally changing the business landscape because it supports how real people relate and do business with each other.

Social companies understand that a certain amount of process is necessary to remain effective and efficient. However, these companies also know success in a social media world means going beyond adding a human touch to business. It means being human. 

The social customer wants their questions answered and their problems solved. They want to have confidence in their buying decisions. And they don’t want to worry about your processes, departmental siloes or other activities they view as impediments to getting what they need.

How then, does a company learn how to implement social business strategies that get results?

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Why Social Media Isn’t So Dumb

Mark Ritson takes a hostile and suspicious view of social media benefits in The seven dumbest sins of social media, released last week in Marketing Week.

I don't agree with the depth of his criticism, I do share some of his sentiments. And for the record, I'm pro-social media.

What Mark is really complaining about is some folks are getting so caught up in the shininess of social media they’re forgetting something important.

Social media is not exempt from Business 101 fundamentals.

At the end of the day, there's only one set of reasons for businesses to do social media and they are to:

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SCRM Interview With Thought Leader Kathy Herrmann

All Things CRM just interviewed me for an article on Social CRM. Questions included the evolution of SCRM, it's future, what companies are doing SCRM well, and the ROI of SCRM.

Check it out!

 

Defining SCRM

There’s some variation across different thought leaders about what SCRM means. Here’s how I look at it.

I start with the idea of the social business model which centers on engaging, collaborating, and connecting with customers, partners, employees, and other interested parties. It refers to the holistic corporate adoption of activities that occur both internally and externally to the company and incorporates all of a company’s business ecosystem.

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Change Management & Social Business

Becoming a social business – not just a company with a Facebook page – is a change management opportunity and challenge for a company. It requires attention to people, processes, and technology.

The more important question is what can a company do to provide a better customer experience? And what changes to people, processes, and technology are needed to support the strategy and tactics for such a customer-centric business model?

Doing social from a holistic corporate perspective needs to be driven at...

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