Thanks for the read and comment - but more so for concuring with me on my view. I don't see where this goes if it is just to "engage" and "listen". action is what will drive the value, and action in this case has to come from collaboration. no other way about it.
Anytime you want to make me happy, just agree with me.
First, I agree with you that Marketing is the wrong place to put social - well anything. even in a 2.0 world, they are still too concerned with message and brand to get into engagement properly. this is one of my main concerns (i wrote about it last year, saying that CS is the most likely place to go - now i correct that to say that IT is also a likely place to land, if done properly - more about that in another post though), and i am starting to see that change, with both IT and CS picking up the pace and the ownership. that makes me quite happy, as we are getting back to engagement - either from a technology-infrastructure perspective, or from having a relationship with the customer that goes two ways perspective.
I really like your comment about the company becoming part of the social network, something entirely needed and that is missing today. it is not about being the recipient/emanator of the message in a conversation, it is about holding those conversations, which takes more than talking and listening. this the missing point for most organizations out there - it is not about listening, it is about doing something with what you heard. only way you can do this, stop collecting data and start living inside of it, become a part of the network as one more equal peer.
Third, i won't even go into SDL, I agree it is too academic right now - and that is sounds good. hope it takes off, but we are probably 3+ years from seeing it in any sort of critical mass.
Thanks for the read and comments, long time no see - hope all is well.
Thanks for a great comment. I must say I agree with you - you make some great points throughout. I like this statement very much "Obsession with technology has led many to forget that any technology only exists in order to automate, accellerate, improve some business process, economic (or... social!) activity".
Yes, it is about understanding what, and how, to automate. In that sense, and to answer your final question, to me social CRM is no more than managing the social channels for an existing CRM implementation - but it brings nuances with it. Data in social channels is slightly diff (in type and volume) than existing transactional data, the signal-to-noise ratio and filtering bring an added wrinkle to dealing with the data, and then there are privacy and transparency issues to battle... plus more. As long as SCRM solutions can take that data and those transactions and structure them for use in traditional CRM solutions - as well as handle the interaction via social channels - we are there. Of course, we are far from there yet.
There is a lot more to discuss and understand, I certainly hate definition wars (we battled starting in 2008 - I hope we are done). There is a lot more value to be derived.
My bottom line: SCRM is not about what it does, rather what it enables - what it enables is collaboration.
What you propose sounds a lot like a solution provided by a vendor (maybe you?) to a problem that does not exist.
Social CRM is far broader than that, it is not about selling (that view that makes CRM for selling only is what got us in trouble with it -- it was supposed to be just SFA) only.
What has changed radically is the attitude of the customer, not the company yet. The company needs to adapt to the new reality - customers buy, they are not sold. Managing the sales process is going to be obsolete, marketing and service are going to become the new leading forces for the organization. It is about giving the customer what they need, and getting something in exchange - not getting and giving as little as possible (as has been the case until now).
There is far more to the world than selling, but that is something you will discover in the next few years.
Thanks for the comment-- it always amazes me how many companies are willing to throw the baby out with the bath water (to speak in generic terms) when it comes to adopting new concepts. Fascinating how business has changed little at the core, but we are always looking for the new, better, different way to do what we have been doing for centuries.
My answers
David,
Thanks for the read and comment - but more so for concuring with me on my view. I don't see where this goes if it is just to "engage" and "listen". action is what will drive the value, and action in this case has to come from collaboration. no other way about it.
Anytime you want to make me happy, just agree with me.
Thanks for the read!
Thanks for the comments, great points you make.
First, I agree with you that Marketing is the wrong place to put social - well anything. even in a 2.0 world, they are still too concerned with message and brand to get into engagement properly. this is one of my main concerns (i wrote about it last year, saying that CS is the most likely place to go - now i correct that to say that IT is also a likely place to land, if done properly - more about that in another post though), and i am starting to see that change, with both IT and CS picking up the pace and the ownership. that makes me quite happy, as we are getting back to engagement - either from a technology-infrastructure perspective, or from having a relationship with the customer that goes two ways perspective.
I really like your comment about the company becoming part of the social network, something entirely needed and that is missing today. it is not about being the recipient/emanator of the message in a conversation, it is about holding those conversations, which takes more than talking and listening. this the missing point for most organizations out there - it is not about listening, it is about doing something with what you heard. only way you can do this, stop collecting data and start living inside of it, become a part of the network as one more equal peer.
Third, i won't even go into SDL, I agree it is too academic right now - and that is sounds good. hope it takes off, but we are probably 3+ years from seeing it in any sort of critical mass.
Thanks for the read and comments, long time no see - hope all is well.
Thanks for a great comment. I must say I agree with you - you make some great points throughout. I like this statement very much "Obsession with technology has led many to forget that any technology only exists in order to automate, accellerate, improve some business process, economic (or... social!) activity".
Yes, it is about understanding what, and how, to automate. In that sense, and to answer your final question, to me social CRM is no more than managing the social channels for an existing CRM implementation - but it brings nuances with it. Data in social channels is slightly diff (in type and volume) than existing transactional data, the signal-to-noise ratio and filtering bring an added wrinkle to dealing with the data, and then there are privacy and transparency issues to battle... plus more. As long as SCRM solutions can take that data and those transactions and structure them for use in traditional CRM solutions - as well as handle the interaction via social channels - we are there. Of course, we are far from there yet.
There is a lot more to discuss and understand, I certainly hate definition wars (we battled starting in 2008 - I hope we are done). There is a lot more value to be derived.
My bottom line: SCRM is not about what it does, rather what it enables - what it enables is collaboration.
But, that is the topic for the next session.
Thanks for the read and the comment.
What you propose sounds a lot like a solution provided by a vendor (maybe you?) to a problem that does not exist.
Social CRM is far broader than that, it is not about selling (that view that makes CRM for selling only is what got us in trouble with it -- it was supposed to be just SFA) only.
What has changed radically is the attitude of the customer, not the company yet. The company needs to adapt to the new reality - customers buy, they are not sold. Managing the sales process is going to be obsolete, marketing and service are going to become the new leading forces for the organization. It is about giving the customer what they need, and getting something in exchange - not getting and giving as little as possible (as has been the case until now).
There is far more to the world than selling, but that is something you will discover in the next few years.
Henry,
Thanks for the comment-- it always amazes me how many companies are willing to throw the baby out with the bath water (to speak in generic terms) when it comes to adopting new concepts. Fascinating how business has changed little at the core, but we are always looking for the new, better, different way to do what we have been doing for centuries.
Glad that someone shares the concept!