The Inside Story - Show and Tell

Once upon a time (about a year ago), a client declared that their new focus would be improving the consumer experience.  One executive wanted to know how to use social media to achieve this goal, although they sold through a global distributor network and did not deal directly with the consumer.

So we scoured discussion forums and blogs and other social media sites to learn what consumers liked, didn't like and wanted.  Then we asked the distributors what they thought.  How could the manufacturer better support them so that they could better support the consumer?  Consumers, we discovered, wanted shorter repair time; they wanted repairs done right the first time, and they wanted leading edge information about the newest features and upgrades.  Delivering those benefits correlated with higher consumer satisfaction and lower churn.  Dealers wanted help.

We created a social media strategy and a new operating model that promised to give the dealers the tools to fuel their passion and to provide the experience the consumer wanted.

But the systems in place weren't "broken."  Why "fix" them?  How could we convince the majority of the executive team that the best approach was using social media platforms rather than call centers or road shows?  We developed a business case.

We told stories.

With clip art and enthusiasm, we wrote and illustrated a series of vignettes.  Carey and Caroline Consumer went through each stage of the customer lifecycle -- from becoming interested in the product through to purchasing, warranty repair issues, and ultimately deciding whether to upgrade, stay with the status quo, or move to a competitor.  At each point in the customer lifecycle, we illustrated how the proposed social media would affect the process; how it helped to shape the consumer experience, and how it influenced measurable outcomes.

We presented the stories to the C-suite.  No power point decks with bulleted lists, we used one-act plays and dramatic readings.  We employed imagination plus some prototypes and mock-ups.  It was fun; it was often times funny, and it drove home the value of the proposed social media strategy.

We hear a good deal about telling stories in social media.  But the stories are usually about how other companies are succeeding, not visionary tales about the impact of social media inside our own organization.  

Be creative.  Show and tell.  The inside story can be powerful.

What stories have you told?    

How Social Networks Redefine Distributor-Manufacturer Relationships

The old distributor, supply-chain model is dead – or at least dying rapidly.  Which is not to say that distributors are no longer needed.  But the relationship among manufacturers, distributors, and consumers is changing radically. 

Many years ago, P&G brought consumers into the conversation through the use of coupons.  Then Intel, a high-tech engineering company, pushed this idea further and created a consumer image.  Intel didn’t sell directly to consumers, but it created consumer loyalty and demand for its products.  From far down the traditional supply chain, Intel reached around to the other end – the consumer.

Social media networks are now redefining the manufacturer-distributor-retailer-consumer chain from a series of sequential links to a circle of collaboration.  Distributors are still critical; they still provide primary sales and support to consumers.  Manufacturers, however, can use social networks to provide a great deal more assistance to distributors while creating stronger recognition and greater customer loyalty for their brands.

The top 5 opportunities are business-based, not channel- or tool-based.  New apps and new channels can slide into execution plans to help meet business goals.  And that is critical, because you don’t need a Facebook strategy; you need a business strategy.  So how can social networks help manufacturers who rely on distributors?

v Locate parts and products – When customers contact a distributor for a part, they often need it now (or an hour ago).  Few distributors, however, keep a full-line of parts in stock, and manufacturers might be OOS as well, particularly for older models.  Of the several ways that manufacturers can address this issue, two stand out for me.

o   Manufacturer-hosted forums for distributors provide a central location and parts exchange opportunity.  Especially when distributors are geographically dispersed, they welcome the opportunity to reach out on a one-to-many rather than one-to-one basis.  It’s more efficient; it creates new distributor-to-distributor relationships and greater engagement, and it solves problems.

o   Pro-active notifications help avoid crisis situations.  Wholesale Pallet Rack Products acquired some Prest Lock 1 frames and beams after Excel Storage Products went out of business.  Joshua Smith, director of sales and operations at Wholesale Pallet’s sister company AK Material Handling Systems, tweeted to WPRP’s dealers that they had the Prest Rack beams.  As Smith tells it, “it turns out one of our dealers had a customer that had recently damaged its uprights with a forklift.  We were able to provide the dealer with the product in less than 48 hours.”  Happy dealer.  Happy customer.  Sale made.  (For more, see www.themhedajournal.org)

v Provide point-of-purchase customer assistance – Social media is mobile, which means that consumers can – and do – access information at the time of purchase.  Flurry Analytics recently reported that people spend more time on mobile applications than on the web each day, 81 minutes vs. 74 minutes.  According to LightSpeed Research (http://bit.ly/bizreport) almost 2/3 of consumers put heavy emphasis on product reviews, and over 2/3 say that 2 negative reviews would deter them from purchasing.  Jordan Winery is taking advantage of these trends.  The winery has built custom videos for digital wine menus, most prevalent at high-end restaurants.  In about 2-minutes, Jordan’s winemaker describes his wine’s profile just when a customer is preparing to choose a bottle to order.  Chicago Cut Steakhouse uses iPad menus loaded with a Jordan video, and Jordan reports that “within 45 days, our sales at the restaurant increased 17 percent.”

