Social CRM- Wrap Up

Over the past few years we have seen a monumental change in the way consumers behave, the way they interact with brands and the way they find out about the brands. Customer relationship management is no longer one dimensional it is multi-dimensional. It has moved from phone calls, to various social media channels across the internet.
In today's even more connected internet world it of utmost importance that companies manage their customer interactions even more effectively. 

In a recent interview with the owner of Wooster Street Social-a tattoo shop in New York, where the popular TV show "NY INK" is based, the owner mentioned how important CRM. A customer at the shop overheard one of the staff members saying "this is not the place for me to work" and in a matter of time he put it on his social media accounts. This news in a matter of seconds became viral about how "Wooster Street Social is not a good tattoo shop". 

The above mentioned example illustrates the importance of customer relationship management offline and online and the inter-relatedness of the two. 

Social CRM tools similar to the ones developed by www.salesforce.com are helping companies manage the chatter online, guide the conversation in a more streamlined way and try and identify the source of bad chatter. 

Amongst other things the tool also helps calculate the ROI on the investment. This is also important because companies who spend money on this tool want to know whether it was worth it or no. 

Hence, as we have seen over the last few weeks SCRM is a very important tool that companies will have to deploy if the want to if not be on top but at least try and be on top of their customer interaction. 

Each day there are millions of tweets send out, millions of status updates and thousands of blog updates..if you were the CEO of a company don't you think it is important to try and manage customer interactions more effectively? 

Overcoming Social CRM Risks in 3 STEPS

Switching to Social CRM can be a hassle for the company and if it is not done properly it can take a toll on valuable resources such as time and money.  Even though the idea of gaining intimacy with their customers through Social CRM might seem attractive it can also be overwhelming if not done properly.  Among the main challenges that many companies have faced when implementing Social CRM we can find: time consuming to implement, slow time response, overloading with irrelevant information, software and business incompatibilities, taking interaction personal, lack of training and/or shift in customer oriented approach, customers do not see results from interactions. 

Instead of eating the whole pie in one bite (which can be overwhelming!!!), it will be easier to eat it if you cut the pie into three pieces.  Just like the cutting the pie, we propose three steps on how to overcome the main challenges mentioned above:

1. Adapt: Social media channels are constantly changing and customers are constantly adapting to them and may be hard to keep up with this changes.  So the company has to be flexible enough to constantly seek how this client-customer interaction is evolving.  This means that companies will have to go out of their comfort zone and tap other into communication channels not previously explored by the company such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace.  The company needs to adapt to a new two-way communication channel where it is important to interact constantly. Moreover, the shift into a customer approach has to be engrained to the company's vision and culture.

2. Set the stage: If the company is not used to managing clients or is ready to upgrade to Social CRM this may take some time.  Sometimes softwares may be hard to use and setting stages for implementation may be helpful.  In addition you may need to consider training for employees, collecting data and help your clients learn this new communicating channel.

3. Keep it simple and relevant: The company will have tons of information available and may be overwhelming to sort everything out.  It is important to have a clear understanding on what information is relevant that will help the company improve their customer service and ultimately positively influence their bottom line. Also, the simpler the company can keep communication with their clients the company will get a higher quality of information.  Lastly, it is important for the company to seek for a Social CRM program that will blend in ecologically with the company's culture, a very sophisticated and advance software will not blend in very well with a company who is starting to shift focus on Social CRM.  

Social CRM in the banking and insurance industry

Social CRM has boomed in recent times and plays an increasingly important part on everyone’s screens both private and professional ones, particularly when it comes to mitigating complaints on FMCG, technological appliances, flights, holidays and the like.

But what about industries that are bound by professional secrecy? How does social CRM fit into the banking sector and in how far have insurance companies started to adopt this new paradigm of engaging with their clients?

In the financial services industry, particularly in the banking sector, social CRM seems a touchy subject to start off with. Banks fear about their reputation and clients about their privacy. Nevertheless, social CRM can lead to significant competitive advantages when implemented correctly. Particularly their younger customers, the “generation Y”, will have a tendency to relate to banks in as much as they relate to other brands. Hence, it will be crucial to offer these customers the two-way-communication platforms they will soon expect to be part of their client service experience.

What is crucial however is the determination of the bank’s strategy in this respect:

-        What exactly are our goals in this respect?

-        How much do we plan to invest?

-        What ROI do we expect?

-        Who are the customers we are trying to target and how do we satisfy their needs?

