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Building B2B Online Communities Vanessa DiMauro CEO, Leader Networks SNCR Board Member, Research Co-Chair @ vdimauro April 1, 2012 PRSA Conference Copyright © 2012 Leader Networks, LLC

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Many Companies Are Responding Chaotically To The Social Chatter Customer Retention

Thought Leadership

Unstructured Information

On-line Community B2C Twitter Wiki

Blog B2B Facebook

RSS

Web 2.0 YouTube

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LinkedIn 3

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Which Can Result In Social Media Muddle Ø Customer

Service monitors Facebook, Twitter etc. for angry customers Ø Customer Service resolves customer issues Ø Customer Service doesn’t share issues with internal stakeholders Ø Customer Service doesn’t pass on pleased customers to Sales or Marketing Copyright © 2012 Leader Networks, LLC

Product Groups

Distribution

Sales & Channel Partners

Ø Marketing focuses on getting fans & followers to view its marketing campaigns

Online community

Marketing

Product Development

Customer Service

Ø Marketing doesn’t use Facebook, Twitter, etc. to transact Ø Marketing doesn’t mine interactions to identify new customers or feedback

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The Shift From Chaos To Focus To move from a set of discrete interactions to a dynamic and connected ecosystem of influence relationships.

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Online Customer Communities Changes Business As Usual… For The Better Deepen client relationships to increase retention

Deliver improved financial returns

Build greater brand equity

Social Capital In-person + online Extend accelerate product & services delivery

Provide better customer care

Shorten product innovation cycle Copyright © 2012 Leader Networks, LLC

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Online Community’s Day Has Come!

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Fact Nearly two-thirds (65%) of organizations surveyed in 2010 are engaged in private online communities hosted by the companies that sell them computer hardware, software and the services. ITSMA 2010 report, How Customers Choose Solutions Providers, 2010: The New Buyer Paradox, by Julie Schwartz, Katie Espinola and Olivier Nguyen Van Tan.

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Fact 49% of all B2B companies manage an online community dedicated to customers or prospects, and a third planned to create a customer community in the near future. Business.com Business Social Media Benchmarking Study (2009)

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Which Companies Need Online Customer Communities the Most? Common Characteristics of the Early Community Builders

Customers

Customer problems

(which their products or services addresses)

• Willing to share information with other customers

• Critical, ongoing and everchanging

• Have purchased a platform product and need to communicate with each other about how to capitalize on it

• Knowledge for solving problems becomes obsolete quickly

• Willing to participate in off-line user groups or in person customer summits Copyright © 2012 Leader Networks, LLC

• Customers gain major value by learning from the experiences of other customers • Urgent need to share experiences 10

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Three General Models For Community Gated

Select, narrow target audience Acceptance criteria Protected dialog Managed topical agenda Sponsor supported

Public

Open call, all interested Member directed Public forum Big bang Ad generated support

Hybrid

Tiered membership Consensus/Trend driven Public forum w/ private area Thought leadership Hybrid Revenues

Initial purchase of a product / service, product / service upgrade (e.g. new functionality), new application (e.g. increased footprint inside or outside of an operating / business unit) and ongoing maintenance (very profitable and predictable). Copyright © 2012 Leader Networks, LLC

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Improving the Way You Enhance Your Products/Services The Case of Palladium Group’s Execution Premium Community Community Fast Facts Sponsoring Company: Palladium Group (founders of the Balanced Scorecard approach to corporate measurement) Audience: Senior strategy professionals from organizations worldwide Size: More than 2,700 organizations Launch date: April 2010 Won multiple awards including SNCR Best Online Community Copyright © 2012 Leader Networks, LLC

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About Palladium Group’s XPC Case for Community

Results to Date

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• • • • •

Help practitioners of the Balanced Scorecard share knowledge Increase customer intimacy Raise awareness of products and services Tap into leading trends in strategy execution Create a new revenue-generating service line

•

More than 50% of the membership from non-US countries, deepening Palladium’s market reach Drives conference attendance, consulting projects and publishing arm of Palladium Revenue-generating in first 6 months Over 15% of new members come from peer referrals

• • •

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Deepening Customer Intimacy and Enhancing Product Development The Case of LexisNexis Investigators Network (LNIN) Community Fast Facts Sponsoring Company: LexisNexis Audience: Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Size: More than 7K registered members Launch date: April 2010 Won Forrester Groundswell Award 2011

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About the LNIN Community Case for Community

Results to date

• • • • •

Appeal to federal, state and local law enforcement Bridge the gap between law enforcement Service clients better Add value to the customer’s purchase decision Maintain strong market position

• • • • •

Over 4000 members in its first year, 1,700 agencies/ 50 states Three new product enhancements implemented Law Enforcement trends and hot spots 1100+ members have made peer-to-peer connections Analysts from Gartner recommended that law enforcement managers “leverage the at-large community for access to more information”

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Three Operational Processes Communities Needed To Succeed

Expert community facilitation

A healthy balance of Institutional content (IC) and user generated content (UGC)

Persistent and programmatic outreach

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Types Of Members And How To Activate Them Fame seekers

Connectors

Problem Solver

Key Characteristic

Seeks opportunities to grow reputation showcase thought leadership

Seeks opportunity to be valued. Connect people with each other and with content

Reticent participant but overcomes in order to get answer to their questions

Motivators

Public recognition appreciation

Off-line and online appreciation Validation thru forum post

Timely response & Information Thought leadership post

Additional responsibility as content curator or people matcher

Offline supplemental research or pointers to content or people who may help them

Example Rewards

Member spotlight Bylined article opportunity Shout-out in newsletter or in a discussion Copyright © 2012 Leader Networks, LLC

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People come for content and stay for community!

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Online Customer Communities Changes Business As Usual… For The Better Enabling customers to Enhancing the brand easily share detailed information on how they’re using their offerings with one another, which increases their value Providing a large and ongoing customer research panel

because the online community can’t be quickly duplicated by competitors – it takes time to build a vibrant community

Deepen client relationships to increase retention Extend accelerate product & services delivery

Build greater brand equity

Social Capital In-person + online

Identifying nascent customer needs before competitors recognize them – and before customers have well-articulated them

Deliver improved financial returns

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Provide better customer care

Lowering the cost of customer service by having customers solve each other’s problems

Shorten product innovation cycle 19

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Community Initiatives Should Be Aligned With Business / Functional Unit And Corporate Objectives Corporate Objectives – Financial – Customer – Process – Learning & Growth

Business / Functional Unit Objectives

Community Initiative (Business Case / ROI)

Current

Target

Outcome

Delta / ROI

General Metrics Site Metrics Business Metrics

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Thank You! For more information please contact me Vanessa DiMauro CEO, Leader Networks 617-484-0778 [email protected] Read the blog -> http://blog.leadernetworks.com http://www.leadernetworks.com Copyright © 2012 Leader Networks, LLC

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