The social media marketing revolution is rising slowly out of the chaos reigning on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. If you thought the internet was always a minefield of dubious quality resources to help your your business then try these social media sites. Over 300 million subscribers are scrambling about these sites, self educating and doing what the internet never really allowed before. People are talking to each other.
And better still their contributions are welcome too. On personal and professional platforms there is openness. There is a huge amount of information available to subscribers and a whole range of subjects. People are connecting with each other on one or more sites. It’s happening on Twitter for micro-blogging, Facebook at a personal or business casual level and LinkedIn at a more formal business level. YouTube brings people to life using video. There are many more niche sites too.
So how can all of this activity help me in the ERP world or you in your business? Social media marketing with the right strategies will: positively promote your business; support effectively your marketing, PR and customer service efforts; generate increased website traffic; generate connections and attention globally; and ultimately bring leads for your products and services.
Those who use online social networks are three times more likely to trust the opinion of others in their network than traditional advertising when it comes down to making a decision about a purchase. It’s all about knowing people and people knowing you too. It’s about personalisation.
I’ve built a network of 13,000 professional connections, a 1200+ member professional ERP group, researched and trained in this new social phenomenon for the past year. I’m taking on clients in the IT sector and more. I am loving it!
Continued soon...
www.DriveERP.com
http://twitter.com/John_McGrann
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Seller Beware!
I was at the back of the queue when they were handing out mobile telephones. In fact, I wasn’t even in the queue... My first one was thrust upon me by a rather insistent Czech lady Martina who told me I had to have it to do my job as a project manager. After a little training and a lot of anxiety I learned how to make and receive calls. Then I worked out how to send text messages. Ten years later I have progressed little.
My problem was I didn’t want the mobile phone. I couldn’t see the benefits. I thought it was going to cost me money and a lot of anxiety, especially if I lost it. In this case I had to take it but often in hard sell situations my resistance is total and formidable. No insurance, car or real estate salesperson is going to force me to buy something that I don’t want and many of you surely are the same.
Because when I am looking to spend my hard earned (relatively) dollars I want to be treated with courtesy, honesty and respect. In fact I like to buy from people who I like and trust too. It matters not if it’s a personal or professional purchase.
There is a global social revolution taking place all around us which is impacting how we will buy products and services in the future. It’s chaos at the moment and many people don’t understand how it works and its implications. This time I’m at the forefront of change and loving it.
It’s time for buyer power – bring on the social media marketing revolution!
Continued soon....
www.DriveERP.com
http://twitter.com/John_McGrann
My problem was I didn’t want the mobile phone. I couldn’t see the benefits. I thought it was going to cost me money and a lot of anxiety, especially if I lost it. In this case I had to take it but often in hard sell situations my resistance is total and formidable. No insurance, car or real estate salesperson is going to force me to buy something that I don’t want and many of you surely are the same.
Because when I am looking to spend my hard earned (relatively) dollars I want to be treated with courtesy, honesty and respect. In fact I like to buy from people who I like and trust too. It matters not if it’s a personal or professional purchase.
There is a global social revolution taking place all around us which is impacting how we will buy products and services in the future. It’s chaos at the moment and many people don’t understand how it works and its implications. This time I’m at the forefront of change and loving it.
It’s time for buyer power – bring on the social media marketing revolution!
Continued soon....
www.DriveERP.com
http://twitter.com/John_McGrann
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Time for a change...
I never thought I could be comfortably associated with an industry so littered with stories of failure. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems have been implemented and supported globally for all sizes of organisations in the public and private sectors. Various pieces of research indicate the satisfaction rates of customers and key users is around the 40% mark. The remainder are not getting the expected value from their ERP systems.
Now logically it is possible to achieve satisfaction with ERP systems because 40% of organisations are doing so. So where do organisations go wrong? There are several components to successful ERP systems including: effective leadership and management; quality project and support teams; managing customer expectations; standardising and streamlining business processes; measuring performance and value for money; effective ERP reporting; empowerment; business ownership; and tight change request control. Probably the most important component is business change management.
Traditionally, change management around ERP applications projects means:
• Communicating features and benefits of the new system
• Training, education, and external information programmes
• New organisational structures, policies, and procedures
• Monitoring and evaluating the organisation's performance
But this is not the whole change picture. There are 8 reasons for failure of change programmes,
• Too self complacent before and after ERP implementation
• No effective leadership alliance
• Lack of a vision and strategy
• Ineffectively communicating the vision
• Barriers to the new vision - people, structure, culture etc.
