Wendy Soucie Consulting http://www.wendysoucie.com Ideas and Strategies on Applied Social Media, Marketing and Business Development Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:44:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Twitter in 140 Pieces Wk of 2010-08-29 http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-29/ http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-29/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:44:00 +0000 Wendy Soucie http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-29/



  • #barcampmad social media tools week 11/29-12/3 virtual and global conf #smtw registerby 10/1 before fee kicks in. #
  • via @MadisonSMC: fun was had today at Bloom Bake Shop – treats & the awesome photos by Beyond the Booth… http://fb.me/AUmuFcp5 #
  • #barcampmad Twilio a favorite of @gregtracy. Good 4 building txt messaging actions. #
  • Interesting 2 hear @gregtracy talk abt Google App engine. I couldn't program anything, but good 2 know knowledge base here in Madison #
  • Via @ThriveHere: Marketplace Trade Fair 4 minority-owned biz seeking sales leads, dev assis 10/13 Pewaukee #Wisconsin http://ow.ly/2vT1h #
  • RT @djmcknight: Vote 4 #engage365 – Forrester Groundswell Awards http://bit.ly/c9AdoP community for4 associations & mtg planners #asae #mpi #
  • How exciting to have a fire alarm and get some exercise #barcampmad Sure I grabbed my laptop as first thing when leaving #
  • RT @gl33p: Fair weather on the #barcampmad wifi network courtesy of SupraNet http://twitpic.com/2j2upo #
  • RT @raster: Hackers wear black shirts….. #barcampmad #fact at least in Madison! #
  • Fred Foster of ETC engaging keynote at #fwdtech Lighting ang technology. #
  • #fwdtech OpenAdC up next #
  • #fwdtech Loacsys -electrical fingerprinting of bacteria. Scalable and portable. No consumables to low cost to implement.#pdma #
  • #fwdtech Loacsys to deliver improved speed 4 analysis of food borne illiness- change days to hours #
  • #fwdtech Loacsys speaking on particle analysis #pdma Food borne illness focus. New startup. #
  • #fwdtech nate lustig managing time very effectively for speakers. #
  • Links Golf Cafe presenting at #fwdtech Like the socia media integration & Cisco technology. #
  • Disney Institute seminar: Learn strategies & models for quality & success 1-day #keysmadisonwi http://bit.ly/bXeIne #Madison #Wisconsin #
  • Wisconsin's very own AMFAM highlighted in this blog post by Chris Brogan. Miri MacDonald, Patti Coan, and Jennifer Bra…http://lnkd.in/zDFK-t #
  • Six Ways Brands Should Think of Social Media as a Party – I have often thought this type of analogy the best http://bit.ly/9aGH6B #
  • #plan Web Conference "SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS WEEK 2010" (Online) Nov 29 – Dec 3, 2010 http://planca.st/8Nn #
  • I have to be in milw on 7/17 so maybe some time during the lunch early afternoon time frame #
  • Apply Disney Quality service strategies to your organization 1-day seminar #Madison http://bit.ly/bXeIne #keysmadisonwi 8/30 register today. #
  • 1-day event Disney’s Approach to Quality Service http://bit.ly/bXeIne #keysmadisonwi Challenge the way U look at UR business #
  • I just registered for BarCampMadison. A Free event for creatives tech and business types. http://barcampmadison.eventbrite.com #
  • New Date for Disney's Approach to Quality Service – Presentation on slideshare http://bit.ly/c6Aupb #keysmadisonwi #disneyinstitute #
  • How to Get Customers and web traffic from Local Search http://bit.ly/94bYFc #
  • Use post update area on Google Places to keep your profile uptodate. #smbmad #
  • via @TheCenturyHouse: luv 2 see the #smbmad group join @jeffpulver for #140conf Roadtrip Tweetup in our showroom. RSVP: http://bit.ly/9BOUh6 #
  • #smbmad oh cool looking at amfam dashboard for local search on google. Local Search done right! @skeeler68 #
  • #smbmad don't list keywords in company name this can be a negative with Googles new rules on locasearch #
  • #smbmad over 60 people attending at meeting today on local search. Diverse group for sure #