-        How do we implement our social CRM initiative and which channels do we use?

The latter could for instance refer to a blog about special deals or providing on-the-spot-customer-assistance. Additionally, the bank could provide trainings or particular advertising campaigns via YouTube and the like.

 

Additionally, it is important to assess any risks the new initiative could bring about:

 

-        How do we test the new system for security purposes?

-        What are the requirements to be fulfilled in terms of regulations and controls?

-        How can we audit the effectiveness of the social CRM initiative?

Finally, the bank will have to clarify some organisational matters, such as:

-        How to communicate the initiative to the market?

-        Does our corporate culture actually support this new paradigm/ are employees sufficiently committed and sociable?

-        Who will be the key staff actively engaging in social CRM?

-        How will the new platform be tested?

-        Has staff received sufficient training to engage in social CRM with confidence, whilst being aware of limitations regarding privacy and confidentiality?

 

In the wake of the financial crisis, rebuilding customers’ trust is key in the banking industry, requiring out-of the-ordinary initiatives to restore clients’ loyalty and to gain market share. Subject to careful implementation, social CRM can provide a competitive edge, as several institutions such as Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Caja Navarra have already experienced.

Like any other firms, insurance companies can of course focus on social CRM in order to target their campaigns in a more specific manner following pre-defined measures, again particularly applying to the “generation Y”, the upcoming key market for insurance services relating to life, property, profession and the like. Furthermore, they will be able to analyse how the target market reacts to the launch of new campaigns. Does the web community talk about it/ like it/ joke about it or is there no noise at all?

Additionally, insurance companies can however also browse the social networks for particular statements made by their (prospective) customers. As such it could be interesting for instance to see who is looking forward to the imminent birth of their child. Let’s say Mum-and-Dad-to-be-Smith may indeed be interested in an accident insurance for their new family member or in an additional general liability insurance, in case Grandma-and-Grandpa-to-be are worrying a bit about their Ming vases, when junior undertakes their first attempts of walking. Furthermore it could be worthwhile taking note of our family Smith and reverting back with interesting offers whenever key events relating to the child’s age occur, such as getting a driver’s license/ buying a car, graduating or moving out. The continuous engagement of the Smiths and soon also their child’s, in the web will provide additional spontaneous occasions of promoting insurance services, e.g. when it comes to messages posted on decisions to be taken where to spend the annual holiday. Surely, the Smiths have not yet considered travel health insurance coverage…

On the other hand, the increased focus on social CRM also requires policy owners to be careful what to post, twitter and comment on in social media. Joking about how their car got stolen because they forgot to lock it and later on claiming at the insurance company for theft through sophisticated intrusion, might not be such a clever move in view of compensation or even liability.

Many insurers have already taken a stand towards social CRM: Years ago, Generali France already pioneered “Kontsurnous” a virtual community of up to 15 people benefitting from advantageous car insurance deals, for which they even received a CRM award. Farmers and Northwestern Mutual among others have implemented the Hearsay Social Platform to deepen existing customer relationships and encourage new ones. Accordingly, there seems to be a lot of potential to be unleashed in social CRM for insurance companies. Again, as outlined for banks, subject to carefully designed concepts and the according implementation.

Yes, Even Your Small Business Needs Social CRM

Large companies may have taken the lead in Social CRM, but your small business can do Social CRM just as well.  You may think your business can’t afford to implement Social CRM.  But the truth is, you can’t afford NOT to.

The fact is that social care is no longer a bonus feature for your customers; it’s expected!  Your customers already use social media to engage customer care; 47% of social media users use this medium for their customer care needs and 33% prefer social customer care to calling on the phone.  And 50% already complain (vocally!) about products and services on social media.  Your customers are already talking about you in the social space, so you may as well listen and try to engage them.

Small businesses have an advantage in the social space over big firms because small businesses already excel at building customer relationships.  Large firms are desperately trying to achieve the direct personal connection inherent in small business.

Succeeding in this space will help you make an impression and increase customer loyalty and their rate of return.  Costs are minimal but the rewards are huge!  Your time and efforts spent attending to a customer’s problem are seen and appreciated by the greater community, potentially answering questions of other customer’s in the process.  Additionally, Social CRM will save you time as you can access all your social media communication in one spot, facilitate easy analysis of your content to maximize its value, and follow up and reconnect with customers.

Large firms have implemented complex and expensive programs, such as Salesforce and Nimble, that provide an incredible level of detailed “listening.” Fortunately, software firms have recently focused on small businesses, too.  The tools are customizable to your business size, customer base, and are adaptable as your online presence evolves.

