Social SLA

When I hear that “ping” or “boing” or see the flash of a new message, connection, thought, innovation, idea, friend request, poke, check-in, request, event notification, email, updated RSS feed, email or whatever I kinda find it hard to not just check who, what, where pretty immediately…

But responding back is a different matter; I seem to have a brain and psyche that can cope (on the whole) with  multiple sensory inputs\updates\distractions… For me the stimulation is good, new ideas, new perspectives, creative sparks or getting bumped back on the right track.

But if I’m trying to get my “shit done” then responding is a different matter…

So what is the Service Level Agreement (SLA) for Social Media? Ask yourself this, when do you expect a response from a:

• Facebook Poke
• Email
• Instant Message (work or personal)
• Friend\Connection Request
• Twitter @Mention
• New Blog Post (comments).

If you mention someone on twitter and they don’t respond within a few hours, does that p!55 you off?  How long should it take for someone at work to respond to a truly important email or an casual IM?

I think the “Social SLA” is determined by three key factors:

• The proximity of the “engager” to your social graph (Family vs Acquaintance)
• The transient nature of the “request” (Twitter vs Email)
• Perceived value in the “payload” (Insightful Blog Post vs Checking-in@Gowalla)

Using a VERY rough rating table such as this:

Proximity	Transience	Value
Close = 1	High = 1	High = 1
Friend = 2	Medium = 5	Medium = 4
Acquaintance = 3	Low = 10	Low = 8

And an SLA calculation based upon:

Proximity * Transience * Value = SLA (Hours)

Lets look at the extremes e.g. Twitter\IM versus Email:

	Proximity	Transience	Value	SLA
Twitter	1	1	1	1 hour

Twitter

3

1

8

1 day

Email

1

10

1

10 hours

Email

3

10

8

10 days

It may be rough, but for a, lot of people this isn’t that far off reality!

Scenario 1 – Twitter, tweet pops into my stream from a close friend, family member or trusted advisor, its a valuable tweet i.e. a great link or breaking news or a fix to an issue – expected response within the hour.

Scenario 2 – Twitter, tweet pops into my stream from an acquaintance, its not a valuable tweet i.e. a link to an event or a re-tweet of something I probably already know – expected response (if any) within a day.

Scenario 3 – Email pops into my inbox from a close friend, valued colleague, family member or trusted advisor, its a valuable email i.e. breaking news, a great offer for something I am interested in, or a request for information that I can add value to – expected response within 10 hours or roughly a working day.

Scenario 4 – Email pops into my inbox from an acquaintance, its not a valuable email i.e. a catch-up email, newsletter or something I probably already know – expected response (if any) within 10 days.

The problem with a Social SLA is that the expectation and the ability to deliver are poles apart…
Maybe the recipient is on leave, currently Twitter doesn’t have an off-the-grid message?
Maybe they are up to their nuts in work?
Maybe they have a few hundred other connection requests, messages, tweets or IM’s to work through?

So maybe there should be some kind of leveller on the SLA according to how much traffic, reputation and engagement you get from elsewhere on the grid (or offline)?

Lots to consider and think about…I’d like to hear your thoughts, in a timely manner?

SharePoint Perception

SharePoint is a “large beast”, it can deliver a wonderful array of functionality, however I still encounter clients and organisations in the wider world that feel that SharePoint just doesn’t deliver on its promises... But why?

To me it fundamentally comes down to 3 things:

1. Wrong starting point 
Please don’t do a “SharePoint Project” any more! Technology never solves problems, it facilitates the organisation or end user to achieve, SharePoint is no different. Do a business change project, sort out a business process do something for your business.

2. No Directions
Just because SharePoint has a stack of functionality doesn’t mean you can go into a project without a clearly defined business vision and set of requirements, if you do the project will almost always fail to deliver.

3. Rose-tinted Glasses 
Less obvious but equally damaging, is end-user perception, especially when your “showing” SharePoint to a client. Be it a causal “look this is what SharePoint does”, a formal pitch or an event you must be clear to clients as to what your showing, how far from OOTB it is and how they get what your showing. Office Versions, customisations, add-ins, ways of working all fundamentally change the SharePoint experience, what it can deliver and how much it’s going to cost to deliver.

“Lead with the business and be transparent; then think about SharePoint”

I’m Certifiably Delivering BVPS!

