The Social Wave – Surfing the Tsunami

A tale of LinkedIn Networking Etiquette...

2010-09-03T09:24:00.005-04:00

LinkedIn is still the gold standard for business professionals.

Earlier this year, an executive from Dell claimed that social networks - LinkedIn in particular was one of the most revolutionary communication devices to come along since the telephone. He stated that you could find a way to connect or get a message to almost all of the CEO's of the Fortune 500 that wasn't previously possible with gatekeepers or devices such as the telephone.

Do you agree or disagree?

I would argue that the old rules still apply as with any previous communication device:

Do you homework
Know your audience
Understand their business

Then offer a solution to a problem or unmet need that will help them or their business.

Social networking is similar to mingling at a conference or cocktail party. There are some unspoken etiquette standards with tools that have broad reach. With that in mind I'm curious to get your opinion on one of my own personal experiences a few months ago.

I was looking at candidates that had mutually beneficial value propositions for a software company and looking to set up conversations with those that might be a good fit to explore partnership opportunities.

In doing so a colleague in marketing suggested a couple of companies that he had also come across that may line up based on the criteria outlined above.

In the case of the former I looked to leverage my network to see if a warm introduction was possible or whether or not someone might be receptive to a brief introductory call. For the latter (companies suggested by my colleague) I didn't do the same level of due diligence as either he or I had done for the list that I had complied.

I did however do what I would consider to be the basics and quickly checked out the company, customers, partners and who their competition appeared to be online.

For the incident in question I quickly looked on LinkedIn and noticed that the VP Marketing was connected to a former friend and colleague that I worked with (and am still regularly in touch with).

I combined the information I had learned from LinkedIn as well as the quick background check of the company and composed an email to see if the contact in question would be open to a call.

The gist of my email was that we both appeared to have worked with someone in common in the past - and that I had a lot of respect for this individual. I then proceeded into the reason for contacting her and asked if it was worth a 10 minute exploratory call to see if there is any mutual interest in exploring further.

The response was quick and took me by surprise... but sure did provide some much needed comic relief that afternoon.

This individual was insulted that I would reach out to her without first going through our mutual contact.
If so and so wanted me to know about the organization that I was with that they would have told so and so about me and them.
They are a company focused on x not y so it has no bearing (this didn't appear to be the case in terms of their market segment - but minds had been made up and I was clearly in the dog house).

I forwarded the email over to my friend who I had referenced with a little note... "Holy cow - looks like I offended your friend".

I don't think I did anything wrong - nor did my friend. But it begs the question: what is the proper email and LinkedIn etiquette when combining these two methods of communication? Should they be combined? Do you also call up your friend, and in turn enter the use of another communication device? Should you always lobby a phone call to your friend and see if they would be receptive to making an introduction? Should there be tiered options within LinkedIn suggesting ways to be contacted? For example: contact X will take an introduction from a trusted contact while another level, contact Y is open to receiving introductions only through this avenue.

I think all of the questions in the paragraph above are viable options and alternatives. I also don't think there is a one size fits all approach. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and make a judgment call.

I would love to hear your own thoughts and experiences around this topic - feel free to share some of your personal experiences.

Coffee's for closers - Redux

2010-05-22T13:49:00.011-04:00

My last post stirred up some controversy. It wasn't a dig at large companies or the people that work for them. Far from it. The heart of the post was around fostering a culture of innovation and maintaining that entrepreneurial drive as you and your organization grow. You only have to look at companies like Apple and Toyota as examples.

I came across an interesting article in Harvard Business School asking whether innovation and entrepreneurship have to be incompatible with organization size.

The article cites potential challenges ranging from the fear of damaging existing businesses to strong finance and legal teams; the right kind of leadership - capable of building trust, the willingness to take risk, and establishing a culture tolerant of failure - was cited often as the most important ingredient in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in organizations of any size.

Another key ingredient in the article was suggested by Eric Ries around a "built-to-learn culture centered around rapid iteration and customer insight".

