Social CRM... be careful.

With the launch of Siebel 8.1.1 and innumerable discussion / blogs across
the web community, the Social CRM (or CRM 2.0) has suddenly come to a
limelight... so much that it almost looks like a "classic bubble"... getting
bigger by day, and possibly waiting to burst if we dont be careful (and help our
customers to do so too!!)

 

Every company and every CRM consultant is now saying that "Social CRM" is
the future, and, it is to an extent. Our employees and our customers are
incresingly getting used to product reviews, company reviews, chats, blogs,
twitters, gadgets, widgets and the RSS feeds. And its fair that they will expect
the same environment on the work or while they buy something.

 

But this is not a reason to go overboard on Social CRM investment..
especially the IT investment. We need to evaluate "each option" in Social crm
very carefully.

 

Here are a few things i could pull out of my hat:

 

What does your company sell.. to whom?

There is no point in having a Consumer Discussion Board for a company which
sells industrial adhesives... When you buy any machine / product, do you really
care which adhesive is used in the production? And if the anser is a big "NO"
(or better.. "do they use adhesives... why?") then there is no reason why that
company should run a forum for end consumers anyway!!

So it makes more sense in B2C companies or some companies that produce end
consumer products but sell it to Businesses (CPG industry for that matter)

 

Social CRM... for whom?

When you plan for a Social CRM strategy, you need to think whom are you
targeting through it? Is it your employees (if yes is it higher management, your
sales staff, your service staff, your own support staff?) or your Partners or
actually the customers. The tool type, display content, data security and
targeting entirely depends on who is going to use it and WHAT'S IN IT FOR THE
ORGANISATION & THE USER!

 

You need to take a "hard-look" at these things otherwise the CRM 2.0 just
becomes a money-drain just because it looks "cool" on the new iPhone and some of your already
spoilt employees love it.

 

What is the activity?

CRM has three main pillers: Marketing, Sales and Service. (Arguably the
forth one PRM!). You need to take a call on which piller you are targeting
through the Social CRM strategy. In true sense, you should try to touch your
customer to enable them give valuable feedback. But other functions like
Marketing and Sales are also equally ciritcal. Best practice would be to combine
all three into a bunch of tools and make them available for the customers..
easier said than done!!

 

How do you track down the Internet?

Hearing to customer chatter on the web and proactively reaching out to them
to convert their grivances into opportunities to make them loyal >> sounds
good. very good. But how much of this is "process" and how much is "system". I
look at this piece more of a proess, where the "human" tough is paramount not
the systems. If you have a system that can help you track that easily...
great... but do you really think you need to develop all this yourself when its
already available free with great search engines, alerts, twitter analytical
engines and what not! What's important is what do you do with the amount of
noice you can already hear.. how do you reach to the customers and truely
resolve their grivances.

 

Data or Junk?

Now consider opening the flood gates of blogs, forums, chatting, picture
sharing, video sharing.. within months you are going to store terrabytes of
data... have you figured out what to do with all that data (or junk). do you
intend to store each of this data in your CRM system against each customer /
prospect / member.... i would say BAD IDEA.

So catching hold of the "Right Data"  and using it in your CRM is much
harder than it seems when you collect all that data!!

 

With this, i take a pause to my long drown narration.

 

I love social CRM (the fact that i am writing this in blog and not it a
mail is telling itself)! But the key is not to go overboard only because its the
"in-thing"!

 

Your comments are highly valuable!

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