Social Media & Management Mojo

There’s no shortage of social media consultants on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Words and phrases like ROI, social media, Web 2.0, community and the like are tossed around as if everyone understood what they mean. There are even some “rock stars” in the social media space, or at least in the social media subculture.

But when you boil down all the (sometimes overheated) rhetoric about Web 2.0, it comes down to answering two basic questions:

• How can my company operate more efficiently and effectively?
• What can I do to make it easy – even obvious — for my customers to do business with me?

Put another way, there are two dimensions to your company’s ecosystem: internal and external. First, what tools will help your employees work better together? Second, what tools will make doing business with you a no-brainer? Answering these two questions will later help you address the in and out of social media.

The good news (sort of) is that it’s not hard to learn about the pain points your employees and your customers experience. When it comes to employees, your Human Resources department probably can cite chapter and verse. When it comes to customers, talk to Sales, check your call center logs, read your email and scan posts about your company splashed across the Web. Are you in regular communication with the people in your organization who sit in front of customers and employees every day?

Once you understand what the various challenges are, make a list. Or two. Or even three. Put yourself in the shoes of your employees and your customers. If you were them, what could you do to make their lives easier (and even more fun)? Most of the needed changes won’t cost a lot of money but will make a big difference. In fact, some of the changes might actually save the company money down the road — especially when you consider the costs of employee and customer turnover.

Notice that I didn’t mention social media until this point in the process. That’s intentional. You need to understand the challenges your company faces before you can think through how social media can help address those problems. Be careful about putting the technological cart before the horse.