Social Media, Patience & Education - Looking Back & Reflecting Forward

Following up on two recent posts by James Robert Lay about "Credit Unions, Twitter, Service and Brand Management"...

Those who know me, know I did not embrace Twitter and Facebook until this last summer. Had enough on my plate already without adding any additional distractions or diversions from the work at hand. Many conversations, yes, real conversations, diving in, listening, learning and lots of coaching later, I now champion both tools. And, yes, I'm still learning.

As director of a leadership development school for credit union professionals, reaching my target market is crucial. The ability to develop a relationship with future students before they come to campus helps us to maximize their experience. You do become vulnerable when you put yourself out there. At the same time, you also gain strength and support as you spend the time to establish relationships and learn together. All relationships take time to develop.

As senior director of training for the Texas Credit Union League, finding new speakers and topic ideas help me to better serve our membership. When I’m looking for subject matter experts, tweets and blogs help me get a better picture about the speaker, as well as topic ideas to meet the needs of our membership.

As someone who likes to use financial services, I appreciate when I see tweets alerting me to special hours of business, challenges with websites/ATMs, financial management tips, and more. Time is precious. I like it when someone cares enough to save me time.

As a member of a various communities, it's nice to know where and when there are opportunities to serve and give back.

As the mother of a freshman college student, twitter is how I get campus wide alerts.

Some of my aha moments included:

1)     Twitter provided a no cost way to set up crisis communications when we had students on campus. (Grateful the need to use did not arise.)

2)     Twitter provided a way for me to bring subject matter experts into the classroom for brief periods of time who could not have been there otherwise.

3)     After linking Twitter to Facebook, I was finding some people were more likely to respond to tweets through Facebook. Hmm. Unproven conclusion – until social media tools and applications are sanctioned in the workplace, people are more likely to respond on personal time through Facebook (unless they have cool phones).

4)     Innovation and new ideas are important as you work to position your company forward. By strategically selecting who and what topics I follow, I’ve found solid information with minimal time.

5)     Engaging with the right people through social media grows valuable relationships. It’s always been important to reach people in the manner they wish to be communicated with. I have treasured contacts who prefer Twitter or Facebook for 1^st point of contact. From there we migrate to other forms of communication as appropriate.

6)     Sometimes you just need a little laughter to break up your day or to know that there are good news stories out there.

Before writing this, I did a little research on tweet posts over the last 24 hours from folks I follow:

1)     5 Sure-Fire Ways to Operationalize Social Media by Jay Baer

“And in 2010, we’re going to move from experimentation to methodology. It will be the year that the real-time Web and social media become operationalized.”

I agree with Jay that 2010 will see a lot of social media strategic decisions made and processes refined.

2)     As someone who loved the efficiencies of RSS feeds for storing key topics in a summarized fashion, I find myself following into the same scenario that Richard MacManus describes in:

RSS Reader Market in Disarray, Continues to Decline
December 20, 2009 - ReadWriteWeb.com

“One of the interesting trends of 2009 has been the gradual decline of RSS Readers as a way for people to keep up with news and niche topics. Many of us still use them, but less than we used to. I for one still maintain a Google Reader account, however I don't check it on a daily basis. I check Twitter for news and information multiple times a day, I monitor Twitter lists, and I read a number of blogs across a set of topics of most interest to me. “

3)     @MattRhodes directed me to “Social Media as  Crisis Management Tool”
FreshNetworks - “I have a client who once said to me: “We want to use social media to attract more complaints”. This may seem an odd thing to say, all too often attracting complaints is a reason people cite for being anxious about using social media. But this client knew that one part of their service didn’t always perform as well as they might hope. They also knew that nobody ever really complained to them. They must be complaining somewhere, they thought, and we’d like them to be complaining to us.”

He goes on to note some uses for social media in context of crisis management:

·         Keep people up-to-date

·         Represent your brand

·         Engage people talking about you

·         Communicate strategically through hub and spokes format

All this to say that conversations are happening.

1)     We have to be better about telling the good stories and turning around the bad ones. Social media tools provide opportunities to do so. It’s time to hone our skills to take advantage of these dynamic, rapidly evolving forms of communication.

2)     New information is coming at us faster than we can absorb. Social media tools help us gather data and information rapidly. However, don’t let social media be your only research source.

Be deliberate. Have a strategy. Join the community. Looking forward to exciting things in years to come as we work together to innovate forward.

Credit Unions, Twitter, Service and Brand Management - 2 of 2

As I posted a real life example and case study about how credit unions can use Twitter to provide service to members and manage their brand online yesterday (click here to read the great discussion and comments), it highlighted the dark side (cue Imperial March... sorry bad Star Wars reference) of social media. 

