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300 Chapter 8 Social Media Information Systems

voice and that it controlled the messages, the offers, and even the support that customers received
based on the value of a particular customer. In 1990, if you wanted to know something about an
IBM product, you’d contact its local sales office; that office would classify you as a prospect and use
that classification to control the literature, the documentation, and your access to IBM personnel.
Social CRM is a dynamic, SM-based CRM process. The relationships between organiza-
tions and customers emerge in a dynamic process as both parties create and process content.
In addition to the traditional forms of promotion, employees in the organization create wikis,
blogs, discussion lists, frequently asked questions, sites for user reviews and commentary, and
other dynamic content. Customers search this content, contribute reviews and commentary,
ask more questions, create user groups, and so forth. With social CRM, each customer crafts his
or her own relationship with the company.
Social CRM flies in the face of the structured and controlled processes of traditional CRM.
Because relationships emerge from joint activity, customers have as much control as companies.
This characteristic is anathema to traditional sales managers who want structured processes for
controlling what the customer reads, sees, and hears about the company and its products.
Further, traditional CRM is centered on lifetime value; customers that are likely to generate
the most business get the most attention and have the most effect on the organization. However,
with social CRM, the customer who spends 10 cents but who is an effective reviewer, commen-
tator, or blogger can have more influence than the quiet customer who purchases $10 million a
year. Such imbalance is incomprehensible to traditional sales managers.
However, traditional sales managers are happy to have loyal customers sell their products us-
ing peer-to-peer recommendations. A quick look at products and their reviews on Amazon.com
will show how frequently customers are willing to write long, thoughtful reviews of products they
like or do not like. Amazon.com and other online retailers also allow readers to rate the helpful-
ness of reviews. In that way, substandard reviews are revealed for the wary.
Today, many organizations are struggling to make the transition from controlled, structured,
traditional CRM processes to wide-open, adaptive, dynamic social CRM processes; this struggle
represents a significant job opportunity for those interested in IS, sales, and social media.

Social Media and Customer Service

Product users are amazingly willing to help each other solve problems. Even more, they will do so
without pay; in fact, payment can warp and ruin the support experience as customers fight with
one another. SAP, for example, learned that it was better to reward its SAP Developer Network with
donations on their behalf to charitable organizations than to give them personal rewards.
Not surprisingly, organizations whose business strategy involves selling to or through de-
veloper networks have been the earliest and most successful at SM-based customer support. In
addition to SAP, Microsoft has long sold through its network of partners. Its MVP (Most Valuable
Professional) program is a classic example of giving praise and glory in exchange for customer-
provided customer assistance (http://mvp.support.microsoft.com). Of course, the developers
in these networks have a business incentive to participate because that activity helps them sell
services to the communities in which they participate.
However, users with no financial incentive are also willing to help others. For instance,
Amazon.com supports a program called Vine by which customers can be selected to give prere-
8
lease and new product reviews to the buyer community. You’ll need your psychology course to
explain what drives people to strive for such recognition. MIS just provides the platform!
The primary risk of peer-to-peer support is loss of control. Businesses may not be able to
control peer-to-peer content. Negative comments about cherished products and recommenda-
tions for competitor’s products are a real possibility. We address these risks in Q7.

8 “About Customer Ratings,” Amazon.com, accessed July 30, 2013, www.Amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.
html/ref=hp_200791020_vine?nodeId=200791020#vine.