The way I see it... you give a person some responsibility and they are generally smart about it - and typically want to do good.

The challenge is to maintain those key attributes that allow small companies to become successful. As they grow and the organization becomes large new competitors are always cropping up and are often more agile, nimble and hungry for new business.

Charlene Li posted a presentation around open leadership using Best Buy as an example.

I think it encapsulates the heart of what I was getting at with respect to open leadership and social business. Definitely food for thought. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?

Finding and Supporting Your Open Leaders

View more presentations from Charlene Li.

If Coffee's for closers - should your sales people be drinking green tea?

2010-05-03T14:27:00.011-04:00

If Coffee's for closers - should your sales people be drinking green tea?

A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing.

Glengarry Glen Ross is a classic story about high pressure high stakes sales that no one should miss. Someone brought it up last week and it got me thinking about a story someone relayed back to me last year. I would love to hear whether this story sounds familiar or shocking to you... and yes - it is a true story!

Software company x is acquired by larger company z . As integration to the larger parent company becomes greater and old reporting lines change, the virtually based employee makes a visit to the head office to meet with his new teammates in other divisions who call and sell other products.

What this individual finds would demoralize or castrate anyone's drive and ambition. This person walks into what can only be described as a semi-vacant funeral parlor. In one corner of the room is a person taking a nap by his computer. Meanwhile over on the other end of the room are two other people in a trance like state with their computer screen involved in a "heavy" online retail therapy session. A short while later the two that were shopping online head out for a 2.5 hour shopping/lunch rendezvous.

Over the course of the entire day two outbound calls were made that consisted of leaving 2 voicemail messages.

The irony in this is a conversation this person had with the manager who ran the team the previous week. The manager was throwing out impressive stats left and right how the team was doing x and delivering y and how they were impacting the bottom line. Bottom line or barrel of what I asked myself? The Titanic?

Don't get me wrong. I'm against cold calling in it's traditional form as pure outbound tactics - they all but don't work anymore in a world filled with noise coming from a million different directions. I'll talk about the kinds of things you should be looking for in attracting smart, able minded and socially savvy individuals in an upcoming post.

But it does make me wonder....

Is there a point when a company can no longer attract the best and brightest, or stop investing in quality people? Are they then left with a vacuum in the talent pool department?

You can have a good run when you buy up companies and acquire software maintenance revenue streams - but eventually if you drive away all the talent and lifeblood of ideas and enthusiasm you are going to start to see cracks appear beneath the surface.

Better put the kettle on - it's time to make a pot of tea.

B-square or Foursquare?

2010-04-26T12:27:00.013-04:00

Foursquare Micro-Square-Face or B-Square?

Foursquare has garnered the kind of attention and coverage that many entrepreneurs only dream of over the past several weeks amid speculation and rumors around whether or not they will sell to Yahoo or Microsoft or potentially partner with Facebook; or whether to accept additional venture capital and grow the business.

Denis Crowley is no ordinary entrepreneur as he has already had one home run by selling his last company, Dodgeball to Google in 2005. In 2007 Google and Crowley parted ways and Dodgeball was mothballed in 2009.

Should Foursquare sell or will they continue to build out strategic alliances that allow them to scale a business that has profitable upside potential?

In recent months they've added partnerships with media companies such as Warner Brothers, HBO, the History Channel and the New York Times in addition to the success they've already demonstrated in the restaurant sector.

Games that collect personal data about peoples likes, dislikes, preferences and habits are worth billions if you look at some recent valuations.

Zynga, the company behind the popular yet annoying games Farmville and Mafia Wars on Facebook are reportedly valued anywhere between $2 - $5 Billion (depending on what report you read).

Are these sorts of companies the 'new' predictive analytics - or will database marketing companies look to fill out their suites with these sorts of offerings in the near future?

The market has already moved back towards engaging and interacting with consumers on a one to one level. Companies are constantly on the lookout for new and improved ways to get more intimate and personal with customers.

