2009 October | B2B Voices

Toro Pioneers Influencer Relations to Grow Commercial Business

Filed under Case Study by Aaron Pearson on 30 October 2009 at 10:06 {2 comments}

“We like to joke that we make tall grass short,” says Michael Happe, vice president and general manager of the Commercial Division at Toro Co.

In fact, caring for turf is a lot more complicated than that – and critically important – when you’re a golf course or a stadium. These commercial customers seem to recognize that and reward Toro with about a 10 percent premium for many of Toro’s products because they appreciate the ways Toro can help make their turf just a little bit better and deliver better TCO. Happe told members of the Business Marketing Association here in Minneapolis this week that such customer loyalty has ultimately been created through strong multidimensional relationships built over many decades.

Clearly, “social networking” predates Twitter and Facebook.

Toro equipment at St. Andrews - courtesy Toro Co.

Happe considers People to be the “mysterious fifth P” of marketing but it’s clear that it’s not just a trite saying. I was actually rather fascinated to learn the degree to which Toro leverages influencer networks to grow their business. My firm, Weber Shandwick, has partnered with Community Analytics to help clients quickly identify influencers that matter, but Toro has nurtured its own

network over a long period of time, and it’s delivered business results.

Golf is Toro’s biggest business and they’ve been serving it since courses motorized horse-pulled reel motors in the 1920’s. Through the decades, the company has invested a tremendous amount of effort creating advocates from individuals that have never bought their products.

These influencers are people like golf course architects, irrigation designers, consultants, universities and associations. Toro has a corporate accounts person who spends nearly all of his time just on these influencers. They are an integral part of the Voice of the Customer process, with their own Toro-sponsored events, meetings and networking opportunities. As a result, when customers call trusted advisors for advice, inevitably these people tell them they can trust Toro.

Influencer relations for Toro is also about unleashing Toro experts to do more than selling. Some of the most important business development employees at Toro don’t sell equipment. Like Dr. Jim Watson, who became a go-to guy for Toro for nearly six decades whenever customers had turf problems. He helped the Chicago Parks Department solve an emergency turf issue at Soldier Field in the early ‘90s when they needed to lay new sod over sand without roots, two weeks before the first Chicago Bears game of the year. He advised the Chicago Parks Department that they could get through the season by cutting the sod several inches thick so it would stay in place during football play despite the lack of roots.

Or John Singleton, a Toro employee who for decades became the go-to-guy for irrigation issues for golf architects like Robert Trent Jones, and put this comprehensive service ahead of selling. They were successful because of their relationships.

Channel partners, ad agencies, market researchers – the way Toro engages with all these groups reflects the high value they put on deep, interdependent relationships.

Today, Toro has a leading share in the golf industry. The recession has been difficult and they’ve had to cut back on some of these efforts to make it through, but Toro’s CEO has been with the company for 32 years, knows what sustainable success requires, and has instilled it in the culture of the company. It’s a good reminder of the limits of quarter-to-quarter business management.

What is social media success in B2B… and some examples

Filed under Discussion, Soap Box by Kate Brodock on 23 October 2009 at 00:10 {10 comments}

I’d like to use this blog post to spark a discussion on the idea of “success.” It was brought on when Arik, fellow B2B Voices writer, brought the following blog post to our team’s attention. The post, entitled Finally! A B2B social media success story, describes a humorous use of video by a printer manufacturer in Massachusetts. The “Destroy Your Printer Video Contest” allowed for submission of user-generated content that shows the best-ever destruction of their printer, which, as Office Space taught us all, is the bane of the office-place existence.

[Short pause to insert Office Space clip... can't let that opportunity pass]

The winning submission of the Destroy your Printer Video Contest was Cottage Revolution, seen below:

I’m not disputing the success of this contest, in fact, it’s pretty darn good (full list of videos is on the ELS blog…). I would probably want to learn more about how many people called back etc, and might agree that the sale reported on the blog post was probably luck, but it was definitely a great way to engage people and bring eyes to the company.

What I’d like to talk about is what “success” means. Was it the sale in this case? That seems to be so for the author of this post. However, Nathan Dube from Expert Laser Services, had his goals laid out from the get-go, as quoted:

“The focus of the contest was not ‘let’s get customers’,” he said. ” The focus was to drive more traffic to the website, build inbound links, and create good content. The fact that we landed a new service and repair customer was not our goal, but it happened.”