  • #smbmad @Social_Media_WI has developed program for local search listing submittal call him #
  • #smbmad Facebook places – you can check in and claim your business and powered by Bing – merge Facebook page. #
  • #smbmad are there tools to make the local search directory process more efficient? not really but have content ready, cut/paste & 15 min #
  • #smbmad @skeeker68 AMFam does corporate effort 2 help w/ local search at agent level. Developing positive reviews is activity agents need #
  • #smbmad infousa does some syndication for local search, but its the same information and you lose control to update #
  • #smbmad staying active and changing your content on the local search profiles is as important as changing your website #
  • #smbmad users reviews are being read and considered in the purchasing process. 90% of consumers online trust the reviews. #
  • #smbmad for virtual business important to get location based PO box so you can identify yourself in local #
  • #smbmad @skeeler68 for big companies – get white listed by google so verfication process simplified. #
  • via @madcityads: Take advantage of listing features: links 2 socialmedia channels, videos, etc. 4 local search via @skeeler68 #smbmad #
  • #smbmad Coupons with regulated industrys are problematic. Free reviews, audits, meetings are good work arounds. #
  • #smbmad Coupons are a nice feature that most allow – google and merchantcircle for sure. People tend to spend more with coupons #
  • #smbmad local search profiles. Adding all the media links each profile allows really enhances your visibilty. #
  • #smbmad create 100 – 1000 words profile descriptions prepared ahead make completing profiles more efficient #
  • First step make your listng stand out with keywords #smbmad Don't use too many in one listing. @skeeler68 suggest 5-6 keywords #
  • ComScore says 90% of online commercial searches result in offline sales. #
  • Local search online drives more traffic for in person purchases, phone calls to get more info. etc. Consider custom tracking on phone #
  • Google had 10.29 billion searches in June 2010 – 20% were local #
  • 80% of searches online are people looking to source products or services within 15 miles of home #smbmad #
  • RT @socialmeteor: 54% of Americans have replaced yellow page searches with the Internet via @skeeler68 #smbmad #
  • Disney Quality Service Search Story -these are so fun to make. Have you tried on yet? #keysmadisonwi #disneyinstitute #
  • Social Media Tools Week Coming up in November http://bit.ly/bqtM9N #
  • Madison,WI Disney’s Approach to Quality Service http://bit.ly/d9ASjP use WSCTW 2 register $50 off #keysmadisonwi Limited time offer #
  • Disney Quality service strategies apply 2 UR organization 1-day seminar #Madison http://bit.ly/bXeIne #keysmadisonwi 8/30 register today. #
  • VIA @ThriveHere: How 2 make product labels work 4 UR business: Wed. 8/25 6PM #Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen, Mineral Point http://ow.ly/2tnRL #
  • via @djmcknight: RT @jennacrane: Recommend creating social network for UR event- great way to give a better experience. #asae10 #engage365 #
  • Got my money's worth on vacation in Colorado. Biked up Vail Pass 10,000 feet , road Vail valley and Glenwood Springs Canyon. #
  • Professional Dev. #keysmadisonwi More info on behind the scenes Disney Institute: Disney's Approach to Quality Service http://bit.ly/cngqjb #
  • RT @mi_UdeMorelia: You may like to #follow @jorgefsb – see Jorge's profile on #XeeSM http://bit.ly/cOd1rc its his bday today. #
  • Via @GentleEditing: Online reputation: What is? How do U get? Why care? @wendysoucie explains:http://bit.ly/bL6cAM #
  • Learn how to apply innovative Disney strategies to your own organization http://bit.ly/bXeIne #keysmadisonwi 8/30 Register today. #
  • Twitter in 140 Pieces Wk of 2010-08-22: Professional Development by the best brand-Disney. Disney's Approach to Q… http://bit.ly/aSLOr5 #
  • Disney Quality Service Search Story -these are so fun to make. Have you tried on yet? #keysmadisonwi #disneyinstitute #

