les mythes de la transformation digital

Leading digital transformation within your organization: 5 myths

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According to McKinsey & Co, “78% of business managers expect his and her companies’ workforces will become digital in the next 3 years, however only one in three of these people feel prepared enough to lead during this potentially volatile transition.” *

digital transformation

So whether you’re a Marketing, Sales, Customer experience, Digital, Business Unit, etc Director working in a small, medium, or large sized company, digital transformation has already impacted your activities (and if it hasn’t, it will soon!).

Maybe you’re wondering, what does “digital impacting business” mean? It could represent a number of things: a change in business model, a new way of working internally with colleagues and externally with clients, prospects, and partners, digital presence for your brand, getting your colleagues on board and encouraging them to be more proactive on social media, etc.

So while digital transformation is multifaceted, many business leaders find themselves at different stages of their digital journeys. But what they all have in common, is that they will have faced one of several of the below myths!

Myth 1: We don’t need onboarding, all of our staff is digitally aware!

Really? Have you taken the time to communicate the corporate digital strategy to them? Have you gotten their feedback and listened to their concerns?

→ Yes, it might take time to do this. But without aligning your workforce with this new vision, driving digital strategy will quickly become more complex than you thought!

Myth 2: Most of our staff is “young,” they’re all using social media every day, understand our digital strategy, etc.

Right! Just because “young” people are comfortable with Facebook, mobile applications, etc. (which is a bit of a stereotype! ;-)), it doesn’t necessarily mean that they: 1) understand the corporate aspect of digital 2) are putting it into place effectively!

→ What does “young” really mean? And how are the different age groups within your organization using and reacting to digital in their everyday work experiences? If you take the time to find out, you might be positively AND negatively surprised!  But all is not lost! By giving certain populations in you company the right training and framework, they will be able to effectively lead digital transformation with you!

Myth 3: Digital transformation is for the marketing team…

Many business leaders are keeping their heads in the sand by thinking that their customers, teams, and partners will not be impacted by digital!

→ According to Gartner, digital business incompetence will cause 25% of businesses to lose competitive ranking by 2017. Understanding how digital is impacting your customers, teams, etc. takes time, some thought and some budget, so you better a get a move on- before your competitors do!

Myth 4: Digital transformation is complicated… I don’t know how and where to start…

Many clients tell us, “Going digital isn’t part of our management’s vision, so it’s not important to us right now.”  This pushes digital transformation further down the task list and will only make things worse later on for the company.

→ Yes, it’s a complex issue, but the easiest way to start is to focus on clients. All businesses need to be more in touch with clients and prospects. So if you start to lead digital transformation through better online relations with clients and prospects, no management in the world could be against that! 😉

Myth 5: I don’t have time to improve or fill out my LinkedIn profile, my son or daughter can do it!

This is our favorite one- we hear it probably once a week! Many business leaders feel that they can trust their personal branding and corporate communicate message to an adolescent or university student??!  

→ Using social media as a business tool starts with having an effective strategy. You are the only person who can build and drive this strategy, as you know your business, objectives, and ecosystem. Maybe asking a university aged son or daughter to “help” with technical questions might be ok, but it really will depend if they have experience or not.  However, it’s not recommended, as it’s vital that YOU get used to using and integrating social media into your everyday business practices so that you can show management and help lead digital transformation. And besides, would you ask your kids to contact your clients and prospects for you? 😉

* http://workingcapitalreview.com/2016/02/what-leaders-can-do-to-digitize-workforces

For more information on how to lead digital transformation within your organization…

Welcome to reality

Social media training: 3 realistic KPI’s*

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Directors and business leaders: You’ve finally convinced management to provide digital training for your teams and, as in usual management style, they’ve set the bar high… So now you’re probably wondering what can you concretely expect when providing your managers with digital training?

Welcome to reality

First of all, it’s important to remember to have realistic objectives! Yes, digital transformation is strategic for all companies and businesses, but it doesn’t come without a few bumps in the road and certainly doesn’t happen as quickly as management would like it to happen!

We can safely say that digital training KPI’s will definitely depend on which managers are getting trained, their role, their digital needs, company digital strategy, your clients and their needs…

So, will digital training magically transform the company? No, probably not. Will digital training push revenues through the roof? No, probably not. Here is what you can realistically expect from digital training!

