CRM and Social Networks

Editor's Notes

• #2: Used effectively, social networking sites can enable marketing professionals, salespeople, and customer service agents to develop meaningful relationships with customers in new ways. But the true value from social networking can’t be achieved in isolation. Rather, organizations need to take stock of their core business processes and customer management initiatives and identify how social networking can further enhance and extend those initiatives. This paper discusses tangible ways that organizations can extract measurable business value from social networking by leveraging it in conjunction with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions.
• #3: Used effectively, social networking sites can enable marketing professionals, salespeople, and customer service agents to develop meaningful relationships with customers in new ways. But the true value from social networking can’t be achieved in isolation. Rather, organizations need to take stock of their core business processes and customer management initiatives and identify how social networking can further enhance and extend those initiatives
• #4: As social networking sites explode in popularity, the hype and interest continue to build. Facebook alone topped 200 million users in 2009 (Wauter 2009). But sorting the fact from the hype can be a challenge. Social networking at a high level is described as the convergence of technologies that make it possible for individuals to easily communicate, share information, and form new communities online. But the big question today is not what social networking is, but rather what it means for businesses.
• #5: As social networking sites continue to grow in popularity, firms can no longer solely rely on traditional mediums (print, radio, TV, etc.) to enforce public perception of their product. Conversely, these new communication channels also provide organizations with a way to discover and maintain a persistent connection with their most vocal constituents. By harnessing this social networking information organizations can use it to help identify their most influential consumers, drive participation in product development, and improve brand sentiment
• #6: At the heart of any business are customers, and social networking represents an opportunity to build even more mutually rewarding and candid relationships with those customers. But for organizations to realize tangible business benefits, they need to better plan, manage, and measure their social networking efforts. This is precisely where CRM intersects with social networking. Adam Sarner, Gartner analyst, contends that in social networking, “CRM is where you are going to see the ROI in the business model as opposed to anywhere else. It’s all about connecting and engaging in new ways with 4 customers,” (McKay 2009). This isn’t surprising. Customers using social networks want meaningful engagement with companies. And businesses want a way to manage and measure their forays in social networking. When social networks and CRM work together well, businesses gain the ability to better listen to customer conversations and engage social customers on their own terms while managing and measuring their efforts to do so. Social networks, by bringing in otherwise untapped and unmanaged online conversations, also help organizations get closer to a true 360-degree view of the customer so they can further optimize their marketing, sales, and customer service efforts.
• #7: While some organizations may still question the business relevance of social networking, un-monitored conversations that impact their business are likely occurring online right now. And as many companies have learned, it is important to be involved in those conversations. In this case, ignorance is not bliss. Ultimately, social networks should be viewed as a channel that organizations need to monitor and engage in. A Gartner Research report calls social networking a “disruptive influence” on the CRM market, challenging companies to innovate and adjust (Metz, 2008). There are, however, some basic strategies that can help organizations better leverage social networking as part of their overall customer management strategy:  Treat social networking as a new channel within CRM. Many companies already use CRM solutions to manage customers, contacts, interactions, and communications, so it makes sense to continue to use customer management tools when these activities move into social networking channels.  Enhance and extend CRM through social networking. While social networking activities can be considered as an additional channel in CRM, they also extend and enhance the capabilities of CRM with new ways of engaging customers and managing conversations.  Play to the strengths of both CRM and social networks. Use CRM and social networking sites together to better listen to customers, analyze information, and respond to customers in a way that’s meaningful to them.
• #9: Unlike traditional channels, social networks provide the added benefit of allowing a salesperson to gauge a prospect’s interest through their online profile before communication is initiated. For example, if done respectfully and in accordance with the terms of service for each social networking site used, prospects will often be more receptive when approached informally or through a common contact on a relevant subject than they would to a cold call.
• #10: Increasingly, customers are using social networks as an important channel to find, receive, and communicate information about the products and services they use. This change in customer behavior creates both opportunities and challenges for customer service organizations. Social customers expect service delivered through their channel of choice, often with a personal touch. And they are certainly not afraid to express their views or displeasure. Social networks provide a rich source of unfiltered feedback and a dialogue that can be invaluable in identifying service issues and spotting opportunities for product improvement. Thus, used correctly, social networking channels can help customer service organizations be more effective and create value for the business. In addition, social networks provide an interaction channel that not only helps remove perceived barriers between customers and companies, but may also reduce the cost of service. The social networking can help customer service organizations address customer issues in a highly efficient manner This in turn can reduce call volumes and has the additional benefit of increasing satisfaction among the growing mass of customers who expect this kind of service. A
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• #16: Social networking, in combination with customer relationship management, can enhance an organization’s marketing, sales, and service efforts. But to take advantage of social networks in a way that is consistent, sustainable, and open to analysis, organizations need customer management solutions that provide the right capabilities. Ultimately, success will lie with those businesses that can integrate social networking’s wealth of customer data, unfiltered feedback, and informal conversations into existing customer management initiatives and processes. Microsoft helps our customers achieve this goal through the Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.