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]]> http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-29/feed/ 0 Twitter in 140 Pieces Wk of 2010-08-22 http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-22/ http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-22/#comments Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:44:00 +0000 Wendy Soucie http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-22/



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]]> http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-22/feed/ 3 Continuing the Disney Institute customer service legacy http://www.wendysoucie.com/marketing/continuing-the-disney-institute-customer-service-legacy/ http://www.wendysoucie.com/marketing/continuing-the-disney-institute-customer-service-legacy/#comments Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:01:24 +0000 Wendy Soucie http://www.wendysoucie.com/?p=1280



In preparing a social media campaign for a Disney Institute professional development program, I evaluated the available materials that the Professional Development with Disney Institute: Disneys Approach to Quality Servicemarketing group was providing.  Based on a traditional marketing effort the materials included email, press releases, Word of Mouth and partner promotions.  They had some video but due to the Disney Brand, there were not allowed to be posted on Youtube for sharing by others.

I created my own

I needed more content to share and created slide presentations (for Slideshare)  and blog articles.   I started to track down past attendees of the events to interview them myself via phone or using video.  In order to understand the magic behind Disney and what makes  these professionals evangelists online and off about customer service, the Disney leadership principles and customer experiences I needed to talk directly to a few Disney evangelists.

Of course I used social media to make some connections. I first joined the Disney Institute Alumni Group on LinkedIn to see what everyone was talking about. Then I started to network and ask questions with various people in the Group.  David Balentine was one of my first connections and he said that his experienced at the Disney Institute unleashed a passion in him for customer service.  He believes that everyone has a role to play in customer service and he  writes about on his blog All For the Customer.

David Balentine’s Disney story

David Balentine and Family at Epcot (photo credit - D. Balentine)

David Balentine and Family at Epcot (Photo Credit D. Balentine)

Let me first give you a little background.  David is a general manager of several General Nutrition Centers (GNC) in the Atlanta area. David first visited Walt Disney World (WDW) in August 1972 and then not again until 2001.  After that he had business conventions in and around WDW every other year.  In 2003,  he started taking his family with him.

“In 2009, I already considered myself a Disney geek, downloading Disney podcasts to my iPod, registering on numerous Disney forums and listening to Disney music on the internet day and night. We booked a 5-night stay at the Contemporary Resort. One of the days, we went to Blizzard Beach instead of one of the theme parks. We did not have any dining reservations for that evening so I stopped by the Concierge desk for assistance. I explained to the Cast Member that we didn’t have any reservations anywhere and I understood it was last minute but I wanted to have a special dinner with the family. . . . could he help me? Cary, the CM from the DC area, looked at me and said two simple words that. “Of course.” He was there to help me and how dare I think that he couldn’t help me. He didn’t say those words but that’s what he meant. He found us a table at Le Chefs de France at Epcot and we had a wonderful time.”

When David returned he started to educate himself  about Disney-style customer service. Its no small wonder that continuing educating yourself is one of the leadership principles at Disney.  One of the books he read was Lee Cockerell’s “Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies From a Life at Disney.” After reading, he booked a course on Leadership Excellence at Disney Institute in Orlando.  And that one was not his last.

Question and answers

Curious about David’s impressions of that first Disney Institute training, I asked about the details.  The Leadership Excellence course held in  November  2009 was a 3.5 day leadership principle program that closely followed the principles and tips in Creating Magic.  David said that Disney looks at everything surrounding their guest.  From the way the sheets are folded, to the way they clean up the resorts and parks. Cast members are graded on smiling at guests and even picking up any trash they see on the ground.  After reading Lee Cockrell’s book, he wanted his operation, at least what he was responsible for, to run like Lee Cockerell talked about.  He paid for this training out of his own pocket. During the sessions he attended, he found the attendees to be very diverse – large corporate,  insurance businesses , Christian youth home, military, individuals, retail and business to business.