KPI 1: At least 50% onboarding of your staff

By training your employees on digital, you’re fulfilling your employer duties of providing them with knowledge that they need to keep their skills updated.

Checkpoint 1: Yes, you’re providing them with important skills they need for their career, and they should definitely be thanking you for it. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they will see things the same way you do! Some of your employees will go along with it and agree to use social media on a daily basis in their jobs, be brand ambassadors. This will depend on how its presented to them, the company strategy and objectives, their incentives, plus a myriad of other things such as age gap, company seniority, etc.

KPI 2: 30%-100% increase in brand visibility

By asking employees to be brand advocates, or brand ambassadors, they will most likely “dress up” their social media profiles with your company branding. This means they’ll be driving traffic from their profiles to your corporate Web sites, social media company pages… which will automatically result in an increase of visibility! Plus, every view of your employees’ profiles will mean an infinite amount of brand visibility!
LinkedIn train

Get on board the digital train!

Checkpoint 2: Getting your staff to agree to wearing your brand involves strategy, on boarding, clear guidelines, and just plain common sense! Not all of them will agree to this! But those who do and do it right, will not only be on boarded, but they’ll be massively contributing to a positive online brand image. They will also be helping other employees to board the digital train! 😉

Savings

KPI 3: 5%-100% increase in savings

So by now you’re probably saying, “Ok, onboarding and visibility are great, but management is putting pressure on me to convert these digital results into revenue! So how do I do this?”

You’ll definitely reduce budgets that were previously allocated to marketing, headhunters, customer retention programs, after sales service, new business development…. So you should first start calculating these savings to keep your management happy!

Checkpoint 3: Finally, measuring revenue brought in by social media is indeed possible and highly recommended if you want to measure the ROI. So, yes, there is a method to this madness! But, again, knowing what you want to measure and how to measure monetary ROI depends on your business, corporate strategy, sales objectives, client base, etc.

*Key Performance Indicators: We measured these KPI statistics through the Smartworking® Digital Maturity Evaluation, which has already been taken by approximately 1000 managers working at 40 multi-sector multinationals in 5 countries.

For more information on evaluating employee digital maturity, digital KPI’s, and KPI and ROI based digital training

comment vendre le Social Selling à son boss ?

5 ways to sell Social Selling to your boss

As the number of people on social media soars into the billions, Social Selling is also on the rise. We see it everywhere:

403,000,000: that’s the number of results you get when you Google Social Selling!
400%: that’s the increase in sales that IBM has reported thanks to Social Selling!
→ 90%: that’s the percentage of decision makers who never respond to cold outreach, according to The Harvard Business Review.

how much

The list of statistics supporting Social Selling just goes on and on…. So why are some companies still so slow to engage!? Well, that’s a tough nut to crack… It has to do with culture, management, overall digital onboarding, business relevance, digital understanding, etc..

Its true (and the numbers definitely show it!)  that more and more managers are using LinkedIn, but they’re saying they’re a bit lost and could use some guidance from their employers. Unfortunately their requests are sometimes falling on deaf ears.

Proving the business value of being active on professional social networks does take some technical navigation… That’s why we concocted this list of 5 ways you can show your boss why he/she should invest in Social Selling and get you the extra help you need in order to become a Social Selling Superstar!

Social_Media_Superstar

1/ Let the numbers do the talking!
Show your boss as many numbers as possible! How many of the following are on the different social platforms? : your competitors and their sales teams, your potential prospects and current clients, your colleagues, etc. Most likely these numbers should be enough to scare your boss into getting interested!

2/ Don’t be all talk and no action!
Show your boss what you’ve done to improve your profile and how it has helped. Create a timeline of where you started and the results you were getting and what you’re doing at the moment and how the results have improved… There is nothing better than showing your boss that you’re taking proactive steps!