So, give your business an edge and create happy, connected customers.  As Social CRM expert Alvaro Saltur says, “Fast, easy, and personalized is the new way to keep your customers happy, engaged, and loyal.”  Below are five highly recommended Social CRM platforms for your small business.  Now, go out and engage your happy and loyal customers!

1. Batchbook

2. Nimble

3. BlueCamroo

4. Insightly

5. GreenRope

Past and Future of CRM: CRM to Social CRM

Past and Future of CRM: CRM to Social CRM:  From Customer Relationship Management to Social Customer Relationship Management. It seems a bit simple to change a word in the equati...

CRM to Social CRM

 From Customer Relationship Management to Social Customer Relationship Management.

It seems a bit simple to change a word in the equation but now a days this is certainly not that obvious nor simple to organizations all over the world.

The power of the internet can be used in favor by many companies but it also represents problems and challenges.

The world wide web is so powerful, immense and it makes it impossible for companies to differentiate between who is a customer and who is not. It is because of this that the company's relationship with the society in general takes a whole new form and it should be addressed and managed differently.

From CRM to Social CRM we have to change our mindset from  multicanal  to a net  and understand that in multicanal we can control the flow of information between a company and its customer. Now we have to understand that customers can network among them and so on and so forth which makes imperative to be aware 24/7 of the image a company might be giving through the social networks and the web in general to the society either if it is bad to correct it ASAP or if its good to take as much advantage as possible from it.

Another challenge for companies today is to go from inernal to a perfect mix of internal and external information,to create the perfect algorithm to combine the internal data a company posses from its customers with the external data that can be analysed and extracted from the social media in order to accomplish a better understanding of its customers. In addition companies must change the focus of the analysis from only transactional to behavioral to go from mainly quantitative analysis to a mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis in order to understand more deeply its customers and to design better strategies , better marketing etc.

It is now that  Business Intelligence with morecreative parameters obtained via Social CRM  makes more sense than ever!

It is with great challenges that come great opportunities ,,, and so the battle begun and it has been going for a couple years now:

How To Not Fail At Social CRM

Social CRM can be a powerful tool to interact with customers like never before.  Businesses are jumping into the space lured by the prospect of increased brand loyalty at affordable prices.  They effectively have no choice but to engage their customers through social channels now.  Unfortunately, many don’t recognize the risks involved and pursue a half-hearted effort.  Such as approach can bring tremendous damage to a brand’s reputation in the blink of an eye.  It is better to not engage the customer at all, then to engage in a way that increases customer frustration.

There are few best practices for Social CRM, as every business must pursue a strategy appropriate for them.  However, the following are common themes in the numerous epic fails in Social CRM.

• The customer service process must be clearly defined.  The social media team is often far removed from the customer service team.  Thus, defined processes must exist to quickly obtain the answer from the appropriate personal.  A speedy reply is critical as engaging the customer only to leave them hanging later is the worst situation.  It is also important that multiple personal don’t duplicate their efforts while attempting to answer the question.  Additionally, the level of service provided must be defined if different rate service plans are offered.  Customers with the basic service plan will seek higher tier service through interaction via social channels.
• While automatic or semi-automatic responses are tempting to conserve resources, customers will see right through canned responses.  All communication must be authentic.  There shouldn’t be any attempts at upselling the customer either.
• With the plethora of social channels, it is easy to be stretched thin.  Rather than having a presence on all platforms, determine which will yield the most beneficial interaction with your customer base and devote the necessary resources to succeed on that channel before expanding.  A presence in fewer fields is better than apathetic efforts in many.
• Only 5% of problems posted to companies’ Facebook pages are answered sufficiently.  71% of consumers don’t get an answer after posting via twitter.  These stats indicate significant room for improvement in this field.  It is critical that posts are answered sufficiently and promptly.  While tempting to ignore vocal complainers, remember that these complainers are often influential and their criticism spreads like wildfire.

A well-devised process involving a cross-functional team of experts can power a highly effective Social CRM program.  Unfortunately, many businesses enter this space without properly considering the significant risks. Social media amplifies successes and failures and lightening speed.  Thus, it is imperative to enter this space fully committed, for it would be better not to participate at all than to do so with a passive effort.

Social Media and Entrepreneurs in the fastest growing country in the number of Twitter users!!

