Listen, Learn, Personalise, Engage, Communicate all words used at the Tory party conference. In fact everything I have seen so far not just in politics but business and life in general over the past few weeks/months is pointing towards the need to listen to conversations (I did think we were already doing this!).  If listening is important, understanding how, when, where and on what level to engage is equally as important.

It is no secret that I am an avid follower of politics and have a love/hate relationship with the political establishment.  Indeed not long before I started 6Consulting and throughout its first 12 months I seriously toyed with the idea of giving up business altogether and heading into politics but I still keep my hand in as the Vice Chairman of our area association having regular meetings with District, Local and Parish councilors, property developers and holding a number of public meetings.  For as long as I can remember I have fought for local people to have a voice in shaping their community and for open, honest, transparent dialog from councilors to the public they serve.  It has to be said it is this quest for openness and transparency that perhaps restricted me being appointed as a local parish councilor as the old, somewhat set in their ways hierarchy did not like my idea of being open!

So over the last month or so I have watched with morbid fascination the different political party conferences whilst working (gotta love technology!) from UKIP, Liberal, Labour and now Tory. My days have had a mix of nodding in agreement and shouting at the PC (well live stream actually) saying ‘Is it really that hard to listen?’, is it really that difficult to understand that we live in a different more connected world now.  Social media, the internet and all of the clever, exciting new platforms it has brought us are not a cure all for everything, but what they have given us is the ability to make our voices heard and connect with likeminded communities in a quest to discuss issues, ask questions and proffer advice.  Like I said ‘Online’ is not a cure all and I do have concerns that our youth can only speak in abbreviation and that technology has caused them to have an underdeveloped communication lobe.  However, conversations online have huge, monumental importance to each and every one of us. Conversations in the social sphere have:

1. Influenced my purchasing decisions
2. Accelerated my learning
3. Connected me with a smaller world
4. Recommended solutions
5. Made me money
6. Given me a platform to be heard
7. Amplified my voice.
8. Shaped my business.
9. And much much more

Do we really need to make the case for listening? Surely it is a standard business philosophy? Isn’t it where we get phrases such as ‘Voice of the customer’ and ‘The customer is always right’ from? Surely every business understands the need to listen why else would we have focus groups and market research? So we understand how to listen right? Or have we built a set of rules on listening? If you run a focus group it is on a small cross section, we take the figures and extrapolate them, we do the same with surveys.  We have these things called ‘Think tanks’ or as we like to say ‘Me tanks’ that guide decisions on everything from product packaging to the latest crazy political idea.  Businesses and politicians have become so used to listening to the few and making decisions for the many that the wisdom of crowds has been lost.

At the same time as focus groups and ‘Me Tanks’ started to run out of steam, importance or relevance so Social Media began its rise.  Businesses and Politicians now have an unprecedented never before seen opportunity to really listen, to gauge the mood, feelings and ideas of the crowd.  So it amazes me that people talk of listening but actually do it through ear muffs! Giving us lots of uh huh, ummm, like it, very interesting noises but then do nothing, nothing! with what they have learned.

So it would seem that we DO need to educate business and politics on the art of listening but most importantly once you have listened, dissected, analysed and graphalised (that’s a made up word!) that information you need to engage.  Yes, that’s right join the conversation.  I said join! Not control, manipulate or try to bury. So here are 5 things to get you started.

1. Listen – but listen to more than one person, stop extrapolating so much!
2. Learn – what is being said, why is it being said
3. Analyse – Do your dissecting, putting into boxes and graphalising here.
4. Participate – that’s right, get involved, have a conversation but please try not to control.
5. Co create – why not take a leaf out of lego’s book and co create with your community, it could be fun, save you a ton of cash / make you a ton of cash!

The above is not a complete list, it’s a snapshot, a fraction of the things you need to do, but please, at the very least begin the listening process.

I gave a speech at CaMedia last week on Conversations in the Social Sphere. I say speech it was more of an extended Q&A session where the audience participated rather than just spectated. We discussed what Social Media is, the numbers using it and why businesses should be listening and engaging.  A number of very interesting points were raised about listening namely that Social Media Monitoring can look a little like eaves dropping, snooping or bugging peoples conversations.  One comment was “what concerns me about social media monitoring is the concept of listening to peoples conversations, it’s a bit like sitting in a restaurant talking about Tesco’s and how messy or expensive the products are and turning round to see a Tesco employee with a clip board taking notes”.  I understand the fear people have about being spied on and the very mention of a political party using social media monitoring certainly worried the audience.  However, we all enter into conversations online clear in the knowledge that what we are doing is open, transparent and searchable by anyone.  Indeed the reason many of us engage in social media communities is to gauge opinions and thoughts of others.  We actually want our voices to be heard.  So rather than social media monitoring being big brotherish or Orwellian it is an application we the public should expect big business to have.  We want to use our megaphones and force businesses to meet us at OUR point of need, we are demanding a new channel in customer experience management. I am fed up with pressing 1 for sales, 2 for support and so on.  What I want to do is talk about it with my community and have a customer service rep contact me.

