Community Management Efficiencies and Economies of Scale Obligatory
Community Management: Efficiencies and Economies of Scale
Obligatory Introduction Richard Weil Vice President of Client Services …. . and a disclaimer….
The Story Thus Far….
Community Relations Roles and Responsibilities Mix and Match: • Forum Management • Social Media roles • Contests / Events • “Live” Interaction • Environmental reporting • Fansite Management
Community Relations Organizational Structure Models: • Marketing • Public Relations • Operations • Production / Development
Customer Support / Moderation Roles and Responsibilities In-bound / Single Point contacts: • • Email UGC Phone Chat support
Customer Support / Moderation Organizational Structure • CS – duh • Moderation – a little more complicated
Traditional Organizational Structure VP of Operations Director of VP of Marketing Customer Support Customer Community Director Support Manager CSR Lead Community Manager CSR Conflicting Situations CSR Forum Moderator • Engagement/Live Events CSR ·CS Issues on Social Media Technical Forum Moderator ·Bugs/QA/Tech Issues on Forums Support Manager ·Customer Feedback Reporting CSR Lead CSR Social Media Manager CSR Lead CSR Social Media Specialist
Studio/Publisher Model CEO coo VP Ops Executive Producer Director of Customer Support Development Team Producer Community Manager Customer Support Manager CSR Lead EVP Publishing Technical Support Manager CSR Lead CSR CSR Moderator Moderator
Traditional Organizational Structure VP of Marketing Operations Community Director of Customer Director Community Manager Forum Moderator Support Social Media Manager Social Media Specialist Customer Support Technical Support Manager CSR Lead CSR CSR
Customer Interaction Platforms: • • Forums CRM Systems Live Chat / Phone Social Media
Current Usage Advantages • Delineated responsibilities • Silo structure • Familiarity – tools and processes
Current Usage Disadvantages • • • Responsibility gaps Repetition Familiarity = Monotony Silo structure Wasted knowledge Intra-company communication lag
Is there another way?
Making a New Structure • • Everyone on the same team Pool approach to front-line duties Specialize at mid-management levels Create a tighter communication web
Traditional Organizational Structure VP of Marketing VP of Operations Community Director of Community Manager Forum Moderator Customer Support Social Media Manager Social Media Moderator Customer Technical Support Manager CSR Lead CSR CSR
Streamlined Organizational Structure VP Director of Customer Relations Customer Support Community Manager Project Manager (Administrative) CSR / Moderator CSR / Moderator
Using the New Structure • Integrate all facets of customer relations – Forums / CRM / Moderation • Tiered responsibilities/ priorities • Go where the customers are – Use Social Media as another resolution platform
Implementation Keys • • Organizational discipline Intelligent staffing Ongoing training / development Communication tools / processes
Why Does This Help? • • Cost savings Flexible employee pool Professional Development Cross-functional customer reach
Conclusions
Why? • • • Tighter times need greater efficiency Organizational efficiency reduces staff fluctuations Kill inter-departmental drama Cross-trained teams provide flexibility Better Customer Relations is a business differentiator
Questions
Thanks!
- Slides: 25