Been listening to Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” on repeat recently, coupled with reading Douglas Rushkoff’s latest offering “Life Inc.” Faith is ‘reliance, trust, belief in, loyalty, sincerity.’ A definition according to The Oxford Dictionary.

Beginning to believe we have lost faith in each other so we have been buying from brands instead. In fact, perhaps we have allowed brands to define us rather than the feelings and values we hold true to each other. This is why business became transaction and to some extent de humanised, especially in corporate organisations. That’s why small business will have a future advantage. Its still comfortable with having a trusting relationship!

Lose faith in governments, the media, professions, brands, products, religion, all replaceable. When we lose faith in each other, our connections and our intentions are questioned and we decide not to trust, then we are in trouble. These are not replaceable. When we lose faith in relationships, whatever their dynamic, what have we got left?

A level playing field| People rather than products| Gifts| Air of excitement| Nervous trepidation| Unorthodox thinking| Too much coffee| Not enough change| Screen time| Insomnia stimulating inspiration| Inert organisations| Flair| Straight jacket actions| Google| Creative remixing| Bags of ideas| Little impact| Trouble at the mill| Going slow fast| The miracles of innovation| The stupidity of arrogance| Making noise quietly| Fields of turnips| The lack of grace| Twitter| Inconvenient trouble| Broken promises| Plaster solutions| Launch and learn| Perfection is subjective| Ecosystems| Absurdity of naivety| The shape of business| Exploitation| The futility of resistance| Connection not networking| The significance of difference| Facebook| False profits| Fragile trust| Community not brand| A mass of individuals| So its all about intent| Linkedin| The same thing on repeat| Profit rather than being human| Initiating history| Art| The abundance of the phony| Vulnerability| Foursquare| Deep down feeling it more| Ironic expression of indviduality| Frozen relationships| Nudge advocacy| Non financial influence| The future of conversation|

I’ve said it many times “all customers are not equal.” I’ve even delivered whole seminars on the topic, but lately I’ve decided I was wrong! All customers are equal especially if you are beginning to build a business community around your brand. How exceptionally arrogant of me to think otherwise.

Customers are equal, they contribute something different to your business. The basis of how healthy your database is should not only be measured by its profit generating capabilities. The benefits some customers bring are not, and should not, be totally profit centred. Sometimes its influence, occasionally it will be knowledge, other times they will act as word of mouth operators. We need to recognise the non financial value adding aspects too.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t focus on the profit generating customers, not at all. What I am saying is that we need to be encouraging all customers to collaborate with each other to ensure the best prospects for everyone rather than pursue the short termism of money! What I have effectively been advocating is for businesses to act like faceless corporations instead of people. I’ve firmly wrapped my own knuckles!

So all customers are equal, just some may, at a particular moment in time, have more of a priority depending on the needs of the business. I accept in times of low sales, you chase the profit/cash generating ones, but its only a temporary measure, If you have an effective customer experience process in place, it means your other value givers are never forgotten and constantly engaged with you. Not all customers will bring you financial value, some will bring influential value…..and that’s just as important!

I had the pleasure of chatting to Josh Chandler last week where we discussed social media and its role in small business. Download it here:

http://joshchandlerblog.com/

It’s only 15 minutes long and just trying to get some thinking going!

Word provided by Scott Gould – www.scottgould.me

If you help, what I contribute will be better. Value, in the future for a lot of people, will be whether and how they participate in the businesses we run. They will be particularly motivated by group effort. Participation has almost become risk free because the cost of failure has dropped so we can mass innovate. The tools are there and the hierarchy removed to allow us to all to really take part.

Humans have always had a desire to make meaningful contributions. We lost that. Businesses deliberately organised themselves to control the participating. However, the case studies of Wikipedia and Linux have altered how close the horizon is. Participation is changing the way companies use resources and it’s bridged the gap between the amateur and professional. Amateurs are collecting data on behalf of wildlife trusts, we can transmit news items to the media, and astronomers are listening for other life forms for governments.

The passive consumer is evaporating. We want to participate in the generation of new products and services. We no longer want to just wait for it down the line to be delivered. Charles Leadbeater talks about “mass production to mass innovation.” He has missed a process or two out of the equation. It’s more like this:

Mass production – Mass participation – Mass collaboration – Mass innovation

It’s just a thought. As companies we have misunderstood that it’s the non-financial, intrinsic factors that motivate people like participation more than the financial ones. We are always talking about the difficulties of getting customers and employees to understand what we do and the advantages of our product. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Benjamin Franklin’s thoughts “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I might remember, involve me and I will understand.” Powerful stuff. Maybe participation gets rid of that communication problem we have been having?