Foursquare already has its eye on inking deals directly with handset manufacturers and wireless carriers who are also on the lookout for more information on users to better market to them.

By opening up access to their API last fall Foursquare has taken a page out of the play book of other social networking sites by attempting to create a partner ecosystem of companies and programs looking to hook into their platform.

So what's in the best interest of Foursquare users?

Is Dennis Crowley going to follow in Evan William's footsteps? They each sold their last company to Google (Dodgeball and Blogger respectively). Both have expressed frustration at trying to execute on a vision under the constraints of a larger company.

The cash would surely tempt anyone.

To trade show or not to trade show: That is the question

2010-04-18T23:06:00.012-04:00

I attended a marketing event the other week that offered people the option to sign up for a free exhibitor hall pass to meet with the vendors that were sponsoring the event.

As the vendors were of potential interest to one of my clients I decided to sign up and check it out.

When I got there I felt like I had arrived at a teenager’s sweet sixteen birthday party – without any of the guests. Cue the obligatory “cricket” soundtrack music in the background I thought to myself as I walked in – yes, it really was that bad.

I bumped into an old colleague that I used to work with who is now with another software company. This company had no less than 3 employees staffing the empty booth. The event lasted 3 days, and 2 of them flew in from significant distances to attend. Having already determined the value of the event as sub-par from brief conversations that I had with the vendors as I walked around the room – the exchange with my former colleague confirmed that all 3 days were a disappointment.

What’s the opportunity cost of those 3 highly skilled, well paid professionals to be out of the field for 3 days plus travel time? Based on some quick calculations for sponsorship, booth, salaries, travel, meals and entertainment it could easily be $30,000 and beyond.

I don’t know about you – but if I’m an executive, board member or shareholder and I look at the return of doing a couple of those types of events across North America – I may start to question the opportunity cost of getting my name out in the market and if that is the most effective use of my time, resources and money.

So it begs the question – what is the point?

Trade shows mean different things to different people. What are you hoping to accomplish?

Are you an emerging software company trying to get the word out and spread the gospel, or are you an established vendor doing a great job of capturing market share – and trying to get more.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m certainly not discounting the value of many of the speakers at these events – the content is invaluable. The really good speakers are orators that can evoke an emotive response.

However, trade show trends over the past year or longer include associating a twitter #hashtag to those that attend and tweet about it. Allowing both those that attend and don’t attend to provide and receive real time updates. This is not only beneficial for the event itself to get PR coverage of trending twitter topics, but it’s also beneficial for those that elect not to make the investment to attend who may be able to glean some valuable content or nugget of information from the stream of real time updates.

Everyone recognizes the importance of creating good content and having it found by people.

Inbound marketing software vendor Hubspot created some controversy a while ago when they said that they would no longer sponsor or exhibit at trade shows. The vendors value proposition is centered on creating good content and getting it into the right channels so that you can be “found” by prospects that are ready to buy. Effectively – a pull vs. push strategy. The blog posting, social media updates etc., were a stroke of genius on Hubspot’s part as they definitely served their purpose getting people to weigh in on the vendors decision to forgo sponsoring traditional trade shows.

So let’s get back to our executives that are looking for the best possible return on their investment. Did that vendor get the best possible return sponsoring an event? Let’s say for the sake of argument that the vendor’s product also now has new capabilities that compete with vendors in another space extending their potential value proposition and hopefully opening up a new market for them.

In my opinion – they did not. Let’s consider some other alternatives.

For example, what is the harm in looking at hiring a junior inside sales executive, community manager or channel advocate who is savvy about your product and where you fit into the marketplace?

Better yet – why not structure a trial contract where you were going to allocate funds to a traditional trade show? This advocate might also be responsible for helping your company unlock all of the goodwill, gospel and knowledge that your employees already have in your organization.

