Listen Before You Leap

Recently I was at a dinner with some friends. Before I knew it I had ‘opened my mouth, and inserted my foot.’ My failure: too much excitement in wanting to jump in and participate in the conversation. The result: strange looks, my backpedaling, and a long recovery to re-engage (thankfully a few more glasses of wine helped ease that transition).

We are on the brink of social media fundamentally driving and affecting the way companies engage with consumers, constituents, and other stakeholders—both on-line and off-line. The buzz is everywhere. The taste is palpable on the lips and tongues of corporate types and start-ups alike. When the economy truly begins its recovery, my prediction is social media will take off, hitting new heights not forecast before.

My fear is companies will pull the ‘Speed of Internet Trigger’ and want to move fast into social media spaces when their budgets permit. My cautions: avoid the damaging harm of trying to move too fast; avoid waiting until budgets free to start you social media planning as it causes a significant increase in risk.

So, what is the solution? My recommendation is that you start listening before you leap. I have blogged in the past about listening to your customers. It is a low cost, low risk way to start truly understanding today, so that you can act intelligently tomorrow. You do not have to act, yet. But when you do, it will be with grace and elegance, as you will better understand how and where to act appropriately.

You cannot smooth over the ‘foot in mouth’ syndrome with your social media efforts with a few extra glasses of wine.