Well, what is a Social Enterprise?
Simply put; it’s an organization that weaves social and mobile technologies, platforms, and services into their business processes in a way that enriches Customer relationships and measurably improves the bottom line.
Key here? Two words: weaves and measurably. Your organization shouldn’t be attempting to do social “because you have to”. Social for social’s sake is not the goal. Your challenge is to find the areas where weaving social into the mix will improve results. Measurably.
ROI: The elephant in the room
There’s a recurring theme I hear when talking to people about social. It’s the unfortunate belief that Social ROI just can’t be measured. I work from the belief that any social initiatives you undertake should be either spanning a gap or capitalizing on an opportunity. If you start from that belief, then your responsibility is to ensure you can (at the end of the day) either measure the impact to the gap or the lift.
If you’re interested in learning more about ROI and some of the other metrics that can be used to measure Social Media (a component of the Social Enterprise) success, Radian6 has a helpful ebook on the topic as well as a one page cheat sheet. Of course, the end state goal is to be able to measurably impact your company’s current business metrics with social initiatives.
Where’s the Starting Line?
So where to start your search for this opportunity? Consider the following areas as likely targets: Customer Service, Sales, Recruiting, Marketing, and R&D. These certainly aren’t the only places to look – every company is different – but starting your search in these areas may yield some low-hanging opportunities. On your journey, I encourage you to find the people in each area who will join the central strategy team. These would be the folks who are experts on the current state of the state, and are future champions or owners of any potential Social initiatives. Getting these people involved in the initial stages means all your key players are learning and growing together (collaboratively).
The majority of companies are still ignoring customer complaints on Twitter. When done right, the handling of complaints via social channels can defer calls to the call center (read: costs) and reduce churn (read: increase Customer Lifetime Value). If you’re interested in getting deeper into the idea of how Social Customer Service impacts the bottom line, I highly recommend this webinar from Radian6 with Frank Eliason of Citibank (and author of the book @YourService ).
70% of companies ignore customer complaints
Maritz and evolve24 Twitter Study, September 2011
Motto to Live By: Be Prepared
Although you (or your boss) may be chomping at the bit to “go Social” I highly recommend that your starting line includes the less flashy or shiny aspects of Social. Yes, the “boring stuff” like: establishing guidelines, training employees about your expectations concerning their Social Media usage, having an Engagement Playbook (if that’s part of your plan), and including Social into your PR readiness plan. Don’t forget to get Legal’s blessing. In fact, making Legal part of your strategic team from the get-go can go a long way. Remember, even if your company decides not to actively participate in Social, your employees already do. Giving your team a clear framework on your expectations is a sound foundational move. It may seem a bit boring and old fashioned today but will quite possibly save your organization from flashy and decidedly non-boring (read: costly) future snafus tomorrow.
Jennifer Phillips (@CRMjen) is a Salesforce.com Certified Administrator, Service and Sales Cloud Consultant. She’s also a Salesforce.com MVP, the Orlando Salesforce.com User Group leader and an SCRM Certified Professional. In her spare time, she’s an avid cupcake enthusiast.
