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lurobredhead · 10 years

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CRM.dynamics.com

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lurobredhead · 10 years

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Never turn your back on the ocean

It’s a lesson I learned early on as a Midwesterner (we have no oceans) visiting Florida and swimming in the Atlantic. What happens? You get pummeled by a force of water much stronger than you could’ve imagined, not to mention embarrassed at being that one tourist caught off guard and knocked clumsily to her knees.

Wave motion transfers energy from one point to another (e.g. water –> me –> displacement of sand and water around me -> laughter from passers-by). Waves also vary in size, height, shape, duration.

In the last six months, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM team has been working toward a “Spring Wave '14” release package that packs a serious punch. This wave is tsunami size in height, shape, and duration. But we want to transfer the energy properly – no embarrassed tourists here! To that end, the team has produced a series of videos to walk through each part of the release, starting with a summary of the core release:

That's just a start -- here are the rest of the videos. Get out your surfboards folks. This is going to be an awesome surfing season.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Spring '14 Service Management Overview http://youtu.be/l2bAyzL2KDc

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Spring '14 Sandbox Instance http://youtu.be/isLtgnBX9YQ Microsoft Social Listening Spring '14 Overview http://youtu.be/04E7KmuTneo Microsoft Social Listening Spring '14 Sales Scenarios http://youtu.be/UqpGVssJB94 Microsoft Social Listening Spring '14 Marketing Scenarios http://youtu.be/8LjUTtesyXs Microsoft Social Listening Spring '14 Customer Care Scenarios http://youtu.be/n4MpaNkNbGU Microsoft Social Listening Spring '14 Setting Up Search Topic http://youtu.be/I-b4M_DJZb8 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Social Profiles and Activities http://youtu.be/C3oQE0Qp9S4 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 CRM for Outlook New Features http://youtu.be/zwAWnkptCkQ Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 CRM for Tablets New Features http://youtu.be/5Q-HyU20L2Q Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 CRM for Tablets New Features - Android App http://youtu.be/TqCG_UfNq0M Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 CRM for Tablets New Features - Windows 8 App http://youtu.be/JSen7-3c4ik Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 SharePoint New Features http://youtu.be/guBcprvtiSo Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Entitlements http://youtu.be/Fzt7ipdjW-Q Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Case Management http://youtu.be/mYwcYAI_og8 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Timer Control http://youtu.be/hHnZhd30VgI Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Service Level Agreements http://youtu.be/DPf9hmvevvQ Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Automatic Case Creation http://youtu.be/Ki8tArVotho Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Solutions http://youtu.be/cppYkB4y7XM Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Online New Features –Reset http://youtu.be/nJDyuFdh0Nk Microsoft Dynamics CRM Spring '14 SDK New Features - Plugin Registration Tool http://youtu.be/1zZObHELDSc Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Misc http://youtu.be/sAgs4QdfyDY Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Online New Features -Copy http://youtu.be/y6duFi8nZaE Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Online New Features -Admin Mode http://youtu.be/aUgwT-GuKO8 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring '14 Application New Features - Installation of Product Updates http://youtu.be/pCONAx5cpWM

Hang ten!

-Laura

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lurobredhead · 10 years

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I am Fred's Bow Tie - Part 3 (the Finale!)

Cliffhangers are the worst! Sorry to keep you hanging. Here’s what happened:

No, I did not get onstage, nor backstage.

But I faked it here:

And got this sweet pic with security:

And as it turns out, there were a TON of people who looked just like me at the show (hipster nerds!):

No comment on this last pic. I just had to include it... just because.

In all seriousness, seeing the band Fun. was the perfect way to end a week-long conference of meetings, sessions, vision-setting, demos, customer meetings, hands-on labs, and general carousing. Fun!

Back in IAFBT – Part 1 we talked about goals and metrics. I had a personal goal with FBT to “gain more followers”… Which developed into “drive fun and excitement yet provide value to conference-goers”... But those are words, not numbers. I saw my Twitter followers increase from about 150 at the start of the conference to over 400 by the end. Not too bad. And thankfully, we have a whole social media team who was able to articulate goals and numbers in a much more quantified way. Thanks Kelly Rigotti and the Social Media team!

