Every week, I would venture there are over 100 blog posts or articles talking about Social Business. Too often, the focus seems to be about how business should leverage technology to more effectively reach customers. But, Vala Afshar, CMO and CCO for Enterasys, would point out, Social is a mind set. When you talk about “being social” with Vala, phrases like:
- Nothing’s more important than the customer.
- Collaboration is critical, it’s messy, but you can’t be social without collaboration–between people in your organization, with your customers, and your community.
- Social business demands share accountability.
- Without share values, you can’t be social.
- Social business is about co-creation.
- If you want to be social, you have to focus on your culture and people.
- Metrics are critical, you need to track how you’re doing.
- If you aren’t willing to be totally transparent, you can’t be social.
- Execution velocity is critical for social businesses.
And I could go on. Not a mention about technology, but a set of principles about how businesses should work, the example leaders must set, how we live and execute these principles every day. These are the foundation principles of Social Business (I wrote more about this a couple of weeks ago in Social Business Is Not About Technology). Vala, is passionate about social business and it’s impact. Enterasys provides a visible example of how to be social.
Eventually, the conversation wanders around to technology. Technology is important to businesses that are already Social. It extends their reach, amplifies their impact and accelerates the ability of customers and people in the organization to interact.
I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I enjoyed the discussion Vala and I had. It’s a little long–about 40 minutes, but you will find it well worth your time. If you want to hear a passionate endorsement of the power of Social Business and it’s impact on the results we produce with our customers, look no further than Vala. Enjoy the podcast!
Thanks for the great interview with Vala Afshar.
I’m in the beginning phase of learning about Social Business (Social Marketing). One of the interesting and scariest aspects of modern Social Business is the instant transparency of a company’s product quality, culture and perhaps even access to lower level employees. This requires a management team with a strong backbone and a major change in management attitudes. However, more and more customers and potential customers will demand transparency. Overall, I believe that the modern concept of Social Business will force management to be more receptive to customer concerns and improved quality of product and service.
Thanks for the comment Charles. You make an important point–as businesses become more social (not meaning the technologies), having the courage and stamina to be truly transparent, listening to and learning from employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, and the community will set the leaders apart.