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PART III

The Thank You Economy in Action CHAPTER NINE

Avaya: Going Where the People Go

When most people think “sexy,” voice-mail software, desk phones, and routers don’t usually come to mind. Functional, effective, and, ideally, completely unnoticed by the outside world, communications systems are the Spanx that support companies so they can perform with confidence and at their best. Avaya, known for developing high-performing, even bulletproof business communications applications, systems, and services, sells some decidedly practical, unsexy products. Yet it is proving that a B2B company can use social media with the same success as a cool lifestyle or retail company.

The Thank You Economy at Work

Avaya’s main goal on Twitter has been to keep up with its consumers’ technical questions and to head complaints off at the pass. Originally engaging in one thousand interactions—replying to questions, addressing comments, et cetera—per week, the social media team now fields almost four thousand. They also developed a product that can alert the customer service department when disgruntled tweets need to be addressed. The company estimates that by adopting this method, they’ve avoided losing approximately fifty customers, at an average cost of sale to replace them of about $10,000.

One day, a tweet gave Paul Dunay, Avaya’s global managing director of Services and Social Marketing, the chance to prove that paying close attention to the consumer conversation on social networking sites could pay off big. Like all tweets, the one that changed Avaya’s game was short and simple: “shoretel or avaya, need a new phone system very soon.” Dunay replied almost immediately, “We have some highly trained techs who can help you understand your needs best and help you make an objective decision. Give me a call.’” Thirteen days later, Avaya had made a quarter-million-dollar sale to the tweeter, who then tweeted, “…we have selected AVAYA as our new phone system. Excited by the technology and benefits….”*

What Avaya Did Right

IT SHOWED UP. The $250,000 sale might not have happened if Avaya hadn’t been on Twitter. Any networking or sales expert will tell you that if you want to make the connections that will close a deal, the first thing you have to do is show up. Connections are still being made at happy hours and “On the Horizon” breakfasts, but they’re increasingly being made online, too. Avaya showed up where few others, if any, in its niche were even looking, and it walked away a winner. Avaya was aware. Avaya cared. Avaya closed the deal in thirteen days.

Too many B2B companies are still avoiding social media because they don’t believe their customers are part of the social media demographic. Over 60 percent of Americans use social media (and many more by the time you read this); a sizable portion of those users surely makes B2B decisions. By now, it seems pretty obvious that anyone old enough to use a computer should be considered part of the social media demographic.

IT SHOWED UP FIRST. The companies that successfully make the move into social media ahead of their competitors not only gain in market share and earned media (for example, Burger King estimates that it earned back over $400,000 in earned media from a less than $50,000 investment in its BK Whopper Sacrifice, a Friend Facebook campaign), they also gain in brand equity. They are recognized for their vision and innovation, for being smart and tech savvy. Such qualities can go a long way toward leading someone looking for B2B opportunities to believe that working with that kind of forward-thinking company is a winning proposition. Avaya’s efforts in providing outstanding customer service have been rewarded two years in a row with a J. D. Power Award for Outstanding Customer Service Experience, as well as an induction into the Technology Services Industry Association STAR Awards Hall of Fame. Both honors should carry a lot of weight within Avaya’s industry.

IT REMEMBERED THAT BEHIND EVERY B2B TRANSACTION, THERE’S A C. The C in a B2B exchange—usually a purchasing manager, a purchasing agent, or a buyer—wants the same thing as any other consumer when making buying decisions: outstanding products and service, and the reassurance that someone is thinking about how to best meet the person’s business needs. When deciding whether to try a new brand, purchasers usually talk to friends and colleagues they trust. Before, they might have made a couple of phone calls or sent out a few emails. They might have floated some questions to a friend while sharing Cracker Jacks during the seventh-inning stretch at a baseball game, or panted them out during a run on the treadmill. Today, though, they can get feedback and advice a lot faster and from a greater number of sources by simply posting their thoughts on Facebook or Twitter. More and more of the individuals who make important B2B decisions, or any consumer decisions, are using those platforms to get the advice and feedback they need. For example, the social media department caught an opportunity to provide some basic support to a frustrated client. The client was so impressed with the service he received that he became a vocal advocate. To thank him, the company decided to send him some Avaya swag. When they contacted him for his mailing address, they discovered he was the CIO of a major investment bank in New York. Every interaction matters. Every relationship has value.