Is Twitter getting too big for its britches?

Today I received some bad news.  And it has not made my day.  Basically it means I’m going to have to do more work.  Not that I mind work.  What I mind is having to redo something I already put in place to be better organized.   The post today will be my rant about what caused the bad news.

Last month Twitter announced stricter rules regarding the use of their API.  There were a lot of reasons quoted by the company for the rationale.  None of them made sense to me. And it has caused me to rethink my social media updating strategy.

Let me explain why.  I use Twitter as my tool for updating both Facebook and Linkedin.  I, like many people, have a real job and need to spend most of my day running my business.  Social media is important to my business and my marketing efforts, but it’s not the sole thing I do all day.  Therefore, I need tools and processes to make this happen.  For a couple of years now I have been writing in one place, but posting in many.  This has enabled me to be very active on the Social Media front without impacting my business.  This new ruling means that has to change.

I spend very little time out on Linkedin.  I have to say it’s because I find it too busy.  It’s hard to find information and I don’t have time to weed thru minutia.  Tweet Deck helps a bit.  This application is just what Twitter is trying to hurt.  They want everyone driving to the Twitter site and not using tools or aggregators as they are called.  Guys, that’s a sure way to make me stop using Twitter at all.  One of the rules implemented in June said developers should not use Twitter APIs to mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience.  In other words, don’t make it look like Twitter.  I don’t believe Twitter patented the way their product looks.

At first, this didn’t seem like a big deal when I originally read the announcement in June.  That’s where the “bad news of the day” comes in.  The bad news is something that was going to show up in a tool I use, won’t be there.  Because of this new ruling.  When I went out to research the ruling, I found out about Linkedin and Twitter severing their ties.  Ouch.  That hurt.  That meant  my tweets couldn’t post to Linkedin.  Ok, now I’m annoyed.  Especially since I found out this ruling will affect another application I use heavily.  That application was hoping to leverage the ability to aggregate social media streams into one place and now Twitter won’t be part of that aggregation.  Grr.

When you look at all the companies, particularly in the CRM space, that have been busy buying up social media applications so they could provide social media interfaces and aggregation of posts, you have to ask yourself what was Twitter thinking.  Or were they thinking at all?  Has Twitter gotten too big for their britches?  Or are they just trying to lure people to Twitter sites so they can spam us?  My gut feeling is this is the case and from what I’m reading, that’s what others believe as well.  It’s all a corporate game and we the end users are the chess pieces.  Gosh, I hate being a pawn.

To say this has made me grumpy today is an understatement.  Now I have to rethink my updating strategy.  As if I didn’t have a million other things to do.  Enough ranting.  Got to get back to work.  More on this topic later.

“How’s the weather?” – Or Don’t forget the R in CRM

The following post is from a guest blogger – Tony Berastegui.

Over 95% of my clients have never met me face to face.  You see, I work in inside sales and most, if not all of my business is done over the phone or by email.  No opportunities for a handshake, lunch, or round of golf here.  Yet, I have very good relationships with my current account base and always looking for new relationships with my new business efforts.  How?  Nothing beats face to face interactions, but there are very simple ways to build that relationship without ever meeting in person.

Video phones would be the easiest solution.  However, I mostly communicate with small to medium business owners where the good ol’ phone is king.  Email is still very powerful when used correctly.  However, the phone is still the best method to build that very important relationship.   My customers buy because they like me.  I sell a very common service in a competitive market and people don’t buy just on price.  They want to work with someone they can trust, so in my case, building a strong relationship is crucial.

So, when dealing with phone calls, I never rely on a script and every call is different.  It has to be.  Not everyone is equal and if you stick to a script, you may guarantee yourself that all the details will be delivered – but at what cost?  Sounding like a robot, maybe.

When I prospect or reach out to existing accounts I always take a minute to find something to talk about before I make the call. Current events, trade news, and yes, the weather are topics that I look for.  ACT! helps me a lot with tracking notes for talking points for both prospects and clients.  For example, Bill the plumber, lives in Alabama and he loves to talk about his son and his golf game.  Well, right before I reach out to Bill to check on his latest order, I check my notes in ACT! and note that the last time we talked, Bill told me his son was breaking in his new golf driver.  With that in mind, here is how I start that call. “Hey Bill!  Tony here.  So is the little guy hitting the big stick 200 yards yet?”    This easily leads into my client talking about his son.  He’s relaxed, the conversation is casual, the relationship maintained.  Soon into that call, with a nice relaxed customer, I ease into the purpose of my call and work on getting a renewal on the account or an up-sell.

You would think it would be easy to remember that Bill the plumber’s son plays golf.  Well, did I mention that I make 80 outbound calls a day?  My memory is pretty good, but my time is spent number crunching, proposal building, prospecting, you name it.  That’s a lot to be thinking about. That’s why I need tools like ACT! to help me “remember” things important to my customer and me.

Take the time to ask about the weather before you get into the business of the call.  Take the time to take note of something that is of special interest to your prospect or client and start the call with that.  The recipient of your call is just as busy as you are, and a little chat about junior’s golf swing is surely a welcome break.

Good luck with your relationship building.  Always remember to not forget the “R” in CRM is Relationships.  Oh, and by the way, Phoenix was 105 today. Not to bad considering we hit 118 this summer.  Happy selling.

Signed Tony Berastegui – guest blogger (who happens to be my son – didn’t he do a great job on this blog post!)