I bloody did it!
I passed the Microsoft Business Value Planning Services exam… I am well and truly certifiable!

It’s an interesting exam, I found it quite challenging because, well basically in most cases all the multiple choice answers were “positive” and could have been correct… What do I mean well, for the scenarios described the companies would have benefited if any of the answers were followed… what the exam looks for is the “most right” answer based on the wording of the questions…

I don’t think you get that by a course or cramming… It’s the experience of working with clients and understanding what is really important to them, what meets their needs, doesn’t step over their cultural boundaries and answers the question in MSFT’s eyes..

BVPS itself kinda fits only when there are clear challenges around business process with human interaction and links to the Microsoft Information Worker platforms and products… I’ll be looking to evolve BVPS thinking around more fluid, non-structured, loosely coupled, non-process orientated “flows” within an organisation.

So now I have the certificate, what next well… Firstly I’m developing a wider business value consulting proposition here at Trinity that includes BVPS and other consulting approaches I’ve architected, and also I’ll be focussing on business value at a Trinity SharePoint 2010 Event we are holding later in January in Coventry and March in London along with Matt Groves. Ongoing, I’ll be looking at a verticalised focus on BVPS, starting with the Public Sector.

So if you or a client need to engage around delivering business value from a general organisational or Microsoft Information Worker perspective, give me a call..

It’s official, Microsoft say I can help your business achieve your business strategy!

How Do You Make A Strategy Stick?

Sticky Strategy is an interesting concept… I hear and see a great deal about strategies of all sorts in my consulting work both successful, ineffectual, innovative, obvious etc, but the number of true IT strategies that are operational i.e. have been implemented and are being managed and tracked are few and far between.

My definition of a sticky strategy is one that, once created (by the organisation or a partner like Trinity) actually gets implemented, no dust, no change of heart no ignorance, just strategy created + strategy followed = business and IT outcomes are being achieved.

 

There are a stack of challenges that prevent a strategy from sticking and deliver:

• Confusion over what IT Strategy means:
  • Applications
  • Infrastructure
  • Full IT estate
  • Collaboration
  • Virtualisation
  • etc
• Not taking sufficient heed over business strategy
• Focussing on strategy duration
  • Why will a 5 year IT strategy keep you in a better position than a 1 1/2 year one that is regularly evolved with business changes?
• Evolving Service Models (see Stop Talking Fluffy Cloud Crap!)
• IT resources
  • People
  • Financial
  • Knowledge
  • Skills
• Business and economic influences

So back on track, how do you make an IT Strategy, whatever flavour it is, stick? I was going to way lyrical for a few “pages” about this, but the reality is that won’t add any value to you, and there are only, in my opinion, a small number of truths that together ensure the delivery of a “Sticky Strategy”..

• Business Vision and IT Strategy Alignment
  • Business first
  • IT Strategy has to deliver “services” that directly support the Business Strategy
  • IT Strategy must be regularly evolved to keep in sync with business strategy changes, market influences and economic drivers
• Be Actionable
  • Must be able to clearly articulate tangible IT projects from the strategy
  • IT must be able to deliver with their IT eco-system (partners, contractors etc)
• Deliver Demonstrable Value
  • Primarily to the Business (first bullet)
  • Secondarily to the IT function
• Demonstrate Awesomeness
  • Make the IT Director \ Senior IT Stakeholder look awesome in the eyes of the business and the Senior Executives.

Success starts at being able to clearly define what the strategy will do for the business and how. So every IT Strategy executive summary should start with something like the following, to ensure awesomeness for all involved:

“…This strategy will facilitate the delivery of business excellence and successful achievement of our key business objectives <list>; Delivering demonstrable value <list>; Through a programme of business-led IT projects <list>…”

Hey Number 33 Who The Hell is Number 158?

Social Strategy & Dunbar’s Number
Dunbar's number has been most popularized by Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, where it plays a central role in Gladwell's arguments about the dynamics of social groups which is where I became familiar with the concept… but of course I was always “aware”, because its human nature.

So, why blog about this? Well, it’s an interesting phenomenon that I’ve witnessed both organisationally, socially and within the confines of “social networking” platforms and I guess I wanted to get my thoughts down on "paper” and illicit some thoughts and views from you guys.

