It’s tax season in Portugal, and that used to mean a huge headache of gathering receipts and filling forms. Modelo3 is a company that came to change all that.
The service is Simple, they take the tradition tax form:
<img class=“alignnone size-large wp-image-612” title=“portal das finanças” src=Screen-Shot-2012-04-21-at-15.50.07–1024x617.png" alt="" width=“640” height=“385” srcset=Screen-Shot-2012-04-21-at-15.50.07–300x180.png 300w,Screen-Shot-2012-04-21-at-15.50.07–1024x617.png 1024w,Screen-Shot-2012-04-21-at-15.50.07-.png 1046w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />
and change it into this:
<img class=“alignnone size-full wp-image-614” title=“modelo3” src=Screen-Shot-2012-04-21-at-16.12.37–e1335026221511.png" alt="" width=“599” height=“271” />
The simplified form alone would be enough to make this a great service, but the team went the extra mile and added a real-time simulator that suggests ways to save on your taxes.
Public Relations in the light of Business Strategy
I had the chance to talk with Celso Pinto, one of the four people that make up the whole team. It came to no surprise when he told which social media channels they were using: a blog, Twitter account and Facebook page.
Support requests and questions tend to come from the facebook page and the blog.
Having followed Modelo3 for a while now, I noticed a few changes, from a shift in price model to a concern in keeping everyone updated on what is going on behind the scenes. The blog also features tips and information on how to manage your taxes.
Celso told me something that makes perfect sense: by staying alert to people contacting them via email, Facebook and blog comments, they were able to stay on track and reach the public they thought would benefit more from the service.
On a larger scale company this would not be a linear procedure. How many times does management get insight from social media other than the number of likes and “engagement” rates? And is the team handling social media aware of the corporate strategy to be able to identify opportunities?
This is by no means a new issue, it is however a good practice that should be preserved as companies grow and expand.