Although David manages two retail stores, he never received formal training on how to be a leader.  While  he loved being in direct contact with  customers,  he was lacking the qualities that are Disney’s guiding lights.  Another concern for him was his lack of a formal degree.

“By the time [the first]course was over, I was feeling like I could run any Fortune 100 company if given the right people and enough time to do the job!” David Balentine

Suggestions for others

David Balentine during training (Photo credit D. Balentine

Its obvious that David is an evangelist for Disney and customer service. He has continued his quest for more education (another key principle in Lee Cockerell’s book) by taking a second and this fall will attend his third course.  His drivers are both personal and professional, but still remains funded out of his own pocket.

“It is my goal one day to be employed by the Walt Disney Company. Until that happens, I am going to take what they have to offer and bring the level focus and energy back and apply it to our operation. There were already some processes in place because we are very customer focused. But there is always more you can do. The courses leave you with a feeling that tells you to get moving!”

Key take aways from a Disney event

David offers the following comments on this Disney training:

  • On the Disney Institute site they don’t rank the course as to order, but he would suggest taking the leadership course  last or after some core topics under your belt.
  • He felt welcomed but felt personally he was not professional ready to deal with all the topics.
  • He has written letters to compliment the programs and the structure.
  • Wears a Disney pin each day – to remind him to focus on the customer.

His key take aways were as follows:

  • Setting through which your business works (office, retail, warehouse) main delivery methods for message out. Needs to be seamless for getting message out. Use to hit on the sensory details for a brand. Makes the difference when people have choice.
  • People – onstage and behind the scenes. Guest never see them, but if they don’t do their job the rest of the organization can fail.
  • Process  to deliver the experience they have to offer.

Its clear from the interview I had with David that he was able to embrace the Disney principles at the courses he has already completed in Leadership Excellence and Quality Service.  He hopes to complete People Management in 2011.

What effect has the Disney brand had on your life?

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]]> http://www.wendysoucie.com/marketing/continuing-the-disney-institute-customer-service-legacy/feed/ 1 Twitter in 140 Pieces Wk of 2010-08-15 http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-15/ http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-15/#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:44:00 +0000 Wendy Soucie http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-15/



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]]> http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-15/feed/ 0 Welcome Note http://socialmediatoolsweek.com/index.php/2010/08/10/intro/ http://socialmediatoolsweek.com/index.php/2010/08/10/intro/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:20:34 +0000 admin http://socialmediatoolsweek.com/?p=1 Welcome to SMTW 2010.

After a huge success in 2009 we are now working on SMTW 2010. Also this year we are conducting SMTW as a global event and expect 5,000 attendees from some 26 countries. Again it will be a week packed with top notch presentations from leading social media practitioner and latest social media technology introductions.

Please help introduce the event to your business friends and colleagues

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133394750037754&index=1

LinkedIn Event: http://events.linkedin.com/Social-Media-Tools-Week-2010-global/pub/391014

Twitter Hash Tag: #SMTW

This website: http://socialmediatoolsweek.com

This site is still work in progress – thanks for your patience!

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]]> http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-08/feed/ 0 The Right Sales Questions Will Uncover Enterprise Risks and Golden Opportunities http://xeesm.com/_/site/index.php/2010/08/06/the-right-sales-questions-will-uncover-enterprise-risks-and-golden-opportunities/ http://xeesm.com/_/site/index.php/2010/08/06/the-right-sales-questions-will-uncover-enterprise-risks-and-golden-opportunities/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:12:56 +0000 outsidetechnologies http://xeesm.com/_/site/?p=2449

Sales is a set of interconnected business processes.

Gaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Got that out of the way!

