Here’s the link to the paper on SlideShare. Have a nice read, do not hesitate to print or download the paper! We hope you like it!

VIA.

Key findings

• Modernity has long been synonymous with progress, but the idea of the future doesn’t make us dream anymore. Sixty percent of the global respondents believe society is moving in the wrong direction. More troubling, 4 in 10 sometimes feel they’re actually wasting their lives. Seventy-two percent worry about society’s moral decline.

• While just 10 percent believe digital technology will have a negative effect overall on the world, 42 percent believe it’s too soon to tell—suggesting a relatively strong level of distrust and unease about what is to come.
• Are we getting dumber? Half the sample worry that digital technology and multitasking are impairing humans’ ability to think deeply. Around two-thirds believe society has become too shallow, focusing too much on things that don’t really matter.
• Social media and online data collection are chiseling away at our privacy -and a lot of it is our own fault. Six in 10 think people should stop sharing so much of their personal thoughts and experiences online; they believe society needs to reestablish its privacy boundaries. Concern is most pronounced for the millennial generation: 7 in 10 believe today’s youth have no sense of personal privacy (two-thirds of millennials agree).
• There’s some irony in the fact that this age of hyperconnectivity is making us feel less connected. More than half the sample worry that digital communication is weakening human-to-human bonds.
• Those of us immersed in major political campaigns won’t be surprised to hear that a majority of people (58 percent) worry we’re losing the ability to engage in civil debate. Seven in 10 worry about increased political extremism, while 64 percent are concerned about the rise of paranoia and conspiracy theories.
• More than a quarter of the sample (and one-third of millennials) say social networking is making them less satisfied with their own lives.
• Despite all the freedoms people in most modern societies enjoy, we’re also feeling a longing for the order and structure of the way things used to be. Six in 10 worry about the loss of formality and the rise of a culture of “casual everything.”
• Half the sample (including just about equal numbers of women and men) expressed concern over the disappearance of clear gender roles. And 49 percent worry about the loss of religious faith.
• Our Culture of More has proved unsatisfying: A majority are tired of overconsuming and are looking to scale back and live more simply. Four in 10 say they’d be happier if they owned less stuff.
• Attention, 1%: Nearly three-quarters of respondents around the world are worried about the growing gap between rich and poor.
• And roughly half of each group worries that digital technology and multitasking are impairing people’s ability to think deeply and focus on one task at a time.

Key points

• 23% already have a corporate blog.
• 58% have an active corporate Facebook account.
• 62% have an active corporate Twitter account and have tweeted from in the past 30 days.
• The biggest number of blogs is in specialist retail industry.
• The insurance industry gets the highest number of Facebook pages.

Infographic

Infographic by- GO-Gulf.com Web Design Company.

Evidently such challenges are not solved in a flash. My experience tells me that a company often feels that there is a new dynamic by changing several small aspects. After a captivating meeting I thought: what would I do if I were the CEO of a large company tomorrow? Not taking into account all important responsibilities and the time-consuming matters which fill a company leader’s agenda, I would add these six things to my personal agenda:

1. Searching for small factors of irritation in my company
Customer satisfaction is too often seen as a school result. However the challenge is to understand the story behind the numbers. Some top managers do not understand that their clients are dissatisfied. Some are not involved sufficiently, or sometimes they no longer spot the obvious improvements or mistakes after a while. I think dissatisfaction is often caused by small things. Clients are sometimes frustrated by a detail. If I were CEO, I would like to map those sources of irritation and check what I can do to solve or avoid them in the short term, without too much extra cost. It would increase client satisfaction, but would also give the collaborators the message that all details are important when dealing with clients.

2. Random acts of kindness to top collaborators
Nothing is more motivating than a pat on the back by the big boss! Collaborators are dedicating themselves on a daily basis for their company. When they have the impression that the company leader notices and appreciates it, their self-confidence and motivation rise. As CEO I think it would be a splendid idea to get into the habit of surprising a collaborator every day with a sincere and honest pat on the shoulder. If your company employs 1,000 people, you can send 3 mails of the kind per day. And if someone did something really extraordinary, you can put the spotlight on that person and make sure that everyone notices him / her. Don’t forget to mention why that person deserves the public appraisal!

3.  Aligning internal and external communication
If the internal and external communications are different, it must be very confusing for collaborators. The only types of relevant internal communication are several operational matters. Content news or the company strategy seems to me to be something which should be communicated both internally and externally. When talking about transparency, this also implies sharing the communications with both collaborators and clients.