• Lack of immediate progress
• Complacency returns
• Change is not embedded in the organisation's culture
Of course, we need to know how to combat these reasons for failure and deliver effective and successful change management around ERP systems.
Winning the Change Game
Here is a framework for effecting successful change management around ERP systems:
• Firing up the Team - Create a sense of urgency and crisis. ERP systems are a source of competitive advantage. You need stretch ERP targets and accountabilities including business ownership at executive level.
• Leaders on and off the pitch - Create from the powerful and influential and make them visible. Especially at executive level across all functional areas. This will inspire the project and support teams including third parties.
• A Vision of Glory - Make the vision feasible, desirable, focused and flexible. Define where you will be in 1, 5 and 10 years time leveraging all the potential benefits of your ERP system. Including competitive advantage, automation, quality delivery of business information and enabling change in how business is done.
• Roaring on the Team - A simple message using many channels with leaders setting an example. Communicate continuously and clearly the vision.
• Battling and Dominating - Align systems and the organisation to the vision, and deal with troublesome managers and other barriers to success.
• Goals - Celebrate and communicate all short term wins.
• More pressure! More goals! - Create more change, more success and more leaders.
• The Winning Mentality - Make successful change part of the culture.
In an increasingly competitive world, organisations must leverage all the potential benefits of their ERP systems. The days of ERP implementations being the responsibility of the IT function and third party vendors are drawing to a close. As are the days of technology driving change rather than the needs of the business. A more embracing, dynamic, business-driven, people- oriented change management process will make a significant contribution to future ERP successes.
It’s time for a change...
www.DriveERP.com
http://twitter.com/John_McGrann
Now logically it is possible to achieve satisfaction with ERP systems because 40% of organisations are doing so. So where do organisations go wrong? There are several components to successful ERP systems including: effective leadership and management; quality project and support teams; managing customer expectations; standardising and streamlining business processes; measuring performance and value for money; effective ERP reporting; empowerment; business ownership; and tight change request control. Probably the most important component is business change management.
Traditionally, change management around ERP applications projects means:
• Communicating features and benefits of the new system
• Training, education, and external information programmes
• New organisational structures, policies, and procedures
• Monitoring and evaluating the organisation's performance
But this is not the whole change picture. There are 8 reasons for failure of change programmes,
• Too self complacent before and after ERP implementation
• No effective leadership alliance
• Lack of a vision and strategy
• Ineffectively communicating the vision
• Barriers to the new vision - people, structure, culture etc.
• Lack of immediate progress
• Complacency returns
• Change is not embedded in the organisation's culture
Of course, we need to know how to combat these reasons for failure and deliver effective and successful change management around ERP systems.
Winning the Change Game
Here is a framework for effecting successful change management around ERP systems:
• Firing up the Team - Create a sense of urgency and crisis. ERP systems are a source of competitive advantage. You need stretch ERP targets and accountabilities including business ownership at executive level.
• Leaders on and off the pitch - Create from the powerful and influential and make them visible. Especially at executive level across all functional areas. This will inspire the project and support teams including third parties.
• A Vision of Glory - Make the vision feasible, desirable, focused and flexible. Define where you will be in 1, 5 and 10 years time leveraging all the potential benefits of your ERP system. Including competitive advantage, automation, quality delivery of business information and enabling change in how business is done.
• Roaring on the Team - A simple message using many channels with leaders setting an example. Communicate continuously and clearly the vision.
• Battling and Dominating - Align systems and the organisation to the vision, and deal with troublesome managers and other barriers to success.
• Goals - Celebrate and communicate all short term wins.
• More pressure! More goals! - Create more change, more success and more leaders.
• The Winning Mentality - Make successful change part of the culture.
In an increasingly competitive world, organisations must leverage all the potential benefits of their ERP systems. The days of ERP implementations being the responsibility of the IT function and third party vendors are drawing to a close. As are the days of technology driving change rather than the needs of the business. A more embracing, dynamic, business-driven, people- oriented change management process will make a significant contribution to future ERP successes.
It’s time for a change...
www.DriveERP.com
http://twitter.com/John_McGrann
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