Organisational Stickyness
Within organisations, as companies grow, especially from a small org to a mid-size org and structures within that organisation or a discrete operating business unit move up to the 150 mark, it is very clear that suddenly the cohesions and stickyness of the organisation (everyone knows everyone and what is the power behind great teams, departments and companies) suddenly breaks-down completely. Immediacy, flexibility and the ability to “just do it” to achieve positive business outcomes, just disappears and is replaced by process and governance to hold the “group together” and achieve the same positive ends, but it’s not the same, not by a long way!

Social Networking:
So currently I have:

• Twitter – I follow 803 people & have 860 followers and appear on 22 lists
• Facebook – About 300 “friends”
• Physical Close Friends – Probably less than 20

So, my reality versus my virtual is drastically unbalanced, but that’s no bad thing, not to me anyway.
I kinda crave on-line attention, but off-grid and out the office I keep myself pretty much to myself…

Twitter List Experiment:
So, I’m at the time of writing creating a Twitter List of 140-odd people that I would have an unprompted conversation at any bar in any town of I saw them; the kinda people with whom I think I have a connection, add value to me or I work well with in whatever sense…
This list will grow and shrink like the tide and people will drift in and out like pebbles on the shore – but there will never be any more that 149 pebbles, but that’s no issue for you, the list is just another type of filter… not something to get hung up on… its all in my head, its all psychological ;-)

Finally,
Gladwell also refers to Mark Granovetter’s theory of “The Strength of Weak Ties.”  this is where Twitter’s power is for me, this is the massive groups of interesting, powerfuil, influencing people that missed the Dunbar List but I would never be without!
The Twitter platform seamlessly supports engagement between close friends, peers, work colleagues and loose ties and allows people, brands and organisations to float between these categories as is appropriate and required.

Go make a list, but don’t make it too long and don’t worry if I’m not on it… that’s my problem and my value proposition to you!

Stop Talking Fluffy Cloud Crap!

Awesome "How to talk about cloud sensibly" document from NIST:

NIST Definition of Cloud Computing v15

The key elements to me are (a) Moving focus away from “cloud” and more to what it delivers, (b) Definition of Models and (c) Simplicity! I’ve summarised these below, but please go read the 2 page-document:

Characteristics

• On-Demand Self-Service
• Broad Network Access
• Resource Pooling
• Rapid Elasticity
• Measured Service

Service Models:

• Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

Deployment Models:

• Private Cloud
• Community Cloud
• Public Cloud
• Hybrid Cloud

The document doesn’t seek to define how these are implemented but does create a wonderfully simple common ground so we can stop talking "fluffy clouds” and start talking about what our clients need in a clear and concise language!

Go Read Today!

Job One…

So after a fair few days of tweaking, the blog is now up and running, content is in from the old www.soulsailor.co.uk  and www.fluffycloudsofinnovation.com and I’m pretty happy with the layout, design and function…

This was job one on my way towards being Fookin Amazin’ – Now it’s time to start delivering quality adding value and engaging everyone.

Feedback is always welcome… but remember it’s after 1am when I’m writing, I haven’t been drinking, and its been at least 8 hours since my last coffee; so I’m kinda sensitive now… Any criticism leave till after my first coffee of the morning please!!

Got the builders in.

You may have noticed that I have now pulled together the posts from:

• www.Soulsailor.co.uk
• www.FluffyCloudsofInnovation.com

I'm still not sure that this is the best approach, but I think that the current levels of blogging on both domains will mean that a mix will sit ok with everyone.

For the next week or so I will be tuning the blogs functionality, layout etc.

Let me know what you think from a look & feel perspective and also from combining my two personas.

We Are Recruiting!

We are currently recruiting for several key positions, please get in touch via the Trinity website or with me directly...
Usual company info is available here: www.tesl.com

I've been here for nearly 3 years and I think it's a pretty awesome place to work, we have a well established and exceptionally talented organisation and we need more exceptional people to join us!

We offer excellent career development and have some really exciting opportunities in the pipeline!
Senior Consultants/Architects - £60-80k +
http://www.tesl.com/TESL/Careers/Jobs/Strategic+consultant+Microsoft+SharePoint+Architect.htm
http://www.tesl.com/TESL/Careers/Jobs/strategic+consultant+Web+Application+Architect.htm
http://www.tesl.com/TESL/Careers/Jobs/strategic+consultant++Microsoft+CRM.htm
http://www.tesl.com/TESL/Careers/Jobs/strategic+consultant++Business+Intelligence.htm

Please get in touch via our Website (www.tesl.com) or with me (see below) directly, I am happy to answer any questions and if you'd rather have an informal chat then I'd like to hear from you...
At this time I do not want to hear from agencies, the roles are all permanent (although contracts may be offered from time to time).
email: antonyc@tesl.com
web: www.tesl.com
Twitter: @soulsailor
LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/AntonyClay

Is Google OS a SharePoint Killer?

