Still Smiling: Cisco CMO Sue Bostrom has found fresh growth by using technology to network with leads on Cisco's site. | Photograph by Nigel Parry
When the running joke is that what's left of your money is better off under your mattress, how, exactly, is Schwab wooing customers? Talk to Chuck.
People are gravitating to the comfort that apparently only founder and CEO Charles Schwab, who looks like the last guy who'd spend $15,000 on an umbrella stand, can provide. Becky Saeger, Schwab's CMO, has used a souped-up version of the "Chuck" campaign -- the same one that helped resuscitate the company in 2005 -- to win new, albeit nervous, customers.
On Schwab's site and in conversations with representatives, reassurance is a hot commodity. "People want more analysis, opinion, and market information," Saeger says. And they have lots of questions. "If you'd told me that people were going to want to know what holdings were in their money-market funds, or whether we were financially stable, I would have said you're out of your mind." Saeger has worked quickly to find the right tone. "We had to strike a balance between not bullshitting people, but also giving people some reason to be optimistic."
The wild swings in the national mood have forced Saeger to perform customer service at lightning speed. "We're now saying, in real time, What do our customers need to know from us right now?" she says. When anxiety is high, for example, Schwab markets products that speak to safety, such as high-yield checking. The effort has not been lost on customers and prospects, who are now talking back to Chuck. "We're watching how people interact with us," Saeger says, "and seeing a community evolve in real time. We've been surprised by the level of engagement."
"Follow the money" is not just a maxim for investigative reporters; it's also good business. Launched in November, IBM's Smarter Planet initiative -- its ambitious approach to health care, energy, infrastructure, and other problems -- sounds like a marketing campaign. On the ground, though, it's a rallying cry that focuses every aspect of the company on doing what it does best: solving problems through well-coordinated data-driven systems. It's also a grab for the estimated $101 billion in IT spending on U.S. projects triggered by the stimulus package, according to market forecaster IDC.
Although IBM has laid off nearly 8,000 employees so far this year, some groups are pursuing and winning new business. The global energy and utility team, one of the company's fastest-growing divisions, helps utilities cut costs and modernize. Six months ago, IBM began "adding intelligence," as it puts it, to the grid north of Dallas. Oncor, a local utility, has been installing about 15,000 smart meters a week in homes and businesses. Instead of monthly readings performed in person, the new meters inform Oncor's network about energy use every 15 minutes. IBM analyzes the new data to let Oncor pinpoint outages to a single home and let consumers monitor consumption; the utility expects usage to drop by 10%, which corresponds to a similar cut in carbon emissions.
Oncor's plan to install 3 million smart meters by 2012 is just one of about 50 IBM smart-grid projects. "There's an urgency now like I've never seen," says Allan Schurr, a VP in IBM global energy. "The utilities are acting all at once to change their business."
"We've gotten good at market transitions over the years," says Sue Bostrom, Cisco's CMO. "Market transition" may be a charming euphemism for meltdown, but Cisco's real transition has been to use technology to connect with prospects, turbocharging Cisco.com from an expert resource for about 15 million visitors a month into a lead-generation engine of real power.
In the past nine months, Cisco's site has rolled out a "virtual account manager," an online system that does all the things that expensive salespeople do -- chat up prospects, make them comfortable, and build relationships. "The key is personalization," says Mike Metz, Bostrom's senior director of Web marketing and strategy. "If we figure out that you live in Chicago, are interested in health-care information, and need to learn about wireless, we can direct you to a healthcare and wireless seminar near you."
When a prospect is ready to make a decision, the site cinches the deal. Let's say you're an IT manager from upstate New York, shopping for a phone system for four offices. A phone call, or click-to-chat feature, connects you to a person who knows your history as well as the details of the specific product you need. You can then be connected on the spot to an authorized Cisco reseller in your area. "It can all happen in real time," Metz says. Cisco has introduced the virtual manager in 35 countries and 14 languages. "We're converting about 15% of those prospects," he says, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. "There aren't enough salespeople in the world for what we need to do."
Related:
Corning's Rings of Defense: A Survival Strategy That Grew Out of the Telecom Crash
How Big Blue Is Pursuing Its Share of $101 Billion in Tech Stimulus Spending
Schwab's Pep Talk: Using Community to Reassure Jittery Consumers
Cisco's Web Engine: A Growth Machine
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Recent Comments | 6 Total
May 26, 2009 at 4:38pm by Loraine Antrim
What Cisco has done is not only use technology to connect with their prospects, but the entire company connects with their partners, customers, investors and each other via the technology. By using collaborative 2.0 tools, Cisco has gained a leg up not only in a down economy, but is setting the standard for ANY economic climate. It's not just using the web as a lead generation tool, it's leading the market in innovative collaborative practices. Would that all companies were so forward thinking!
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Loraine Antrim, Co-founding Partner
Core Ideas Communication
"We Create Smartmouths®"
June 2, 2009 at 4:34pm by Melyana Klue
I doubt "reassurance" is a "hot commodity" -- I'm certain Schwab isn't the only financial advisory firm attempting to hang on to their current clients or attract new ones with this approach.
June 16, 2009 at 6:34pm by Craig Miller
There's certainly a world wide alarm because of the crisis, some businesses have been more affected than other, though I've come to see how some of them have taken advantage of the situation like on currency trading
June 30, 2009 at 10:33am by Connie Glover
The distinction between crisis management and crisis leadership are clear and decisive. To manage a crisis one follows a fairly prescriptive path with a focus on damage control and getting back to status quo. To display crisis leadership, however, is to have foresight, networks, decisiveness, the capacity to learn, and a willingness to take risks. Many good business leaders can manage a crisis— few have shown to display crisis leadership.
It it is often the handling of a crisis that leads to more damage than the crisis event itself. Effective crisis handling involves much more than good communications and public relations. I believe that we have little appreciation for the role of learning from crisis. Crisis events can create a potential for significant opportunity to be realized for individuals, for organizations, and for countries. Crisis leaders understand these issues and it is their ability to act on them and learn from them that separates crisis managers from crisis leaders.
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Erika Hayes James, PhD
Associate Professor, Darden School of Business
www.erikahayesjames.com
June 30, 2009 at 10:33am by Connie Glover
The distinction between crisis management and crisis leadership are clear and decisive. To manage a crisis one follows a fairly prescriptive path with a focus on damage control and getting back to status quo. To display crisis leadership, however, is to have foresight, networks, decisiveness, the capacity to learn, and a willingness to take risks. Many good business leaders can manage a crisis— few have shown to display crisis leadership.
It it is often the handling of a crisis that leads to more damage than the crisis event itself. Effective crisis handling involves much more than good communications and public relations. I believe that we have little appreciation for the role of learning from crisis. Crisis events can create a potential for significant opportunity to be realized for individuals, for organizations, and for countries. Crisis leaders understand these issues and it is their ability to act on them and learn from them that separates crisis managers from crisis leaders.
--
Erika Hayes James, PhD
Associate Professor, Darden School of Business
www.erikahayesjames.com
October 11, 2009 at 1:47am by cristi m
There was a time when financial and economic growth was confused with development. Now is the time to reorient our thinking in the region. It is not an easy thing to do, especially when the train is already in motion, but we believe that at least three questions must be asked: What is the new role of the State in relation to public finances and the macroeconomic cycle? What is its role in public spending and allocation of resources? And what should it do to achieve increasing levels of equity and environmental sustainability?
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