The Business of Social Is Like Caffeine For Your Company

Today let’s discuss the business of social. Social media has caffeinated both our customers and our businesses. Everybody is wide awake, communicating at all hours, and operating at a frenetic pace. This increased activity presents opportunities for smart businesses and challenges (perhaps overwhelming challenges) for less focused entities..

The two key questions that were asked are …

What difference has social business made to your customers?
What about the business aspect of social?

Some general observations, and these would apply to both our customers and our businesses, the business of social is providing real and measurable results in …

Increased efficiency and productivity
Better, faster, and smarter communications
Cost savings
Increased revenues and profits
Happier customers!

Somebody asked me the other day what the name of my company, Adaptive Business Services, means. Simply put … the way we do business is changing. The way that our customers want to do business is changing. There are many tools and strategies available to assist us with this transition. Ultimately, you will need to either adapt to these changes or will you perish. Survival of the most adaptable.

Social business and your customers – In addition to the points discussed in the video, let’s take a moment to talk about how our customers have changed and about some of the expectations that they now have of businesses, your business, as a result of these changes. Social media play an integral role in each.

They are much better informed and they are doing their research.
They are rapidly becoming much more mobile.
They do not wish to be “sold to”. They expect “conversation”.
They are expecting immediate responses to their questions and concerns.
They control the message on/off switch and, if they don’t like yours, click.
If they have a beef with anything … they can share this quickly and easily with potentially millions. Ouch!

Yes, our customers are talking to each other. Really? What do they talk about? They talk about you, your product, your service, their wants, their needs, and their hurt points. Where are they talking? Sure, they still get on the phone, meet in person, and send emails but, they can also be found on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and many other social channels. What happens if, as a business, we cannot discover these conversations let alone participate in them? Doctor says … you’re gonna’ die. You will miss opportunities to …

Build and reward brand ambassadors.
Discover and solidify relationships.
Provide excellent customer service.
Uncover new opportunities to do increase your revenues.

Worst of all, you will never be able to meet your customer’s expectations let alone have any hope of exceeding them because … you’re not even there.

Social business and your business – All businesses have one simple goal … stay in business. The way that we stay in business is by turning a reasonable profit. While that profit is affected by a number of variables, it all comes down to the fact that our revenues must exceed our expenses. Now, if we can increase our revenues while at the same time lowering our expenses, magic happens. Social business provides us with some interesting avenues toward achieving these goals …

We exceed customer expectations which results in increased revenues.
We collaborate internally with our teams, as well as externally with our customer base, which provides increased efficiencies and decreased costs.
We are able to respond more rapidly, and appropriately, to changes in the market which allows us to leverage new opportunities or to quickly plug leaking profit centers.
We come to understand our customers better which allows us to customize our message to meet their specific needs. This same understanding directs us in our product development areas.
As we come to understand our existing customers, and we collect and analyze real data, this also enables us to target new customers who will be most likely to invest in our services. Ca-ching!

We work smarter, faster, and more efficiently while creating and maintaining happier customers. Happy customers = more happy customers = happy businesses!

How can we, do we, respond? – I’m a sales guy so, naturally, a good Social CRM that will allow me to both monitor and engage on the social channels is a great place to start and this would certainly be something that should be utilized by sales. marketing, and PR. There are also a number of social platforms that have been designed specifically for customer service. In many cases, all of these areas of responsibility are being integrated. Together they can provide a cohesive solution which should also include interdepartmental collaboration. IBM, for example, provides comprehensive solutions for social business.

Yes, you must break down the silos and also talk to each other. Believe me, your customer knows when you don’t and there are few things that are more frustrating for a client, or a potential client, than recognizing that your left hand has no idea of what your right hand is up to. Always remember that buyers will vote with their dollars.

A final discussion in the video suggested the need to incorporate the “business of social” into your core business processes thereby creating an ecosystem that includes your social networking tools and strategies. Like those found in nature, a business ecosystem is a living and breathing entity that includes not only your company but, also all of those other components that interact within your space … your employees, your vendors, your customers, your competitors, and those who are not yet your customers. Everybody. Due to its complexity, having a cohesive, well thought out, and comprehensive approach to the “business of social” is an absolute necessity. Without that plan and execution, the cure will very likely be worse than the disease.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!