Just in case the almost 2,000 words last time did not get you all confused, I want to take some time to expand a little bit on a concept I introduced there.
I said in my previous post that complex concepts should be explained simply, and use lots of questions to improve their definition within the context they were being used. I tried to provide in that post a definition for Social Business that could spark the conversations in the higher offices. In case you don't remember, my goal is to create a template and a first-pass at how to have the conversation of Social Business with the Executive Suite.
This is where I want to discuss what are the questions we need to ask at that level to further the definition of Social Business as it pertains to that particular business and to help them decide whether it is for them or not. This post will therefore be shorter, a mere 1,720 words - just kidding, and mostly provide some context of the five questions to ask to frame a Social Business discussion with C-level executives.
First, let's make sure we have the right context for having this conversation .As I noted before, most organization confuse Social terms. They believe that Facebook Fan Pages and Twitter Widgets are the do-all and end-all of becoming "Social". While there may be some value to them (it all depends on how they are implemented) they don't signal an adoption of Social Business. Social Business is about collaboration between business people in the organization and customers to create better experiences that will a) let customers do what they need, and b) provide the business with actionable insights to improve these experiences further. It is critical for the success of these conversations to occur within this context as Facebook and Twitter are not (yet) an executive-level conversation.
So, what are these five questions to ask? I wanted to align them with the five questions we always ask when looking at a decision: What, When, Why, How, and Who. Below are the five questions to ask, and the explanation of why they are important to ask.
What - What are you trying to do?
It certainly sounds condescending to ask the question to someone who brought in to talk about "becoming social". The simple answer would certainly be a "be social", but the purpose of asking this question is two-fold: first, you want them to describe in detail and in their own words what, specifically, they would like to accomplish. This is about them describing their vision for their business being social. At the end of the project, when all is done, what will the business look like? The description should have a conversation of measurements of success, operating KPIs, specific pain points being solved, vision for the implementation and the next 2-3 iterations, etc. Remember, this s not as much about a proper definition as it about framing their definition of Social Business and make it successful.
When - When do you want to start?
Again, it may sound simplistic enough - but the idea behind this question is to discuss the issue of readiness for being Social. The start date is not determined by any specific action the company wants to take, or any deadline they want to meet, but it should be the moment that the necessary elements (people, process, politics, governance and technology) are all aligned and ready. Some of the follow-up questions you may want to ask are not about specific dates, but rather how prepared they are to become Social: Is there a governance body, committee, or person to determine the guidelines for being social? Are the processes and interactions affected known and documented? What are the expected outcomes and insights or metrics expected? Obviously the questions to ask will vary for each organization, where some of them may be better prepared in certain areas than others, but a Social Business Maturity Model would be the best way to have the conversation and to highlight the path to take.
Why - Why do you want to become social?
The answer you don't want to hear at this point is "because everyone is doing it". Trying to morph a business into a social business without a clear vision, mission, goals, and objectives (the first four elements of a strategy) is not only foolish but also the number one reason for failure. The discussion here must be strategic in nature, make sure that there are answers to the what is being sought, what metrics are going to be used to indicate success or failure, and how the business is going to proceed (at a high level, of course - if they had the entire strategy and plan mapped out there would not be a lot of value to asking these question as they have already been answered.
How - How do you intend to become Social?
As I briefly touched on before, the concrete plans and specific steps are not yet know. Alas, there has to be a basic understanding of the efforts and troubles it means to become Social, and a high-level path must exist. What are the sacrifices they are willing to make to achieve their results? How long can they try to get to their goal? How is the success going to be measured, and is the necessary data available? Are all the systems, people, and processes in place to take on the task? These are some of the questions that must be answered. This is not about being ready or knowing where the business is going - this is the time to specific that there is a map that highlights the key areas and milestones to achieve to identify and claim success.
Who - Who is leading the charge?
At the core of the lessons learned from the good-old CRM is the fact that Executive Buyoff is not only essential to have, but it must remain constant throughout the entire process of implementing and continue after that. Obviously, for a far larger project that just implementing CRM having the executive team on board is essential. The answer to this question should not point to a single person, rather to a group of executives that have under their responsibility both customer-facing functions and groups and by others who are responsible for internal processes. They must work together, or at the very least share the vision and commitment to what they are trying to accomplish. As I said in the previous post, the common component Social CRM and Enterprise 2.0 (external and internal) solutions have is a commitment to customer-centricity. You should expect to hear in this conversation reasons why they are committed to becoming customer-centric, and how being social can help them get there.
As you can, these are not a simple set of questions you can ask and get answers and be on your way. These questions are expected to spar conversations, discussions, and potentially debate. However, this is what the executive team needs to become one single entity with a common vision and goal of becoming Social.\
Your role is to be enabler to this vision.
What do you think? Would this advance the conversations or would it make it harder to have? Am I missing something here? Do you think it is too basic or too simple? Let me know your thoughts, would love to have the conversation...