Today's post will highlight how one credit union was able to turn a negative situation into a positive experience for a credit union member. The ironic thing is this example was found while researching yesterday's blog post. In brief summary, @navyfcusucks also writes and maintains a blog to document his and other people's dislike and hate for Navy FCU.  Once again, this is killer to the Navy FCU brand as you can see the key words used for how people find his blog site.

However, I also found he highlighted a very positive story as well on his web site. This at the time of writing (12/20/2009) was featured on his blog site's home page with the title "An Example of How Credit Unions are SUPPOSED to Work".

The post goes on as quoted below:

"I was looking through YouTube today at some credit union stuff and I happened upon this video: LINK

Now, it isn’t the video that caught my eye, but rather a comment made by a viewer about his unpleasant experience with Bellco Credit Union. What happens next? He receives a reply IN THE YOUTUBE COMMENTS AREA from Bellco’s VP of Customer Relationship Management, with an apology and a phone number to call her personally. The next posting is by the guy who made the complaint stating that everything has been taken care of.

See for yourself:

This is what customer service looks like. This is an example of how to make members feel like being part of a credit union is something special."

Bellco Listens. Does Your Credit Union?

The interesting thing to note about this response from Bellco CU is that the video where the comment was posted was not a Bellco CU video.  It was simply a Banker Spank parody video that was posted on You Tube which also includes many other comments as well.

Bellco CU was able to use social media listening tools (Google Alerts, search.twitter.com) to hear what was being said about their brand in the social media world.  They should be applauded for not only listening, but responding and turning a negative situation into positive one.  Not only did one member learn that they are being heard, but everyone who reads the follow up from Bellco, this blog post as well as the other knows that Bellco listens to their members. 

Is your credit union listening to what is being said about your brand online? Are the tools and people is place to respond as needed without having to go through 5 layers of corporate approvals to water down a message? 

This is where the magic happens. This is where credit unions can turn members into advocates for them. Shout back and share your thoughts.  I would love to hear from you!

Credit Unions, Twitter, Service and Brand Management - 1 of 2

Editor's note: Click here to read the follow up and continue the conversation on "Credit Unions, Twitter, Service and Brand Management - 2 of 2".

This post is a follow up to my last comment about credit unions and Twitter on the CUES Skybox blog written by Christopher Stevenson.  It has been so exciting to see the way the conversation has transpired.  In brief summary, there has been a great discussion there about how credit unions can use Twitter to connect and build relationships.

I ended my last comment on a note about how credit unions can use Twitter to provide service to members.  This was prompted by some good thoughts from Jeffry Pilcher. Credit unions can and must protect their brand (brand management) through providing service resolution on Twitter and other social networks.  With social media, organizations are no longer in control what is being said about their brand (good or bad). 

To recap, my challenge to credit unions is to let their front line start tweeting/faceboooking. What are credit unions afraid of? Why are they afraid to give up control when it comes to having relevant conversations through social media?

Traditionally, credit unions don't put duck tape over the mouth of their front line staff when interacting with members face to face in the branch. What is the difference when bringing the conversations online?  As I say in my sessions when speaking around the country about social media, "Social media is not about technology. Social media is about sociology. It's about connecting people with people."

On the note of taking care of problems in public, there is one credit union that I would say has such a huge opportunity here.   Take this as free advice/strategy and I hope it helps some of you.  Consider this a living and breathing case study of brand management and service delivery on Twitter.

When you are the "world's largest credit union", you have a lot of eyes on you (member, non-member and industry alike).  Navy FCU has a Twitter account with 801 followers but they are only following 164. Why the big disconnect here?  Why are they not following more people back?

I just checked out their twitter stream and it looks like they are doing a good job of having conversations and not just using twitter as a broadcast marketing channel (spray and pray as Denise Wymore put it above).

However, on the flip side, there is a very disgruntled Navy FCU ex-member who is also on Twitter (Does your credit union have one of these?  Maybe he is not as tech savvy but that time may come). He has 467 followers.  In brief summary, the goal of @NavyFCUSucks is to RT and spread tells of hate/disgust from people who are tweeting about how bad Navy FCU is and why they hate them as a credit union. WARNING: There may be some strong language on the twitter stream that may offend you.

This is the dark side (enter Darth Vader) of social media. Navy FCU can't control what is being said about them in the market place.  However, if I was Navy FCU, I would be following @NavyFCUSucks so that any person that gets re-tweeted on his twitter stream would be followed up with to try to rectify the situation all why managing their brand in the social media world.  I did check out the Navy FCU followers and could not find @NavyFCUSucks on there.

