Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

Spread the good news
"People are inundated by bad news right now," Menon said. "Wouldn't it be nice to put out some good news about customer successes?" It would be easy to cut public relations in this economy, but it would also be unwise, he said. "This is the time to ask customers to tell their story." Doing so is a win-win for both parties, he suggested.

Get out of the Ivory Tower
Marketing executives should be joining their sales colleagues on sales calls to see what customers are saying firsthand. "Forget focus groups," Menon said. "You need to hear the good and bad news directly. There's no substitution for direct insight."

Think differently
Marketers often think about product or marketing innovation, but rarely think about innovation within how their organization operates, Menon said. The old-fashioned idea of control is gone. "Business and contacts are happening at the speed of light," with email and social media and the like, he said. "There's not one big funnel that out of the bottom drops a qualified lead. Instead it's a big pipe. You have to find the right prospects from within that pipe and nurture them. Bonding is the new branding."

Use marketing "R&D"
There are always new strategies and opportunities to try, so encourage risk taking within the marketing organization. Menon seeds "crazy ideas" in Tibco's marketing operation. "We have to compete against the marketing budgets of IBM and Oracle," he said. "You can't compete with the same rules and same approaches and expect to win [against much larger competitors]. You have do things differently. You have to change the rules." For Menon, doing this differently means creating an environment that encourages his staff to try new things; but that also means being accountable. "You suggested it; it's your responsibility to make it work," he said. "Everyone has ideas, but sweating the details is...priceless." How will you do it? When will you deliver on it?

Accept failures as a learning experience
Most marketers are especially scared to fail because marketing is so highly visible, Menon said. But not encourage risk creates a culture that is overly focused on attention to detail and maintaining the status quo. Taking calculated risks means accepting that some risks will fail. "We've had some spectacular ideas fail," he said. "But we've invested in your education, so don't fail next time."

Move ahead, cautiously
Don't just have an obligatory Facebook page or a few people randomly tweeting on Twitter; have a well-planned, deliberate social media strategy. Tibco, for example, started by launching Sales Central, an internal social media site that includes blogs and message boards where salespeople can share advice and provide industry updates. Once salespeople were comfortable using Sales Central, the company introduced a password-protected community site for customers. "Salespeople are the most vociferous users of information, but also the most difficult to please," Menon said, adding building salespeople's interest in using Sales Central would spur their interest in a having customer community.

Get customers talking
Create an online community that encourages interaction--and reap the benefits of doing so. One customer on Tibco's customer community, for example, posted a technical issue he was experiencing. Within 20 minutes another customer posted a reply that included instructions on how to fix the issue. If the first customer had phoned Tibco, that support call could have cost the company about $1,000. The saving gained by customers helping other customers more than covers the cost of hosting an online community. "We can show tangible value from our social media strategy," Menon said.

Talk back
The old way of doing business is that marketers talk, and salespeople and service reps listen, Menon said. Today marketers also need to participate in the conversation. Get out on sales calls, write or comment on blogs, participate in online communities. "Turn touchpoints into opportunities," he said.