- There was a time when companies were very much skeptical about whether or not to do CRM…
- Later, actually for some companies only a few years ago, there then was a time when companies were very much skeptical about whether or not to Web Channel. In other words should we sell or reach out to customers via the Internet…
- Today, we observer a very similar phenomenon around Social Media…
we would like to talk about Social Business.
There are at least as many skeptics as there are strong believers in Social Media. As a result, it’s fair to say that usage of and openness to Social Media also respresents a very emotional and cultural field of study. Its not our intention to judge different opinions with this discussion but I want to show you how powerful the topic has become in CRM-related discussions. Here are my top 5 examples for why we should not close our eyes to Social Media, but actively engage in related discussions with our customers. So it becomes core part of what we would like to call Social Business, a normal part of your overall startegy:
1. The numbers – globally, there are 800M Facebook users already (as of Nov 2011). This is just one channel, but it shows you that the damage to your brand as well as your opportunities reaching out to existing and/or new customers are significant. Also, there are close to 57M LinkedIn users in the US alone. This not only represents a significant talent pool for your company but also offers very accurate segmentation/targeting
2. How do make sure that you are capable of listening to what your customers are saying about you, your brand or your services? Social Media Monitoring is therefore becoming a central means
3. And then? What do you do with positive or negative feedback? There are fascinating case studies, ranging from companies deleting comments to companies implementing lengthy processes of dealing with answers. Many companies don’t react at all, which sure represents a missed opportunity to interact with your customers and deliver a good customer experience. And of course, you also need to commit resources in the first place – otherwhise you not gonna be able to deal with your customers via Social Media (it just does not scale then)
4. Is it a threat or an opportunity? That’s been a fundamental question in regards to Social Media. In fact, Social Media engagement can lead to severe damages if done poorly but that’s the same with most customer interactions if you ask me. The opportunities are huge though (see next point)
5. Is there a way to know if JoeSmith81 (who just tweeted) is in my CRM already? In fact, it’s not easy to link your traditional and new “social” data sources, but the potential return has tremendous value as there are better chances than ever to really “know your customer”. This is the next battlefield of CRM and there will be few vendors that can offer good solutions. We want to be one.
This is why SAP is investing resources in new Social Business (Media)-related offerings, with SAP Service OnDemand currently being in development. There is no doubt that the topic is very hot – especially in B2C.
Service OnDemand is a team-based social media engagement tool that enables your company to monitor customer conversations on Facebook and Twitter, automatically identify and prioritize top influencers and key issues, and collaborate internally to craft the best response. Using pre-built integration, these responses can be pushed back into the original social channel, and tracked as part of an overall CRM strategy. Service OD has built in routing to accelerate responses by including the right experts in the conversation, and native compliance protection to ensure that all responses are aligned with social media policy of the organization.
Therefore, it is a great opportunity to engage in close discussions with our customers. Our Co-Innovation program is a perfect forum for that as we are basically offering a “trusted advisor” platform. Customers, partners, SAP – all parties involved in fact do benefit from our exchange of ideas and requirements.
Niclas Otte (@Ottenic) and Sven Denecken (@SDenecken)…
"Your customers are going to talk about you anyway, you can choose to be part of the conversation or ignore it and peril".
The more interesting technical question is how would you see B2B companies join/observe those conversations which aren't always on facebook/twitter. In other words are there ways to integrate "professional community data" into your CRM system. As much as I agree the major B2C channels are important, there needs to be a way to also include other social networks where your customers are present.
Thank you,
Stephen