By all counts, this was a success. But there have been numerous, numerous, counts of this sort of success for B2B social media use. It wasn’t the first.

Look at HubSpot, for instance. They are strictly B2B with their product offering, but through an incredible content production program, they have significantly increased the awareness of their product, their website traffic has grown exponentially, and their inbound links/SEO have benefited enormously (although, that last part better be true, since that’s their entire business!). I would also add that if you asked them for their conversion rates, they do find a good amount of actual revenue opportunities from this program.

Another example that I always like is Kinaxis, which offers supply chain management solutions. To the average consumer, this is not only just B2B, but could be perhaps….a bit dry. However, their blog is one I use often as a great example of building customer and industry relations and positioning them at the top of their space. In my opinion, it’s also a great example of following blogging best-practices quite well. I don’t know the numbers behind the Kinaxis blog, but I would guess that their brand awareness in an industry where most players aren’t thinking about social media or SEO has benefited from their program. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they too had actual conversion result.

A few months ago we posted a case study on ShipServ. John Watton, VP of Marketing, seemed to think that the program was successful according to the goals he set forth.

You can also check out Social Media B2B for a load of what many consider to be “successful” B2B social media efforts.

So this brings me to my question. What is success? My answer is that success first of all depends on your goals. I talked about 4 reasons a B2B company should start a social media program back in April, and many of those weren’t directly sales-related. The most important process is to decide what you want to achieve and build a strategic plan around that set of goals.

If your goals are much like Nathan’s at ELS, then success is seen with an increase in website traffic, producing great content, and increasing inbound links. Landing a sale wasn’t on that list. But that’s ok, because ELS sat down and they identified what they wanted out of a social media program. There is tremendous value in increasing hits to your website.

Additionally, the entire concept of brand equity originated because there is inherent value in the amount of reach your brand has, and what it’s level of awareness is, as well as whether that image is positive or negative. So much so that it can be a line item in accounting and is part of valuation.

But I digress. The most successful programs are the ones that go through that process of goal-setting, and their success is dependent on the decision points of that process. It’s sometimes difficult from an outside perspective to know what those internal goals are, and we assume success – or lack thereof. It’s also a lot less clear what the various uses for B2B social media use are from an external standpoint than it is for B2C.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Does success mean a sale? What does success depend upon? Are companies that focus on non-sales related goals wasting their resources with the program? Is their really enough value in things like driving more website traffic or creating a body of content?Do you have other examples of successful programs in the B2B space?

B2B Marketing On a Budget: Thought Leadership with John Watton of ShipServ (futurelab.net)
Study – Collaborative Networks Produce Better Ideas (cloudave.com)

Educate. Then motivate.

Filed under Discussion by Arikhanson on 22 October 2009 at 23:16 {no comments}

Convincing your B2B organization to adopt a “social” mindset is no easy task. Let’s face it, it can be an uphill battle. But, with the right attitude and approach you can sidestep some of the typical landmines and increase your odds of success

I had the good fortune to sit in a session with Greg Verdino, chief creative officer at crayon, that centered on this very topic. I’d like to share some of his insights because I think are particularly relevant for the marketer/PR professional that’s trying to sell digital within the walls of any B2B organization.

Verdino’s first lesson: Start with education. And make sure your research is rooted in fact, figures and studies. Source the latest adoption numbers and trends. Google “best social media stats”—you’ll be surprised what you can find and use for free online in terms of research. Armed with this key information, you can start to build the case with real, hard numbers to your executive team.

Next, Verdino encourages us to motivate leadership and spur them to action. He listed out a number of tips in his presentation. I pulled out the top six I thought would be most beneficial to those attempting to jumpstart a digital presence within a B2B organization:

Provide a hands-on demonstration. Sit down with your leadership team right at the computer and show them how to use some of these tools. You might be surprised at the results.
Provide clear explanations. There is no room for industry jargon in these discussions.
Keep it simple. No need to overcomplicate this. Stick to the basics. Remember, most at the leadership level have a minimal understanding of these tools and platforms.
Make it personal. Find a way to connect with a passion or personal interest of the executive. Could make all the difference in the world.
Speak their language. Don’t speak in social media jargon. Talk in business terms. That’s where they live. Meet them there.
Arm yourself with tangible benefits. As with any pitch, you need to identify what’s in it for them. Come ready to talk benefits, not features.