Fred’s Bow Tie Results for Convergence March 3-7, 2014:

322 tweets sent

178 favorites

108 replies

312 retweets

500,956 reach

478 @FredsBowTie mentions!

I may not be great with numbers but I am super competitive, so I took these numbers and compared them to the rest of the Convergence social metrics and found some positive and not so positive results. For example, my number of retweets was 23% of the conference’s overall retweets (with hashtag #conv14). But my reach overall was only 1% of the overall conference reach. Meh.

With social media, the path to success is to get your content shared across a lot of people that gets them to DO something. Expose -> Influence -> Engage -> Action/Convert. So without the reach, the influence and some sort of conversion measurement, who cares?

Was this an enormous waste of time?

Maybe, maybe not. My goals were: have fun, drive excitement, and provide value to conference-goers. I believe I did that according to my favorites and retweets. But it was an incomplete goal without the So What. So what kind of business impact did I drive? Is that every fully known? Should I have sprinkled in calls to action in my tweets? Should I have had some links on hand to drive folks to more content, downloads, webcast invites? Maybe, but then it may have taken away some of the authenticity and spontaneity.

But not all hope is lost. Let’s get back to the “provide value” part and see if we can do anything there.

First, I’m looking at business value in context of the technology. Here are some examples:

CRM “Leo” release in Spring Wave ’14 is for Online AND On-Premise customers – 15 retweets, 3 favorites.

Options to avoid autosave in CRM 2013 – 9 retweets.

Form Diagnostics shortcut – 5 retweets.

And so on.

But then there’s value in making the audience feel special. Examples:

Attendee Love – 10 retweets.

Customer Success at Delta – 11 retweets.

Shout out to Umberto Milletti at Insideview for their great partnership – 7 retweets.

Based on the content shared in highly retweeted posts we can derive “So What” value and drive specific follow-up actions. We can take follow-up actions as a business to ensure that our existing customers, partners, and prospective customers understand that the Spring Wave ’14 release for core CRM functionality will apply as an on-premise update (this wasn’t the case in early communications). We can look at providing more tips-and-tricks type content via blog posts and webcasts to power users around diagnostics and autosave options. We can continue to build and share great customer and partner stories.

And we can always, always find ways to make our audience feel special by complimenting their successes and thanking them for being with us.

Because with amazing customer experiences, it comes down to this:

People will forget what you said People will forget what you did But people will never forget how you made them feel.

-Maya Angelou

And in leveraging social media to drive business value, perhaps connecting with people emotionally is the most important thing.

Fred's Bow Tie, out!

#conv14 #msdyncrm

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lurobredhead · 10 years

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I am Fred's Bow Tie - Part 2

Picking up from IAFBT - Part 1.

Now, I have been going through a life transition that I won’t talk about here, and I recently cut off all my hair.

Then:

Now:

So when I told my boss Connor that I was going to carry around a Fred Studer look-alike mannequin head and tweet as his bow tie during the week of the conference, he reacted with what could only be described as a bewildered laugh. When I brought Fred’s Bow Tie (FBT) head to our team dinner the first night of the conference, we were met with raised eyebrows. Kristin, the ever-analytic marketer, asked about what kind of social media goals I was hoping to achieve. Matt simply ordered me a strong drink.

But they warmed up to the idea quickly and helped me compose this shot:

But let’s back up a few steps. FBT was already about town in Atlanta and really enjoying himself. The Twitterverse was starting to pick it up.

Fred in the cab:

Fred in the hotel:

Fred with Microsoft President of North America Sales & Marketing, Judson Althoff:

Judson was a great sport, busted thumb and all! (This pic brought to you by New Belgium Brewing)

And on the first morning of the conference, Fred’s Bow Tie emerged from his beauty sleep to this amazing song, ready to tackle the day.

The way that that Microsoft Convergence usually goes, it kicks off with an epic keynote session that highlights our vision and strategy for the upcoming months, demonstrates upcoming product releases, and gives lots of air time to our amazing customers. Part educational, part entertainment. Go to that link above if you want to view the replay. I got into the press area with my fake head and started tweeting commentary as the session unfolded.

Here’s a bit of the tone of the tweets:

The great thing about Twitter is that you can engage with just about anyone, in real time, in a shared experience like a presentation. So you have this very physical space and context being there in person and experiencing the live event physically with other people, and then you have social media which provides a networked public that has their own set of constraints that shape the life there. In short, the physical experience can be enhanced by the virtual experience. Or you can just participate in person. Or just virtually. Options abound. Isn’t technology grand?

