Integrating CRM to Social Networking Not a Reality Just Yet
After years of being on the
front lines in the world of CRM technology and the implementations of
countless systems there are two things that I have become accustomed to
in the board room. First, people are always looking for the latest set
of tools and technologies that will give them competitive advantage.
And, many of those organizations have learned over the years that new
CRM initiatives need to be vetted much more closely and scope defined
prior to implementation.
In the first days of CRM many of us on the consulting side sat across the table with teams of customers that had a "CRM" desire but no practical experience or set of metrics and goals with either brand new implementations or new phases on an existing system. The goals back then were to try and get efficiency in sales and service operations and to get close to the customer.
Fast forward to the current state of CRM and these technologies are no longer new and internal teams are much more seasoned on the benefit and use of CRM inside of their organizations. In fact, many of these technologies are now the first part of a truly integrated end to end solution. That being said, the analysts and project managers that are responsible for these technologies also clearly understand the value proposition before they push for a new initiative.
We are now on the precipice of what I am calling the second generation of CRM for many organizations. The real buzzword in the board room right now has to do with "workflow" and business process. In the face of smaller staffs and fewer transactions coming in the door companies are looking to do more with less. They are also concentrating on better execution with the systems they currently have. We are not seeing great investment in new or unproven technologies at this point.
When you think about social networking and the integration to CRM you merely need to go back to some of the basic tenets of CRM foundations and you immediately see the challenge presented in trying connect individual contacts to corporate initiatives. If you are in a company that is doing mass marketing and selling to consumers there is clear value. Until many organizations have their own social networking footprint and "communities" among industries the social networking connection on a B2B project would be very suspect.
I won't go so far as to say that there is no immediate benefit of social networking to a selling or service organization because having good and valid contact information is always vital...especially if it is organic and passively attained. The core value is social networking is inherent in the term itself. Much like meeting software that permits presentations of groups of people without traveling to see each other physically, social networking brings together people with common threads.
As I was speaking at a technology business summit on a panel two weeks ago the issue became glaringly apparent to me. The traditional world of networking is for people to be able to leverage relationships to create more business for each other. Social networking is just one more way of connecting the business environment with people that are among their target profile.
Now the issue becomes a core issue that CRM has faced for years. How do you mix the activity of people and technology effectively in order to influence your organization's performance? I still don't think many teams have solved the issue from an internal operational perspective and it would be presumptive to think, for me at least, that social networking will make a significant footprint into CRM in year of turbulence ahead.
In the first days of CRM many of us on the consulting side sat across the table with teams of customers that had a "CRM" desire but no practical experience or set of metrics and goals with either brand new implementations or new phases on an existing system. The goals back then were to try and get efficiency in sales and service operations and to get close to the customer.
Fast forward to the current state of CRM and these technologies are no longer new and internal teams are much more seasoned on the benefit and use of CRM inside of their organizations. In fact, many of these technologies are now the first part of a truly integrated end to end solution. That being said, the analysts and project managers that are responsible for these technologies also clearly understand the value proposition before they push for a new initiative.
We are now on the precipice of what I am calling the second generation of CRM for many organizations. The real buzzword in the board room right now has to do with "workflow" and business process. In the face of smaller staffs and fewer transactions coming in the door companies are looking to do more with less. They are also concentrating on better execution with the systems they currently have. We are not seeing great investment in new or unproven technologies at this point.
When you think about social networking and the integration to CRM you merely need to go back to some of the basic tenets of CRM foundations and you immediately see the challenge presented in trying connect individual contacts to corporate initiatives. If you are in a company that is doing mass marketing and selling to consumers there is clear value. Until many organizations have their own social networking footprint and "communities" among industries the social networking connection on a B2B project would be very suspect.
I won't go so far as to say that there is no immediate benefit of social networking to a selling or service organization because having good and valid contact information is always vital...especially if it is organic and passively attained. The core value is social networking is inherent in the term itself. Much like meeting software that permits presentations of groups of people without traveling to see each other physically, social networking brings together people with common threads.
As I was speaking at a technology business summit on a panel two weeks ago the issue became glaringly apparent to me. The traditional world of networking is for people to be able to leverage relationships to create more business for each other. Social networking is just one more way of connecting the business environment with people that are among their target profile.
Now the issue becomes a core issue that CRM has faced for years. How do you mix the activity of people and technology effectively in order to influence your organization's performance? I still don't think many teams have solved the issue from an internal operational perspective and it would be presumptive to think, for me at least, that social networking will make a significant footprint into CRM in year of turbulence ahead.
Hey Danny...
You may want to check out the follwoing URL...a biz contact of mine has started up this service.
You guys may have common professional interests to explore.
http://www.service-push.com/
Let me know I'll set up a meeting.
Cya...Greg
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