I hope the buzzword-encrusted sentence didn’t turn you off. And you’d be right to ask what it has to do with the title.

Everything. All business processes have risk. Stuff happens. Things go wrong. And because risks don’t walk up and say “Hi. I’m a risk,” asking questions can find them and keep them from accumulating. Risks that force you to say “we should have known better.”

Your organization’s future depends on questions because the questions your sales force asks—or doesn’t ask—have a huge impact on enterprise risk. But most CXO’s don’t have a clue about what gets discovered throughout the sales cycle. “It’s the sales rep’s job to qualify leads!” Wrong-a-mundo. If others in your organization don’t influence the planning and execution of what gets discovered in sales conversations, or if you’re leaving those decisions up to Sales, you’re adding risk by the bucket load every minute. Want proof? Next time you’re in a staff meeting, jot down (or type) a note for every comment related to:

“The forecasts sales sends us are way off.”
“Marketing sends sales useless leads.”
“We have a warehouse full of slow-moving inventory.”
“Our financial and production planning stink because Sales never hits their number.”

Words you hear when risks come home to roost. So knowing whether your product meets a prospect’s requirement, whether your sales team has access to decision makers, whether your prospect has sufficient financial resources to buy from you, and when they’re motivated to purchase matter. They matter to your business and financial strategy. They matter to your planning processes. They matter for your financial performance. And the answers are all uncovered through questions.

Go to the location where your company’s sales conversations take place, listen (or read, as the case might be), and you’ll quickly learn the starting point for risks and how they amplify. Sprint got a painful lesson in 2008 when the company decided to grow its subscriber base, and nixed “ability to pay” from its qualification process. The discovery failure cascaded, and nearly sank the company. The math: $29.45 billion loss equals (“Can you fog a mirror?”) minus (“Can you pay your bill?”). Down in the trenches. One transaction at a time. I can imagine the CFO’s expression when he or she learned for the first time that prospects became customers even when ability to pay was unknown. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Questions matter. Especially the ones that uncover risks and opportunities. Today, I’d wager that Sprint’s CFO can recite from memory every sales question in the call center script, or the route each branch takes out of a flowchart decision box.

Sprint’s confusion isn’t unique. Many questions that sales organizations use are inconsistent from rep to rep, unfocused, or too limited. Ryan asks questions centered on discovering his risks and opportunities, and those of his prospect. Jennifer’s are a meander around disparate issues. When Suzanne, the CFO looks at their sales forecast rolled up into a single cell on her spreadsheet titled Pro-forma Cash Flow, does she know the insight, assumptions, and knowledge that comprise the consolidated number? Frequently, issues relating to which questions are asked—and how they’re asked—bubble to the surface only after months of misguided activity. Part of Suzanne’s job is to control her organization’s financial risk. Time for her to have a seat at the table for the monthly sales meeting.

Some recommendations for Suzanne and her senior management colleagues:

1. Develop an understanding of risk capacity in the context of the organization’s goals and objectives. Sometimes referred to as risk appetite, this understanding serves as the basis for deciding which sales opportunities are targeted, how they’re vetted, and how resources are committed to the sales process.

2. Seek input from a cross-functional team of executives to understand how their risk goals match the discovery processes used in the sales organization (what would Sprint’s receivables manager have said about the company’s customer intake processes?).

3. Understand as clearly as possible the sales opportunity characteristics that portend a successful outcome, or conversely, the characteristics that must be avoided.

4. Learn the risks that have the highest likelihood and the highest impact for successful sales outcomes.

5. Direct the questions your sales force uses toward exposing the greatest risks and the best opportunities, not only for your sales organization, but for your prospects as well.

6. Adapt the questions as emerging trends and forces change the risk exposure and risk capacity for your organization and for your prospect’s.

7. Embed key questions into your sales process and forecasting methods to ensure consistency across the organization, and to enable early identification and mitigation of risks.