Navy FCU could also go a step further and set up listening tools like a search.twitter.com RSS alert that uses key words like "NFCU", "Navy FCU", "Navy FCU Sucks", "NFCU Sucks", etc.  This way, they would be notified when ever these terms are used together. (Note: when i just did a search on Twitter for "NFCU" on Sunday 12/20/2009, the first three results were negative references towards Navy FCU).

While not all issues or complaints may be valid, at the very least, the public will know that Navy FCU is listening and responding.  This interaction and engagement is a key to turning a negative experience into a positive one, and turning a member into an advocate for your credit union.

I would love to hear your thoughts and take on this.  Please do shout back below and carry on the conversation.  Feel free to also tweet a link to this post on Twitter to get others to share their thoughts and ideas as well. I would also love to hear from @NFCU as well as from @NavyFCUSucks to get their viewpoints and maybe we can get them to work out a truce as well.

Are These Your Future Credit Union Members?

As we get close to closing out 2009, we have been looking forward to 2010 and beyond.  What is the future of your credit union?  A lot of focus has been on Gen Y.  However, let's look past them into an even younger generation of future credit union members. 

Watch the video below for a snap shot into the decade in review through the eyes of kids who were born in 2000. It truly provides an awesome insight into how they see the world from their perspective. 

In closing, what are your thoughts on this past decade? What opportunities await us as credit unions in the future? What potential challenges must we overcome? We can move forward together through innovation, communication and collaboration. 

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Twitter: a faster horse, trends, the classroom, & our future work force

My mind is racing as I think about the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead as we innovate, communicate, learn, and grow together.

Others may question the value of Twitter. It was not that long ago that I didn't even want to consider another communication channel. I was too busy and there was too much trivial communication. Now, I'm thankful for an ever-growing, thought-provoking, community of connections and viewpoints shared on Twitter.

Browsing through Twitter updates this morning, I came across @BertDecker's reference to a quote by Henry Ford:

"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse."

Fortunately, Mr. Ford chose a different path, pioneering a new form of transportation. Might social media be to communication, like the Model T was to transportation, where Twitter is the higher speed evolution?

Next, I spent some time reviewing @MichaelHyatt's pointer post to the free ebook, "What Matters Now: Things to think about (and do) this year". More than 70 big thinkers collaborated to provide a picture of where we are headed, including Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, Tom Peters, Elizabeth Gilbert, Guy Kawasaki, and more.

The ebook begins with a spotlight on generosity. Logic would indicate that people start focusing on looking out for number one when the economy is tough. It turns out that the connected economy doesn't respect this natural instinct. Instead, we're rewarded for being generous.

Covering such areas as dignity, momentum, consequences, compassion, DIY, accountability, responsibility, collaboration, change, context, authenticity, and more, the ebook is worth taking the time to read. Slow down, contemplate, and give some serious thought to the concepts. Take time to ask yourself, "What does this mean to me?"

Next, @rossdawson pointed me to "A futurist's view of the 'next big thing' in social media" by @VenessaMiemis and featured on www.businessesgrow.com.

When I came across:

Many young people are not being taught how to benefit from the power of the web as a tool for building a network and for learning. I mean, anyone who uses Twitter or belongs to an online community of some sort has seen that sharing information and learning from one another is not only fun and rewarding, it's addictive. Kids need to be shown how to navigate that world too.

It's not just the kids who need to be introduced to or taught about the value of social media. All ages can benefit when they find the right focus and discover the best channels to use for their goals and interests.

I was compelled to pay it forward today, sharing insights I found valuable with others. Now will you share with me? Has someone's tweet inspired, challenged, and helped you position forward? It's your turn to pay it forward, shout out and share with others.

Vendors Invited to Become Rock Stars through YouTube Video Contest

Are banks and credit unions in your target audience? Are you looking for new and creative ways to attract potential clients and help keep existing clients loyal ?  TechMecca has just the contest for you. Create an informative video of value to the financial industry and you are on the road to stardom. Now is the time to create some buzz and become a rock star!

Strategic thoughts about Social Media Trends and Predictions

A number of business professionals I work with are still questioning the value of social media. If you are one of the doubters or naysayers, take a moment to read Jeff Bulla's blog on "45 Social Media Trends and Predictions".

He gives some great food for thought as you consider the strategic implications of social media for your organization.

For those who have already embraced social media as a strategic business tool:

1. What have you learned from your social media journey, both positive and negative experiences. As we move forward, learning from each other helps all of us position foward faster.

2. How are you leveraging your social media efforts?

3. Are you using measurements to evaluate your social media impact? If yes, please share what they are and why you chose them a metrics.