From social media to social customer relationship management
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the augment of the authors, who are IBM consultants, that companies need to meld social media programs with customer relationship management (CRM). This new paradigm – Social CRM – recognizes that instead of just managing customers, the role of the business is to facilitate collaborative social experiences and dialogue that customers value.
Design/methodology/approach
Social media holds enormous potential for companies to get closer to customers and, by doing so, increase revenue, cost reduction and efficiencies. However, using social media as a channel for customer engagement will fail if the traditional CRM approaches are not reinvented,
Findings
According to IBM research, there is a large perception gap between what the customers seek via social media and what companies offer. Consumers are far more interested in obtaining tangible value, suggesting businesses may be confusing their own desire for customer intimacy with consumers' motivations for engaging.
Practical implications
To reinvent the company's CRM strategy it is important to recognize social media is a game changer and the customer is in control; make the customer experience seamless – across social media and other channels; start thinking like a customer – if one isn't sure what customers value, they should be asked; and monetize social media, if that is what customers want.
Originality/value
Social CRM is a new approach that recognizes consumers have strong opinions about relationships as customers being managed in a social media context and that their willingness to engage with companies should not be assumed or taken for granted.
Keywords
Citation
Heller Baird, C. and Parasnis, G. (2011), "From social media to social customer relationship management", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 39 No. 5, pp. 30-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/10878571111161507
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited