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26 Moments That Restored Our Faith In Humanity This Year.

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This week is my last week at Genesys in the Global Innovations group and I want thank everyone who supported me during all of the fun times and successes we had while I was at Genesys.

I am thrilled to announce that I am joining salesforce.com on April 2, 2012 as VP of Service Cloud Strategy working for Dave Kellogg. I am very excited about the team he is building, the momentum the Salesforce Service Cloud has in the market, and in the vision he is building for the future of customer service for the social enterprise.

I also want to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me and helped guide me during this decision-making process.

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Random Acts of Kindness Performed Anonymously.

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My 80-Year-Old Dad Might Be Using Your App to Find a Cure for Cancer.

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Kmart Layaway Shoppers Touched by Cash-Carrying Angel.

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I now do most of my blogging internally to Alcatel-Lucent but also blog here: The ALUC-it Project

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Yes, believe it or not, in the year 2010 there are still people, small business owners, who are not plugged into the social networks. No Twitter, no Facebook, no MySpace, and they don’t even have a blog! Wow, you aren’t on LinkedIn yet? These are intelligent people who are busy (actually working their butts off) trying to stay afloat in a bad economy. What is surprising to me is the number of people who approached me over the holidays and asked me about my experience with social media. For example, at our neighbor’s New Years party; the food was delicious, the drinks were flowing, and the people asking me about social media were plentiful.  I had a couple of friends who asked the same question almost in the same exact way: “What is this Twitter thingy and why does my small business need to get on it?”

The people who asked me the questions were sober and coherent, but I am not sure that my answers were and even if they were coherent I think it would be helpful to put my “Elevator Pitch Party Speech” on a blog.

1. First, reserve  your Twitter handle. Hey, BTW, do you already have a company website? If not, grab a domain for your company name and reserve it using one of the domain providers. If you have no website and just a domain name, pick a blog site like WordPress and point your domain name as a redirect to wordpress as a placeholder and post a basic web page. Also make sure you have a Facebook fan site for your company. Get a company site on LinkedIn.

2. When you sign up for that Twitter thingy go to twitter.com, get a handle for your company name, and build your profile. Put your website, your product info, whatever you want into the profile. You might want to grab all of the relevant handles, such as “companynameCARES” and any of your brand or trademark names.

3. Make your first post. Say that you are happy to be on twitter and point to your website just to get something going. If you are making a new product announcement, even better. The first post doesn’t have to be that interesting.

4. If you want to get fancy you can make a custom Twitter background that shows your brand, a picture of your product, whatever. Read the help or search the web for info on this. Your company or product logo should be your profile picture.

5. Identify keywords that pertain to your product and determine the “experts” in your industry. Go to  http://search.twitter.com and search on those terms. Or better, use an automated service like tweetbeeps.com to monitor keywords. Once you identify the right people, look at who they’re following and who is following them as your potential pool of people you should follow.

6. Download Tweetdeck or Seesmic. Pick one, they are both good. You can designate many columns that you can personalize and track what you want to follow. Examples include key users you want to follow, your company name, your product names, your competitors, etc. If you are a small business you won’t have anyone you can dedicate to this but you should at least check on this once a day.

7. The best way to use Twitter (my opinion) is to help other people. If you see someone suffering with a problem (especially in your niche) that you can help with, help them. Provide content that your followers will find valuable; anything from the press, from people within your company, etc. Just remember that your competitors will also be reading your Tweets.

8. You can also use Twitter to find new customers. If you sell bamboo furniture and someone Tweets “I hear that bamboo furniture is green-friendly, where do I get some?” and you sell bamboo furniture, then there you go! There are lots of ideas on the web about this, and the people I list at the bottom of this blog can give you advice.

9. You MUST use Twitter to provide Customer service: listen to the customers complaining about and praising your company and find a way to thank them for doing this. Of course if they are complaining, try to fix their problems so you can turn them into a loyal customer.

10. Experiment! If you anger someone, oh well. Try to be positive, not negative. Don’t be offended by other people using “FAIL” and profanity, they will. That doesn’t mean that you have to.

Again, this is the “Elevator Pitch Party Speech” for getting started in social media.  I can expand each of these points by 50 paragraphs but instead I recommend that you learn from some of the social media experts like Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki), Natalie Petahouff (@drnatalie), Esteban Kolsky (@ekolsky), Ray Wang (@rwang0) and many others.  Also, what would you add to your getting started elevator pitch for social media?

