The best definition of anything is how it’s being used. Such is the case with Social CRM (SCRM). It’s taken years (and millions of Salesforce.com marketing dollars) to permanently establish Customer Relationship Management in the lexicon. Adding “Social” as a prefix sounds current, but creates confusion.
Social media caused the same anxiety among B2B leaders. Now that it’s becoming clearer on how companies are leveraging sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, and social streams like Twitter and Chatter, more businesses can find and adopt practices that suit their purposes.
We have to rise from buzzword to business case.
Lauren Carlson of Software Advice recently posted some real world examples of how companies like H&R Block and Linksys are using social CRM to grow their business. (A good read–highly recommended)
The common theme running through these examples is collaboration. Social CRM is much like the old bulletin board and chat room applications that dotted the early online landscape. New technologies are springing up that streamline the process of harnessing these conversations to improve customer support while lowering costs, and speeding product development and enhancement cycles.
It’s akin to building a following and creating a focus group simultaneously.
So while the concept of Social CRM is exploding in popularity, how it’s being used to improve business processes and spur growth is the real conversation.
You could probably drop the “C” and go with Social Relationship Management. Might make more sense.