We have no excuses anymore. All business can allow its customers and employees to participate. I’m not talking about amateurs doing brain surgery, not a great idea, I agree. But I am talking about using the social tools we have now to enable the impossible to be achieved. If we involve people in the process, they take ownership. From that they will easily become part of our community, which is where we need them to be in the future.

Moving that static database where you ‘buy’ customers to a healthy, engaging, vibrant business community isn’t going to be easy, no one said it was. It’s also a long and windy road too. However, the only limitations to it are what you place on it, not your customers, nor, the community you already have. There is a clear step by step approach that I feel is appropriate using some leading edge thinkers for help and bit of my own brain power.

In simplistic terms, you need to understand that all community members are equal but they will have and want different roles. Participate and engage in different ways! In the past we would grade our customers based on A, B, C and D or whatever denomination that was. That’s a little outdated. Using a mix of Frank Reichheld’s model and Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff’s model in the book “Groundswell” can provide a great solution to getting to grips with the dynamics of your community.

Identifying the following groups is essential to planning your reputation and marketing campaign where you can engage with individuals, maximise the intelligence and intellect and ensure you communicate the right things at the right level.

I suggest these are the critical game players in your business community:
1. Pillar influencers - significant influencers, they are not afraid to challenge you, intellectual about the future and have the ability to refer potential customers.
2. Connectors – well connected either online or offline or both
3. Promoters – people who promote, without any incentive, what you do
4. Passives - people who buy from you on a regular basis but who can also become promoters with some encouragement
5. Collaborators who could also be co-creators

There are sub groups of people that are important but these are your main ones. These members will significantly shift your business towards the new competitive advantages of innovation, engagement and building relationships with the relevantpeople.

What’s non-negotiable is the fact that the groups are made up of people. People have replaced products, connections bind communities and, with that, comes the rocky movement from broadcasting at customers to being social with your community. It’s a hell of a challenge, but at the route is building the right relationships with the right people.

Now thats interesting and if the questions are changing perhaps the answers must too! Last evening I attended the www.media140.com event in Bristol, hosted in the salubrious setting of Goldbrick House. A superb, fascinating venue that upstairs resembled a gentleman’s club, only it allowed women in too!

As my fellow countyman (thats Yorkshire Trey) Alan Bennett once said “”Life is rather like a tin of sardines – we’re all of us looking for the key.” Well we felt a little like sardines but there were some moments of inspiration that may just provide the key! The line up was exceptional to say the least Gemma Went, Trey Pennington, Paul Squires and Gabrielle Laine Peters. All providing insights and foresights. The key moments of conversation;

1. “Conversation created the brand.” Ande Gregson on how Media140 has been successful.
2. “Something that engages you, is engrossing.” Gabrielle Laine Peters.
3. “This is a time of opportunity for small business.” Trey Pennington.
4. “Think about what you can’t achieve with social media.” Gemma Went.

There was lots more. I’ve been to many events like this and, indeed I’ve also spoken at them and I feel the Q & A sessions are shifting. They are getting down to grass roots. Simple questions are sometimes difficult to answer. But there is a drilling down to ROI and rewards. I think we are being too fluffy with the answers. Sorry to be so bold!

Rob Glover chaperoned me for the road trip up to Bristol, accompanied by the album Sunday 8pm by Faithless (for those of you who kept asking.) We talked a lot all day about the detail and the movement towards what I have called social business. Rob’s analogy of farming just summed it up in terms of the present. Nice one Rob! My take on his discussion point is set out below.

Social media is like agriculture. Its preparing the land for an abundant crop. That magnificant harvest does not happen overnight. It means tilling the land, creating a fertile soil. Cultivating it, caring for it, timing it and doing the right things at the right time. So that when you start to plan, promote, engage, participate and co-create you will reap what you sow. People are expecting immediate results from social media, a typical business desire for insatiable vast return now. It just doesn’t happen like that.

Chris Anderson in his book “The Long Tail” hits this right on the nose with a big thump. We see the big hits in the media like Jon Morter and his Rage Against The Machine project and expect the same followers and fans like that. In real life, the hits are rare and most of us succeed, like good farmers, by putting the hours in, caring for our product, preparing, being determined and being patient. We expect so much so quickly from social media, yet we don’t expect the quick results from traditional marketing. Where is the rationality in that?

