Page 60 - Social Media Marketing

c h a p t e r 2 : ╇ T he N ew Role of the C ustomer ╇ ■
38 along with the role of influencers and a resulting ability to connect with them just as
between people, on relationship management, and on the study of the life cycle of that
relationship and its various trigger points. More traditional customer relationship man-
agement (CRM) has to do with customers and the prior transactions between your
customers and your business or organization. What was purchased, what was sent
back under warranty, which services were renewed or upgraded, and by whom—all
of the interactions and the data around customer transactions are captured in the sys-
tems that power the typical CRM installation. Taken together, it’s an incredible source
of sales insight based directly on past behaviors. CRM is a core best practice in most
leading businesses and organizations as a result.
As a step into Social CRM, think about customer relationship management as
it’s practiced currently in many leading firms, where prior sales data is used to improve
the next pitch and extend the customer life cycle on into the future. Social CRM is
conceptually similar—data driven and operating on a feedback loop—but is extended
across your entire business and wraps the entire customer experience, including exter-
nal influencers. An understanding of the present role of the customer in your business,
with customers, is what makes Social CRM so potentially powerful.
Very importantly—and a big insight into what separates social business from
social media marketing—is taking note that customer relationship management sys-
tems are often used by Operations in addition to informing Marketing in regard to
customer trends and business issues. The same holistic application of data and pro-
cesses applies to Social CRM. As used here, “Operations” refers to the departments
and functions inside your organization that deliver the actual customer experiences.
Beyond product promotion, CRM data and related analytical tools are often used to
estimate phone unit staffing levels, to spot warranty-driven design or product use/mis-
use issues, to identify potential innovations, and more. Much of this occurs outside of
the marketing department, and especially so in those organizations where marketing is
more closely tied to advertising and communications than to product development and
business strategy.
Given these factors, what then really is Social CRM? Simply put, it’s an
approach to business that formally recognizes the role of the customer and external
influencers as a key in understanding and managing conversations around the brand,
product, or service. If the reference to “conversations” seems to narrow the definition,
consider this: The conversation in the contemporary business context is nothing short
of a holistic, digital artifact that captures and conveys the sum total of what your firm
or organization has delivered. Markets are conversations, right?
Think back to Chapter 1 and the engagement building blocks: consumption, cura-
tion, creation, and collaboration. These are decidedly social activities, with the level of
participation increasing as one moves through the engagement process. Traditional CRM
manages a customer relationship in a passive sense from the customer’s point of view.