While it’s essential that your community manager have an outgoing personality and at least a basic understanding of social media and communications, it’s more important to first know what you’re trying to achieve and then find a potential hire that matches those ambitions. Otherwise, you’ll never get the most out of the role.
Deloitte’s Center for The Edge had some observations recently on the knowledge worker, asking HBR readers, “Are All Employees Knowledge Workers? If you know me, you’ll know my answer. After spending the last two years working for a collaboration software company, the paragraph below really struck a few chords.
If we are serious about developing our own talent, we must find more ways to connect with and collaborate with all of those smart people outside our organization. We should aggressively create opportunities for people within our organization to work together with leading edge talent outside our organization so that both sides can develop their talent even more rapidly. In driving scalable learning, we must expand our horizons far beyond the boundaries of our own firm.
The inability to bridge internal communication with outside sources was something I saw over and over, especially as large companies explored different types of tools to facilitate that need. One of the things I validated over the last few years was that it’s rarely a technology issue.
Invariably, what would start as an an internal community of practice would quickly evolve into a broader discussion – one requiring other objective voices and industry experience. Not surprisingly, the groups’ desire for more input would take them outside the firewall.
“Why can’t we bring those conversations into the fold,” customers would ask.
In other words, why did we even start this community? One of the underlying points is that companies need to establish the intent to expand the dialogue early on. If overlooked, not only are employees not empowered, but the brand itself will be ill-prepared for what might transpire as those conversations move onto the social web.
I’ve learned that online communities are extremely dynamic and thankfully unpredictable in so many ways. It’s the unpredictability that makes the collaboration pipes to the outside world so important. And it has to go further than giving an employee access to your Twitter handle.
It starts with promoting a favorable culture that encourages participation with customers and shareholders alike. Yes, there should be ground rules, but frankly those guidelines aren’t much different than biting your tongue around the water cooler and using the golden rule.Now granted, digital is only part of the equation, but as we’ve seen, it’s the one that has the power to rally the flash mobs of the world.
And if you need proof that your brand’s reputation can (and will) live and die at the hands of your knowledge workers, catch up on Nestle’s palm oil crisis.
Interesting she mentions Lithium and Helpstream but no Telligent. And I even spoke to Forrester before this was published. Perhaps the convo didn't go as well as I thought.
Rubbermaid recently tapped customer ratings and reviews in the design process for a new line of sink mats. The new mats received a wide range of reviews on the site, including feedback on materials, size, and durability. The brand manager who was launching the mats used the comments to influence the end product design. Following the launch of the new sink mat, Rubbermaid reached out to customers who had previously posted a negative review to offer a sample of the new sink mat that had been redesigned based on their feedback. The response from these customers was overwhelmingly positive about the Rubbermaid approach and brand.
By listening closely to its customers, Rubbermaid has also been able to identify areas where consumers need additional assistance or guidance in order to make a product work best for them. For example, an analysis of reviews of the popular Produce Saver™ food storage containers revealed that some consumers didn’t understand how to use the product properly. Rubbermaid added use and care instructions to its Web site, dramatically increasing the average star rating. In a similar instance, Rubbermaid changed the product copy on an outdoor shed to include information on ordering accessories through customer service after reviewers consistently said they didn’t know how to buy these extras.
While butter brands of the world now have their work cut out for them, I'm hoping they'll leverage Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or their own media as mere interaction vehicles while devoting their attention to understanding the essence of consumer engagement within the media. Only then can they design experiences that shape conversation, to then understand how those conversations have shaped their brand.
TechSupport Marketplace is a new Microsoft site that will bring together “Customers who are having a problem and independent Experts with the skills and ability to troubleshoot and help resolve those problems. In return for helping Customers with their computer problems in a one on one manner, the Experts earn some money directly from the Customer they are helping,” according to an e-mail message about the program cited by Kakkar.
Founder @ Dearing Group LLC.
George can be reached via email at george@dearinggroup.com or on Twitter, and Facebook Subscribe to this site via RSS here.
