Does Your CEO Get Web 2.0?

If the CEO of your company came to you one day and said, “Tell me what we’re doing about Web 2.0,” how prepared would you be for the discussion? Here’s one way to lead the conversation.

Step 1. Recap the basics of what Web 2.0 really is. Chances are, your CEO doesn’t really know but won’t tell you that. Wondering how to explain it? Focus on the idea that the customer wants some say in what products and services it’s going to be interested in and that when the company gets it wrong, the buying public will find out about it and let everybody else know. Gone are the days of Corp. controlling the message (Steve Jobs notwithstanding).


Step 2. Own up to the fact that your corporate web site probably sucks. Sharing an unvarnished truth could, of course, get you fired; but it could also be your opportunity to effect real change. How do you know your site stinks? Forrester head George Colony advises in “My View: Web 2.0 And The CEO,” that you should ask yourself two questions: “1) Do we use scenario design? 2) Do we use personas…” If you answer no to either, “you are building your site inside-out — a recipe for Web junk.”

What’s important about these concepts? As we’ve written before, one size doesn’t fit all online. A persona is a device used to personify all those types of users who visit your site — really a fictitious person. That person has a back story, specific needs and goals, particular questions and unique pain points. If the site you work on doesn’t address the goals of that individual, then it fails.

The scenario puts that persona into a situation and tests out how well the pretend user can accomplish what he or she has set out to do. When persona Toddler-Mom goes to REI.com, how easily can she find that product she doesn’t know the name of vs. simply heading to the neighborhood bike shop on her next set of errands? Or Home-Office-Worker-Guy needs to wire airfare to his college son who’s stranded in Florida. Can WesternUnion.com let him do it before his son sticks out a thumb on the interchange? Those are scenarios.

Without that stuff — and the deep discussion it should generate — your site is probably much more confusing and poorly designed than people in your company think and not as effective. In a recent CIO article, Cisco CEO John Chambers shared research that says “people are often more willing to talk to a character, an avatar rather than an actual person.” As he pointed out, this could make a difference if you’re serving in the area of healthcare, where certain types of clients are unwilling to share information of a “personal nature with another person, but are more likely to be honest when talking to an avatar.” The company that has figured this out first could capture the business.

Step 3. Gently explain to the CEO that Web 2.0 isn’t a single, mammoth project — it’s a journey. (Yes, this might generate some eyeball rolling.) And everything done in the name of Web 2.0 needs to tie back to the current business goals — not simply cater to the cool factor. Here, it might be wise to say something to the effect that your personal job is always to help improve the customer experience.

Step 4. Suggest a next step. If the CEO is still paying attention at this point, lay out a simple plan of action. Reassure the CEO that it doesn’t have to be tackled all at once, that you have a project or two you’d like to try out — all it will take is a tiny bit of funding and top-level commitment.

Where might you begin? Whatever the initiative, keep it small — a few weeks to implement — to ensure quick completion and timely results (good or bad). Then tweak from there and move onto the next project. Focus on mechanisms that will enable a multi-way dialogue with and among customers. It could start with a blog site that’s updated frequently by company thinkers and bribes customers to provide comments or weekly discussion forum threads on industry topics monitored or instigated by specific executives where customers are invited to participate. As those folks on the inside learn, they can help you lead the charge.

And remember: Throughout the conversation, don’t blame anybody and don’t whine.

Have you had a conversation with the CEO? How’d it go?

loading

Comments have been disabled for this post