I like Mark Yolton’s social media SAP presentations because I feel SAP has consistently “nailed” social to the point where it’s almost become a “best practice” kind of resource in the industry. One of several companies out there who really get “being” social as opposed to just “doing” social.
In so doing, they validate what we all do publicly on a daily basis. And I like that brand of “been there done that” show-me-the-money evangelism.
Slide #7 in particular caused me to pause and think. Why? Because it depicts a new “chutes and ladder” customer sales journey. And I agree that the traditional linear customer journey model no longer describes the buying process in a socially-flavored universe.
The old model is about sequential pipelines, funnels, and pyramids. All basic FIFO stack models. Confused prospects come in, go through well-defined sequential steps with our help - research, discovery, trust, purchase, provision, use, recommendation - and come out as satisfied customers. Right. Now enter a social media-driven world :)
And social precludes linearity and predictability. Synchronous, sequential pipelines and living adaptive networks are incompatible. Best case scenario, you have controlled chaos. So to me these customer journey milestones have really become inflection points in a sea of network “blips”.
Customers (and prospects) consume and pollinate from point to point unpredictably. They enter and exit the network almost at random. The brand itself has little say in the process. Best case scenario, it is socially present at each inflection point - right place, right time, right message and delivery.
Each engagement with a customer is a “blip” - an opportunity to gain, keep or lose a customer. To acquire or lose loyalty. And mind share. To make or break a sale, or a lease renewal. These happen all the time 24/7. Often simultaneously.
If you’re a social strategist, you need to figure out where and when these blips occur. And to come up with a consistent scalable approach to managing the ensuing chaos. Easier said than done.
But fundamentally, it’s all about managing social engagement. Content and conversational. Mapping out, controlling, routing, adapting to, and scaling the chaos of this new age customer journey maelstrom is a large part of what we must do to sustain social businesses.
[video]
[video]
Well the cat’s out of the bag! Okay maybe not the cat, but at least Sprinklr’s second edition eBook of Best Practices from the World’s Most Social Big Brands. You can download the full PDF eBook here.
It was amazing enough to grab an opportunity to speak to the SocialService@Scale we deliver at Autodesk. But to do so in the company of such industry giants is truly humbling! These are all people I’ve admired, learned from, and tried to emulate for years! I can only hope to fly at their altitude someday!
More importantly, the story of what we built and do daily at Autodesk to help our customers imagine, design, and create a better world is being told. And it is a compelling story.
For that I want to thank our friends at Sprinklr who had a large part in this success. They built a great platform no doubt, but more importantly they did what they said they would, and they stood by us when we really needed it.
In this business that’s not something you forget easily. It’s in part thanks to them that AutodeskHelp will indeed stay social my friends! :)
“Eat shit and die” - we’re all familiar with this common place insult. But amazingly enough, it’s what half the world spends its life doing. And the other half? Well they’re busy starving. So what’s my point?
You know me. I’m far from being a tree hugger. I love a noisy V8. I grok mass consumption, and the need to scale food production to feed hundreds of millions at a time. I’m a huge Target and Walmart fan (although convinced these places are more about show business than retail). I love shopping Sam’s Club and Costco.
And I don’t think people should “go back to their roots”, organize in communes, parade around half naked, and start growing carrots for a living. Our “roots” involve fighting saber tooth tigers for a weekly meal. So thank you very much. I’d rather call in for reservations.
That being said, I hate mass chicken “farms”, fast food chains, industrial wines, bio-engineered meats, mercury-loaded fish, and pesticide-washed vegetables and fruit that taste like stale cardboard - cancer included. Just add water. Our mass-produced foods are an aberration of the above. What to do?
Enter New York City-based Farmigo. A startup I’ve been following for a while now. These guys are building a connected social network of consumers (you and me) and food producers (local farmers) meeting at dedicated exchange points (businesses). Right now they only function in selected US major cities. But they’re out to scale this thing globally. By building a social networked community. Sounds funky enough - some would say idealistic - but I’m pretty sure these ex-SAP dudes are on to something pretty significant. Here’s why.
We live in an age of uncertainty and danger - insert doh moment - bobbing in very unstable and choppy seas. And two solid anchors remain: family and land. The only “genuine” staples left. Social media can help connect both.
The strength of the “clan”. And the life-sustaining safety of land. Family, food, and water. Whoever owns, controls, influences, and connects these is assured success and longevity. Not to mention riches. It’s that simple.
It wasn’t possible to pull this off before the age of social. And the Con Agras and Frank Purdues of the world ruled the land. Rightly so. But it’s a different ballgame now.
In 2005, I was telling anyone who’d listen that the future wasn’t in bonds, sub-primes, or other Wall Street hokus pokus of the day. I was preaching about people owning their own chunks of land to farm and then distribute locally. At one point I sought out acres in the Coachella valley, around the Salton Sea, and in Idaho (great wine-growing dirt out there).
Maybe it came from living in the California desert for several years. But I learned something really important back there. Whoever owns the means of food production and water rights rules the world. One day, fresh food, water and rights to it will be more precious than diamonds.
So I’m pretty big on farmers. Some of my best friends are farmers. Farmers are wealthy. Real wealth. Most wouldn’t know it. The guy in the picture above is Arthur Wilson. He owned a bean farm in Yellow Jacket, CO. I spent some of the most precious moments of my childhood on his land. I discovered farming there. And what real food meant and tasted like. I was barely 10 years old. Starry eyed kid from NYC thinking food came from Dagostino’s :)
And I’m pretty jazzed at the concept of connecting these unsung heroes with regular folks. And saving countless colons in the process.
Here’s a clip of Scobble interviewing Farmigo’s CEO Benzi Ronen. Check it out. Then stay social my friends. And eat healthy thanks to it!
Yes, I know what you’re going to say. Can’t believe this guy is talking about Jean-Claude Biver again. Enough already! Fair enough. But there’s a video nugget that came up on my radar recently I felt compelled to share. Why? Because it’s the longest Biver clip I’ve ever seen.
Matter of fact it’s so darn long (1:13:41 to be precise) I doubt anyone will watch it in its entirety. A mere 38 views adorn the clip.
Over 3 minute video? Not in an age of Vine for sure :) Nonetheless, I thought I’d extract some of the most salient points and share with folks because, honestly, some of this stuff is pure gold.
It’s funny because, after having followed and worked with the man - albeit a short time - I thought I’d heard it all and yet, I learned a lot of interesting stuff in there. Stuff he doesn’t tell everyone everywhere all the time.
What can I say. I’m a sucker for Biverism. Too many precious things I learned from this guy. Not the least of which is that social media isn’t necessarily for everybody everywhere all the time. That was a hard lesson learned but well applied since then…
So stay social (when applicable) my friends! :)