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.