Casey Cheshire

I was checking in to Lingo, my local lunchery, on geolocation-social service FourSquare when lo and behold a trending location caught my eye: Heatpocalypse Boston.  Wiping away the sweat from my brow, I immediately checked-in.

Yes, 106 of us are currently baking in the Heatpocalypse Boston.  This new venue has had over 200+ unique check-ins and is a remarkably accurate description of the insanely hot weather we’ve been having in Boston lately.

This event is a funny reminder of how a common struggle- like weather, can unite us all.  If not for FourSquare, I might not have had proof that I wasn’t the only one sweltering out there.

There is a serious side too of course.  Dehydration can be dangerous so get yourself some water & drink up Boston!

I wanted to share a presentation I gave at the Inaugural Event of the Social Media Club NH.  That night, social media professionals in a variety of industries shared their victories and frustrations.  From health care to gov, and non-profit to business, it was an excellent view into the expansive reach of social media.

I was the speaker for Business.  One distinction I made during my presentation became apparent as I was listening to the previous speakers.  Health care and especially government have a ridiculous amount of red tape they have to contend with when attempting to build social communities.  However, once implemented, their goals of user engagement and community are relatively easy and straight forward.

Business on the other hand, has few if any restrictions, but has to contend with the big social media ROI question: “Does this make sense- now or in the future, with dollars and cents?”

The bulk of my presentation centered around lessons learned and a few key best practices for social media implementation for businesses.

It was an honor to speak at the event, I’ve embedded my slides below.  Actual speaking notes are attached to the slides and are visible if you visit the presentation on SlideShare.

There are puppy robots who sit on command, human shaped robots who can climb stairs, and even robots that paint new art based on random mathematics.  Despite all of the advancements in computer behavior programming, and the fact that my Sims 2 character can be frighteningly realistic at times, 2010 is not the year for automated web chat.

I have had numerous sales emails and even calls from nice people trying to sell me automated sales chat on my company’s website.  The idea is to connect with visitors that are leaving your site without purchasing.  You find out their friction or pain points, identify an ideal offer, and lubricate their way back into your sales funnel with a hefty discount.

One email I received today highlights a 10%-30% increase in sales- and all without requiring you to do, well, anything except pay for the service.

Before you go sign some agreement and insert that little Javascript code on your site, let’s talk about this new experience you’re creating for your customers.

Human Chating is Caring

When taking a few chats for my company’s live chat implementation, one of the more frequent first questions is: “Are you a robot?”  Not surprisingly, no one is ever disappointed to hear that I am, in fact, a real live humanoid.  Skeptical, I’ve had one chatter then ask me what “infinity times infinity” was- just to make sure I breathed oxygen instead of positively charged ions.  My answer was “Why it’s 4, of course.”  And then a successful human-human chat followed.  There is a BIG plus to the customer experience when they realize that you care enough to be available.

Let’s take it a step further, why do they ask chat representatives if they’re human?  The chat window has my name on it, and I say hello.  They ask because of these automated experiences they’ve had in the past- and frankly, because not too many websites put their money & time where their mouth’s are about caring what the customers are thinking.

Wool is for Sheep & Sweaters

This brings us to the first big fatal flaw of most automated chat solutions.  They like androids of old, are on a quest to be human and they are presented as if they were.

In eCommerce chat, the goal of the chat is answering the tipping point questions that may be preventing a customer from completing their purchase.  They can be a simple question, or if your site is lacking- say, a comparison chart, they can be trying to figure out which product is right for them.

For some reason, I get the feeling that automated chat solution companies think their goal is to make their system as human-like as possible.  Trying to fool them with chat sets up the question: “If they misrepresent their chat, what else are they saying that isn’t true?”

A great point was made by @Rich_Kolb on Twitter:

“Does it mean they don’t care? I’m not sure, but if they admitted they were fake I’d be ok with it”

Pretending to offer someone a chat with a real person only sets them up for disappointment when they realize that the cute face wearing a headset in the photo is really just a collection of impersonal sub-routines.

The Turing Test Dooms Automated Chat

The Turing Test was another topic Rich hit on in his replies to my original Tweet ranting about automated chat.  For those of you who haven’t heard of the Turing Test, it’s a staple of survey level Computer Science courses in school these days.  The basic idea is that it’s a test of a computer’s ability to “think.”  What’s the easiest way to see if someone can “think on their toes?”  Why to talk with them of course!

The Turing Test puts a human in front of a computer with a chat window.  He or she begins chatting with TWO people (often 1 at a time) via the chat window- like Aim or Skype.  One of those people on the other end is a computer and the test- or game really, is to fool the human into thinking he’s chatting with another human.  Ever since it was proposed in a 1950 paper by Alan Turing (yeah, I’d name it after myself too!) the programmers of the world have been trying to pass this test.

While some programs have come closer to this goal than others, the reality is that it’s an *extremely* difficult test.  Many a Phd thesis and late night theory have been spent trying to map out practical theories and implementations.  In the end, your automated chat has a very HIGH chance for failing at some point in the conversation.

