Companies are evolving past the stage of ‘shiny toys’ and are taking their strategy a step further and stretching it across departmental functions outside of marketing and aligning it with their overall business goals – an approach that becomes ingrained and an extension of the organization vs. one siloed focus.

Human Barriers

With this evolution come internal challenges. There are various obstacles that we come across but the one at the forefront is of the human kind. Changes in a business’ culture and how they’ve been accustomed to operating is as much about the people and behaviors as it is the strategies that they’re leading.

So, what do these human barriers look like and how do we get through them? Below are some challenges we’ve seen and a few highlights on how-to proactively and positively break-through those barriers:

Challenges

• Silos: yes, everyone’s favorite poster child when it comes to internal challenges. I don’t need to go into detail about this challenge but we all know that they still exist where teams don’t see the benefit of a cohesive vs. singular approach to the business

• Pushback: this happens at various levels. Pushback occurs at both early and late stages in the game when working with teams on an integrated approach that push the boundaries of what they’re accustomed to. They may have gotten to one level in the overall vision but can get stuck and hesitant at the next one

• Running rogue: one of my personal favorites (not) is the challenge of a herd of employees who are ‘interested’ in social and want to create every page and profile under the sun on as many platforms as possible

Breaking-through

• Education: in managing any sort of change, the biggest hill to climb is education. There are new business concepts, technologies, and vernacular that are foreign to those you see as a barrier. This process is more than just a couple presentations to team members – you need to bring these team members into the meat and potatoes of what you envision. Knowledge sharing is one thing but making them a part of the process and acknowledging their continued growth helps to gain their trust and understanding in this stage

• Structure: change and unfamiliar territory naturally creates discomfort for people. Creating structure and building process is important when trying to rope other departments/teams into a new landscape. Clearly define your strategy, what your goals are, the guardrails in accomplishing those goals and how you envision team X helping in the business’ growth in social. Make them feel like an integral part of the plan and not just a one-off (see, it works both ways)

The double-edged sword

• Support: this one deserves its own category because depending on your organization, it could fall in either of the above categories. Internal support is a bit of a no-brainer, as it is critical in helping alleviate cultural clashes and helps support social and the vision for the organization. On the same token, this is also a potential barrier that could break your attempts at trying to slowly massage the thinking of those very people you’re trying to help along this evolving social path. There needs to be complete alignment, openness and trust with leadership and your team/goals for these barriers to come down in a positive and efficient way. Without those aspects lining up, the reverse could happen and leadership either thwarting your actions or diverting it into an entirely new direction that strays away from the original vision

I only added a few key challenges and opportunities here but want to leave the rest open to you. What other areas do you feel are barriers and how can we work to get past them?

Father: That’s interesting.

Daughter: What’s interesting, daddy?

Father: This thing over here.

Daughter: What thing?

Father: Nothing.

That short back and forth left me frustrated. Sure, I’m not a father yet but I do know when there’s a lack of communication, especially when the other party (in this case, a child) is hoping to learn and understand. I hear this often with the social media whateveryouwannacallme living in ‘the bubble’ and paying no mind to the learning curves of others. But where I see it having greater impact is internally where individuals/teams are trying to break down barriers, evolve and venture into new areas where colleagues and the business need to be educated and led. There’s a bridge that needs building, yet the disconnect remains – but why?

Complacency

People have let complacency set in. As we work on (gently) breaking through human barriers, there’s a higher level of education that needs to be addressed. The problem is that we lose sight of what that entails because we’re not preaching to the choir anymore. We’re talking to a room full of people who are curious, skeptical and uninformed. These people come with different levels of thinking and the responsibility is on us to equip them to understand so there is a two-way dialogue on the business at hand and not a siloed room of thoughts.

Laziness

Communication is not easy. How we communicate with our communities to help them grow takes a LOT of effort. It’s not easy to create and sustain these networks but if we want to continue to deliver value, we have to keep up the gritty side of it. It sounds great on paper to want to connect the dots and become ‘integrated’ with our internal communities, but lacking the hard work to do so will result in the very same silos and leave a sense of ambiguity between your respective teams – and in the end, that doesn’t help serve your business’ goals.

Now that I laid out the prominent issues I see, what ways can we better it?

Honesty/Openness

I put these two together as it’s easy to be outspoken, but being honest and open in those same words is more difficult. I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum. In situations where the open dialogue occurred after the fact, where bickering and disagreement ensued and little was accomplished. On the flip, I’m thankful to now be a part of brainstorms and strategic meetings where it’s encouraged to speak up and provide your thoughts/opinions and create a conversation that pushes plans forward collectively.

Collaboration

This doesn’t happen without the aforementioned honesty and openness. There is no two-way street, no open dialogue, no brainstorm without that. That’s where the gold is. That’s where the greatest disagreements, ideas and A HA moments are created. It’s easy and silly for us to think that we, from a singular role/department, can do it all and that we have all the answers. That’s not the type of attitude that breeds a collaborative culture where the entire business can grow together. You have smart people all around you, take advantage of those minds!

