Cerado

Positive cash flow is the name of the game in today’s uncertain market. The lack thereof is spurring companies to explore innovative ways to build revenue streams and improve business processes.

Oftentimes 80% of a company’s business comes from 20% of its customers. Investing in new ways to connect and collaborate with existing customers just makes good fiscal sense. This philosophy of taking care of one’s own is the essence of CRM (customer relationship management), and the lifeblood of all successful businesses.

Collaboration

It was in this vein that Innotas, an on-demand portfolio management provider (PMP), sought closer ties with its customers. The San Francisco-based firm provides web-based tools so companies like Forbes and Crayola can communicate among team members and manage their IT resources for maximum ROI.

Collaboration is the core tenet of Innotas’ business. It’s what they do and why investigating social media was critical for the firm. With its intrinsic power to connect, Innotas realized the enormous potential of social media to understand its customer base and create product and service offerings to meet and exceed those expectations.

In 2007, Innotas Founder, Demian Entrekin, observed more and more products moving to a community-based architecture. “People want to collaborate and communicate 24/7. This realization triggered our decision to begin exploring social media as a company, from a sales, marketing and service perspective. It’s the way of the world. If you’re not at least thinking about creating a community-based social media strategy, you’re living under a rock.”

Demian attended several workshops in Q2 and Q3 2008 led by Cerado. Discussion points included:

1. What is social media and how does it work?
2. What does community mean to your business?
3. How do selling and community interact?

Conversation

Energized by his experience, Demian hired Cerado to facilitate a structured meeting with representatives from a wide cross section of the company including marketing, sales, support and development. The goal: Determine how to inject community into Innotas’ customer base.

Cerado recommended Innotas:

• Identify exactly who was Innotas’ community
• Set a goal of building a 1000-member community within 12 months.
• Start meaningful conversations by creating public-facing efforts via LinkedIn and Twitter
• Educate portfolio managers on why it is important to be part of the Innotas community
• Create reasons and means for community members to connect and cross link with each another.
• SaaS (Software as a Service) is a serious topic. Encourage participation by humanizing the community, making it lightweight and fun.
• Find in-person opportunities for community members to connect offline.

Holistic Approach

One of the misperceptions people have is that community means simply bolting on a threaded discussion. To build a sustainable community requires a holistic approach, involving the entire organization. A community offers a sense of place and belonging. It gives a company opportunities to connect with its public, both internal and external, and includes customers, prospects, partners, as well as employees.

“My biggest aha moment was that our community is really everybody in our company. We’ve embraced a holistic company approach into our social media efforts. It’s not a one-off marketing campaign. Like the central nervous system, everything is integrated,” says Demian.

Twitter Teriffic

Innotas’ Customer Success Manager, George Shaheen, handles the company’s LinkedIn and Twitter efforts. “Community members tend to join one group or the other, based on their desired level of involvement. LinkedIn is more time intensive and participatory, whereas Twitter is more passive,” he noted. George sends out regular tweets, which often include news article links on industry topics. “It’s free, easy and a great way to connect with our customers and partners,” he noted. “By providing value, we are building a vibrant community of followers that can be cultivated to improve our customers’ experience.”

RESULTS: Three Months Shaved

According to Demian, the folks at Cerado are amazing listeners. They are also highly creative, practical and do not overanalyze or make things unnecessarily complex. “Twitter is a glowing example of a very simple power tool that has taken off like wildfire because it does one thing really, really well. Like Twitter, Cerado understands the value of keeping it simple,” Demian said. TAKEAWAY: Simplicity Breeds Success.

“Cerado’s expert guidance along on our social media journey has kept Innotas from spinning in circles. They literally saved our company three months of time,” Demian noted. “Cerado provided Innotas with a strategic, actionable plan to build and engage our community. We now have a clear blueprint to achieve our goals. We know exactly what we need to do to and are moving in the right direction.”