Live what you sell

April 17, 2009 by lisaamorao
Filed under: Lisa Amorao, Service, Staffing, Technology

I did my annual pilgrimage to the Web2.0 Expo and perhaps it’s a sign that social applications are finally “growing up” because most are now being marketed as “enterprise” this or that. I think it’s great that more companies are now marketing social apps for business uses instead of a way to tell the whole world what you ate for lunch.

I went to the expo armed with just my iPhone and my arsenal of basic social apps: Facebook, Twitterrific (a Twitter client) and LinkedIn. I brought business cards with me but purposely withheld them. I visited each booth, talked to some folks to learn about their product or service, and when they asked for my business card, I would say “I’m running low on business cards, but tell you what, I’ll connect with you right now on LinkedIn and Facebook and follow you on Twitter.” Then I would proceed to take my iPhone out and add them on the spot.

A lot of people were happy to oblige. Awesome, they would say. They’d take out their iPhone/Blackberry/G1/Windows Mobile-enabled phone and accept my invitation, on the spot.

Now, there are people who are big fans of the business card, but I think I accomplished way more by withholding it:

I did a little bit to save the environment.
I made an instant, more meaningful connection — my new contact gets a picture, links to my personal blog, my employer, gets a complete story of what I’m really about (because ya know, it’s all about ME). It sure beats having my card end up in a box labeled “Web2.0 Expo.”
I avoided SPAM by NOT having my business card end up as part of a mailing list.

But…to my surprise, there were quite a handful who told me “uh…I’m not quite on Facebook.”

Ok, how about LinkedIn?

I kid you not, but oh dear lord, someone did tell me “I have an account that I opened a while back…I have to figure out how to accept your invitation.”

Seriously?

It’s not a mortal sin to not be on Facebook or LinkedIn (I know plenty of people who don’t want any part of it), but this was Web2.0 Expo. In this particular situation, not being part of Facebook or LinkedIn is like going to a Weight Watchers meeting and proclaiming you don’t want to lose weight.

The saddest part was, I got this from someone who was selling a “social media aggregator.” Their application supposedly will allow you to see all the people you follow whether they are on Twitter, Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, their RSS feeds, FriendFeed…all in one spot.

“That’s awesome,” I told Booth Guy Who’s Not on Facebook and Can’t Figure Out LinkedIn (hereonto now referred to as Booth Guy). “But how are you going to use it?”

Booth Guy gave me a blank stare and started mumbling. When he told me that he can’t connect to me on Facebook or LinkedIn, I thought he was just making an excuse not to connect with me. I thought, maybe he didn’t like me. I mean…how can you sell a “social media aggregator” and not be part of a social network? But his blank stare told me that he really didn’t know how social media worked. Oh god, it’s true…you really aren’t on Facebook. ( I **almost** said).

Their CEO came to his aid and started talking to me. Did a demo. We had a conversation about the application, I told him how I’m going to use it. Then he said he wanted to talk to me some more, can he please have my business card?

Same deal. I took out my iPhone and offered to connect on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. Guess what? CEO of Social Media Aggregator isn’t on there either!

I kid you not.

I suppose it’s a great application. Who knows? Unfortunately, I probably won’t find out. Yeah, it’s not going to cost me anything to use their application, but that’s not the point. There’s just something fundamentally unsettling about using something made by people who don’t really get what their creation is for. And this applies to pretty much almost everything. If you use staffing services, does your firm “get it?” Would they hire the same candidates as if they were hiring them to work on their own projects? If you’re a candidate, do you trust the recruiter you’re working with? Can they talk to you about a position they are recruiting you for as if they are the ones going on that assignment?

Lisa Amorao has been with ATR since 2000 and has held roles in recruiting and sales before moving to her current position as marketing programs manager. You can connect with her on Facebook or LinkedIn.

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Comments

6 Comments on Live what you sell

Jason Lander on Sat, 18th Apr 2009 9:42 am

This is a great post. I think maybe my favorite of yours so far. I was actually preparing to write a similar blog – same topic, different context. But you’ve really hit it on the head here. I especially love software companies that don’t use their own products.

Rene Sadlier on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 8:58 am

Awesome Posting! As an IT sales guy, I not only understand how important it is to know what you are selling, but equally important, is to know who you are selling to. Whenever possible I subscribe and become a user of as many products and services that my customer sells and offers; not only to gain a greater perspective and understanding of who my customer is, but to also demonstrate my devotion to the customer and ultimately build a longer lasting partnership. If not, it would be like going on a customer visit to a computer company, while using a competitor’s computer during your customer visit…That would be a one-way ticket to loosing your customer.

lisaamorao on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 11:44 am

@Jason: Thanks! Always a pleasure to have you drop by.

@Rene: Amen! It was pretty sad, actually. These guys spent the money to set up an elaborate booth, fly their crew in from Texas, only to get there and not be able to talk about their product from a personal standpoint. What a waste.

Brad Smith on Thu, 30th Apr 2009 4:09 pm

Lisa,
Great post, I absolutely love your weight watchers analogy!

I wasn’t able to attend the Expo, was there anything you learned or demo that really knocked your socks off?

lisaamorao on Thu, 7th May 2009 9:06 pm

Hi Brad,

I’m sorry your comment got caught in Akismet…

I’m glad you liked the Weight Watchers analogy…Explaining the context of the incident was a bit difficult. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was demeaning to people who choose not to participate in Twitter or Facebook.

I don’t think there was anything that was mind-blowing at the Expo…but I was glad NOT to see any new social networks.

Jeff Long on Fri, 7th Aug 2009 7:51 am

Funny post, but I’m feeling a little embarrassed now. I think for some people (like me) either a lack of time or being a natural introvert can cause the “I have an account, but don’t update it syndrome. It seems like I am so busy keeping my company’s presence up that I forget about my own. I know they should be intertwined, but there are only so many hours in a day.

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