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EcoHub presents a new opportunity for third party vendors to interact with the SAP Community Network (SCN) and to be visibly evaluated by SCN members. But how does EcoHub fit into the other SAP communities? And how should EcoHub vendors balance their online marketing with authentic community participation? To get the bottom of these questions, Jon Reed of JonERP.com speaks to Eric Bushman, Vice President of Solutions Engineering at Paymetric.
Jon asks Eric about what Paymetric's EcoHub storefront has to offer SCN members and how the open ratings system provides a new level of transparency to third party SAP products. Eric, who is an active blogger and contributor to SCN, shares his views on how to add real value to SCN discussions rather than simply pushing products. The podcast discussion leads into a new way of marketing, by building trust through community contributions. During this 18 minute podcast, Eric gives an insider's view of EcoHub and how SCN members can get the most out of their EcoHub participation.
Visit Paymetric on EcoHub to see for yourself how they have integrated EcoHub Community Conversations into their storefront.
Podcast Highlights
(:48) The story of Paymetric and how they became certified with SAP as a credit card payment processor that connects to all the relevant SAP ERP gateways.
(1:26) Why Paymetric decided to get involved with EcoHub. How the visibility of EcoHub fits into other Paymetric marketing channels, and why EcoHub brings a new kind of participation for SAP partners that want to interact with SAP community members.
(2:35) What EcoHub has to offer SAP Community Network (SCN) members. The EcoHub environment allows third party partners to share information about their solution, upload white papers, and link to blogs and other SCN sources. This is a new way of searching and evaluating SAP third party solutions in a central location - complete with ratings.
(4:09) SAP customers are wary of integrating third party solutions due to expense and integration challenges. Jon asks Eric about the certification process that SAP partners on EcoHub go through to ensure ease of integration.
(5:45) Some SCN members have wondered how EcoHub fits in with SAP's online communities. SCN members can participate on EcoHub by rating their experiences with third party products (and get SCN points by doing so!). Jon asks Eric about the EcoHub ratings system and what Paymetric has learned from being evaluated publicly by SCN members. SCN peers can help to provide an unbiased view into the performance of these solutions.
(7:28) The rules of online marketing are changing. SCN members who have products or services to promote must balance their marketing agenda with authentic participation in the community. This is not an easy balance to strike - Jon asks Eric about how he does it, and Eric shares his "consultative" approach to solving customer problems online rather than making a sales pitch.
You build trust by giving advice of value, and the product discussion comes when that trust is built.
(10:55) How much time do you put into online promotion? And how do you quantify the benefits of participating in online storefronts like EcoHub? Eric talks about the leads he has generated from EcoHub which are highly qualified leads that are working their way through Paymetric's sales cycle. One of the biggest benefits of EcoHub - truly qualified leads.
(12:10) How to find Paymetric and other firms on EcoHub through EcoHub's search engine, and what kinds of informational resources visitors can find on company storefront's like EcoHub's. In addition to white papers and demos, you can see links to information through SCN including blogs and wiki posted by Paymetric employees. EcoHub truly is a "hub" that allows merchants to provide "links and spokes" into the SCN community.
(14:15) Paymetric's future plans: Paymetric will be presenting at Sapphire and will have a booth presence in Orlando as well. Several Paymetric announcements are pending, including Paymetric's candidacy for additional Pinnacle awards.
(15:40) Eric gives his advice for first time EcoHub visitors, including how to find "hidden gems" on EcoHub and how to fully explore EcoHub products beyond vendor-provided information.
Download the Full Podcast Transcript Here
If you are an SAP certified partner and would like to learn more about EcoHub and EcoHub Community Conversations, you can find more information here.