It’s early days, really early days… but what if, just what if Google OS delivers all the collaboration and business functionality you actually need:

• Blog
• Wiki
• Email
• Documents
• Team Collaboration
• Spreadsheets
• Data
• etc

 

How far away from that are we, they have all the apps now… well not very far at all by the sounds of it (http://mashable.com/2009/11/19/google-chrome-os-launch/) and although the SharePoint bashing is usually a crock-o-crap and I am definitely a fan, maybe just maybe, a device that boots really quickly, allowing individual, global and team working may just be the thing that seriously challenges Microsoft SharePoint.

All Google OS needs is proper integration between it’s business and collaboration services and Microsoft will have a proper fight on their hands, this will take time, I think it’s a 3 year battle, but Google OS v2 will definitely be the one to watch!

Just thinking…

Just saying…

 

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,SharePoint,Google,"Google OS",Collaboration

Ant Having Naked Conversations in Twitterville

Last week I was lucky enough to get invited out to Dinner with Shel Israel (@ShelIsrael) Co-Author with Robert Scoble of “Naked Conversations” and now Author of “Twittervile, How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods” and Adrian Moss, Head of Head Web 2.0/SocMed Practice at Parity who was hosting Shel on his UK leg of the book launch (see my review here).

It was a chance encounter, I’ve been a virtual friend of Shel for a while, following his blog and tweets for ages, and was lucky enough to get some thoughts I had included in the Twitterville book. I had been looking forward to the chance to meet him at the Social Media Summit but a client engagement meant I wasn’t able to attend… an email dropped into my inbox early last week inviting me out to Dinner with Shel and Adrian the night before… #Win!

So I headed down to London last Wednesday night, found a great pub nearby for us to meet at, Somers Town Coffee House, somewhat fitting, relatively quiet, filled with lots of interesting people and a stack of conversations going on… So Shel and Adrian rocked up, we exchanged pleasantries and got the pints ordered, some jokes flowed and we sat down to what was going to be a great hour of frenetic chat about:

• Social Media
• The Midlands Car Industry
• Naked Conversations
• Family
• Twittervile
• Jobs
• Culture
• Public Speaking

That was a hell of a lot of subjects to cram it an hour or so, but as with great connections and platforms like twitter, it felt like I’d known these guys for years, just as Shel had said in a tweet early that day:

“Dinner w/ @soulsailor is another example of meeting an old friend for the 1st time, one of the things that makes twitter so very cool.”

It was a great pint and Shel is, just like it says on his business card, a “nice guy”..

So then it was off to Snazz Sichuan, check out the menu… it was SCARY and required a fair bit of effort from us all to find something that wasn’t going to kill us or make us regret it on the throne in the morning #BlameAdrianMoss was an apt hash-tag for the evening!

The reality was that there was some great food and beer at Snazz Sichuan, the staff were very courteous,  and the conversation continued in the same vein as in the pub.. All in all it was a great night, it was an honour to meet Shel, it was good to see Adrian and we all had some very interesting conversations that need continuing…

There’s a hell of a lot of power and satisfaction in taking an online conversation offline… Go meet those virtual friends and acquaintances for the first time.

Technorati Tags: Twitterville,"Naked Conversations","Shel Israel",Parity,Soulsailor

Welsh Lightbulbs…

A few months ago I had a great session with a prospective client of mine in a welsh government body, talking about how SharePoint could enable their business processes in a range of ways… I got to pen my initial thoughts at EndUserSharePoint and the post is here:

http://www.endusersharepoint.com/2009/09/14/a-sharepoint-case-study-switching-on-the-right-light-bulbs/

It was an interesting short engagement, but one that seems to be being repeated more and more. There seems to be a heap of clients that are looking for SharePoint as an appropriate platform for enabling their document centric business processes and that are seeking people and organisations like us to support them in their strive for business justification..