An example might be structured as follows…

1. Define the goals

2. Arm and deputize your employees to create relevant and compelling content

3. Figure out a method to reward those employees who create the most compelling content – or content that is consumed and passed along to others through various means.

4. Gain economies of scale as compelling content from different departments applying to different people within your organization get consumed and passed along for their value

Whether you have a limited budget, or money to burn I’m not convinced that sponsoring a trade show in a traditional manner is the way to go anymore. I will speak about the changing face of trade shows in an upcoming post.

7 Steps to Mitigate the Sales Double Whammy Effect

2010-02-16T10:42:00.009-05:00

67% of companies froze or reduced lead-generation budgets for sales reps last year, at a time when salespeople needed the help the most according to CSO Insights’ survey of 2800 companies worldwide as reported by Harvard Business Review.

The percentage of reps making quota in 2009 dropped to 51.8% from 58.8% a year earlier, according to the same survey.

Many companies tried to cut their way to success by reducing budgets, with less than stellar results. 85% of the firms surveyed have once again raised sales reps revenue targets and quotas for 2010. The outlook and economy has improved but it would be foolish to think that this can be accomplished without any additional investments in sales.

What are you or your company going to focus on to make the best investment towards maximizing sales this year?

A good channel strategy can supplement the Sales Force. Below are 7 steps to consider towards maximizing the value of your sales efforts for 2010.

Leverage social media in the channel

Innovative technology companies have been leveraging the power of social media for a while to extend the reach of their channels – but this year I expect to see larger, traditional high tech companies to follow suit. Yes there will be mistakes but the key is to figure out your goal and start building towards it. Quick hits for short term revenue won’t cut it.

Improve understanding of local markets

Reliable information is essential to any successful marketing and channel program. Who better than channel partners to help you gather this information to make decisions in local markets? They know your prospects and customers better than you – the vendor. Without vendor limitations they are also better able to tell you why they deal with your competitors and help you adjust accordingly.

Respond more quickly to change

Depending on the size and complexity of your organization changes can often take time to make their way through the appropriate chains of command. The right channel strategy draws on a mix of large and small partners that can alleviate some of the challenges associated with large organizations and the perception that goes along with being unable to quickly respond or adapt to changing market conditions.

Opportunity for rapid growth

If you are enjoying rapid success in the market you may be struggling with how to support existing and new customers. Offering or enhancing training and support through the channel can be a great way to mitigate risk, handle growth and scale. Naturally this depends on whether or not your product is truly ‘turnkey’ or whether it is part of a larger solution requiring professional services to realize product benefits. Find the right mix for your product and market segment.

Control – A balancing act

Adopting a channel strategy allow companies to approach geographies or market segments with greater flexibility – but it also means giving up an element of control. No one wants to give up control but a good channel manager and a good channel plan can more than make up for the lack of visibility with the increased volume of opportunities that the channel can provide.

Enhance your service offering

Partners often take a product and add other components to it to address a larger challenge or initiative. The right channel partners and strategy can open up new markets and opportunities that weren’t previously possible with your product.

Do you have some other tips and pointers you would like to share towards maximizing your sales efforts for the coming year? Please feel free to share your ideas.

Don't become a statistic - 4 steps to a successful corporate alliance

2010-01-11T15:09:00.016-05:00

Do you have the right ideas, tools and strategy in place to ensure that you don't become a statistic?

Over half of corporate alliances fail according to McKinsey & Company’s latest research as reported in Harvard Business Review this month. The benchmark used - returns above the cost of capital to each partner. Alliances are an important component to companies’ business model and can help you to gain a competitive advantage.

With a 50/50 chance – below are a couple of ideas that you can use to improve your odds of success.

1. Lead by example – An alliance is more than signing a contractual agreement stating criteria and terms that each party will or will not agree to. Similar to your own “blue sky thinking” or strategy session with peers you and the other party must look at what you hope to achieve from entering into agreement and set targets, benchmarks, and revenue objectives or other metrics based upon those criteria. An official agreement should be the last step as opposed to the first.

