Talking Around the Town -- January 15, 2010

Never let it be said I lack things to say! :-) Here's where I've stopped in and shared opinions in the last week...

The ROI of CRM (and Social CRM) -- This week's best!

Mike Boysen wrote a dandy article consolidating thoughts from a variety of folks, including me.  I also added more thoughts in the comments.

ROI Hype: Finance for Fools?

Andrew Rudin discusses what is needed to evaluate the value of a corporate initiative -- and he gets it.  I shared some related thoughts.

Hey Social Media – It’s not all about You! 

I like the way Alasdair Munn think and this article is one of the reasons.  He sees the big picture.

HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI

Despite the title, Christina Warren's article focuses mostly on metric tools rather than how to, you know, actually determine social media valuation.  I made comments salient to valuation.  

If you want to know an actual methodology to determine the value of social business initiatives (including social media) , then check out my webinar How To Determine Social Media and SCRM Value and ROI.

Social Media ROI for Small Businesses

Christina wrote an abbreviated version of her above Mashable article.  My comment here was a mirror of the one I posted in the article above.

 

Attending Paul Greenberg’s Certification in SCRM Strategy Workshop

February is already poised to be a fun month around here.  I’ll be attending the BPT Partners (Paul Greenberg) workshop on Certification in Social CRM Strategy on February 9-10 in Herndon VA.

Paul is renouned as the Godfather of CRM – and for good reason.  Beyond that Paul is the sort of pro who bends over backwards to help others.  Put it together and what it means is anytime you have an opportunity to spend with him, grab it because it’s definitely worth it.

 

Twitter SCRM Accidental Community coming too

Just being present to soak up Paul’s SCRMy goodness is sufficient reason to attend thw SCRM Strategy workshop.

What will take the workshop over the top for me will be the added presence of a stellar group of other experts from the Twitter SCRM Accidental Community, of which moi is a part.

As of now, here are some of the other thought leaders attending the workshop:

This is going to be good.  Join us!

1. Social business is about making money

Welcome to the first installment of the Pathlight Solution's Business of Social Business series. 

 

There is sooooo much talk about metrics and KPIs to support social business design.

And metrics = good.  Business needs to be measured and monitored.  And KPIs = good so individual and group contributions can be identified so folks can be rewarded.

However, don’t be fooled by articles or professionals professing that business is really about people and culture and not money.  Or about how you should focus your business solely on creating value for your customers and then the numbers will take care of themselves.

Those are ivory tower sentiments -- and of little help to executives.

 

This article is now part of The Business of Social Business eBook, available on Pathlight Solutions, our sister site.  Click here to learn more about the eBook.

0. Introduction to the Business of Social Business eSeries

It's time to get serious about the Business of Social Business and our new Pathlight Solutions eSeries eBook will jump start your efforts.

The opt-in eSeries eBook will arm you with the insights you need to incorporate sound business fundamentals into your social business design.  At a high level, the series will focus on the topics of:

  • Social business strategy and its implications,
  • Blasting through social media ROI myths.
  • Valuation of social initiatives and solving its inherent challenges.

 

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Chatting with Paul Greenberg about social media ROI

Yesterday, I had a great chat with Paul Greenberg, Mr. Godfather of CRM and all-around nice guy, while demo’g ValueRight Social Media.

Our convo took a number of twists and turns, spanning from valuation methods that take a more traditional approach to social media like ValueRight.  We also segued into the need for new metrics that will better reflect the full value of social media.  The sort of metrics centered on Customer Lifetime Value (think V. Kumar).

Absolutely!

We both agreed, though, even innovative new metrics will still conversion into

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Talking Around the Town -- December 20, 2009

Here there and everywhere. Bloggy places I've recently been.

 

More Crazy Talk, Social Media, No Measurable Value But You Have To Have It?

John Moore responding to a statement made by an independent analyst who should know better. Oh boy did I have comments.

 

The Three Realities of SCRM Right Now

Esteban Kolsky gives an excellent round up of 2009 and forecasts into 2010.  Added my $0.02.

 

My wish for 2010: Consolidating Strategies

Wim Rampen weighs in with his Christmas wish list.  Esteban's post, referenced above, inspired Wim's.  My thoughts are mixed.

Why Value differs from Benefits & the impact on social media

If you want to understand how to perform valuations of corporate initiatives, including social media, then you need to understand the difference between value and benefits.

Benefits are what you get from a corporate initiative but Value is the money you receive from increased revenues or cost savings.

Benefits are intangibles and some will directly derive from specific feature functionality.  Others will be sourced by emotions.

In contrast, Value is tangible -- and it's currency.

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ValueRight Social Media solves challenge of determining social media ROI

Through Pathlight Solutions, our new firm, we just released ValueRight Social Media, a social media and SCRM valuation and ROI toolkit.

We’re excited to be able to bring this tool to the market place because it will allow people to perform a rigorous valuation of social media and SCRM initiatives – without having to be a financial wizard.  The tool performs all the heavy lifting of the valuation math and guides users through the valuation process.

The results generated by ValueRight are just what the executive suite wants to see to evaluate a social media initiative:

  • Cash flow analysis of your social media program,
  • Net present value of cash flows,
  • ROI.
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