I listed our four points that organizations should either put in check or put into play, but let’s hear your experiences. What are your thoughts on disconnected communications?

I was glad though to see that Southwest responded quickly and even more than once (whether to people’s liking or not) – but I want to tackle an even deeper issue than that:

Social Responsibility

It’s no secret that the social web allows us to interact with businesses more closely and under a larger microscope than ever before. But when does one draw the line from expecting rapid communication to an issue, to going overboard and abusing your ‘social power’ for the benefit of yourself and to balloon a story even larger than it needs to be?

On one side I see Kevin Smith, a filmmaker who has more followers than Southwest Airlines themselves. A guy who was definitely wronged by the company and used his influence to voice his displeasure. On the flip side, I see a guy who continues to berate and badger SWA all over Twitter and IMO, abusing the social responsibility that we all really have in this space. For what? To truly push the message that SWA did wrong or to USE the social web to continue one’s own agenda?

We EXPECT, DEMAND, WANT big and small from companies online – but when it comes to us, the consumer, we apparently get a free pass when it comes to RESPECT, UNDERSTANDING and RESPONSIBILITY online.

Next time you want to flip the script and go Kevin Smith or Motrin Moms on a company, sit back and think about the openness of this space and the responsibility that comes along with it. Even more so, think to yourself if you’d truly do the same in-person if this situation were to happen at a brick & mortar.

But enough of my side, what do you think of this story? Is Kevin right in his continued messages against SWA? Or did Southwest drop the ball far enough to deserve this amount of ridicule?

What got me thinking is the social web and how we, as consumers, respond to brands that are utilizing these platforms to build a community but to also attract new customers. Razorfish recently conducted a study on this, stating that special offers drive engagement in social media. Some interesting takeaways:

• Those who follow a brand on Twitter, 44% did so to receive exclusive deals (37% Facebook)

• 24% follow a brand on Twitter for customer service (33% Facebook)

• 64% made their first purchase from a company as a result of a digital interaction

Garrick Schmitt of Razorfish, also stated:

To retain and add customers, marketers need to shift focus from brand awareness and impressions to creating campaigns that drive people to make purchases and spread the word about products and services they use to friends.

While I agree these product-driven strategies have been successful for big and small businesses, I’m curious how sustainable it can be in the long run. Gaining customers through special offers may be obtainable, but what happens when that next, more exclusive deal comes from a competitor?

What I feel has even more value, in addition to this study, is organizations offering exclusive content to their community. Providing value, not just monetarily, but by connecting them with content that is 1 – solving a need through direct communication and 2 – created specifically for that social community. Ultimately, creating longer-lasting customer relationships.

So, I ask you this:

Can a sustainable relationship be built between a customer and a brand – solely through exclusive deals? Or does it require more of a connection, driven by not just $, but through content that provides value and engages the community outside of the product itself?

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m currently not a 9-5er and love workshifting on days I feel the need. Doing work in the digital space gives me the freedom and flexibility to do so. It’s how I stay connected with my community, how I continue to learn and grow, and how I’m able to get closer to that next opportunity. Most would probably think that I’m an advocate of this lifestyle – but I’m not all for it, as I question this logic with this piece of my comment:

We work at all times of the day because we’re able to. But does that mean we have to?

We’re wanting and given this flexibility so that we can adhere to different work and life styles, but when do we realize that it may be having an adverse effect on our personal lives than actually helping our schedule? This is a thought that I’ve gotten into deep discussions about recently with Teresa Basich. Talking shop on work methods and how we can better manage and create efficiency in our everyday and professional lives.

Don’t get me wrong – I love that I can work on projects throughout the day, while creating blog posts and connecting with folks on Twitter and other networks – but the deeper I get into this space that I love, the more I realize that the line is becoming blurred to the point that people can’t pull themselves away and disconnect online, and reconnect offline.

I’m conflicted and wonder where we draw the line and get back the time that the non 9-5 life has taken away? Are we spending these newly found working hours inefficiently, or is it the desired course of the digital space, giving us the responsibility to utilize it efficiently?

I’d love to hear your side of it.

They’ve been talking about the company’s history, the bread, and the passion that has gone into this business for over 20 years. What stuck out to me, as I overheard/eavesdropped/call-it-what-you-want on their training, was what the class ‘leader’ said:

We build trust through our relationships with our customers and our community.

I found it inspiring to hear a brick & mortar business, let alone a restaurant/bakery, put such precedence on this statement. Why did I find such surprise in it? One – we unfortunately don’t see such a passionate offline business with equally as passionate employees, as we do with Panera. Two – we seemingly correlate trust, relationships and community specifically with the online space.

Is the offline space that much more different than online when building trust and a passionate community? Trusting relationships are around us in our everyday lives with our family and friends, but why does it seem that when it comes to business, it’s more easily conceived online than when face-to-face with your customers?

