The Most Influential Person inside your Organization

Who do you think is the most powerful person in the organization today? Is it the CEO, President, COO, CMO, CSO, or someone else at the "C-level" in the organization? NO - it most likely isn't any one of these people. Not because they don't "run" the business or make sure it is operating at maximum efficiency, no because they generally are not the one that "engages" most effectively with the customer. So who is it?

It's the "STORYTELLER" - the one, regardless of position or title or clout in the organization that can tell stories that "engage" the customer, employee or partners. This is the person who has the unique ability (and I truly mean unique) to talk about what goes on inside the organization in a way that "reaches" and "bonds" them to the organization. They are the one that can communicate the message(s) of the organization in a way that is compelling, relevant, thoughtful, insightful, captivating, entertaining and most of all "engaging."

The reason I am focusing on this key word, "engagement" is because it says more about what and organization should be striving for in a Web 3.0 world than most other words. When someone is engaged, they are truly "connected" and are a "participant" rather than an outside casual observer. This is so very critical in the future because as the "social media noise level" increases, more and more of your customers, partners and even employees are going to be TURNING YOU OFF. If you don't believe me, just ask a handful of your associates and you will start to hear that they are becoming annoyed and overwhelmed with all the "chatter" and "noise" that has taken over the airwaves.

The "storyteller" is the one person (or multiple people) in the organization that has the ability to cut through this noise and capture the eye, mind and even heart of your most valued audience. This makes them, in my humble opinion, more important over time than any "C-level" executive in your organization.

My recommendation - FIND THEM and incorporate them into your social media strategy that embraces their ability to talk about your organization in ways that marketing and sales and customer support and others can't. They are truly the hidden gem inside the company - they just don't have the title - YET...

Our REAL Competition - not who you think...

The VERDICT is in - Social Media and Social Networking are here to stay!! In case you didn't already know.

Now, that may not be news to many of you or even most of you, but I just wanted to be clear on that one point before going forward. Being involved in the "social media" space for the past 4+ years (and beyond if I count my time spent in the customer experience space), it is interesting to see how this space has grown and evolved. I have to admit, it has grown faster than I would have ever predicted 3 years ago. That is a good thing overall but as with everything that grows fast, has its dangers as well.

One question I have been asked many times over this time that I thought would be interesting to answer is, "Who exactly is your biggest competition?" Great question and one where the answer has changed over the years. Let me start by saying it isn't who you think it is.

Most people think it is one of two types. The masses of marketing and ad agency people who are out on the loose and who understand the "Tools" such as facebook and twitter and myspace and… If you guessed this, you are dead wrong. Granted, these folks are certainly annoying and distracting and generally waste the time and money of unsuspecting companies but that is not our biggest competition. They don't understand "strategy" and that is their biggest downfall - but that is the topic for another day.

The second group most think are the ad agencies, PR firms or traditional marketing firms - wrong again. Yes, they are doing everything in their power to delay their clients to fully engaging in social media because they haven't figured out a way to replace the massive revenues they would lose if they actually recommended a true social media strategy. It's going to take them a few years to get there but they can keep their clients on the hook for quite a while since their clients are reluctant to change anyway. But they are not even the biggest threat out in the market.

Nope, our biggest competition is the "uninformed CEO or other executive" inside their very own organization. Why? Because they look at social media more as a "toy" or "something to explore" or "something to test out" or "some new and shiny technology" and as such it doesn't command the attention of the "executive suite". What ends up happening is they ask around and find the 28 year old (or someone they think is young enough to understand it) who happens to know how to use facebook or twitter or foursquare or any of the other 265 tools (approximate) in the marketplace and assign the responsibility to them. That is who we compete most against.

What they are now starting to find out is what they have done is entrusted their BRAND, and their IMAGE and their CUSTOMERS and their BUSINESS STRATEGY to someone who has no clue what these things are about or what they should be doing to enhance all of them to increase their market presence and revenues. Yet, over and over again it ends up in their hands and goes nowhere. The comment from the top then becomes, "See, I told you this new fangled media doesn't work". And you know what, in that situation, they are exactly right...

Chefs "Get" Social Media - they just didn't know it...

The key to making a culinary delight isn't that you know all the best ingredients, it's knowing how to put the ingredients together that makes a difference. It isn't any different with social media. Just having someone who knows the right "tools" doesn't make social media turn out the right way or work for you - they are just the ingredients. What makes social media work is act like a "great chef".

Great chef's start with a PLAN - what do they want the culinary delight to look like, taste like, and the overall experience they want to deliver. Then they decide which INGREDIENTS they feel need to deliver what they have envisioned and they go find the ones they need. Then they ASSEMBLE these ingredients in just the right "order" and in just the right "amount" and with just the right "timing" to make it turn out the way they planned in the beginning. Then they TEST IT with their customers - did it deliver what they originally "planned" or do they need to make changes the next time they make the dish.

What part of this DOES NOT sound familiar to the way a successful experience should play out with our customers/members/clients/partners/employees? NONE is the correct answer. These are all the steps we need to take to deliver what our audience wants. We PLAN, SELECT the appropriate TOOLS, ASSEMBLE the CONTENT, and finally EXECUTE the plan. After we have delivered the MESSAGE, - then we LISTEN for feedback and make the appropriate modifications to the original PLAN. This is illustrated graphically below for those that are more visual. 

This is the basis for creating and leveraging each of these aspects to create "WORD-of-MOUTH on STEROIDS.  We'll talk about what goes into each of these in subsequent posts, breaking down each element as it would be if you were creating your own culinary delight and how it can help you move into getting more of the right people talking more about you. ENJOY...