Comcast and service are two words that have been closely aligned and analyzed since Frank Eliason initiated the @ComcastCares program on Twitter. Eliason built a new channel for engaging customers to solve their problems. More importantly, he also developed a new infrastructure at Comcast to learn from their experiences. Frank has since joined CITI, but before his departure, he solidified the future of @ComcastCares by placing it in the hands of Bill Gerth and Kip Wetzel. Under the direction of Gerth and Wetzel, Comcast’s social customer service program continues to develop a culture of customer-centricity. At the same time, the team is leading internal efforts to transform products, processes, and services to not just respond to negative experiences, but also improve them to eliminate problems in the future.
You’ve all heard the stat, if Facebook were a country, it would be the the third largest in the world. That stat was initially shared when Facebook hit 500 million users. Now the site has more than 800 million users and a new comparison that’s worthy of blog posts, tweets and conference presentations…Facebook now has as many users as the entire Internet did in 2004, which ironically is the year Facebook debuted.
The next episode of (R)evolution features a very special guest and someone whose work I’ve followed longer than I care to count. Among many things, John Battelle is the co-founder of Wired, Founder of Federated Media and Executive Producer of the Web 2.0 Summit. He’s also the author of an upcoming book, What We Hath Wrought, which gives us a forecast of the interconnected world in 2040.
Certainly not a statement you would expect to hear from the person formerly known as @ComcastCares, but I think it is an important perspective to consider if we are to build stronger relationships with customers. As I look around I see many interesting aspects of social media from large and small businesses. and I am very excited to see companies trying new things to reach their customers. But we are now moving in a new direction and I think too few see it yet.
Change is inevitable, but it is rarely easy. Among the greatest difficulties associated with change is the ability to even recognize its need at a time when we can actually do something about it. Sometimes, when we finally realize that change is inevitable, the vision or energy needed to push forward in a new direction is elusive. Or worse, when competitors recognize the need for change before us, we are by default pushed into a precarious position where our next steps become impulsive rather than strategic.
Radian6 is one of the industry’s leading social media management platforms and was recently acquired by Salesforce. I was invited to join Salesforce at its recent Social Advisory Board meeting during its annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco where I had an opportunity to sit down with Marcel LeBrun, SVP and GM of Salesforce Radian6.
Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research-based advisory firm. Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging media on business, marketing, publishing, and culture. His current book, Engage, is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to build and measure success in the social web.
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