Technorati Tags: SharePoint,Wales,Government,Strategy,"Case Study",EndUserSharePoint,Soulsailor

Twitterville by Shel Israel – Would you live there?

Yes I would, and I think I’d probably want to own the pub on the corner ;-)

Disclosure: I contributed to the book.. page 262\263.

@ShelIsrael is a great, well respected guy; his blog posts have great insight and his Twitter stream is diverse and one of my (@SoulSailor) favourites and, assuming he ever makes it over to England, I can’t wait to have a few pints and talk about twitter and life at an “English pub” in Rugby ;-) just like he promised!

Firstly, let me make it clear that book reviews aren’t my thing… I read, I enjoy and I move on so be warned!

 

This is a book that you absolutely need to read if you’re not sure about Twitter, your just dipping your toe in or if you wanna know the hows and the whys…The book is in three main sections… a kinda “how it started”, “what people are doing” and a sort of “beginners guide”.

For me, Twitterville is a positive journey through the characters and impacts that Twitter has had since its inception. Some have said in previous reviews of the book that it’s too positive, well Twitter is what you make of it and I think that Shel does a great job showing what is possible to achieve with the platform..

The sub-title of the book is “How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods” well absolutely yes they can, but it’s clear that although a positive book, Shel makes no bones in the stories he tells, as to how freaking hard it is, the dedication, innovation, foresight and determination that one needs to succeed, but the platform is there, the villagers are waiting to hear what you’ve got to say, you just need to bring to Twitterville the catalyst, that's what is key!

I’m not going to comment on the last section of the book.. this is clearly aimed at the newbie.. a kinda step-by-step approach to getting engaged into the conversation and adding value… I can see this “completes” the journey depicted in the book, especially  if this is a whole new world to you, but for me it gave nothing that I didn’t know or agree with; it doesn't detract from the books value, just skip it as Shel suggests :-)

The apparently random (to me) tweets through the book give some light as to what can be said in 140 characters… but to some extent they felt a little too random… but hey maybe that’s a true reflection of the twitter stream?

I really enjoyed the first sections in the book, how it all got started was explained very well with some great insights into both Twitter and the early adopters, really gave a sense at how far the Twitter platform had come over it’s short life and how much it has been shaped by the community rather than inside Twitter HQ…

The bulk of the rest of the book is a demonstration through well articulated stories of how a cross section of Twitterville are using Twitter to help their personal, business or charitable aims… I found the stories compelling, realistic and in most cases I was reassured that my own visions were being played out elsewhere in some way and were therefore attainable.

As many have said already Twitterville seems like the younger sister of “Naked Conversations”, it’s arrival is timely and the context seemingly  flows naturally from what was said by Scoble and Shel previously but applied to the platform of the present; I’m sure Twitter won’t be around in the future but platforms supporting the subscription and publication and reuse of a stream of SAM’s (Simple Activity Messages) will absolutely be an integral part of the future technology landscape.

Overall this is a great book, rounded, accurate, appropriate, educational and most importantly eminently readable…

Go grab a copy, get a pint and sit down in your local pub and educate yourself…

Social Sales Cycle - Create or Die!

So we are in a recession, inevitably the chase is now on for Revenue Protection & Revenue Generation…

According to Heidrick & Struggles, the No. 1 focus for C-level executives in 2009 is the customer—acquiring new ones, increasing retention and improving their lifetime value, in that order.

Eighty-eight percent of the executives surveyed said acquiring new customers was important, and 87% said the same about customer retention. Least important on their list of priorities were improving marketing’s impact on shareholder value, retaining talent and expanding to new geographies.

This makes sense in current economic conditions—if a business is struggling, further development gets pushed to the back burner. Talent is easy to come by when unemployment is high, and if sales increase, shareholder value will naturally follow.

The question is how to increase sales.

Most significant to senior executives was optimizing the efficiency of the marketing mix across the business (including digital marketing), followed by responding more rapidly to growth opportunities and improving the consistency of marketing and sales communications.

 

The time for the Social Sales Cycle is most definitely here, and it’s likely that in your organisation there isn’t a Social Sales Cycle… or at least not a recognisable one!

If you asked any Sales Person or Account Manager though, they will absolutely agree that sales, relationships and opportunities are best achieved looking at the whites of the clients eyes and breathing the same air…

But this is social, personal, emotional, communicative… this is Social, isn’t it?