2. Be social, collaborate and provide transparency – For organizations who haven’t yet fully embraced the new reality that partners, customers and prospects can and will speak about you and to others through any number of online social channels that exist – get with it! Companies can’t keep all of their information locked in a vacuum anymore. For example, make use of online “Wikipedia” style playbooks that can be updated by partners’ best practices in the field. It will prove valuable to other partners looking to establish credibility in learning your products and services. It may also provide forums for other partners to demonstrate their expertise in either a public or partner/members only forum to instill loyalty to your products and services.

3. Show growth, be open – Even market leaders can become victims here. Eventually, nothing can replace an aging product that has fallen behind your competitors capabilities. Your partners often have a direct line to what your customers are looking to accomplish. Your technology may only be one component of an overall engagement. Seek and listen to what your partners say you are doing well, and act on what they say you can do better. Ensure that your product is open and compatible with easily configuring and building solutions on top of. Look at Twitter’s Open API success in terms of companies building tools around it. Facebook opened up their API mid 2009, and LinkedIn finally followed suit late last year.

4. Joint engagements: “Just do it”– None of this will come together without someone from each party that can drive the activities that you set forward in your strategy/planning session. At the end of the day contractual agreements are all well and good – but sometimes you need to roll up your sleeves and “just do it”. You can’t always wait for all parties to come together. You also may not be able to get the attention of some larger players until you show some tactical successes in the field. If someone or department isn’t on board with the vision that you have, and that can help you and your company meet its objectives – it’s up to you to make it happen. Nothing beats critical mass.

Bringing Comfort & Relief to the Masses: Orthotics & Software Channel Alliances

2009-12-15T09:57:00.009-05:00

I’ve seen two Dr. Scholl’s advertisements over the past month that promise a custom orthotic experience to those that try out Dr Scholl’s new store kiosk technology with their partners. The technology claims to measure your foot type and then guides you to one of 14 types of orthotics specific to your foot type. All for $49.99 as opposed to the $350.00 - $500.00 that you can expect to pay for custom orthotics by a specialist. As someone who suffers from flat feet I am intrigued by both the value proposition and the money back guarantee.

Custom orthotics are traditionally made and provided by companies and specialists that do custom fittings and then have custom molded orthotics produced for you based on your foot type. There are companies that have specialized solely in this niche market – for the margins are pretty attractive. However, all good things must come to an end. What happens when a scrappy upstart or an established behemoth innovates and provides a new lease on a product or service that reaches a broader section of the market that was previously untapped and underserved? You must also decide if you want to sell directly, use a sales force, sell through an existing channel - or create a new channel.

Schering Plough owns the Dr. Scholl’s brand and has partnered with Tekscan to provide the foot pressure sensor technology in the kiosks along with their distributor network (ie., WalMart, CVS) to provide a product and service to both the low and high end of the market that may have been previously untapped.

As someone who is passionate about emerging software trends and how you can leverage channels as a cost effective method to scale, I am intrigued between the similarity of this particular healthcare/ medical device product and trends within the broader software industry. Software vendors - specifically enterprise software vendors - are often able to differentiate their value proposition and charge a premium for their products and services. This is all well and good until they reach the point when they are no longer able to innovate as quickly or easily as their more nimble and agile competitors. As a result they fall behind.

Companies are constantly on the lookout for the next thing that will invigorate sales or will open up a new distribution channel that was previously not available. It’s available everywhere and isn’t industry or sector specific. Look for an area in the market that is being underserved or a segment of the market that is untapped.

Full disclosure - I have not yet tried Dr. Scholl’s new product as I am not sure if they have opened up their distribution channel in Canada. But they are on to something and it has the potential to takeoff.

So to software companies out there:

Look at a product or service that isn’t being well served by your competitors today.
Look at where they are making their sales and what they are focused on.
Are they focused on organic growth or do their actions show that they are really just trying to protect and further sell products and services to their “install base”?
What is your unique selling proposition that will solve an unmet need?
Spend some time figuring out what method you will go to market.

