How Much Time Does It Take?

Business people often ask “How much time does it take?”.  Time seems to be the golden nugget for businesses all in a hurry to meet the most pressing demand or urgent matters.

Pushed by the monthly and quarterly result or the latest initiative everyone is in a hurry to accomplish something as fast as they can.

Does Social Media Take Time?

As soon as a business decides to “step into the water” of social media the first revelation is that this takes time.  Everyone wants a results, a measurement or some metric to justify the investment of time.  The ROI on social media has become a regular conversational topic everywhere and now the quest to define the return on time and dollars invested.  There are questions business need to ask themselves about related task and how they measure them before they try and measure social media.  These include:

1. How do you measure the time spent on email?
2. How do you measure the time spent on phone conversations?
3. How to you measure the time spent on at industry events?
4. How do you measure the time spent on on a sales call?
5. How do you measure the time spent on managing your web site?

The consistent response is similar to a deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming car. Most business people think they are managing by measuring results and for “soft issues” they make up measures to satisfy themselves. Measuring business results has turned into a “counting game” without regard to the quality of the inputs, the relationships and the quality of the business which covers many aspects. (Wonder why we need an economic bailout?)

What Is The Cost/Benefit of Time Building Good Relations?

Stephen Smith writes: “When you ask businesses why they are participating in social media, what do they say? If they say, “to make money,” then they will fail because currency in the social web is found in both relationships and content. If they say, “to grow our business,” they’re just saying, “to make money,” in a nicer way. If they say, “to participate in the conversation,” which is the more appropriate reason to be involved in the social web, then why on earth would they not measure success by the value of the conversations they have?”

How and Why Do You Measure Relationships?

Measuring the results doesn’t tell you “how to build effective relations” or “which methods create the best relations.” Relationships come from human experiences, not corporate spin and hyped promises or measures. Human relationships are measured by trust, sincerity and common values.

If you want a return on social media then focus on conversations that build lasting relationships based on value exchanged and create great experiences. In return you’ll get long lasting customers who will refer others to you because your good at relationships and related experiences. Why is time so important? Because you’ve wasted it doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons. Get it?

What say you?

About Jay: Jay Deragon’s professional career includes providing strategic management consulting services to Fortune 500 companies as well as local small businesses. He has consulted with numerous industries spanning over 25 years of professional experience globally. His current professional endeavors are all centric to the disruptive nature of the social web. He writes at Relationship Economy and provides social media strategic services to businesses large and small. Jay Deragon is an avid student of the emerging landscape of all things social and the subsequent impact on business dynamics. Since 2004 Mr. Deragon has been actively studying, sharing and learning how business as unusual is changing business methods, models and relationships. Life is a journey and the experiences along the way provides learning that furthers the experiences if we know how and what to learn. for more info go here http://www.relationship-economy.com/?page_id=2

Tagged as: business blogging, business disruption, business relations, business transformation, conversational marketing, creative capital, innovation economy, social capital, social commerce, Social Media