Dry Creek Vineyard is putting QR codes on its wine bottles, enabling customers in the wine aisle of a grocery to scan the code and be brought to a Dry Creek Vineyard webpage.  (For more on wine industry social innovations, http://bit.ly/pressdemocrat)

Just-in-time information can be used in many situations – from car dealerships to electronics purchases.  The information gives consumers confidence, gives the manufacturer a competitive edge, and makes it easier for dealers to close a sale.

v Spotlight the experts – You don’t have to know everything, but being the go-to location for expertise keeps customers and dealers engaged, and ultimately buying and selling.  Manufacturer-hosted forums and blogs provide a unique opportunity to create communities that actively involve a range of stakeholders. 

o   In-house experts – Your engineers and back-office experts provide humanity and a face for your organization.  Allowing them to have individual blogs on the corporate website also helps the employees establish their professional brands.

o   Hobbyists and enthusiasts – Bring the most knowledgeable of these folks onto your site.  Let them share their knowledge, answer questions, and raise ideas.  Raise their profile and your own. 

o    Dealers – Front-line dealers have tremendous vision into the market, competitors, and product.  Give them a voice.  As smaller businesses, dealers often lack the time or resources to set up their own digital and social networks, but they welcome the venue that manufacturers can offer.

element14 (www.element14.com), built for electronic design engineers, brings together all of these various stakeholders.  One of my favorite aspects is the use of YouTube, allowing people to showcase skills and techniques.  The Ben Heck Show (http://bit.ly/e14benheck) is part of the element 14 community, yet it’s unique and fun and often fascinating.  Take a look at Ben Heck’s Remote Expedition Camera Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coMZY5FNado).  It’s the type of exchange that simply wouldn’t happen without element14 and social media. 

v  Improve dealer “help desk” functions – Forums that allow questions and answers to be easily searched, that put internal experts in touch with dealers, and that enable dealers to help one another drive down call center costs and improve the information flow.  I addressed this in a previous post, http://bit.ly/welcomingdistributorsontonetworks .

Establishing vibrant social networks creates greater engagement between manufacturer and dealer, helps dealers close sales, and forges greater bonds among the dealer, consumer, and manufacturer.  B2B companies have been edging into social media reluctantly but steadily.  The opportunity exists NOW to realize significant competitive advantage by establishing a social dealer network.  It’s not the old supply chain any more.

Welcoming Distributors onto Networks

One of my clients sells multiple lines of technologically complex products through a network of non-exclusive distributors.  Distributors “own” the customers and handle all repairs, upgrades, and a wide variety of questions.  Keeping up with the technology is a challenge for the distributors, so the company has a service line for the distributors.  A typical call center environment.

There are problems with this common arrangement, a major problem being that the distributor might not get the best advice.  The in-house expert on YOUR problem might not answer your call.  S/he is busy with another call.

An in-house discussion platform is a good first step to ameliorating this situation in a safe environment.  Agents can quickly look up information that includes comments from other agents – here’s what works, here’s a tip a distributor shared with me – the kind of insight that goes beyond fact sharing to problem solving and becoming a valued advisor.

Starting with the internal platform develops familiarity and comfort in managing and using a social platform, and it opens the door to a second step.  Why not let the distributors, who are geographically far-flung, talk to the experts and to each other?  We expanded the platform to allow distributors to post questions and comments, and the corporate engineering experts participated on the site at specific times.  The engineers loved the direct feedback from the field, and the distributors liked being able to contact THE expert.  Results?

·        The number of calls to the call center began to decline. 

·        Calls that do occur are handled more effectively as agents feel more empowered and capable of providing better answers to distributors.

·        Engineers are gathering and acting on field and usage information more quickly.

·        And distributors are feeling more a part of the company, and that engagement drives sales.

As internal social media platforms begin to embrace additional points along the supply and distribution chains, relationships begin to change.  Engagement means welcoming extended family into the fold.