I’ve been an early adopter of LinkedIn. Probably since its inception. It’s been a professional companion for the longest time. I’ve been a paid subscriber since the concept started. Simply because the value-equation made sense to me.
In its more recent avatars, LinkedIn has expanded its brand repertoire to include services that are not quite consistent with its business-related social media origins. The company that owns the brand is the best judge of its strategy. However things get messed up when basic areas like pricing become contentious for customers. In order to use services under the LinkedIn brand umbrella, other than the core social media platform, customers are forced to exit their original plans and then subscribe for new ones.
For all of us who’ve been in the D2C business, that is one rule that we never break – Never force the customer out of a plan (or a lock-in). When this rule is broken, customer loyalty evaporates. Early adopters like me will search for alternatives, even if there is a premium and despite the competitor’s offering probably not being as solid.
Perhaps thats the difference between techno-centric and customer-centric organizations. Most techno-centric cultures find it challenging to move away from algorithmic paradigms and move towards a human-centered focus. Hopefully, LinkedIn will be able to bridge that gap and I will remain a loyal customer. Already my content is no longer created or published exclusively on the platform and my customer database build up does not happen on Sales Navigator. My linkage only remains with the core ab initio social media service.
I am a Founding Partner at BridgeDFS, a bespoke digital financial services advisory firm (www.bridgeto.us). Views expressed are my own. I can be contacted at sanjiv@bridgeto.us.
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