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Social CRM Tools: The Next Step in CRM
The world is undergoing a revolution in communication and businesses like yours need to stay current in order to stay in touch with customers. Customers are communicating via social media. Facebook reports 750 million users, Twitter boasts 200 million accounts and LinkedIn claims 100 million users. Adaptable businesses are migrating to the new environment and learning to engage customers according to new rules. To do so, more and more businesses are utilizing Social Customer Relationship Management tools(Social CRM tools).
What is Social CRM?
Traditional customer relationship management is information-centered and is weighted on the business side of the equation. Business manages the relationship. With Social CRM, the center of gravity is shifted in favor of the customer and relies more on conversations and relationship. Social CRM is a business strategy as well as a philosophy. It is designed to engage your customers in collaborative conversation so that beneficial value is provided in a transparent and trusted business environment. It's the company's response to the customer's ownership of the conversation, and social CRM software can help you in these endeavors.
Movement to Social CRM
A Cone Business 2008 Study in Social Media reported that of Americans, 93 percent of companies want to have a presence in the social environment. Social CRM is a strategy that helps businesses establish a social presence in order to connect with their customers. More than ever before, customers go to the Internet for information. They expect to find company and product information at their fingertips. They use social media channels to glean input from others when forming opinions and making decisions. Smart businesses know that to get their information to customers and influence their decisions, they must be available to customers. That is where Social CRM tools are valuable to your business.
Impact of Social CRM on the CRM Industry
The same 2008 Cone study said that customers base their purchasing decisions on personal experience (98 percent), the company’s reputation (92 percent) and the recommendations of others (88 percent). Social CRM tools enable businesses to create customer experiences, directly affect company reputation and develop advocates who will recommend the company to others. Social CRM tools provide the interactive formats that your social customers enjoy. Forums, blogs, and social communities create opportunities for business and customers to meet and share in ways that are mutually beneficial. Customers can give positive and negative feedback. Companies that are responsive to the feedback will win loyalty.
How Social CRM Tools Improve Customer Relationships
Knowing what concerns and interests a customer has is pivotal in developing and maintaining strong customer relationships. Demonstrating to customers that their voice has value is the strength of Social CRM tools. When customers are satisfied, businesses can get that onto the company website and spread the good news. When customers are unhappy, social media enables business to respond in real time and strengthen the company reputation with great customer service. Businesses and customers are able to engage in collaborative conversations that produce positive outcomes for both sides and through which customer loyalty is developed.
Radian6: Social CRM Tools in a Comprehensive Solution
Radian6 is a social media monitoring platform designed to help businesses interpret the social landscape and integrate its value with other core business data. The software scans blogs, posts, forums and more for business-pertinent content and then delivers it to the company. It establishes venues for social media conversations with customers and potential customers and then provides analytics to reveal measurable results from online social activity. Allowing companies to hear what is being said as well as contribute to large group discussions enables them to discover the core of problem issues and provides actionable insights that can drive improved business decisions.
The social CRM tools provided in the solution don’t just allow companies to hear what is said; they convert them into the metrics that benefit marketing, sales, product development, customer service and support functions. Social media is changing how everyone communicates, including how businesses communicate with their customers. Social CRM tools help companies successfully adapt to the new rules of customer management.
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