A Few Social CRM Tips

Like all dynamic elements of business, CRM cannot be allowed to stand still and stagnate. For a business to continue to succeed or to build on the foundations already in place, it is vital that it looks forward with an eye of how social CRM can lead the way in the future.  Today I am willing to unearth my experiences and offer some tips onhelping businesses achieve this.

1. Remember what CRM is all about. Whether it’s face-to-face contact, or whether you’re planning a social media strategy, one point remains the same. While all businesses need to make a profit, at no time should the relationship with customers be pushed aside as unimportant. A robust CRM social strategy should have at its core the principle that everything a business does should be done with the customer in mind. In practice, this means always taking time to analyze data to ensure that the company has a clear idea of who their customer is and therefore be in a strong position to understand what they need. Using social media to do this is a great method to monitor trends that may have otherwise been overlooked. Remember, customers use social media sites to discuss what is important to them. Using this information should be the bedrock of any social CRM strategy for the future.
2. Choose your tools. As it is for any skilled, furniture-making carpenter, choosing the right tools for the job can make the difference between an inefficient workmanlike job and a skilled and crafted analysis of all the available data. It is always worth finding out what tools competitors are using; but always remember that just because someone uses a specific tool doesn’t mean it will be right for your company. For instance, a company that offers golfing cruises may focus their efforts on Linkedin as they are confident that this is where their target audience can be contacted. If your company is selling skateboards, then Twitter, MySpace and Facebook may all provide better results. Social CRM in this way is no different from any other successful business plan; it needs to be researched with an eye of a target audience. Using the right social tools will make all the difference.
3. CRM is a two-way street. Businesses who fail to grasp this fact will do just that: fail. The days have long gone when CRM was a reactive model that consisted of a business responding to a customer in a detached and autocratic manner. The modern customer wants to be involved in the process of solution creation and well as passing on advice and best practice tips to other customers. The world of social media is uniquely placed to offer a platform for this dialogue and therefore businesses need to ensure that they have a framework in place to provide for this interaction.
4. The future of CRM looks certain to be based around a much closer relationship between a business’s employees and its customers. This is an important distinction: The near future will see a greater stress on employees rather than a corporate whole or “the business”. Customers will need to be able to engage and have a dialogue with employees who can offer much higher levels of service and therefore greater CRM. This will take place largely via social media and in practice may well include areas as diverse as complaint handling and product development.
5. It will be the customers, not the companies that shape the future. We will see the most forward-thinking companies really embrace the concept of full liaison with their customer base. After all, who is in a better position to guide the company as to what its customers want and what they will pay money for that the customers themselves? Through a social media dialogue, this can be accomplished with the added bonus of customers feeling more connected to the process and therefore gaining a greater degree of brand loyalty.

I hope these tips will be helpful for some of you as you perservere in the life of an entrepreneur!  Best of luck!!

-Divya