Social Innovation: Dr. Natalie's Speech at the Spigit Conference On Crowd and Customer Empowered Engagement Driving Social Innovation

The ROI of Acknowledgement and

Social Innova8on

www.DrNatalieNews.com

@drnatalie

Social Innova8on Conference

My First Job: GE Carbology Division

Tungsten Carbide Tool Bits

To increase the hardness & wear resistance: Chemical Vapor Deposi?on of Thin Films

Aluminum-‐Oxide

TiN

The thin films were….

Periodic Chart of Essen?al Elements The elements we used to make beLer products

Aluminum-‐Oxide TiN

In my first mee?ng with Sales…

& Engineering

The Decision?

More gold or

more gray coated tool bits?

Sales said – “Look at the figures

we are selling more gold ones! We want more gold ones to be produced!”

Engineering said – “But the gray ones last much longer!

We want more gray ones!”

I raised my hand and asked…

“Have we asked our customers

what they want?”

They burst into laughter

“Why would we do that?”

I wanted to crawl under a rock and die

And then I heard my grandpa’s voice, “You are a smart girl! Trust yourself.”

I asked my boss if I could take some tool bits

And ask some machinists their opinion

I asked my boss if I could take some tool bits

And ask some machinists their opinion

He said, “Yes, but check-‐out. I’m not paying you for this 8me.”

This was my first mini focus group

vs

The results were…

The customers liked the gold ones

Because they made the machinists feel…

Because they made the machinists feel…

Happier.

Yep, Happier.

THAT EXPERIENCE LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK

ON A YOUNG ENGINEER

THE B.I.G. IDEA? ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE CROWD’S / CUSTOMER’S

CONTRIBUTION

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A GREAT BUSINESS?

1. LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES

& CUSTOMERS…

2. CONNECT PEOPLE WHO MAKE DECISIONS WITH PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE ANSWERS

EMPOWER THE CROWD

Copyright © 2012 @DrNatalie Petouhoff The Social Business Course™ ® © All Rights Reserved

FLASH FORWARD….


I GET TO BE PART OF A COMMUNITY THAT IS DEDICATED TO ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THERE

IS A BETTER WAY… TO DO BUSINESS… THAT’S ALL OF YOU…

GO BACK IN TIME… PEOPLE WERE PREDICTING THIS…

There would be… A place in time Where the customer‘s voice The employee’s voice Would start to mean something… And there would be an enabling technology We are here now… This is your opportunity as businesses…


MANY SCHOLARS HAD ADVOCATED TO

LISTEN TO CUSTOMERS, EMPLOYEES, PARTNERS…

As an engineer I…


GO BACK FURTHER…

MARY ELLEN HEARD THE CALLING…

iRobot

MARY ELLEN BEGAN ACKNOWLEDGING...

•  What her customers were saying in social media •  What employees were saying in social media

•  It was not posi?ve •  She gathered screenshots

•  Put them in a powerpoint •  Gave them to her CEO

WE CALL THAT…

WE CALL THAT… The Witness Factor™

MARY ELLEN TOOK CHARGE OF THE

CUSTOMER / EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK…

SHE HAD THE ESSENTIAL

ELEMENTS TO…

The CEO appointed her the lead

…to completely transform business…

With less –  Politics and resistance – “Not invented here” or “not my problem”

An empowered crowd of employees

& customers- dedicated

to make a difference

Crowd sourced information lead to transformation of: – Engineering – Product Development – QA – Fulfillment – Order Management – Marketing – PR – Advertising – Sales – Customer Service

How would you calculate ROI? of customer feedback… of employee feedback…

Chalk it up to the “Witness” factor

ROI = Benefits -‐ Costs x 100 Costs

What are the benefits of Creating products & services with input from the “crowd”

Creating products customers asked for means… •  Reducing the cost of PR & Marketing •  Increasing the lead conversion rates •  Reducing the cost of sales •  Reducing returns and/or churn •  Increasing customer lifetime value •  Reduced employee attrition •  Increased employee productivity

The So What is…

AND

Because the customer: -  Feels heard -  And they are getting what they need and want… -  They have ownership towards a company’s

product / services because they had input into -  Having their voice heard / being acknowledged

drives engagement… –  Increased positive online ratings –  Increased customer loyalty –  Increased customer advocacy –  Increased customer referrals via WOM –  Increased sales Chalk it up to the “Witness” factor

How would you calculate ROI?


ROI = Benefits -‐ Costs x 100 Costs

Benefits: $2.5M

Costs: People, process & technology $300K

ROI?


ROI = $2.5M – $300K x 100 $300K

ROI = 733%

NOW LET’S GET BACK TO THE ROI OF

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT… THE END OF MY STORY?

PWC Management Consultant

A Top Forrester Analyst

Chief Strategist for Social Media & Digital Communications PR & Marketing Agency

Analyst Rankings: A Ph. D.

Engineering From UCLA

Instructor at Center for Entertainment, Media and Sports Summer Institutes at UCLA Anderson

I pursued a path to continue providing customers the essential elements of business…

by believing what my grandpa said…

And my dedica?on to the essen?al elements of learning, listening and

collabora?ng….

Allows me now to help companies calculate the ROI of things they thought were too squishy or couldn’t be calculated…

ROI of Human Capital

Innova8on Social Media…

With Dynamic ROI Visualizer Calculators

& Dashboards…

Dr. Natalie L. Petouhoff @drnatalie

For more informa?on on ROI – videos, ebooks, whitepapers..

www.DrNatalieNews.com/Blog

THANKS TO MY GRANDPA

WHO LISTENED &

ACKNOWLEDGED MY SMARTS

MY ROI? PRICELESS