Social Media ROIs are excellent so get on with it

As a consultant, I often have prospects trying to buy my services by promising me leads or “exposure.”  Those results are beneficial but they don’t put food on my table or pay my rent.  Know what does?

Money does.

Now take what I just said and translate that to a company.  A business can’t pay its employees with tweets.  It can’t build a new factory paid for with impressions.  That takes money.

Are you really surprised then, when executives want a social ROI to forecast the revenue or savings potential from undertaking what could be a six- to seven-figure social investment?  They need to know how much Money Out and In to expect to run the business.

To me, any corporate initiative should be able to stand the test of economic analysis -- and no, marketing isn't excused.

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PR Agency Social Media ROI Calculator

And how PR firms can benefit

Thought you’d be interested in insights into a social media ROI methodology geared specifically towards the PR agency world.

Check out the preso.

PR Agency Social Media ROI Calculator - And how PR firms can benefit

Each ROI calculator is a little different, depending on the industry and company.  However, the basic elements are consistent and building the methodology is the hardest part.  I’ve done the hard thinking to help you.

Thanks to Dr. Natalie Petouhoff for her thought leadership.  She’s the bestest!

What Social Business ROI Really Means

I gave a seminar this week to a customer on social business ROI and am making a short version of the slidedeck available to everyone.

 

What Social Business ROI really means

Figuring out how to convert metrics into financial insights can be tough if that's not your area of expertise.  Contact me if you need help. Happy to.

 

SCRM’s dirty little word is really not so dirty

Lawrence Buchanan wrote a dandy article about the importance of understanding the dollars and sense impact of social business. 

While he values determining the return on investment (ROI) for social business initiatives, he also expresses a preference for the Return on Customer (ROC) which is a means to determine the total customer equity.

To me, ROC is the little brother to smROI because getting to the latter is influenced by the former.

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Simplifying Social Business - How real people work

The social business model exalts engagement and collaboration with customers, partners, and employees. 

Strip it back and the reason why the social business model is fundamentally important is because it supports how real people relate and do real business.

Why then are companies still confused about the social business model?  Why aren’t they rushing to implement it in their own companies?

I’m going to explore these issues in this white paper, although I’m going to come at the discussion from a little different perspective than most other thought leaders in the social business space.

Along the way, I’ll explore why the social business model is so important for companies today ─ and the potential impact on failing to pay attention to it.

 

Click here to read Simplifying Social Business or you can view the slideshow format.

 

Unleash the Creative Power of Your Call Center

Ask most people what they think of their experience with the call center and the common answer will be "frustration." First they’re forced to wade through an automated system that impedes their ability to connect with a real person. And when customers do get to a real person, the customer experience is often less than satisfactory, even when their issue is resolved.

It would be easy to blame the reps. But take a step back and ask yourself "how much of the service problem is systemic, resulting from managerial over-control of the customer engagement process?"

 

This article is featured on Customer Management IQ. Click here to read it in its entirety.

Who owns the customer relationship?

I struggle with this question.  Crowd wisdom in Social CRM (SCRM) circles says in today’s world the customer owns the relationship.  That’s the power of social media.

True confessions, though, I’m not completely comfortable with this idea.

The reason? The inequality in a relationship where one party holds more power than the other.

Some will say the point of social media is to give customers power back.  Yes, it’s true – and it’s one of the great things about social media.  However, I also have concerns about the pendulum swinging too far to the left, in which case a new problem arises.

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