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Social CRM – CRM 2.0 – CRM using Social – The Integration of Social Media with Customer Relationship Management Systems?

Home » All Posts » Social CRM – CRM 2.0 – CRM using Social – The Integration of Social Media with Customer Relationship Management Systems?

Categories: All Posts, Finding, Acquiring, and Delighting Customers Tags: , ,

Honestly guys, can we please get back to important issues beyond semantics?

In case you missed it, a heated debate sprung up this week in the Twitter and Blogospheres, respectively. Read the following to get caught up to speed.

Esteban Kolsky’s Post
Prem Kumar Aparanji’s Post
Rob Schneider’s Post

In my humble opinion, those of us who regularly interact on the #scrm channel seem to have a pretty good understanding about the framework of what we are talking about. The healthy and spirited debate is great, and hopefully not only enriches our individual and collective understanding, but also that of the customers we serve.

What it is, and how we use it today and in the future, at the most basic level is still up for debate. Regardless of anybody’s claims, the reality is that we are very early on in integrating the world of social media with traditional CRM solutions. Those that have pioneered the space are just beginning to be able to quantify returns and metrics, and are discovering “unintended consequences”, both good and bad.

There is plenty of hype. I agree. But I believe there is also tremendous opportunity to harness the Groundswell (thanks Forrester, Charlene Li, and Josh Bernoff) that is taking place in the world around us for the tremendous benefit of CUSTOMERS through new and innovative Sales, Marketing, and Support interactions.

The question we are all attempting to answer is “How do companies leverage the emergence of Social Media to increase customer experience, customer acquisition, and customer retention?”

From my perspective, call it what you want – Social CRM, CRM 2.0, CRM using Social, or any other term. Truthfully, it doesn’t really matter. CRM is about a lot more than CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT, but it provides a common term for discussion and innovation. SOCIAL CRM should be the same.

Let’s get back to meaningful conversation, and regardless of your view(s), I’ll be hanging out on the #scrm channel for more interesting interaction.

Comments

  1. Who cares?

    Who cares?

    That’s right… well said. I especially liked the part where you say that we don’t know what it will look like, of what it will do. That is the key here.

    Lots of charlatans are saying they have the answer, but the reality is that we are just beginning – and we have long way to go.

    Thanks for the well written post.

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