So, let’s see who is listening? I want everyone to reach out via whatever social platform you use, complain about products and services you are unhappy with and praise the ones doing a good job then see who answers the social phone.

I’ll start with BT.  You promised me a new Wireless Hub (the sleek black one 2.1 I think) and all you sent me was the hub phone.  Your customer service is so poor and it takes me on average 20 minutes to actually get through all of the press this or that nonsense that I am reaching out via my blog, please answer this social call.

Today, Radian6 is featured in a brand new series in one of Canada’s premier national newspapers on business, the Globe and Mail – Report on Business.   The series looks into how companies took advantage of a pivotal point in their history to propel the company forward.  Radian6 kicks off the series as the first to be highlighted.

(photo credit – Stephen MacGillivray)

“The founders of Radian6, a New Brunswick software firm that helps its clients monitor what’s being said about them online, knew they had developed something good. But it was only when they targeted their product to one of the world’s largest public relations conglomerates that they scored their first big contract.”  For more on the story please visit the Globe and Mail.

Social media monitoring is often used to listen for potential issues or crises surrounding a company or brand.  But compliments and accolades are equally deserving of your attention. When your customers go out of their way to say something nice about you, publicly saying “Thank You!” is a goodwill gesture that’s always appreciated.

Here are six easy steps you can take today to find your fans and say “thank you”:

1. Listen for mentions of your brand online by monitoring all forms of social media including blogs, Twitter, forums, video sharing sites like YouTube, and Flickr. You can assign a dedicated “listener”, or empower your team to do it on an ongoing basis. Don’t forget to pay attention to related words too, like abbreviations of your brand or even common misspellings. Listen regularly, because a timely “thanks” is always well received.
2. If you’re getting kudos on a blog, stop by, say thank you for the compliments, and comment on the topic at hand if you’ve got something valuable to contribute. Return the favor by sharing the post on Twitter, or even mentioning it in your own blog (see number 6). And don’t’ forget to bookmark the post in your Delicio.us account; the media, your customers and your prospects might enjoy hearing about what someone else has to say about you.
3. Compliments on Twitter can go by in a flash. Make it a point to tweet back to your new friends to say thanks for the kind words (your friends will hear it too).  If you’re not already following them, consider doing so. After all, they’ve just told everyone how much they already like something about you. You may want to favorite the tweet, too. You can point customers or prospects directly to your Twitter favorites page and let them hear testimonials of your fans, in their own words.
4. Learn about your fans. Google their LinkedIn profile or Facebook page, and visit their blog. If it looks like they like connecting with others then reach out and link up on these networks as well.  They’re a good connection to have – especially since they already said they were a fan.
5. Make sure you have your FriendFeed account set up to repost your Tweets and your new Delicious links.  This will help spread the word about the positive feedback you’ve received to your Friendfeed subscribers.
6. Spread some “link love” in your blog posts. Pointing your readers to a brand fan’s blog is a great way to thank them for the kind things they’ve said about you, and it lets your own readers know where to find other people who love what you do. If you keep a blogroll, perhaps there’s a spot for your fan’s blog on the list as well.

You’ve found an advocate and you’ve connected with a fan of your brand. Social media is all about building and forging relationships with your community, and saying “Thank You” can be a powerful way to start to a friendship, indeed.

(As published on Social Media Today)

“Social Media Monitoring – Saturday – 1:30pm-2:10pm – David Alston – Radian6:  A discussion on what opportunities and issues can be uncovered by constantly monitoring all forms of social media. How do you go about monitoring – how do you get started, how do you get focused, how do you managed who handles what in your organization? And sure, you should be monitoring your brand mentions but what else? Should you be looking for trends, for where the crowds are forming, for influencers? And now that you’ve found posts, pics, vids, tweets etc..that impact you or your company now what? Finally, investing in “listening” means proving an ROI to the powers that be, so what should you be measuring to help the cause? Social media is changing how PR, marketing, and customer support are being delivered – has your organization adapted yet?”

This is the topic I’ll be discussing at the upcoming BlogOrlando event in, where else, sunny Orlando.  Josh Hallett outlined the format to me as one where the audience guides the discussion.  That’s my kind of format.  I’m not one for creating large slide decks and sticking to a script.  I absolutely love speaking “with” a group that wants to be part of the discussion.  I guess that’s why I working in social media so much.

Social media is not a one way dump of information.  It’s not about forcing someone to listen to your message whether they want to hear it or not.  Social media is about listening.  It’s about learning from those you have something in common with.  It’s about extending out a hand in a digital handshake and saying hello.  It’s about joining their discussions first and once they get to know you, offering up some relevant and valuable opinions/stories of your own.

This is exactly the approach I’ll be taking for the session I’ll be moderating.  The pace may be a lot quicker, perhaps more like a Twebinar, but hopefully we’ll all come away with new ideas and new beginnings of new relationships.

And as part of the listening and getting to know you process I would love to connect in advance of the session.  Please feel free to connect via Twitter (@davidalston) or Plurk (@davidalston)  See you in Orlando.