8. Obtain feedback. Develop metrics that expose which risks to manage as they’re developing, and ask the sales force which questions work best, and which ones don’t.

Which sales questions are most useful? There are plenty to choose. Today’s search for “best sales questions” yielded 135,000 links—more than I have time to read. But the most valuable questions for salespeople are those capable of discovering risks and opportunities. It’s time for senior executives to pay attention to what they are.

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]]> http://xeesm.com/_/site/index.php/2010/08/06/the-right-sales-questions-will-uncover-enterprise-risks-and-golden-opportunities/feed/ 0 Twitter in 140 Pieces Wk of 2010-08-01 http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-01/ http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-01/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 18:44:00 +0000 Wendy Soucie http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-01/



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]]> http://www.wendysoucie.com/twitter/twitter-in-140-pieces-wk-of-2010-08-01/feed/ 0 Big Brother is Blogging: Survey Reveals Federal Adoption of Social Media http://xeesm.com/_/site/index.php/2010/07/29/big-brother-is-blogging-survey-reveals-federal-adoption-of-social-media/ http://xeesm.com/_/site/index.php/2010/07/29/big-brother-is-blogging-survey-reveals-federal-adoption-of-social-media/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:15:02 +0000 outsidetechnologies http://xeesm.com/_/site/?p=2444

The administration is still wiping egg off its face after the social-media fueled Shirley Sherrod debacle. Bureaucrats demonstrated they’re human—whipped into a frenzy by unsubstantiated information to achieve a malevolent goal. But despite the government’s textbook missteps, there is growing sophistication in the government about social media, and more agencies are adopting the tools—something many Federal employees might not know.

Those were insights that John Kagia, Research Manager at Market Connections, Inc. shared this week at a conference I attended, Social Media in the Federal Community. Kagia’s 2010 survey of 321 Federal employees revealed that 23% didn’t know if their organization or agency used online social media. But when asked about the expected agency use of online social media in the next 12 to 18 months, two-thirds of respondents predicted an increase. The top social media tools agencies reported using today are non-government specific social networks (26%), Wikis (23%), content aggregators (22%), and online video (21%). Further down the list were agency blogs, podcasts, and monitoring/commenting on blogs. The top open-source social network for government? Hint: It’s not Facebook.  LinkedIn was the top choice.

It wouldn’t be government without the red tape. Impediments to social media adoption in the government mirror the private sector. According to the survey, 73% of respondents cited security concerns, 62% cited legal/governance issues, and 61% cited privacy concerns with open networks. Other adoption challenges reflected concerns frequently mentioned in the commercial world. “Aligning a social media strategy to the organization’s overall objectives” and “measuring ROI and developing performance metrics” were mentioned by 46% and 40%, respectively. Curiously, “inability to control the message” (31%) resided near the bottom of the government list—after “lack of resources to maintain social media presence” (34%) and “identifying which channels to invest in” (33%).

Predictably, Federal contractors have joined the social media dance, but it’s hard to know whether it’s tango or spin dancing. Kaiga’s survey revealed that among contractors, adoption of online social media tools is also growing, but the goals are different from the government agencies they serve. Topping the list for purposes of contractor use of social media: Customer engagement and communication (59%), marketing campaigns (59%), generating leads (48%), and recruiting/retaining employees (42%). Near the bottom of the list was “product development” (14%).

Bev Godwin, Director of New Media and Citizen Engagement at the General Services Administration, and a panelist at the conference, explained some of the agency/contractor disparity. In a related Federal ComputerWeek article, she said “nearly all federal agencies are on the first level (of social media adoption), using social media for promotion and marketing, and many agencies are on the second level, using it for public participation and discussion. She added that only a few agencies are operating at the third level, which involves using social media tools for co-creation and collaboration.” For contractors, Wikis represented the greatest current and future use of social media. Seventy-two percent of contractors use them now, and 28% plan to use them in the next twelve months. Non-government specific social networks (39%/10%), Corporate Blogs (25%/17%), Monitoring/commenting on blogs (28%/11%), and Government-specific social networks (GovLoop) (20%/15%), followed on the list.