Can you find your cost effective 'new' orthotic to use and sell through a distribution channel? Will it allow your company to go to market and disrupt a previously high margin product served by specialists? Does it make sense to go to market solely with a direct sales force or can you leverage a distribution and alliance strategy and channel that will get armies of people to be ambassadors of your product and service?

Innovate from outside instead of within

2009-11-05T16:38:00.004-05:00

Every hour of every day someone embarks on a social media campaign or is speaking about the “soft” and “hard” benefits that they or their organization are realizing from their efforts around social media.

There is a lot of discussion about return on investment (“ROI”) or lack thereof, and it means many things to many different people. One thing that I haven’t seen a great deal of discussion around, however, is the use of social media for companies to innovate.

This is slowly starting to occur, but it’s far from the norm. There’s a huge untapped potential to use social media to bring new products and service offerings to market where a company or industry may otherwise lag.

Often, when a company increases in size, its internal bureaucracy suffocates real-time innovation. Corporate cultures, internal power struggles, layers of approvals, dealing with unions, etc., all contribute to big companies lagging behind their more lean, mean and nimble competitors. In many of these companies, innovation can no longer come from within because employees are more often thinking about what “can’t be done” due to internal machinations, rather than what “can”.

The use of social media can leverage or catalyze innovation in even the largest of companies. In my opinion, innovation does not need to be as large as a new product or patent – it can be as simple as finding efficiency or adding value to existing services. Instead of waiting a year to hold focus groups or develop a “Marshall Plan” on implementing a new idea, companies can innovate by “listening” through social media tools and making minor tweaks to products or service offerings. The spoils go to companies that are able to adapt quickly to take advantage of something that goes viral or becomes the next big thing.

An example of this type of low effort innovation in action can be seen in recent efforts of Air Canada to listen to its high yield business travelers. As I mentioned in the past – Flyertalk is a vibrant online community for frequent and avid travelers. Many high status, business travelers of Canada’s largest airline, Air Canada, were posting comments about the difference in the level of service offered on business class flights within North America amongst competing carriers. Smartly, Air Canada was “listening” to the conversations that were happening within this community and tweaked their business class services within North America.

Little service perks, which were common on international business flights, are now part of North American business travel on Air Canada. From now offering drinks before take off to custom printed menus to new meal options, the company responded to its high yield customers chatter. While this may all seem trivial – it’s not – in a world where consumers are becoming increasingly empowered. If they go unanswered, these online rumblings can turn into outright revolts, where money and profit is lost.

Many of these types of suggested innovations would not be captured through expensive focus groups or long winded questionnaires because often the right questions are not asked or the right individuals are not participating. Social media lets people say there peace in their way. What a company may think is an issue for a customer – may not be the issue the consumer is actually thinking about. Moreover, you never know what ingenious suggestions may come from a person who is looking at a problem for the first time or does not have the baggage of looking at a situation from inside the “fish bowl”.

Listening through social media allows innovation from outside to be an important component of companies continued growth and success. Ambitious employees need not be burdened from the red tape they often face by presenting new ideas. Whether in sales, marketing, or even customer service you can use many of the free tools available to listen to the conversations outside of a company’s fish bowl and then present them to management. The tipping point is identifying the need in the marketplace – you can be the change agent and use innovation from outside and apply it within.

Building a Community in a Community: Social media, business class airline travel & the bottom line

2009-10-17T12:02:00.009-04:00

For decades airlines have spent massive amounts of money establishing their “brands”. Historically, the bulk of this money has been spent on traditional forms of advertising – newspaper ads, TV commercials, direct mail promotions, etc. In the last decade, all of these carriers have invested millions in their websites, email promotions and Internet ads as new advertising mediums. However, only a few of the legacy carriers have paid any attention to or dabbled in social media in order to attract and maintain customers.