Boldly Go, Where No Program Has Gone Before

Get yourself a live chat solution, I’m a big fan of Bold Chat. For under $30 / month, you can get 2 operator seats and start interfacing with your customers.  Think of it as manning the phone, except that people are typing instead of calling.  Depending on the size of your company (and how confusing your website is  or isn’t) you won’t necessarily get inundated with chats.  It’s very manageable and there’s more value to it than just answering questions.

The customer experience insight gained through live chat is significant.  You’ll find out what your website isn’t communicating properly, how you stack up with the competition, and even new product ideas.

It’s really not so much about the dollar cost as it is the time investment. Sound familiar?  Social Media, buzzword for our decade, is also free.  Your cost is the time spent doing it.  While Social Media ROI tracking is still teething, live chat conversion results are build into most systems.  Additionally Chat can be turned on and off during the day based on availability of an operator.  It’s often a great idea to have the Chat button disappear when no one is available.

Allocate the time and get in front of your customers. You’ll be amazed by what you learn!

If you work with Google Analytics on a daily basis, I highly recommend you review the suite of training presentations at Google’s Conversion University.  Depending on how familiar you are with Google Analytics, you might find most of the information a review, but I’ll bet you money that you’ll learn something new.

The presentations are succinct, clear, and organized.  They’re an excellent free resource for online metrics.  Remember, you can’t improve your online analytics’ ability to drive smart decisions if you don’t fully understand the capabilities available to you.

Some super techie things I learned more about in Google Analytics:

• Advanced Segments are AWESOME! They’re designed to be a quick & easy solution to isolating segment reports.  You can do this same thing with additional Profiles but you’ll be creating tons of filters, waiting for new data, and permanently filtering raw data.  And we know that…
• Once you filter data, it’s filtered baby! No turning back.  It’s like enlisting with the Marine Corps or jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
• Sub-domains? Multiple domains? Bring it!  There’s nothing to be afraid of with modifying Google Analytics code.  It’s very intuitive and the references for changes are thorough .
• There are reports you haven’t even dreamed of… Yes I had not even imagined they existed, but they do!  One of the best parts about going through the Conversion University presentations for the Google Analytics Individual Qualification is that it get’s you out of your daily usage ”comfort’ zone.  My advice? Follow along! You’ll be having “ahah!” moments just like I did with filter, segment, and custom report ideas.

Don’t just casually go through the presentations.  That’ll invite relaxed learning, and yes… MULTITASKING.  Try your best not to check your email (or Twitter) when watching the presentations.  I’d suggest simply following along and your best zone-in music on iTunes.

This certificate is the bonus to your goal of gaining a stronger background with Google Analytics.

The online test to qualify can be taken at the Google Testing Center and costs $50.  Happy Google Analyticaling!

As 2009 draws to a close, the social web is abuzz with predictions and reflections.  I had a fun conversation with Doug Haslam about 2020 predictions.  Rather than go with the flow of 2010 foresight, I challenge him to predict 2020.  His great response was: “Flying cars! Automated homes! Robot maids!”

To me it seems over-done to predict 2010 as it was a big trend on Twitter and Blogs recently.  There is, however, a set of predictions publicized by Fred Wilson on the importance of three elements in the future called the Golden Triangle:

The three current big megatrends in the web/tech sector are mobile, social, and real-time.

There is an excellent post by Brian Solis on how these 3 areas intersect.

This brings me to the subject of this post, family.  I’m writing from my folk’s place in Washington state, just south east of Seattle.  It’s a little overcast today, but I was able to catch a glimpse of my old friend Mt Rainier yesterday.

Without a doubt, 2009 has been one of the most instructional years of my life.  I’ve refined my broad interests into a wildly progressing career in Online Marketing, adopted and utilized social media to connect and share information at a rapidly new pace, and I’ve grown in my own type of Golden Triangle: spiritually, personally, and professionally.

It wasn’t until I was nestled away in WA, surrounded by the love and warmth of family, that I’ve been reminded the importance of family.  The speed of life increases and we’re more likely to forget to call on our family than to tweet what we had for dinner.  Sure 140 characters is easier than a phone call, but far less rewarding.

In the World of Social Media, it’s far too easy to forget and neglect those who haven’t fully adopted the tools we use daily.

My parents are on Facebook and it has helped keep us in touch- or at least informed.  There’s a marked difference between those concepts too.  Knowing the latest highlights in someone’s life is great, but it’s like reading their personal newspaper.  Without a conversation, you might as well be reading about the latest happenings at the White House.

My grandmother doesn’t use Twitter, so I don’t follow or @ reply her.  Social Media empowers adopters to converse, but I’ve been reminded to not let this be an excuse to not connect with everyone I care about.

I lot of the tools and concepts I blog about on Waterski The Web revolve around the concept of keeping you informed about what you care about.  I should expand this to “who” you care about too!

In conclusion, my thought going forward for 2010, is to remember that family, whether they are on Twitter or not, are important.  Even as Social Media becomes the ‘norm’ we must not forget to reach out and have a conversation, on or offline, with those that we care about.