- Dec
- 3
More Tales from the Front: Building Products & Social Media in Action
Posted on December 3, 2009 by — No Comments
We’ll call this chapter: “Eliminating the Middleman. All of Them”
Pleasantly surprised one morning to open my email and find a completely unsolicited testimonial about a client’s product:
Hi Nora,
Please comsider this endorsement for the American Standard “speed connect” drain. If you find it helpful in any way please feel free to modify and use in the promotion of the product.
Thank you,
John Murphy
President
National Association of Plumbing Showroom Professionals
“American Standard has introduced the “speed connect” drain to many of their faucet lines this year. The company claims that there are fewer moving parts to install, the drains will seal and hold water upon installation and the drains will not need adjustment. These claims are all true.
What American Standard has not stated is that this new cable action pop-up drain assembly is what the plumbing industry has needed for decades. This drain really does what AS claims and more.
Ask any plumber what the most difficult or frustrating part of installing a lavatory faucet is and they will say the drain linkage and adjustment. Well, not after they install this drain. American Standard has removed the linkage and replaced it with a cable not unlike some of the bath drains that are out there.
This new lavatory drain is a problem solver and it is a pleasure to install.”
Obviously, not just any testimonial. John Murphy is a master plumber in New England, active on Linked In and other social networks and President of the new National Association of Plumbing Showroom Professionals. We had met through Linked In and enjoyed an ongoing dialogue.
But I hadn’t sent him anything about Speed Connect. Who did?
Among the flurry of emails shooting back and forth across American Standard’s servers that day, we tried to solve the mystery. It was much later in the day when the truth was revealed:
To All
This came about from a discussion that I began with John on Linkedin, another example of the power of social media.
Don
Donald C. Devine
CEO, American Standard Brands
There is much talk about what CEOs should or should not be doing online. Don Devine does pretty much the same thing he does offline: talks to customers and prospects. When the door opened with John Murphy, Don asked him to try one of our products. Talk about eliminating the middlemen … and middlewomen.
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