Standing Apart from the Rest

On Monday, May 22, I'll be part of a panel for the Institute of Management Consultants New England Chapter meeting. The panel is called Social Networking and Web 2.0: What you need to know to use this medium to separate your company from the pack.

The IMCNE is a professional organization that has been around for 40 years, and if you know management consultants, many of them are veterans of the corporate world who are making a good living consulting on organizational, operations, and leadership consulting. It's no surprise they may be a little light on social media, so here's our opportunity to give them something a little different.

I'm excited about being part of this discussion for a few reasons:

1. The panel moderator is Lewis Green, one of my co-authors from The Age of Conversation, someone who attended Blogger Social with me a couple of weeks ago, and author of the business and leadership book Lead With Your Heart
2. I'm lucky enough to be teamed up with some other smart individuals in the social media space: Aaron Strout from Mzinga and Laura "Pistachio" Fitton. If you don't know them, one of the best ways to get to know them is on Twitter: @astrout and @pistachio.
3. Lewis is using the principles of social media to build the panel discussion - he's involving his audience. Over on his blog, Lewis has asked "What would you ask?"
   

Keeping in mind that the panel is about how to use social media to make your company stand out, I find it fascinating that the concept is being batted around. Less than a year ago, a number of companies were simply starting to hear about some aspects social media. When you consider the quick adoption of a number of tactics, it's not surprising that companies are seeing this as a competitive advantage.

But are they missing a larger takeaway? It's not enough to stand apart from your competition. You need to think about what you're doing to build relationships with your customers to make them the most loyal advocates for you. Over time, as you get to know them, you'll be able to better serve them and give them a better experience every time.

See if you can drop over to Lewis' blog and give him a comment or two about what you would ask if you were part of the presentation. While you're at it, leave a comment here too.

How would you recommend using social media to separate your company from the pack?

Photo courtesy of nickwheeleroz