Traditional Sales methods around client engagements are certainly the start of the Social Sales Cycle, it’s like the root, but to make it really work, to maximise its effectiveness and to make it really resonate in todays culture and your industry or sector then you need facilitators and that is where social media needs to be embraced to amplify and control the effects of “voice” and “emotion” in business settings.

http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/004900.html

I don’t need to say any more, but you do….

• Create Reputation
• Create Conversations
• Create Stories
• Create Connections
• Create Brand
• Create Opportunities
• Create Revenue

Create the companies Social Sales Cycle…or die

Technorati Tags: "Social Sales Cycle" "Create or Die" "Social Media" "Social Networking" Connections Conversations

Social Media in the Sales Cycle or Social Sales Cycle?

 

Social Media in the Sales Cycle

Social Sales Cycle…

I don’t think that this should be as scary a prospect for any corporate organisation as perhaps we all initially perceive.

Chris Brogan wrote a good summary post earlier this week titled Best Fits for Social Media in the Sales Cycle. Chris Brogan advises businesses, organizations, and individuals on how to use social media and social networks to build relationships and deliver value and is well respected in “social circles”…

His key point is that the sales cycle has a number of points, roughly:

• Prospects
• Awareness
• Leads
• Customers
• Evangelists \ Support

..and that for each of these engagement points between a supplier (just like you) and the client, traditionally differing approaches and tools were used, and that now, in the era of connections, social networks and transparency, a range of Social Media tools are relevant to be used in addition or replacing traditional marketing, sales and engagement methods… some of these tools include:

• Email
• Blogging
• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Forums
• Flickr

But these tools are not the focus of this post, more the person wielding the tool and their responsibility within the supplier organisation and the sales cycle.

All organisations have a number of overlapping areas that make up the “Sales Cycle” and a set of tools and techniques..

• Sales
  • Sales methods
  • Relationships
  • CRM
• Marketing
  • Web Site
  • Telesales \ Direct Mail
  • Campaigns
  • Events
• Senior Consultants
  • Relationships
  • Social Media – Blogs, Twitter, forums etc
  • Authenticity – Technical Delivery, Events etc
• Rest of the organisation
  • Relationships
  • Social Media – Blogs, Twitter, forums etc
  • Authenticity – Technical Delivery, Events etc

As has been discussed at length both personally, within Trinity and across our sectors, the way we do business is changing, the ability to influence clients, drive client satisfaction, raise awareness, revenue generation and revenue protection has absolutely expanded outwards from Sales & Marketing and into the hands of each and every employee, within the organisation and this is especially so for an organisations senior consultants, technologists and strategists..

In Purple Cow, Seth Godin illustrates that point very well.
"Marketing", the word, has become tainted by the apparent lack of interest that most professional marketers pay to their markets. They seem to not be listening to the market...

Guess what, the market stops listening to them...

So we need to be aware, understand our role, power, influence and impact on “sales”… I’ve only been at Trinity for a couple of years, but even in that time I’ve seen a marked shift in the sphere of influence of our Strategic Consultants and certainly in my role and with my skills it’s apparent to me that we are all becoming a powerful mix of Technologist, Strategist, Marketer and Sales Person…

So I ask you all to think about “Social Media in the Sales Cycle”, who should be “selling” and what role do you have in the “Social Sales Cycle”?

• Who should be blogging?
• Who should be delivering content through our web site?
• Who should be “listening” to where our brand is?
• Who should be attending events?
• Should we Tweet?
• Who should be speaking?
• Who should update CRM?
• Who should have the relationships?

The Ant Clay view of the world is that anyone with a voice, with authenticity, with trust, with brand, with respect, with experience and something positive to offer for your organisation and its clients (new and old) should “be involved”….

Involved doesn't mean leading, owning or solely involved… involvement, many voices, authenticity an employee crowd-sourced sales cycle :-)

If you’re in any doubt that the world is changing have a look at the great presentations out there on marketing, social media, new ways of working etc.. Matt Groves did a great presentation on “Building Trust via the Web” at a team meeting earlier in the week… He gets it, I get it, do you or your organisation or your clients??

And Finally: Doing a Google search for “Social Sales Cycle” brings back zero hits! That phrase is mine :-) 
Update: it now brings back one result from a tweet of mine! http://twitter.com/Soulsailor

Written with Windows Live Writer

Technorati Tags: "Social Sales Cycle"