How to sell the vision & value of online community Online communities are the life force of many customer, partner, and employee engagement programs, but community and marketing leaders often struggle to communicate ROI for the business. This roundtable discussion will share practical ways to create, measure, and communicate the business returns of your online community program.

1. HOW TO SELL THE VISION & VALUE
OF
ONLINE COMMUNITY
October
30,
2013

2. TODAY’S PANELISTS:
•
Vanessa DiMauro, CEO and Managing Partner, Leader
Networks
•
Lisa Sacquitne, Manager of Non-Integrated Services,
SPS Commerce
•
Jessica McDouall, Senior Manager of Non-Integrated
Services, SPS Commerce
•
Robert Miller, President & CEO, IntelliQ Research &
Strategy

3. L E A D E R NETWORKS
The
Online
Community
Landscape
• Gartner
predicts
70%
of
sponsored
online
communiDes
will
fail
by
2014
fail
aFer
generaDng
liGle
or
no
return
for
some
of
the
world's
largest
companies.
–
–
–
–
Failure
to
establish
a
business
case
Fail
to
gain
tracDon
with
engagement
or
member
growth
Fail
to
meet
member
expectaDons
Fail
to
achieve
measureable
ROI
• But
success
is
possible
and
offers
great
returns!
– Forrester
Research
calculates
that
a
10-­‐percentage-­‐point
improvement
in
a
company’s
customer
experience
score
can
translate
into
more
than
$1
billion
in
revenue.
-­‐
Success
oFen
found
in
cost
reducDon,
increased
customer
retenDon,
more
producDve
partner
relaDons,
new
ideas
generated,
beGer
use
of
the
products
and
services
offered.
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro

4. L E A D E R NETWORKS
Achieving
A
Higher
Success
Rate
With
Community
Many
companies
are
generaDng
significant
returns
from
their
online
communiDes.
Cost
reduc>on
• Autodesk’s
online
customer
community
has
cut
support
costs
by
$6.8
million
annually.
• HewleG
Packard
reported
that
over
50%
of
its
online
support
requests
are
resolved
by
fellow
customers
online,
which
translates
into
$50
million
in
savings
per
year.
Product
Innova>on
• Eighty-­‐four
percent
of
Analog
Devices’
Engineer
Zone
is
a
community
of
12,000+
electrical
design
engineers
say
the
community
helped
them
speed
their
design
process,
and
three-­‐quarters
were
more
likely
to
buy
products
from
the
company
because
of
the
community.
• SAP’s
Online
Community
charges
its
communiDes
with
surfacing
new
ideas
for
product
enhancements.
Last
year,
they
delivered
more
than
90
ideas
that
became
product
features.
Revenue
Genera>on
• Within
6
months
of
launch,
The
Palladium
Group
(founders
of
the
balanced
scorecard)
online
community
–
XPC
was
generaDng
revenue
through
partner
and
sponsor
programs
and
premium
membership.
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro

5. L E A D E R NETWORKS
Seven
Common
Community
Mis-­‐steps
1.
Community
goals
are
skewed
to
company
–
not
member
-­‐-­‐
needs.
–
2.
“Tool
talk”
precedes
strategy.
–
3.
6.
Failure
to
feed
the
content
beast.
–
7.
Community
management
is
a
profession
–
hire
and
pay
accordingly.
Chasing
only
business
metrics
and
not
member-­‐driven
ones.
–
Companies
should
begin
evaluaDng
community
soFware
only
aFer
they
have
clearly
arDculated
and
market-­‐tested
the
community
features
with
prospecDve
members.
Community
programs
and
plans
should
focus
on
short
sprints
-­‐-­‐
not
a
big-­‐bang
approach.
Poor
community
management
skills.
–
Mausoleums
are
built
instead
of
sherpa
tents.
–
4.
Community
must
be
maniacally
focused
on
serving
the
members
first
and
business
goals
second.
That
is
how
relaDonships
are
built.
5.
Companies
oFen
track
metrics
that
don’t
maGer
to
the
business
but
are
the
easiest
to
gather.
For
example,
if
customer
saDsfacDon
and
retenDon
is
a
core
goal,
how
has
the
community
helped
customers
beGer
resolve
their
problems
and
avoid
your
call
center?
No
community
zealot
at
the
top:
–
Online
communiDes
need
a
strong
and
visible
execuDve
champion.
Online
communiDes
need
a
constant
flow
of
new,
valuable
informaDon
for
members.
Members
come
for
content
and
stay
for
community.
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro

6. L E A D E R NETWORKS
How
Do
We
Get
Company
Leadership
More
Involved
And
Convinced
Of
The
Value
Of
Community?
• ExecuDve
sponsorship
is
key
to
successful
online
community
–
take
the
Dme
to
culDvate
it:
it
is
your
responsibility.
• Always
be
able
to
answer
the
“so
what”
quesDon
with
consistency
and
clarity.
• Community
must
be
Ded
to
organizaDonal
strategy
in
order
to
deliver
value:
make
those
linkages
apparent.
• Tell
the
whole
community
story
in
business
terms.
Keep
your
execuDve
sponsor(s)
informed
and
enable
them
to
understand
the
opportuniDes,
outcomes
and
challenges
with
building
and
growing
online
community.
• You
/community
succeed
when
your
enable
your
execuDve
sponsor
to
shine!
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro

7. L E A D E R NETWORKS
Key
Ques>ons
All
Online
Communi>es
Must
Answer
To
Succeed
Strategy
Development
Market
Valida>on
Business
Alignment
- What
are
we
trying
to
accomplish?
- Which
stakeholders
are
we
looking
to
engage
with?
- Why?
What
is
the
business
case?
- Which
business
processes
will
be
enhanced?
How?
- How
does
this
iniDaDve
align
with
our
strategic
objecDves?
- How
can
we
test
our
- How
can
we
ensure
hypothesis
before
that
the
business
making
a
significant
requirements
will
investment?
drive
the
process?
- What
do
we
have
to
- How
will
we
know
offer
and
what
that
the
technical
would
we
like
to
see
requirements
align
in
return?
with
the
business
- Which
features
&
requirements?
content
really
- How
can
we
make
maGer?
sure
that
our
- If
we
build
it,
will
requirements
come
they
come
and
will
first
in
selecDng
and
they
return?
deploying
a
technology
plauorm?
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro
Community
Opera>ons
- How
will
we
know
if
the
iniDaDve
aligns
with
our
strategic
objecDves?
- How
will
we
measure
success?
- How
do
we
go
about
establishing
social
policies
(e.g.
“rules
of
the
road”)?
- How
will
we
meet
member
expectaDons
on
an
on-­‐going
basis?
7

8. L E A D E R NETWORKS
What’s
The
Big
Deal
About
Measuring
Success?
Source:
Social
Business:
What
Are
Companies
Really
Doing?
MIT
Sloan
Management
Review,
Research
Report
2012
(in
collaboraDon
with
DeloiGe),
by
David
Kiron,
Doug
Palmer,
Anh
Nguyen
Phillips,
Nina
Kruschwitz
Source:
Social
Business:
ShiFing
Out
of
First
Gear
MIT
Sloan
Management
Review,
Research
Report
2013
(in
collaboraDon
with
DeloiGe
University
Press),
by
David
Kiron,
Doug
Palmer,
Anh
Nguyen
Phillips,
Robert
Berkman
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro
8

9. L E A D E R NETWORKS
While
Social
Performance
Measurement
Is
In
Place,
It
Is
O^en
Disconnected
From
Strategic
Objec>ves
Source:
The
Social
Business
Benchmark
Study
–
2013
Preliminary
Findings
Leader
Networks,
LLC
(co-­‐launched
with
the
Society
for
New
CommunicaDons
Research
-­‐
SNCR)
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro
9

10. L E A D E R NETWORKS
How
Can
We
Establish
A
Macro
Perspec>ve
For
Return-­‐on-­‐
investment?
Numerator
/
Net
Income:
- IdenDfying
where
new
opportuniDes
lie
- AnDcipaDng
changing
customers
needs
- InvesDng
preempDvely
in
building
new
competencies
ROI
=
N
/
D
Denominator:
- Investments
- Net
assets
- Capital
employed
- People
Source:
CompeDng
for
the
Future
Gary
Hamel
&
C.K.
Prahalad
Harvard
Business
School
Press,
1994
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro
10

11. L E A D E R NETWORKS
Online
Community
Metrics
Should
Be
Aligned
With
Business
/
Func>onal
Unit
And
Corporate
Objec>ves
Corporate
Objec>ves
Business
/
Func>onal
Unit
Objec>ves
–
Financial
–
Customer
–
Process
–
Learning
&
Growth
Online
Community
IniDaDve
(Business
Case
/
ROI)
Current
Target
Outcome
Delta
/
ROI
General
Metrics
Site
Metrics
Business
Metrics
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
HGp://www.leadernetworks.com
@vdimauro
11
11

12. L E A D E R NETWORKS
Thank
you!
QuesDons,
comments
and
keeping
the
conversaDon
going…
Vanessa
DiMauro
CEO
&
Managing
Partner,
Leader
Networks
617
484
0778
@vdimauro
vdimauro@leadernetworks.com
www.leadernetworks.com
For
more
informaDon
on
this
topic:
hGp://www.slideshare.net/vdimauro/how-­‐to-­‐excite-­‐your-­‐
execuDves-­‐about-­‐online-­‐community
Copyright
©
2013
Leader
Networks,
LLC
12

13. ABOUT SPS COMMERCE
SPS Commerce is the leading provider of retail supply chain
cloud services, providing the critical capabilities retailers,
suppliers, and channel partners need to
succeed. Headquartered in Minneapolis,
MN with 700+ employees world-wide.