One last thing, if you would like to invite me to your next party to talk about Social Media I am a wonderful dancer, NOT.

Charlie cannot dance

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Women in Services began with a special panel session that was held at Technology Services World 2009 Santa Clara. The session was so successful that the Women in Services forum was developed, with the following women services leaders as members of the steering committee:

• Krista Anderson, Senior Vice President of Global Support, salesforce.com
• Erna Arnesen, Vice President of Global Services Channels & Alliances, Cisco Systems
• Onagh Ash, CEO of Exigen ELITE
• Charlotte Baker, CEO, Digital Hands
• Ruth Fornell, Vice President of Professional Services, NCR
• Catherine Jensen, Vice President of Enterprise Services and Support, Symantec Services Group
• Roslyn Jones, Vice President of Global Education Services, Informatica Corporation
• Mary Cay Kosten, Vice President of Global Customer Services, Sun Microsystems
• Michelle Logan, Senior Manager of Global Services Business Process, Hitachi Data Systems
• Susan McKay, Director Strategy & Alliance Development, EMC Global Services
• Sheryl Moran, Vice President of Client Services, rL Solutions
• Alisa Nessler, Vice President World Wide Customer Support, BMC Software
• Judith Platz, Senior Vice President, Approva Global Customer Solutions
• Carolyn Pineda, Vice President of Services, Americas, Intergraph
• Patricia Rash, VP North American Customer Support Center, Xerox Corporation
• Jodi Schilling, Vice President of Americas Consumer Support, Hewlett-Packard

I am certainly glad I attended this session. First of all, I thought it was extremely informative, but second, I happened to have my Flip Video Camera with me and figured that it would be a worthwhile to record for both women and men who were not able to attend. There were several excellent competing sessions and of course travel budgets are limited so I am certain that many people who wanted to attend this panel at TSW 2009 were not able to go. The panel delivered as advertised; it gave attendees a unique insight into the career paths and career decisions made by several women service leaders. Most of these professionals came up through the services ranks, while others are cross-discipline trained. Each had a distinctive and compelling story regarding services and advancement within their respective companies.

Diane Brundage, Senior Vice President, Membership Development of the TSIA did an excellent job of moderating the panel and actually moved out of the way when she noticed that I was filming and shooting pictures.

Questions that were asked and answered during this pane discussion included:

• What skills do you have, what skills are you missing, and what skills do you think need to be developed? How do you keep your skills sharp?
• What do you think you need to do to be successful as a leader in services?
• What is your defining moment?
• How does “services” add value to your overall professional and career development?
• What choices did you have to make between your professional life and your personal life?

I won’t do the video justice by summarizing the content so you should listen, it isn’t that long. Also, I apologize for the poor quality video and the poor lighting, but you get what you pay for!

Moderator: Diane Brundage, Senior Vice President, Membership Development, AFSMI, SSPA, TPSA

Panel: Mary Cay Kosten, Vice President, Global Customer Services, Sun Microsystems

Panel: Patricia Rash, Vice President North American Customer Support Center, Xerox

Panel: Charlotte Baker, CEO, Digital Hands

Panel: Judith Platz, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Solutions, Approva

Panel: Carolyn Pineda, Vice President of Services, Intergraph

Panel: Susan McKay, Director Strategy and Alliance Development, EMC

Panel: Jodi Schilling, Vice President of Americas Consumer Support, Hewlett Packard

Panel: Roslyn Jones, Vice President, Global Education Services, Informatica

Introducing the panel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLGhK8lp50A

The actual panel discussion:

Women in Services: Profiles of Success at TSW Conference Las Vegas from Charlie Isaacs on Vimeo.

The Question and Answer Session:

Bios are below:

About Diane Brundage:

Diane Brundage is the senior vice president, membership development for AFSMI, SSPA, and TPSA. In that capacity, she is responsible for all recruiting and retaining members as well as ensuring members take advantage of the various programs the Associations offer. Diane has over 25 years experience in service, sales and marketing in the technology sector. Prior positions include sales and marketing leadership for Rainmaker Systems, Inc., an outsource service focused on service contracts for technology companies as well general manager of Compaq Computer/Digital Equipment Corp.’s Customer Service Business Unit. She has an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago and a BS in finance from the University of Illinois.