I know some of these tips and approaches seem basic. But, they do bear repeating. Have any of these approaches worked for you? Do you have others to add? What’s work and what hasn’t?

Are you using StockTwits? If not, you need to give it a look

Filed under Application by Allan Schoenberg on 19 October 2009 at 00:03 {5 comments}

I can’ t recall the exact date I went to StockTwits online — it was about this time one year ago — but I do remember that I was immediately captivated by it. What the site essentially offers is real-time commentary by traders who use Twitter to discuss what they are doing. The company was co-founded by Soren Macbeth and Howard Lindzon. You can see Soren on CNBC from April 2009 here talking about the company. Howard also is a co-founder of the fund SocialLeverage, which has invested in companies like TweetDeck and Bit.ly.

StockTwits - Real Investors. Real Ideas. Real time.

While the site is geared towards traders of stocks, futures, options and currencies, it also can act as a source of vital information for communicators doing or working with investor relations. As a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: CME), I can watch what shareholders are saying about our company — how they react to our news, discuss the company, discuss competitors and trade our stock. Rather than wait to read the latest analyst reports or view a Google/Yahoo chat board, I can now read in real-time what our shareholders are talking about. In addition, the page adds a real-time news stream about our company and a daily/weekly/monthly chart on our stock. If you work for a publicly traded company, or your clients are publicly traded, you now have a new tool to listen to a key audience.

Monitoring the competition also has its advantages via StockTwits. As outlined above, you can replicate the same strategy that you have established for your own company and now expand this to all your competitors. I’ve set up my StockTwits porfolio to track other financial exchanges in order to stay on track of their shareholder streams, how they are communicating to shareholders, and then report back anything I see as important or timely.

StockTwits has also expanded beyond their web site. The company recently launched a desktop application that has a look and feel of TweetDeck but geared toward traders. Two features I particularly like about the desktop application include: The ability to create or join individual groups that are topic specific (very helpful for our exchange-listed products to follow customers), and the ability to create groups in order to send private messages directly to the entire group or to multiple groups that don’t appear in the public stream. The company has also launched its own web TV program at StockTwits.tv.

While I’ve found StockTwits to a must-have site for me, the integration of investor relations and social media is still young. I read this post last week on Investor Relations and Web 2.0 very helpful, especially the spreadsheet at the very end. The spreadsheet alone is worth the read and to share with your investor relations team.

This week in Chicago is our annual Futures Industry Association Exposition. I was fortunate enough to be asked to lead the first social media panel for any conference hosted by our key industry association. This panel would not be complete without the participation of Howard Lindzon and StockTwits and he graciously accepted my invitation. I plan to follow up this post later this week with an interview with Howard. If you have any thoughts on StockTwits, investor relations and social media, or questions you want me to ask Howard let me know.

Have You Hugged Your InfoSec Team Today?

Filed under Uncategorized by Allan Schoenberg on 5 October 2009 at 18:16 {5 comments}

Do you know the name of the person who manages your information security (InfoSec)? If not, you may want to take some time to get to know them before building your case with legal to launch a social media initiative.

security.

One of the consistent questions asked of me in applying social media at CME Group is on the topic of getting legal support. I’ve addressed this in several speeches and continue to talk with people about building a case when asked. Recently, I have begun to point out that getting legal buy-in really starts with having a key ally on your side — in my case it was our information security team. Let me explain.

When it comes to any type of communication online – Twitter, Facebook, email, bit.ly — security risks exist. Take a look at this story from today’s InformationWeek at the latest news on security and social media. And after working in the information security industry a few years I was able to have a unique point of view on these threats when I met with InfoSec.

With the support of information security to pursue social media, I was able to bring a strong reference to the discussion with our legal and disclosure committee. In essence, I had laid out my argument with a team that resisted at first, but after meeting their criteria they became (and remain) supportive. In addition, I was able to build a stronger relationship with IT as we continue to look for ways to enhance our online presence.

Here’s how I addressed the challenge with information security as we became more proactive in social media in financial services back in 2007.