14. OUR COMMUNITY
• Publicly available Support Center
– “Get Help. Give Help. Share Ideas.”
• December 2012: Pilot Launch to 1000 Customers
• January 2013: Formal Release to Focused Customer Base
• Reached 700+ Registered Members within 8 Months
– Active Members: 86%

15. MEASURING SUCCESS
• Scale Support Offering
– On-Demand Assistance
• Chat Integration into Support Center – CSAT 96%
• Searchable Training video Library – 20,000 Views
• Product Innovation/Feedback Loop
– 53 New Ideas
• 21 Under Consideration, 9 Planned, 2 Implemented!
– Engagement Across the Organization
• Product Management, Development, Customer Operations
• Enhanced Customer Experience
– On-Demand Assistance – 110,000 Topic Pageviews
– Transparency into New Product Features & Bugs
– Building Trust & Stronger Relationships – 60% Return Visitors

16. About
IntelliQ
Research
and
Strategy
Strategic
market
and
customer
insights
and
analyDcs
firm
with
domain
experDse
in
healthcare
and
B2B
including
manufacturing,
transportaDon,
chemicals,
professional
services,
and
informaDon
technology.
Started
in
1983.
Focused
on
the
market
research
use
case
for
community,
social
media
analyDcs,
and
ROI
metrics.
CincinnaD,
OH
State
College,
PA
www.intelliqresearch.com

17. ROI
Defini>on
“A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of
an investment. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an
investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the
result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio.”
“The monetary benefits derived from having spent money
on developing or revising a system.”
KEY QUESTIONS à
How do I know it is worth having
a community? or Show me what I
am getting out of this!

18. Types
of
Benefits
Hard
Benefits
Easily Quantifiable
Profit + Revenue
So^
Benefits
Hard to Quantify
Customer Experience

19. How
to
communicate
value
to
leadership?
Show me the beef!!
•
Cost avoidance (call deflection; number of calls deflected
multiplied by cost of each call)
•
Lead generation (new leads directly attributed to community)
•
Improved lead close rates (activities in community that lead to
sales closes)
•
Customer feedback leading to better products & services
(directly attributed to community discussions & comments)
•
Higher levels of customer engagement that lead to greater
satisfaction & loyalty
(measurable events directly tied to community)
19

20. Establishing
Metrics
1. Be obsessive & detailed.
2. Measure before establishing your community and measure
at key intervals thereafter.
START
3 mos.
6 mos.
1 year
3. Gather & compile testimonials (e.g., success stories,
instances where customers were helped, praises from
community participants).
20

21. What
to
measure?
1
2
3
4
5
6
• Prospects
vs.
Customers
• Organic
Search
Traffic
• Lead
conversion/closure
rates
• Call
deflecDon
(before
&
aFer
metrics)
• IdeaDon
and
increased
flow
of
suggesDons
• Improved
customer
saDsfacDon
scores
Other Metrics à community growth, traffic, content growth,
conversations/ discussions prevalence, first call resolution.
21

22. The
Good
News!!
Cost Effective
-- Software Platform
-- Community Managers
-- IT Support

23. ROI
Resources
• “Best
PracDces
for
Measuring
the
Return
on
Investment
of
Online
CommuniDes.”
Oracle
CorporaDon,
2012.
www.oracle.com
• “The
ROI
of
Owner
CommuniDes.”
Forrester
Research,
2013.
www.forrester.com
• CompeDng
for
the
Future.
Gary
Hamel
&
C.K.
Prahalad.
Harvard
Business
School
Press,
1994.

24. Panelists Contact Information
Vanessa
DiMauro
CEO
&
Managing
Partner
LEADER
NETWORKS
vdimauro@leadernetworks.com
www.leadernetworks.com
Robert
Miller
President
&
CEO
INTELLIQ
RESEARCH
&
STRATEGY
rmiller@intelliqresearch.com
www.intelliqresearch.com
Lisa
Sacquitne
Manager,
Non-­‐Integrated
Services
SPS
COMMERCE
lsacquitne@spscommerce.com
www.spscommerce.com
Jessica
McDouall
Manager,
Non-­‐Integrated
Services
SPS
COMMERCE
jmcdouall@spscommerce.com
www.spscommerce.com

25. Thank you for attending our webinar!
Contact us!
Call (877) 339-3997
or visit us online
www.getsatisfaction.com