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Developing B2B Social Communities: Keys to Growth, Innovation, and Customer Loyalty explains why business-to-business companies need a robust online community strategy to survive and flourish in today´s changing economy and shows you how to design and execute your company´s strategy successfully.

Seminars, publications, market research, and customer care centers remain important tools in every B2B firm´s toolbox for understanding, attracting, and serving customers while keeping them loyal. But in a world of fierce global price competition, increasing transparency of business practices, and ever-rising complexity, these traditional customer interaction channels are no longer enough for most B2B companies. That´s why smart organizations-both large and small-are tapping into online communities to gain a huge competitive advantage: the ability to get much closer to customers and become more valuable to them.

Developing B2B Social Communities delves into the generators of business value in online communities: immediate customer access to expert information within the company and from other customers; inexpensive delivery of custom technical help; demonstrations of how customers can to get the most from their products; and forums where customers can share tips, air gripes, reveal unmet needs, and suggest improvements.

Three veteran community managers show you how to harness the knowledge of the crowd to help shape your company´s strategic direction, develop new products and services, identify trends, sell more, serve customers more efficiently, and provide better product support. Fleshing out precepts with real-world examples and case studies, the authors detail the transformational opportunities-and pitfalls-for creating online communities.

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The Human Need to Connect

Community as the Centerpiece of B2B Engagement

Community Models

Life Cycle and Maturity Models for Online Communities

Community Management

Case Study in Focus: CA Technologies

Business Impact Through Community

Developing B2B Social Communities

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Margaret Brooks,Senior Advisor, Business Unit Strategy for the Global Presales Organization and former Vice President, Customer Success, joined CA Technologies in 1999. In the Customer Success organization, she was responsible for the development and vitality of the CA global communities representing a cross section of product and solution communities. This team continues to lead transformation programs to improve customer experience and supports the business requirement for continued enhancements to the online customer experience. In her career at CA Technologies, Brooks has held many executive positions in sales, technical sales, and business development. She has also specialized in governance, risk, and compliance and was involved with thought leadership, publications, and solution development in this area for several years. She published articles in WSTA magazine, KM World,and SC Magazine on the topics of governance, risk, and compliance. She has been nominated for the CEO Award for her contributions in this area. Brooks draws on more than 35 years of experience in the IT industry. Prior to joining CA, she led consulting engagements at the data warehousing division of Platinum Technologies. Before that, she held management positions in data warehousing and information resource management, focusing primarily on companies in the healthcare and insurance areas. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Education from the University of Alabama.

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