Odd bedfellows, social media and government. Imagine! The authors or Sarbanes-Oxley and the Patriot Act using freewheeling, open-source tools like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Fittingly, The Washington Post reported this week (GSA Could Impose Rules for Facebook, July 27, 2010), “the General Services Administration is attempting to become the first civilian federal agency to codify how workers should behave on Facebook and Twitter . . .” According to the article, “Tim O’Reilly, a social media expert and leading advocate for offering more government services online, said the public sector has struggled with adapting to new technologies for years. He recalled trying to convince lawmakers in the 1990’s that they needed to use e-mail to reach constituents. ‘Some listened, others didn’t, and the ones who didn’t listen lost . . . There are organizations resistant to using social media or any of these new technologies, and they’re going to be less effective from the people who do, and they’re going to lose.’”

Although the Market Connections survey identified adoption challenges, the findings reflected more realism than the phobia that O’Reilly described. Beyond examining concerns about social media use, policies, accepted tools, government-compliant licensing agreements, and who “owns” social media function within agencies, the Market Connections study asked where government social media investments are headed and what are the adoption rates. Sounds like work in progress.

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]]> http://xeesm.com/_/site/index.php/2010/07/29/big-brother-is-blogging-survey-reveals-federal-adoption-of-social-media/feed/ 0 Online Contests – Xeesm/Compete™ http://xeesm.com/_/site/index.php/2010/07/26/online-contests-xeesmcompete/ http://xeesm.com/_/site/index.php/2010/07/26/online-contests-xeesmcompete/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:02:06 +0000 Rob Stevenson http://xeesm.com/_/site/?p=2436

Asking your customers to share new ideas and letting all customers vote is one of the most powerful customer engagement methods. You get the most direct Ranked Feedback and create a sense of ownership for your customer base.

Xeesm/Compete is now starting Beta tests.

You create your own competition, contest or voting initiative and ask your contacts to provide suggestions or vote on already existing suggestions. For instance:

The Agile-500 Contest
This is our first project using Xeesm/Compete!
1) We created the contest and provided some description what the contest is about.
2) We invite people to provide suggestions. In this case companies they feel should be an Agile-500 company list
3) Everybody can make suggestions and vote for their own and for other suggestions.

We will see the number of votes to determine the most agile companies in accordance to the customers voice.

You can do your very own contest, just create one.

1) Click on create a competition and explain what this is about
2) Invite all your contacts to provide suggestions
3) Everybody can vote on suggestions from everybody

Now – This is still in beta. Two things we are still completing:
1) To limit the number of votes a user may have (20)
2) The embed code generator, so you can add the contest page to your own website

Of course a user has to be logged in or register in order to vote.
Multiple votes on the same suggestion is not possible.

Some examples you may consider for your business
* Ask your customers about webinar topics they may be interested in and let them vote
* Ask your customers what kind of service offerings they’d be most interested in and let all customers vote
* Ask your partners what training they are most interested in and let them vote
* Ask your customers about product features and let all vote
* Ask your partners for programs they like to see and let them all vote
* Ask your customers what they think need to be added to your service portfolio and let them all vote
* Ask about product documentation…
* Ask about ease of doing business with you…
* Ask them to share their biggest concerns…

* You can ask pretty much anything and you will get the most direct ranked feedback ever. It’s not only an opinion from an individual – but actually ranked by your ecosystem based on their collective interest. Whether this is your customer base, your partners, vendors, consultants, your media connections or your own team.

Use Xeesm/Compete! for a technology contest, an idea competition, feature requests, event venues, leadership, partnership or many other topics to gain ranked feedback – let your audience compete for what’s important to them.

How do you get onto the Beta?
You either install Compete! from the Xeesm Apps world or contact us and we are helping you to get there.

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