In my opinion, business cultures have gone off base to a point where connecting with their customers as more than just a $ sign is out of the realm of possibility – and that’s where it has to start, culture. Panera has been in business since 1987 and from what I’ve seen in my dozens of visits and now with this new-employee class, they’ve instilled such a culture and passion within the business itself that it’s what every employee seemingly lives & breathes.

Kudos to Panera, but what can other brick & mortar businesses do to instill this sort of culture and to gain their customers’ trust? Do you have an experience like mine that you’d like to add?

Sound off – the floor is yours.

Aside from the video being completely hilarious, it depicts the story of his experience with United Airlines. Worse news for them, the video has already accumulated over 100k views and has only been live for 2 days.

Though it has been MONTHS since this happened, where Dave was denied a claim and was left with a $1,200 bill just to repair the broken guitar, United Airlines has taken note and responded through Twitter:

This has struck a chord w/ us and we’ve contacted him directly to make it right.

No pun intended =).

But to United Airlines’ side, there is specifically a 24-hour claim period and Dave passed that allotted time before he took action.

But are there exceptions?

Is United taking him seriously only because he has the power of music to have his voice heard (though it’s taken 9 months to do so)? Would all customers who went through a similar ordeal be treated the same, if they couldn’t sing? Or, is it OK to make exceptions for outstanding cases such as this one?

And lastly, is United Airlines wanting to right their wrong good on them, or is it too little too late to salvage the damage of this video? Sound off.

Wait, what?

For those, like myself, who already subscribe to their service, we’re scratching our heads as to why Sirius XM is actually making customers who want to use the iPhone app pay an additional fee on top of their monthly costs. In my eyes, they totally missed the mark – not only with their pricing strategy but also in respect to their customers. Don’t take my word for it, take a look at the 2-stars given by 35,752 ratings and some of the 3,936 customer reviews:

I went through a good amount of the reviews and a hefty majority share the above users’ sentiments about the app. Customers are lashing out at the company, labeling them as greedy and threatening to cancel their service, while a couple users above have done so already.

Look, I understand that they want to monetize their app and service, as they’ve had a rocky road since the Sirius/XM merger, but why not charge for the app itself. Their customers would be much more open to that then an additional monthly charge tacked on.

Sirius XM could have taken advantage of the opportunity to reach out to their community of subscribers and ask them what they would want and expect from an iPhone radio app. But instead, they’ve alienated many of them and probably sent their iPhones sticking to radio app competitors, Pandora and Last.fm.

I’m curious as to how many customers have bought the additional ‘premium’ service to use the app, but I’m more concerned as to whether Sirius XM is listening to the community’s voice and if any action is going to be taken at a seemingly failed attempt in the iPhone app market.

What’s your take? Am I being too harsh on them or are we, as their customers, right in feeling slighted by having to pay more? I want to hear your side.

The always-smart words of Amber and Chris brought about this thought with their two varying customer experiences. A synopsis to their stories: Amber gave a raving review about her dentist (and spa) and how they not only treat her as a person, but have done many things to make the idea of going to the dentist, bearable. They’ve built a setting that’s far from the norm, and it works, because the focus is on the people. On the latter side, Chris went on a short rant about his dying Macbook and how Apple forces customers to make an appointment with them online. Problem here was, well, Chris couldn’t actually get on his laptop because of the MB issue. So, he either finds another computer to make an appointment on or go in-store to do so. Online processes are typically fast and seamless, but it isn’t always the best case for all customer issues.

These two stories are on opposite ends of the customer rope but what stuck out to me even more was the thought of – convenience vs. experience.

Convenience

Your company has goals in mind and probably already has a process in how business practices are performed. You learn from your environment and what is preached in boardroom meetings and company lunches. You’re taught this the minute you step foot in that company. The bottom line ends up being that all projects and campaigns are done from the eyes of the company. Understandably, it’s easy to think that what you and your team have just created is revolutionary and that your customers will see you in a brighter light than before. Trust me, I’ve been there. The setting where a great product is built but specifically resonates with what we see as an awesome feature, and what we deem as convenient – to implement and utilize.

Then something clicked. Why the hell aren’t we thinking about the people who are actually going to be using it? Shouldn’t we focus our product around the consumer, how they use it, and the type of experience they have with our company? Which leads me to the other side of this story:

Experience

This word can be had for several meanings but what we’re looking at here is YOUR experience; how you felt towards a certain company, product, or dentist. What did they do to make your purchase or visit not only a success, but also spectacular?

Many of us have had extraordinary experiences like Amber has with her dentist office, though there are still many who have yet to do so. There’s an opportunity for many businesses to differentiate themselves and provide that special experience that most other businesses don’t offer. Something that makes you remember them for their customer care and realizing it comes first with them.

But how do we separate convenience from experience? How are companies doing it right and how can others learn from them?

I’m leaving this one open to you guys. Let me know what you think.