Comments on: Both Sides of Choosing to Disconnect, Un-Follow or De-Friend your Competitors on Social Networks http://www.nateriggs.com/2009/11/11/both-sides-of-choosing-to-disconnect-un-follow-or-de-friend-your-competitors-on-social-networks/content-marketing-consulting Business consulting for content marketing, social media strategy, business blogging and online community management Sat, 11 Feb 2012 06:08:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Nate Riggs http://www.nateriggs.com/2009/11/11/both-sides-of-choosing-to-disconnect-un-follow-or-de-friend-your-competitors-on-social-networks/content-marketing-consulting/comment-page-1#comment-492 Nate Riggs Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:01:48 +0000 http://www.nateriggs.com/?p=1727#comment-492 You bring up a very interesting point, Jay. Thanks for the comment. IMHO, if sales people are really doing their job and uilding real relationships, it's a moot point as to if someone else connects with them on social media networks. For one, just because I follow someone on Twitter or LinkedIn does not necessarily mean that my relationship is strong enough with them that I could approach them as a sales rep. Having the ability to monitor those relationships via SM is a good thing. For one, it allows departments to police themselves. If one of the salke associates is neglecting contact or letting the relationship slip, others in the organization will have a sense of what's happening. Silos in organizations in terms of who's doing what with which prospect or client have always presented challenges. You are correct in that having access to new media profiles makes some portion of previously guarded information public. For me, I think it's really an argument for shifting organizational culture, from cut throat and guarded relationships, to open dialog and sharing. The culture of a sales department is always the side product of the attitudes of the leaders and the tone they set. Social media tools can help make those nuances visible, but shifting organizational culture happens as a result of humans working together on the ground... You bring up a very interesting point, Jay. Thanks for the comment. IMHO, if sales people are really doing their job and uilding real relationships, it’s a moot point as to if someone else connects with them on social media networks. For one, just because I follow someone on Twitter or LinkedIn does not necessarily mean that my relationship is strong enough with them that I could approach them as a sales rep.

Having the ability to monitor those relationships via SM is a good thing. For one, it allows departments to police themselves. If one of the salke associates is neglecting contact or letting the relationship slip, others in the organization will have a sense of what’s happening. Silos in organizations in terms of who’s doing what with which prospect or client have always presented challenges. You are correct in that having access to new media profiles makes some portion of previously guarded information public.

For me, I think it’s really an argument for shifting organizational culture, from cut throat and guarded relationships, to open dialog and sharing. The culture of a sales department is always the side product of the attitudes of the leaders and the tone they set. Social media tools can help make those nuances visible, but shifting organizational culture happens as a result of humans working together on the ground…

]]> By: Nate Riggs http://www.nateriggs.com/2009/11/11/both-sides-of-choosing-to-disconnect-un-follow-or-de-friend-your-competitors-on-social-networks/content-marketing-consulting/comment-page-1#comment-2132 Nate Riggs Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:01:00 +0000 http://www.nateriggs.com/?p=1727#comment-2132 You bring up a very interesting point, Jay. Thanks for the comment. IMHO, if sales people are really doing their job and uilding real relationships, it's a moot point as to if someone else connects with them on social media networks. For one, just because I follow someone on Twitter or LinkedIn does not necessarily mean that my relationship is strong enough with them that I could approach them as a sales rep. Having the ability to monitor those relationships via SM is a good thing. For one, it allows departments to police themselves. If one of the salke associates is neglecting contact or letting the relationship slip, others in the organization will have a sense of what's happening. Silos in organizations in terms of who's doing what with which prospect or client have always presented challenges. You are correct in that having access to new media profiles makes some portion of previously guarded information public. For me, I think it's really an argument for shifting organizational culture, from cut throat and guarded relationships, to open dialog and sharing. The culture of a sales department is always the side product of the attitudes of the leaders and the tone they set. Social media tools can help make those nuances visible, but shifting organizational culture happens as a result of humans working together on the ground... You bring up a very interesting point, Jay. Thanks for the comment. IMHO, if sales people are really doing their job and uilding real relationships, it’s a moot point as to if someone else connects with them on social media networks. For one, just because I follow someone on Twitter or LinkedIn does not necessarily mean that my relationship is strong enough with them that I could approach them as a sales rep.

Having the ability to monitor those relationships via SM is a good thing. For one, it allows departments to police themselves. If one of the salke associates is neglecting contact or letting the relationship slip, others in the organization will have a sense of what’s happening. Silos in organizations in terms of who’s doing what with which prospect or client have always presented challenges. You are correct in that having access to new media profiles makes some portion of previously guarded information public.

For me, I think it’s really an argument for shifting organizational culture, from cut throat and guarded relationships, to open dialog and sharing. The culture of a sales department is always the side product of the attitudes of the leaders and the tone they set. Social media tools can help make those nuances visible, but shifting organizational culture happens as a result of humans working together on the ground…

]]> By: Jay Schmidt http://www.nateriggs.com/2009/11/11/both-sides-of-choosing-to-disconnect-un-follow-or-de-friend-your-competitors-on-social-networks/content-marketing-consulting/comment-page-1#comment-491 Jay Schmidt Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:05:02 +0000 http://www.nateriggs.com/?p=1727#comment-491 Nate, I really like all the opinions you lay out in the post. Everything makes really good sense. I'm wondering what your opinion is on friending / following as it pertains to a sales organization. Most sales organizations have archaic sales guidelines where accounts are "carded" by individual sales people and therefore cannot be called on by any other salesperson in the organization. What are the repercussions of following an individual or an organization that is already "carded" by another sales associate in your organization? Is that the same as making a sales call and violating the sales guidelines? At my company I follow several agencies that are carded by another sales associate. So even if I can't have direct access to that organization and present a sale, I can at least track the activity and become familiar so that I might be able to engage them if that salesperson moves on or if they drop the account. Its never been brought up to me, but I have a feeling that my fellow sales associates would be a bit put-off that I have been following their clients and in some instances, RTs or replies@ could be misconstrued as actual contact, thus violating sales guidelines. Any thoughts on those scenarios? Nate, I really like all the opinions you lay out in the post. Everything makes really good sense. I’m wondering what your opinion is on friending / following as it pertains to a sales organization. Most sales organizations have archaic sales guidelines where accounts are “carded” by individual sales people and therefore cannot be called on by any other salesperson in the organization. What are the repercussions of following an individual or an organization that is already “carded” by another sales associate in your organization? Is that the same as making a sales call and violating the sales guidelines? At my company I follow several agencies that are carded by another sales associate. So even if I can’t have direct access to that organization and present a sale, I can at least track the activity and become familiar so that I might be able to engage them if that salesperson moves on or if they drop the account. Its never been brought up to me, but I have a feeling that my fellow sales associates would be a bit put-off that I have been following their clients and in some instances, RTs or replies@ could be misconstrued as actual contact, thus violating sales guidelines. Any thoughts on those scenarios?

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