About Mary Cay Kosten:

As vice president for Sun Microsystems’ Global Customer Service organization, Mary Cay is responsible for delivering key strategic and operational services for Sun customers in over 160 countries. Prior to her current role, Mary Cay served as vice president of Customer Services-Americas, where she oversaw service delivery in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Mary Cay is a 2008 recipient of the Denver Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business (High-Tech and Telecommunications) award and a 2006 recipient of the Silicon Valley YWCA Tribute to Women and Industry (TWIN) award. Mary Cay holds a MS in systems management and a BS in marketing.

About Patricia Rash:

Patricia, if you are reading this I need your bio!

About Charlotte Baker:

Charlotte Baker co-founded Digital Hands in 2001 to provide onshore IT outsourcing through managed and professional services. Digital Hands provides its partners with private-label, custom service support for IT infrastructure and end-user help desk requirements. Prior to Digital Hands, Baker co-founded 2nd Century Communications, a competitive local exchange carrier. During her tenure, she worked to secure four capital rounds totaling $155 million. Baker’s career has included strategic planning, product management, and sales at Intermedia, Microsoft, Raymond James, and GTE. She received an MBA from Darden and a BS in commerce with dual concentrations in management information systems and marketing from the University of Virginia.

About Judith Platz:

Judith Platz brings 15 years of experience driving customer satisfaction for complex global accounts to Approva. Prior to Approva, she spent six years at Oracle in a number of critical customer service positions. Platz led a team at Oracle that developed and implemented customer confidence programs focused on increasing customer satisfaction and retention for highly complex global accounts. Platz also brings significant systems integration and operations experience to Approva. Prior to her tenure at Oracle, Platz worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) where she supervised support operations across three continents and developed and implemented information technology standards to achieve quality improvements. Platz also has extensive experience in computerized learning in both the public and commercial sectors. Platz is a member of the Service and Support Professionals Association Small Medium Business Advisory Board. The SSPA SMB Advisory Board members give the association insight and guidance on programs to help SMB members navigate the numerous challenges they face.

About Carolyn Pineda:

Carolyn Pineda is currently vice president of services at Intergraph, where her focus is on establishing methodologies, service metrics, service packaging, and fixed-price offerings. One of her goals at Intergraph is to evolve the organization from services for point solutions to integrated enterprise solutions. Carolyn joined the company six months ago from the airline industry, where she spent 16 years at Sabre establishing their first service organization. Pineda started her career as a programmer, but found that she liked working with customers in addition to shaping organizations and establishing service components. Carolyn is also responsible for founding the nonprofit Empowering Women as Leaders, which gives women ages 23 and above the opportunity to get a college degree. The organization pairs the women it supports with professional women as mentors.

About Susan McKay:

Susan McKay is the director of strategy and alliance development for EMC’s $2-billion global services organization. Susan is responsible for EMC’s services partnership strategy as well as providing cross-organizational direction and consultation in the development of market requirements, business plans, and solution roadmaps. She has been with EMC for seven years. Previously, she held a number of leadership positions in EMC’s Telecom, Media & Entertainment field sales division. Prior to EMC she was vice president at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young’s Telecom Media & Networks division. A technology industry veteran, Susan has held various sales, sales management, marketing, and business operations positions at AT&T, Unisys, and NCR.

About Jodi Schilling:

Jodi Schilling is currently the vice president of the America’s Customer Support Operations team within Hewlett Packard’s Imaging and Printing business. She is responsible for delivering customer support services across all of HP’s consumer products in Canada, the U.S., and Latin America. She also has responsibility for working with the commercial and enterprise service delivery organization in the Americas on behalf of the Imaging and Printing business. Jodi joined HP in 1985 and has held a variety of positions in finance, manufacturing, customer satisfaction, and quality, and most recently in the America’s operations team. She has been in various management positions for the last 18 years, including executive-level positions for the past eight years. Jodi holds a bachelors in business administration from Chadron State College.

About Roslyn Jones:

Roslyn Jones is vice president of Global Education Services at Informatica Corporation where she is responsible for global strategy, sales, development and delivery solutions for Informatica customers and partners. She has more than 25 years in the Education Industry and is extremely passionate about all aspects of education and training. She has worked for Apple Computer, Amdahl Corporation, VERITAS Software, Salesforce.com and has hardware and software experience and background. She has played a key role in all aspects of education and started from the bottom up (instructor, course developer, sales manager, Regional Manager, and Director and VP).