We need to stop panicking, understand social media is not the only solution but part of it and start using it to cultivate our eventual results that will produce that exceptional harvest next year. Oh and don’t forget crop rotation in this scenario too!

At the end of this thought provoking evening, Trey said “platforms will come and go but the conversations will carry on.” I was going to ask a question but time ran out. Here it is; “How does genuine conversation flourish?” Answers on a postcard…oops sorry….in the comment box below!!!

We need business communities surrounding our business as they will help us deal with the near chaos of rapid change. Having talented people no matter their involvement and role in the community will be important. I’ll talk specifically about this over the weeks to come and the war for talent.

Facilitating this community will take huge heaps of imagination, energy and unlearning. It can’t be controlled just guided. There will be some significant issues to overcome, not least how your business community will behave.

The people in your business community will only do something if they believe it is worth doing, if it intrinsically motivates them. Financial reward is not principally why they will be involved. It will be a desire to connect with likeminded people, learn, participate and be challenged. They really abhor control, power and hierarchy.

Once developed and approaching maturity, groups within your business community may act spontaneously and without your authorisation or the need for you to organise it. Look at www.lego.com new designs, new products and new animations all created initially as ideas without company interference.

Business community participants will need space and places to meet, discover, think and converse. This, of course, does not mean just physically, it may mean you creating a platform online to encourage this. Business communities once confident, will want to do their own thing. That is, they may not come up with what you had in mind and will be very clear when you have done something wrong. This means they will unnerve and miff you occasionally.

This is not about forming a cult. Often people in your community will be opinionated, diverse, outspoken and comfortable expressing themselves. How powerful is that, constant, unadulterated, true feedback, product development, creative thinking and participation.

If you get it right, your business community will know how to play. They know how to push the limits. Led positively, this means lots of ideas that are childlike but not childish. Be prepared for how much this business community will feel part of your brand and how committed and loyal you will feel to it.

We’ve already talked about why we need to start shaping and creating communities around our brand but what are the benefits and is it worth the significant effort required?

Well we know from the case studies of Lego, Harley Davidson, eBay, Apple and Sun Microsystems that business communities no matter how big, help us to deal with the ever changing environment and enable us to proactively innovate on a continuous basis. We can’t afford the talent, all the ideas to destructively compete anymore, it makes no economic sense in a world of abundance. There is no sense and therefore no option.

People attracted to our business communities are there voluntarily. They haven’t been imposed upon and are truly motivated to provide opportunities for brands to stretch themselves and move beyond an individuals personal best. Through this we will learn to collborate, an essential skill on anyone’s CV in the future.

Admit it, a new organisational way of doing business is emerging and we are all struggling to adapt and deal with it. The presence of a fully engaged business community will aid that revolution because there is nothing like being in touch with your customers and employees.

Business communities will come up with ideas we hadn’t even thought about. They will open our minds and give us access to knowledge that will send our competitors green with envy. The new challenges we face are just to big and sophisticated for individuals or individual organisations to face in isolation. A community can take some of the responsibility and accountability for these changes and share the burden of finding the solutions. Whilst at the same time you are bonding them to your brand. Making people feel valued brings a return in commitment and loyalty.

The next few blog posts will be about how you start the process of creating a business community that can elevate you above the competition. Don’t forget we are about to go far beyond marketing

If competitive advantage has nervously changed its position to one of constant innovation, talent and customer experience, how do we make a sustainable business out of a profusion of ideas?

A plethora of questions come to mind; How do we work co-operatively with competitors? How do we cope with ‘open’ and ‘free’ systems? How do we innovate? How do we pool resources? How do we retain, afford and keep the best talent? How do we cope with being social? How do we deliver exceptional customer experience? How do we start sharing knowledge when our mindset if one of secrecy?

Business communities and eventually business eco-systems will be created to exploit not just the physical nature of development but the human one to. The challenges we will meet in the future and the answers to the inevitable difficult questions will be met by us all forming business communities around our brand.

Our businesses are already surrounded by an economic web of companies, individuals, suppliers, customers and employees which collaborate, converse, connect and compete on a daily business, building a web of relationships that evolve over time and are heavily influenced by the people involved. Those connections are powerful.

Effectively it is a community of players, within a business environment who have common purpose, share interests and have similar values. All I’m suggesting is that, as a business, we start facilitating and guiding those groups into a business community that delivers both financial and non financial value. We have the platforms and ability to do it now. Instead of spending £50k (or whatever it is) a year on buying people, why not divert it to people that already love what we do and can help us do it better.