Furthermore it seems like a great idea to change the classic patters of internal communication. A CEO usually sends a monthly update of the state of affairs. There is also a once-a-year speech to the staff, evaluating the past year and looking forward to the coming year. Why would we not change these fixed habits and send more regular updates and share knowledge with clients and collaborators more frequently? The practical elaboration is described further (see point 5).

4. Doing customer service towards some clients
Being customer-oriented is evident, but we too often make decisions without totally realising what the impact on the client will be. In order to sense what the clients want and need, there is no better way than to get direct feedback from them. As CEO it seems extremely relevant to me that you are the main contact for certain clients, and it will also be a strong signal to your collaborators. Even in a large company you can be pragmatic about this. Choose a group of x clients and send them a personal mail that they can address you for all their problems. Many people shy away from the extra work this will entail, but it’s only a matter of coming up with a good structure to make it feasible. Furthermore not every client will mail every day to communicate a problem. In the end the client won’t believe what he is reading when he directly and personally gets a mail from a large company’s CEO, right?

5. Content: Managing my own blog and Twitter account
I would also like to Twitter myself and manage my own blog. As CEO I think it is a brilliant mindset to share your vision with everyone and to tell them what you are working on. Many collaborators see the role of a CEO as something intangible. Make it tangible, and thus become a ‘person’ rather than simply the big boss. People are milder to people than they are to functions. Research has shown that CEOs on Twitter can count on more empathy and sympathy than those who are absent. It makes a CEO very accessible and it immediately shows his/her opinions on certain topics. A blog is an extra interesting way to give a detailed description of the company’s history to collaborators and clients.

6. Frequently being present on the workfloor
I realise that, because of function level and work experience, a CEO is often different from the average collaborator, and I think many became CEO because they have certain capacities which others in their company do not have. However I know that many companies send their new managers onto the shop floor during their first months as newbies.  At AHOLD they participate in the Albert Heijn shop life (grocery store), at Praxis (Dutch DIY chain) the managers also work as shop operators in their first months. I think a CEO should do that also, but more frequently and not incognito.

So just to be sure: I realise these things do not fill or determine a company strategy. I just consider it to be six minor tactical moves which may just have a major impact on the elaboration of the strategy. What do you think? Would you choose the same 5 minor changes, or would you choose a different path? I’m curious to read what you think!

To get there, it requires change. To stay there, it requires passion and dedication. I hope you enjoyed the summary of the new book. As said, I’m open for all feedback, suggestions, opinions. And if these 6 posts aren’t enough inspiration, there is one more thing to do: order ‘The Conversation Company’

Three phases every company has to go through

As part of the preparations for this book, we interviewed 25 senior managers. Our purpose was to discuss their views about change projects. We talked to people in organisations that are already well on their way to becoming a true Conversation Company, as well as to people in organisations that have hardly started. In addition, we asked another 400 managers to complete a quantitative questionnaire about the integration of the conversation philosophy into their company. The results of these studies prove that every company goes through similar processes in their attempt to build greater customer-orientation and conversational thinking into their operations. The roadmap consists of three separate steps:

1. The build-up of knowledge: During this first step, the internal knowledge and conviction necessary to apply Conversation Management are built up in a structural manner. You follow a conscious training trajectory, making sure that you involve your legal and HR teams, as well as any other important internal partners. This creates the necessary internal consensus of support. Finally, you need to introduce the necessary hardware and software. These are the bases for a successful evolution.

2. Pilot projects: During this phase the first test projects are implemented. These projects offer important opportunities to learn, but are also a way to demonstrate the added value which can be created by the new methods. This means that as well as accelerating your learning curve, they must also have a positive effect on your marketing and financial results. At the beginning of this phase, it is important to appoint a central person (= the Conversation Manager) who is responsible for developing conversational thinking in your organisation. This is also the phase in which you must start actively listening to conversations.

3. Integration and the lever effect: In this final phase your organisation must embrace the concept of the Conversation Company fully. The 4 C‟s must be applied consistently and the gap between your company and the market must be closed. When this happens, a lever effect will be created. Everything that you do will be magnified in a positive manner and your unused conversation potential will disappear.

MOST COMPANIES HAVE HARDLY STARTED

Our research has revealed that the largest proportion (38%) of companies in Europe and the United States are still in the first phase or have not yet started with their change process. 184 14% of companies claim to have already implemented the philosophy in full. The four sectors in which this is most likely to be the case are telecom, media, travel and foodstuffs. The financial market and the health industry are currently at the bottom of the class. As a general rule, service industries are also further along the change pathway than production industries. Similarly, the largest global companies have made less progress than regional companies with fewer than 500 employees.