Oh, and also noteworthy – thanks to Twitter I was able to stay on top of news coming from SharePoint Conference 2014 which was happening AT THE SAME TIME as Convergence. Huge announcements made on stuff like #Officegraph and working like a network. Thanks again, Twitter!

Anyway.

After the keynote I bopped over to the Expo Hall to meet with partners and take some photos with the head. There was no shortage of great photo opps.

FBT with the partners like Zero2Ten (and Christine):

FBT with the sweet-a$$ car:

FBT with friends at PowerObjects:

FBT was everywhere!

And then… my phone started blowing up. Tweets coming at me a mile a minute. What was going on? OH YEAH – I was missing the CRM General Session. Oops! Thanks to Twitter I managed to fake attendance for the first 10 minutes as I slipped on my walking shoes, grabbed Fred’s head and sprinted over to the session.

Phew!

At this point I was really getting into the character. My voice was shaping up: be funny and irreverent, add value, and drive engagement:

Good times.

After the main general sessions were finished, the middle portion of the conference consisted of tons of break-out sessions around CRM for Marketing, Customer Care, Social, Sales Automation, etc., plus a lot of time at the Expo with partners, customers, MVPs, and Microsoft friends.

And then a new goal emerged. Someone on Twitter suggested I get on stage with the band Fun. during the closing night’s show.

Did FBT get on stage?? Stay tuned for Part 3!

#conv14 msdyncrm

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lurobredhead · 10 years

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I am Fred's Bow Tie - Part 1

Let me just preface this post with the statement that I am not a marketer. I mean, that's not what I get paid for. I get paid for product sales. I often think maybe I should take more of a deliberate step into a career in marketing but then the phrases "impressions" and "marketing segmentation" and "landing things with XYZ audiences" has me heading for the hills. (My marketing teammates are masters at this stuff... I, not so much.)

So for my real job, I’m a CRM technology specialist lead at Microsoft within a sales team which essentially means I’m in sales readiness, enablement, and deal support. Which means that we release new stuff and I need to make sure the technical sellers know what it is and how to sell it, and then provide sales field, partner, and customer feedback to other people in the business. Essentially, I need to maximize “impressions” with my internal audiences, “land things with them”, and adjust the messaging as we go. Which sounds an awful lot like... oh nevermind.

What did you come here for? Oh yeah, to read about Fred's Bow Tie.

First, this happened: We shipped a major product release in October of 2013. Our GM of Marketing, Fred Studer, played emcee for the release virtual event which was relatively short and sweet and chock-full of customer stories. Fred himself was a sight to behold, wearing a pale pink dress shirt, beautiful sport coat, and the most amazing black bow tie you’ve ever seen. I was captivated by the tie and I thought, why not entertain myself and create a Twitter handle for his epic bow tie, and tweet from his vantage point onstage?

Thus was born Fred’s Bow Tie. It was fun while it lasted and petered out after a few days, because where’s a tie to go when its big show is over? Fred’s Bow Tie took a seat on the Twitter shelf of abandoned handles.

Fast forward to February 2014, on the horizon of Microsoft Dynamics Convergence Atlanta 2014 and I get an internal email about giving away some of Fred’s signature bow ties during various points of the conference. Great! But why don’t we have the bow tie actually attend the conference?

Fred said, Love it! I’m in!

And so was his bow tie.

Brainstorming ensued with the creative team in San Fran. How does a bow tie attend a conference? Does the bow tie get photographed? Does it sit on a glass box? Or on a fake neck? I found a mannequin head at this wonderful Seattle shop, Archie McPhee, which also happens to have Fred’s signature hipster glasses, and fake beard hair. Fred’s head was born with Bow Tie attached.

Fred’s Bow Tie got a Vine account, and an Instagram account (the Instagram account was quickly abandoned due to not having ability to post to Twitter from the WinPhone app…grrrrrr…).

People passed by my office and said, is that supposed to be Fred Studer’s head? My two kids were completely freaked out when I brought it home. But home it came and into my carry-on bag it went, on the plane, and down to beautiful Atlanta.