3/ Spell it out!
Don’t assume that your boss will understand when you say you’ve done 5 shares, 10 likes, have 20 new contacts, etc. He/she might not be socially savvy, so you might have to sit them down over lunch and give them a little tour of LinkedIn, Twitter, etc

And, most importantly, remember to point out what it all means in terms of results. By breaking it down for them, you’ll make it easy to understand. They’ll quickly pick up on the value and will definitely thank you for it! One day, when it comes time to identifying some people to take part in a digital test and learn, your boss will think of you! Go Social Media superstar!

4/ Be nosy!
Ask them your boss what’s going on in regards to social media strategy, if management is thinking of some guidelines, etc. Then share with your boss your Social Selling exploratory activities. They will appreciate this information sharing and it will most likely pay off!

5/ Get out of your comfort zone!
If your boss tells you that the company is thinking about getting a digital initiative started or is trying to launch a test, offer to be used as a guinea pig! After all, someone has to help lead the change. So why not you? You’ll definitely benefit from more visibility and hey, maybe you’ll finally get that extra help you were asking for! 😉

If you need some extra help talking about Social Selling to your boss, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

Twitter et le Social Selling

Smart Question #3 : Can you use Twitter for Social Selling?

While Social Selling is the new hot buzz word, most people tend to associate Social Selling with LinkedIn. So what about Twitter? Can you turn communicating with prospects and clients on Twitter into sales?

sq3

With 320 million users on Twitter, you definitely don’t want to be missing out on the Social Selling possibilities that Twitter offers. So the answer is obviously YES.

Here are 3 ways to use Twitter to up your Social Selling game!

1/ Follow. If your clients and prospects are using Twitter for professional purposes (meaning they’re communicating on work related subjects during the business day), then there is no better way to learn about what is important to them than by following them on Twitter.

→ 
The Social Selling Plus:  Your clients and prospects will receive a notification that you’re now following them, so you will definitely get onto their radar screen!

2/ Inform. Twitter is the perfect place to show your business community what you’re about. Show that you’re an expert in your area by sharing relative information, tips, your opinion, etc. about subjects that matter for your clients and prospects.

→ 
The Social Selling Plus:  Social Selling is about being social.  By being active on Twitter,
you’ll contribute to a serious and value rich online presence that your clients and prospects will not be able to miss, plus you’ll be enhancing their customer journey… (well hello Google 😉 ).
Social Selling Twitter

3/ Reach out!  Mentioning your clients and/or prospects in a tweet that will interest them is another great way to get their attention. This type of reach out is more direct than mentioning them in a LinkedIn share (which is also less of a common business practice). This type of direct contact can also help you to be in touch with them and get them engaged in regards to a specific subject.

→ The Social Selling Plus: If your clients and prospects follow you back, you will have the possibility to be in direct contact with them via Direct Message. Now that could be even better than having their telephone number! 😉
Social Selling Twitter

*The Smart Questions series was created based on real, live questions asked by our learners! Our trainers are out there, on the ground, training Managers in multinationals and SME’s every week. This gives us the golden opportunity to hear tons of questions that we decided to share with you in this Smart Questions series.


If you have any questions about social media, Social Selling, etc,
please don’t hesitate to send them to us and we’ll be sure to provide you with some answers in this Smart Questions series.

Silicon Valley Tech tourism

#Techtourism: my first visit to Silicon Valley

While I’m half Amercian, I had never been to California. So when I finally had the chance to check out Silicon valley and visit some social media companies and tech hubs, I naturally jumped on this opportunity!

So what was it like? Well, coming from Paris as a humble digital Entrepreneur, it was indeed refreshing to meet tech people literally everywhere: cafes, trains, ferries, sidewalks…. It just seemed like no matter where I was, the people around me were digitally savy, highly educated, and forward thinking…

Digital

And one thing was for sure – there were tech Entrepreneurs everywhere and they all had more or less the same message: “if you’re just a small tech company with 10 to 20 people and no one knows you yet, you’re a nobody.”
Wow, that was scarey!  I wanted to jump up and down and shout out to them, “good job!”. If you run a startup in France with all of its hiring complexities and you have a team of 10-20 people, its a serious accomplishment!
And, by the way, I  particularly got a kick out of the “you’re a nobody” part, meaning if your company isn’t called Facebook or Uber, you’re not deemed worthy enough to be on the tech map… 😉

So anyway, what did I learn during my 2 day visit to Silicon Valley?