The shining examples of Conversation Management include Google, Zappos, Cisco, Dell, Kodak, Intel, Starbucks and Best Buy. Yet notwithstanding the great advances that they have already made, all these companies admit that there is still work to be done – or rather, that the work is never finished. The non-stop evolution of the market requires them to keep their eye continually on the ball. But if the journey to becoming a Conversation Company is a long one, it at least holds the fascination of being a true journey of discovery. There are no certainties: you are never quite sure what is going to happen and you never know in advance whether your plans will work. Everyone is exploring together and learning together. Surely this is something that you also want to be a part of?

CAN IT BE THE SAME FOR EVERY COMPANY?

Are we not missing something with our three step plan? Is there not a risk that in future every company will be more or less the same? How will companies be able to differentiate themselves if everyone follows the same path?

Have you already asked yourself these questions while reading the posts so far? It is, perhaps, an understandable reaction. It is indeed difficult to imagine that every company will seek to implement the same strategy. Even so, the research carried out by InSites Consulting showed clearly that the companies who most closely reflect the Conversation Company philosophy have all taken a remarkably similar route.

Does this mean that there are no longer any differences between companies? Of course not! Even if companies follow identical trajectories, there will always be differences between them. Why? First and foremost because the three steps to change are carried out within the framework of the company culture – and every company culture is different. To give a simple example, this means that every company will draw up its own training programme specific to its own needs. What suits Intel might not suit Unilever – and vice versa. Secondly, the pilot projects are also very different. Once again, these pilot projects are chosen on the basis of their relevance to specific company needs. For Intel this meant the development of a blog strategy, for ING (as we shall read shortly) it meant the creation of a webcare plan. Dependant upon these two variables – company culture and existing strategy – the final outcome will continue to vary from company to company.

Does this then mean that there will be no similarities? On the contrary, there will be plenty of similarities! Just like every company is today organised in accordance with the silo model, in the future companies will be organised along conversational lines. Just like every company today arranges market research to learn more about its customers, in the future this will be done through direct customer communication. A number of elements of the new philosophy offer advantages to every company, so it is reasonable to expect that these will be adopted by every company. But the content and the implementation will continue to be different in almost every case.

The last part of my book describes in detail the projects which every company needs to undertake in order to complete its transformation into a Conversation Company. Completing such a process usually takes between 24 and 48 months. The exact speed (like so many other things) is largely dependent upon the culture of your company. One of the most crucial steps is the selection of the right pilot projects. These projects must have sufficient impact to create both support and movement within the company with minimum delay. No company can afford to wait 48 months for impact! Both in the short term and the medium term, it is important that the change process develops momentum – and then keeps it. Be aware of the fact that this type of process will always create tension and frustrations between the leaders and the followers in your company. For some, things will be much too slow; for others, much too fast. You can help to reduce these tensions and frustrations to a minimum by working through the process in a step-by-step manner. Your leaders will be mentally in stage 3 while your followers are still in stage1! Draw up a clear plan in advance and make sure that everyone keeps to it. In this way, everyone will have the same expectations.

This is it!

Now the real work can begin: the building of your own Conversation Company. I wish you every success! The purpose of the book is to offer you a new business philosophy and to suggest the tools that will be necessary to implement that philosophy. I hope that I have succeeded in that task and I look forward to seeing the first results of your efforts. I really like any kind of feedback and conversations. Please feel free to let me know what you think of the book and where you do not agree with it. I would also love to hear about your practical experiences. On Twitter you can find me at @Steven_InSites. Or you can mail to steven@insites-consulting.com.

Some of the things you’ll learn in this video:

• Ford’s experience with Google+ and its potential for brands
• How the conversation on Google+ is different
• How their blogging impacts sales
• What Ford is doing to stimulate fan engagement
• How Ford wants to bring social media inside cars
• How to make humor work in your social media marketing
• Why you need to focus on creating a story
• The upcoming trends in social media

Sit back. Get your earphones on. These 8 minutes will defintely be NOT a waste of time! Thanks Michael Stelzner, for sharing!

I especially like the way they’ve devided your potential audience into three clusters: suspects, prospects and leads. I also can only adhere to the 2 golden rules on slide 32. Don’t interrupt the conversation with wrong stage content and No Master Calendar = Chaos. In my daily work, looking back and forward, I used this rules everyday and I will continue to do so