What You Need to be Successful at Social CRM » Agile Business Logic (A response)

This is a response to the post: What You Need to be Successful at Social CRM » Agile Business Logic originally found at agilebusinesslogic.com (Original post follows) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No, I’m not going to talk about technology or applications that “do” Social CRM. Having lived through earlier generations of SFA and CRM, I can assure you that applications are the last thing you should worry about and rarely the cause for any lack of success in such initiatives. Instead, it’s the squishy stuff that matters. Little things like–before you engage in conversations with customers and prospects, do you actually like them? For more than their money that is. Social CRM without passion for one’s customers is like going to a party attended by people you don’t care for. Yes, there will be conversations and interactions, but much of it will be perfunctory and stiff–going through the motions as it were. If you aren’t passionate about your customers, why not? If the answer is that you don’t know them, then judicious listening to conversations on the web to learn more about them might be the ticket. What will not work is feigning interest–while nobody knows you’re a dog on the Internet, they will know if you are insincere. Second, are you good at what you do? Social CRM implemented as a bandage for poor products and services or shoddy customer service is “putting lipstick on a pig.” The result is still ugly and you won’t want to be seen in public together. Fair warning–if you implement tools like those from Radian6 or Scout Labs (sorry–I said I wasn’t going to talk about tools) designed to listen to conversations on the web, and your products and services are not great, you are in for some depressing listening. Worse yet, if you don’t take action based on complaints or get defensive, your customers will only turn up the heat. I suppose it’s possible that you might not know what customers think of your products and services, but diving into Social CRM is probably not the best way to solve that. Spending some time in your call center is probably a better place to start. And third, do you have CRM 1.0 really working for you? I mean not only systems, but organizational alignment among sales, marketing, and customer service; clear roles and responsibilities; top notch personnel all humming along in harmony. If you don’t have CRM 1.0 working, trying to layer on Social CRM will only lead to chaos and frustration for both you and your customers. Take the time to make sure you have the foundation in place before beginning construction on the Social CRM house. Once you start conversing with clients, not just pushing messages at them, you are going to have to have places to store what you are learning, people trained in the art of conversing with customers, processes for dealing with problems that you uncover, and clear responsibilities and authorities for dealing with unanticipated situations. Yes I know this sounds daunting, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time, put the pieces in place, get started and refine the agile way. via agilebusinesslogic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some very interesting points on here. Most of it I find myself generally in agreement with. If you don't have good practices and good processes it really doesn't matter what you throw at customer interaction, Social CRM or whatever you choose to call it. I do take issue to an extent with some of it. Firstly, you don't HAVE to like people to do business with them. Of course it helps and I don't think any of us would prefer to do business with people we don't like but it does happen and as sales people we should be big enough to accept that and deal with it. The 'lipstick on a pig' argument is very well made, it is essential to do what you already do well BUT if you wait until everything you do now is done to the best it possibly can be, you will be behind the game, behind your competition and very definitely behind what your customers are saying. You cannot wait to 'implement' Social CRM if indeed it is ever anything you can implement. If you wait, you miss out and if you are listening in all the ways you should, you are already 'doing' Social CRM. So I absolutely disagree with the third point that you should wait or chaos will ensue. I have argued many times that Social CRM is chaos. Chaos because everything is out of your control. You don't know what is out there and without looking and listening you will never know. So, go and embrace that chaos. It isn't a bad thing simply because we tag it chaos. It is up to you to make sense of that chaotic world but be warned, if you don't do it your competition will. I can agree that this may be a marathon not a sprint but if you start at the back with the fun runners you will never catch the elite athletes at the front of the pack. So, if I can take anything from this, my advice would be, don't wait until you think you are ready. You are probably 'doing' Social CRM, just don't stop and march on! Originally posted by Chris Butler at http://posterous.wecando.biz