#Techtourism: Michelle’s 3 takeaways

TT1: Mindset
Go big or go home: obviously the system of measurement in the US and France aren’t the same. We all know about the stereotypcial differences of how everything is bigger in the US. The positive aspect of this is that it affects attitude as well! The people I met  have “big” minds, meaning they’re open and accepting of innovative ideas. This “anything is possible” mindset leads the way for disruption! So maybe “bigger” minds are indeed better when you’re trying to innovate and create a new product, service, business model, etc.
And, by the way, to relax their minds, yes its true, yoga and meditation are everywhere! There is even a Yoga Room at the airport!

Capture d’écran 2016-03-10 à 20.41.27
Namaste San Francisco!

 

TT2: Measurement
Now that we have lots of social media activity, tools, and applications and are driving tons of traffic in every direction, its essential to measure this activity in order to understand what it all means. Everywhere I went during my 2 days, I met at least 3 Entrepreneurs working on this.

From tools that measure social media engagement and conversation, to tools that track the number of people passing by in front of stores, to tools that measure data security leaks and educate on data security within companies, measurement is obviously on everyone’s mind!

What is interesting here is that what what companies used to think is unmeasurable is now identifiable and measurable! After all, it serves no purpose to be present on social media if you cannot measure and interpret the results!

TT3: Mapping
When LinkedIn says, “digitally mapping the global economy,” they’re not kidding. It seemed like many of the digital business people I met are following this mantra. It’s true that social media activity + measurement + mapping= success!  It’s only logical that if you can measure results, you must map them afterwards. Digital mapping is the key to interpreting social media activity. This helps us to better understand our online business ecosystem, how to interact with its members, and achieve success.

So…. What does this all mean? I’ve come away from my Silicon Valley learning expedition with a refreshed outlook on my business life as a digital Entrepreneur in Paris.
→ The world is big with many amazing people and possibilities. We just have to keep our minds open and think practically.

For more information on how you and your teams can measure digital maturity and activities.

time

Managers: How much time should you and your teams be devoting to social media?

Has this happened to you recently?

  • You receive several LinkedIn invitations per day (not to mention their reminder emails!)
  • You see more and more social media activity from your partners, industry influencers, competitors, etc.
  • Management is telling you that you should be spending time on social media every day!

But, wait, hello? Maybe you haven’t even received any company guidelines or training and you definitely haven’t been told how much time you and your teams should be devoting to these activities! And not to mention the fact that you’re so swamped as it is, how could you possibly even consider adding social media into the mix?!

Don’t worry, there is definitely a method to this madness! 🙂  It’s all about using social media to enhance your everyday business activities and help you stay aware of what’s going on in your sector. It’s not about letting it control your everyday business doings*!

So, how much time should you be spending everyday on digital?
Depending of course on your professional objectives (please see below), if you and your teams would like to stay on top of industry news and contribute to corporate visibility, a good 15 minutes per day would be recommended.

But now you’re probably wondering what you should be doing during those 15 minutes?  Here is a little CAR to help get you driving on the right path!

digital car

Check the 4 C’s: what’s happening within your company, community, competitors, and clients?

Action: 1 action per day that will help you to stay visible (1 like, share, invitation, etc)

Relevance: something relevant as per your objectives, job, industry, company strategy, etc.

Now you’re thinking, great, I have a method, but how to squeeze in 15 minutes into your already jam packed schedule?! There are many ways you can do this. You can spread it out (5 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes at lunch, and 5 minutes before heading out). You can do it first thing in the morning and get it out of the way quickly, or you can add it in to your lunch hour! Either way, remember, you don’t have to become a digital dynamo! You’re just trying NOT to become a digital dinosaur!

*If you’re using social media for very specific digitals tasks which are an important part of your job, then a daily routine of 15 minutes per day would not be appropriate. For example, a digital marketing/communication professional driving company brand visibility, a Sales person who is generating leads through Social Selling, a Project Manager managing a community of practice, or an HR professional filling their talent pipeline and creating digital awareness around the company employer brand – these are all targeted digital uses which would require at least one hour per day.


For more information on how you and your teams should be integrating social media into your everyday activities.