If some one asked you to guess what country has the highest growth is twitter users? Which country  would you guess? I bet Saudi Arabia will not be it! 

According to Twitter CEO Dick Costolo thats not true!

“Twitter is seeing some of its most torrid growth in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is the fastest-growing country with a 3,000 percent growth last month,”  he told The Los Angeles Times.

 Shea Bennett Co-editor at AllTwitter, stated that "In addition to the high increase in twitter users resulting in 50 Million tweets a month there are six million Facebook users and 90 million daily YouTube views" !! Those are big numbers.

Entrepreneurs and business owners tried to take advantage of that in different ways.

Here I will share an experience that I was close to its details.

 A restaurant  company attempt to take advantage of this social media “ maddens”  to have free publicity that will guarantee sending their message to millions of potential customers for a fraction of the usual advertising coast. The management of this company targeted a group of new popular (non celebrities)  twitter users and simply invited them to lunch. Each of them had a high number of followers. The theme of the event was just to connect active twitter users together face to face and go beyond the virtual life. 

Banners where printed and simple name tags to introduce the  popular “tweeps” to each other. 

There was nothing in this event stating there was an advertising advantage for the hosting restaurant. Yet, “Check ins” in the location based Apps like “foursquare” and tweeted photos of the event created high activity in the trending hashtag that was created for the event.  This simple event was more effective than an expensive advertising campaign especially for a B to C business. 

Generally, The effective utilization of  Social media is becoming a crucial component of any advertisement or PR campaign for most types and sizes of businesses but small startups and entrepreneurs are the ones who will benefit from it the most due to the easy access to it.

Sources:
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/15/226499.html

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-saudi-arabia_b33808

Social Media - the consumers power

Social Media - the consumers power

Managing customer relationship in today's digital world has become quintessential for any business. Social Media marketing and presence has become of utmost importance for various reasons.

With personal experiences I would like to elaborate a little more: -

a) The power has shifted from the companies to the customers.

Earlier we saw that companies guided the discussions with their customers and now roles have reversed.
In India, mobile network service providers have "galleries" where they have "customer agents" to cater to new customers (EVEN HELP THEM FILL THEIR APPLICATION FORMS), handle customer complaints and also sell handsets amongst other things. But anyone who has been to one knows the customer agents have limited authority and always say we will revert to you on any doubt. The service is crap coupled with the waiting in line for long.

When I was in India Vodafone charged me with a service that I had not subscribed for. I knew going to the "gallery" means endless waiting. I used twitter to get my issue resolved.

See the message I send them.

Direct messages › with Vodafone India

15 Oct

Name » deep paresh mehta, no »98202XXXXX. I did not subscribe to Vodafone live. Your system had problems. Please revert

Within a day Vodafone sorted my issue, resolved the matter and gave me a refund. It was as quick as that and I had send them a message while I was laying on my bed. 

I was able to talk to them in a bullish way because it was no fault of mine and they did not want to get a bad reputation while the whole world, literally, watched. 

In return for their prompt service I thanked them and congratulated them for their fast response  which they "retweeted" and all their "followers" more than 20K+ got to see it. A win - win for everyone. 

b)  Information connects the world. 

With the launch of our blog "Innovation Technologies - SCRM" we started publish blogs similar to this. Online newspapers that spread awareness of this topic published our article in their news. We had no idea who the authors of the paper were but they found it a value addition for their customers. Its a "small world" they say. 

c) Promotional tool.

Social Media is no longer a platform to answer questions but companies also  promote their products and get in touch with their potential clients. 

We as Indians love cricket - its our religion so to speak. However, its almost an unknown sport in Spain and we did not know where we could go and play. We researched online and found "Madrid Cricket Club". We needed to know details. We send them a "tweet" to get a prompt reply. Now, we know where to play and get our regular dose of our favorite pass time - CRICKET. 

"Madrid Cricket Club" got new customers and more over they got players from the country that produces the worlds best cricket team every after year (it might be debatable but you know I am right).  

In a nutshell what I am trying to say is that not only do the customers have the power to hamper a company but also get their problems quickly at break neck speed, customers cannot only learn about the latest updates on various news items but can also spread information - the most powerful tool in the world, and can also get unlimited information at the tips of their fingers. 

For companies, its a new way and efficient way of connecting to their customers personally, promote their products, and get connect information without investing.

Social CRM is still in its infant stage, it is a technology that is still being defined and developed. But as the world gets more digitized Social Media Analytic will be KEY to a companies success.