Business’s are now embracing and using social technology like no tomorrow. Attracting followers, likes and comments are now perceived as the key indicators for social media selling success.
Yet it can look rather superficial on the face of it if all you are indeed amassing is a ‘nano-second’ appreciation of the services and products businesses have worked hard to develop.
To understand and appreciate the real rewards social technology can provide businesses what needs to happen is a deeper dive into the real rewards social technology can bring to businesses.
- Smarter workforces: Trading insights is a real currency for businesses that need to stay agile and at the cutting edge of their field. Social enterprise platforms such as Yammer, Open social are bringing more collaboration, teamwork and leveraging internal knowledge and capabilities. This high quality engagement helps staff quickly identify other colleagues who can help them or their teams, overcome challenges and allows managers and business leaders to leverage internal knowledge, expertise and skills.
- Clients as advocates: To become truly client-centric businesses need to employ social inputs. Gaining insights from clients on the journey and experience they have in purchasing your services and products is invaluable. Business who gain client comments and views through interactive technology, research and survey’s can ensure they continue to calibrate their offerings and business models to stay ahead of competitors and meet client needs and objectives.
- Capturing the social data: Measuring and analysing the relevant data that the business generates through social activity is essential. Using analytic tools can capture what the target market thinks, their behaviour, motivations, sensitivities and propensities. Similarly internal employee behaviour needs to be analysed to ensure roles and responsibilities are aligned, staff well-being is secure and goals are met.
- Clarity of Communications: The biggest risk to any business governance is poor communications. If key stakeholders and the board in general are not on the same page, then theirs the risk of poor understanding for management information and data. By ensuring the social data is made available and its application is understood, can lead to compliant and transparent business practice.
Building relationship capital is the key, don’t just focus on the financials to benchmark business success, it’s the ‘social’ business – one that empowers it’s workforce through clear communication, constructive leadership and creates partnership relationships with clients through understanding and integrating feedback into the business model