I love to travel to new and far-off places. As a result, I’ve accumulated a lot of airline miles over the years and have been a rabid bargain hunter for cheap fares to exotic destinations. I’ve been onboard the good, the bad and the ugly of many domestic and international fleets. Recently, with my travel for work, I broke a glass ceiling and now am one of the “privileged” travelers who have Super Elite status with Air Canada. Recently, in Toronto, Air Canada had a reception for its “super” status customers that I attended.

At the reception, I was interested in learning about the fact that first and business class airfares account for three times more revenue for airlines than other classes of airline seats (hence Air Canada’s willingness to splurge on free food and booze for its Super Elite members). Similar to high usage cell phone customers to wireless providers, business class air travelers are fundamental to the health and survival of many of these legacy carriers. Simply put, the loyalty, repeat business and perceptions of these travelers can make or break an airline.

This situation got me thinking about how social media could be leveraged to maintain and attract this important ‘community’ in a ‘community’ of customers airlines want. Based on my travel experiences over the years and my passion for social media here are some of my thoughts on what Air Canada could try:

Third Party Review and Promotion - For all its failings and frustrations, Air Canada has one of the best and most modern fleets of domestic and international planes in operation right now. Many Canadians haven’t had the opportunity to travel on other legacy carriers so they may not realize how good they have it. While sites like Trip Advisor lets travelers comment on the prices for hotels and airfares – the thing that matters most to business travelers is having a seat where you can do work, dependable access to power to run electronic devices, a personal TV and if traveling on long international routes being able to get some quality sleep to arrive refreshed and ready for work when you get to your destination. This has more to do with the planes themselves and their configurations than a smiling flight attendant (if such a thing exists on Air Canada) or food. It would be helpful for Air Canada to get someone else (external to the airline) to compare Air Canada’s fleets to other carriers around the globe in an interactive manner. A blog of a third party comparing these fleets with photos, side-by-side comparisons and tips for business travelers on picking the best seats for certain airplane would be a value added tool by an “independent” voice could be a helpful tool for business travelers making choices about their travel internationally.

Get Your Concierge Tweeting – One of the “benefits” of being Super Elite is that you have access to Air Canada’s concierge staff. These concierge staff could use Twitter to update business travelers on what is happening at the airport the day they are traveling (i.e., delays for flights, custom line delays, etc.) or as a way to connect and meet with Super Elite travelers running late or requiring special assistance. While many business travelers may not bother to call concierge, many might appreciate a tweet that makes their travel more informed and easy or as a way to connect with a concierge when they would otherwise not have.

Blogging ‘A Day In The Life Of’ A Business Traveler' – People want to hear the real life experiences of other business travelers. They will trust the word of another CEO who shares their travel demands more than a glossy ad promoting the virtues of business travelers. Find a prominent CEO or well-respected business leader willing to talk, write, blog or tweet about his or her experience of traveling on Air Canada. If they’ve had the opportunity to fly other legacy carriers in business class include a comparison to the experience on other carriers.

Go Where The Community Is and Participate – Regularly. Sites such as Flyertalk aren’t only for penny pinching consumers. Many business travelers rely on these sites because they are seen as ‘independent’ and have helpful resources that the legacy carriers do not have on their websites (i.e., calculating the number of points for certain flights, best seat choices on planes, etc.). These sites are filled with loyal high net worth individuals willing to pay a premium for business class fares with service levels above what other carriers in their respective loyalty alliance offers (i.e., Star Alliance or One World). Carriers who ignore these sites that are forums for the community they want to reach do so at their peril.

Using Social Media To Promote Promotions – Why not take one or two of those seats per day and upgrade a business class traveler traveling in economy and maybe even a high fare economy ticket in the back of the cabin. Have the gate agent or in charge on the plane take a picture and post to community sites such as Flyertalk, aeroplan.ca, Twitter as well as community/fan pages on Facebook. Measure the response of how many of those complimentary upgrades post or speak about it to others. Have the business class traveler who’s a member in your loyalty program post and tell others that he got a complimentary upgrade. Using these types of ways to get the word out about promotions expands the circle and credit the airline gets. The promotion beneficiary not only generates good will amongst his or her immediate circle of friends and family, but he reaches the larger community.