Talk the talk. As someone genuinely interested in technology, but not an engineer, I often like to say I speak geek. For me to be able to talk to our information security team in their jargon helped in the initial discussions. Before meeting with InfoSec you should have a firm grasp of the risks that exist and that you understand this issues of spam, torjan horses, viruses, etc.
Have a business case. Doing social media for the sake of social media is not a plan, and you will likely be at odds with the InfoSec team (among others). As you look to promote your brand they look to protect it. Come prepared and be ready for some tough questions about why you need the resources you’re requesting. This discussion can help you develop your case to other audiences.
List your resources. Don’t come to the meeting without a list of what you need, and don’t just show up to a meeting with a list of resources expecting a rubber stamp of approval. Since every application comes with a risk make sure you have at least two business reasons for choosing that technology and that you realize the potential risks from its use. You will also need to show how you will protect against any security miscues (e.g., only clicking on links from trusted sources).
Stay on top of the news. During the process of talking with InfoSec it was helpful to also send them news and information about risks that were occurring. The fact that I was able to identify the risks that were occurring and that I was trying to actively protect the exchange helped build confidence with the team.
Bring examples. Resistance to allow the use of certain technologies may be more difficult than others, so come prepared with real world examples of companies that use it. If they see that competitors in your industry or other blue chip companies are already deploying the technology you will help them see that it can be achieved.

The lessons learned here were two-fold.

First, play to your strengths. In this case it was my experience in information security. You should know where your strengths are — investor relations, sales & marketing, risk management - in order to build an ally for your efforts.

Second, understand your internal network of influence. Having allies, while never a guarantee, helps to garner support. As we discussed social media with our legal team I was able to immediately eliminate one key obstacle — information security — while demonstrating that others supported the effort.

If you want to continue to pursue this topic another resource for you is the online Twitter discussion Behind the Firewall started by Arik Hanson (@ArikHanson) and Rick Mahn (@RickMahn). Simply search Twitter for #btf to follow the topics related to this blog post.

As always, good luck and share your thoughts/experiences below or on Twitter at #btf.

Use Storytelling to Draw In Customers

Filed under Uncategorized by Aaron Pearson on 2 October 2009 at 10:18 {no comments}

storytelling I realize that a business purchase is supposed to be a rational decision driven by the need to maximize net present value or achieve a high internal rate of return or return on investment or whatever. Sure, it’s just economics.

It’s not really that simple. For one thing, everyone has their numbers, so as a buyer, what gets my attention? Try telling stories.

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist. How exciting do you suppose a lecure from Dr. Taylor would be on the mental and physiological effect of a left hemisphere brain hemorrhage?

You might be surprised. Watch this TED video.

It’s about 15 minutes long and you won’t want to turn it off.

Let’s take a look at why that is. First, it turns out that the subject having the hemorrhage is none other than Dr. Taylor. Our expert is suddenly vulnerable, a regular human being, not just a super-genius scientist, so we can relate to her. There’s very little jargon in her language (“A blood vessel exploded in my brain.”). There’s tension. A life is on the line. There’s even humor. Our hero pulls through and we learn something from the experience. Wow, awesome stuff.

If Dr. Taylor can make neurological disorders come to life for you, surely, surely you can find a way to make your software/business service/manufacturing system compelling.

I spent part of an afternoon this week watching some customer case study videos remarking on how hard it is for us in practice to employ storytelling techniques. Too often the formula is like this: 1. Business challenge. 2. Selected Vendor X for various reasons. 3. Implementation went well. 4. Business benefits.

That’s a very sensible, rational way to make a grounded business argument to invest in your product or service. But it’s dreadfully boring and won’t get anyone’s attention. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
1. Make a person the hero of your story, not an institution. It’s hard to feel like a multinational corporation is just like you. But that CIO or finance manager or supply chain manager is a human being. He or she has good days and bad days, loves the job sometimes and dreads it at other times. We can empathize.
2. Remember the setting details. It may not seem all that relevant when you’re collecting the information for your story, but noting the little things – like what the weather was like or what they ate for lunch or how people were behaving – can help pull readers into the story.
3. Tell the bad, then the good. You can’t jump right to the glorious solution. You have to make people worried at first that the bad guys might actually win. Just how grim was the situation? Suddenly, your solution looks like a glorious dawn after a horrible night and your audience will find themselves wanting to be a hero just like your customer was.

There’s certainly art to this, not just science, but principles of storytelling have stood the test of time and can be used not just by communications professionals but also by marketing and sales teams. In fact, we’ve trained scores of folks on how to get the most out of storytelling. Give it a try yourself, or give me a buzz if you need help.

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