Business Travelers First, Staff Second - Stop upgrading staff over loyal travelers with certificates – Though this has nothing to do with social media, business travelers HATE when they can’t use their certificates for upgrades, but then they get on the plane and there are 3 Air Canada staff chatting up in business class. Nothing irritates someone in your loyalty program more than having unused upgrade certificates in your pocket boarding a flight while seeing uniformed employees sitting in the business class cabin.

These are just a few examples of what I think airlines can do to try to use social media to improve the experience and target the lucrative ‘community’ in a ‘community’ of business travelers they have access to.

To date, there seems to be very little strategy or mention of using new and innovative ways to find and reach the hearts and minds of the high net business class traveler by airlines. In my opinion, this is a missed opportunity for airlines. The victories will be with the carriers that get into social media and see if they can find a winning combination. The losers will be the ones that don’t even try or recognize that the game is changing in order to attract and keep these lucrative customers and then try to implement something after “the other guy” has found a winning combination that creates a buzz.

Loyalty programs and price discounts are very fundamental parts of any airline’s strategy in winning the hearts and pocketbooks of these business travelers, but promotion through innovative social media experiences may help further nurture this valued ‘community’ in a ‘community’. The only mistake is not trying. As I said in the past, with social media if you don’t create the right formula with the tools or make mistakes – simply move on and try something new.

The Social Wave - Surfing the Tsunami

2009-10-05T16:01:00.005-04:00

A self-confessed late convert to Facebook I was more pro-active in establishing an account on Twitter; but by no means was I ahead of the curve.

Which leads me to ask – is social media new? Isn’t it just the digitization of word of mouth marketing?

Similar to how our parents and grandparents would ask the local hardware store for a good painter or a next door neighbour for a trustworthy dry cleaner, today’s consumers have an entire world-wide “community” to give you the “inside scoop” on whom to use and trust. Quite frankly, social media marketing has been around a lot longer than people realize. Its just taking a new form and being pushed to new dimensions in the age of web 2.0.

“Word-of-mouth” marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing. However, with the advent of social media, anyone with a computer can now become the “local hardware store owner” or “neighbour” dispensing “sage-like” and “honest” advice. In some ways this is putting power back into the hands of the consumer whereby they can instantaneously let everyone in the world-wide community know who’s good, who’s bad, what works and what doesn’t. This is a powerful tool for consumers and businesses who ignore the trend that advertising is no longer a one-way communication paradigm do so at their peril.

While the medium and initial point of contact for this “word-of-mouth” consumer marketing have definitely changed, one thing remains the same: consumers care about what other people think. With the new frontier of social media, the advantage goes to companies who learn how to effectively participate in and leverage the new place consumers go to get the “inside scoop” on who to use and trust. It’s no longer about winning over the local hardware store owner or neighbour – it’s about trying to win over the new world-wide community and protecting your brand in this community.

Web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook, RSS and Twitter changed that paradigm by providing an environment where content is ‘king’. Essentially these tools and others like them provide mediums for open communication, the creation of content, and collaboration. Advertising and building brand loyalty is no longer a one-way proposition – it’s a multi-party dialogue that everyone can participate in. Vibrant, participatory online communities will increasingly shape and strengthen companies; brands that listen, act, and participate in the conversation are and will continue to be ahead of the curve. The time to experiment is now. If you make a mistake, acknowledge and move on. Social media is still relatively new, constantly evolving – but for the most part still pretty forgiving.

Social media provides another channel in which to connect and engage with people that for many was either too expensive before or simply not possible. Whether it’s for a brand, campaign, or a product: listen to see what’s going on and then start to participate.

There will never be a right time so what are you waiting for?