As Sales evolves to serve the new buyer, the company business process at large must also evolve. Social CRM has been seen as an extension of the traditional CRM which is heavily focused on the technology used to streamline, optimize and make more efficient the relationship between a company and its customer or prospects.
But social CRM does not just add a “social” element to the traditional CRM because it’s not as much about the technology used, or even the nature of the content aggregated as is is about the context and process that customers now expect from businesses.
Social CRM as its called now, will probably merge with the term CRM, and while that is debated by some–since the customer now manages the relationship versus the company–the way we know traditional CRM will go away, so it could still be called customer relationship management, it will just be done in an entirely new manner.
Social CRM is a methodology that focuses on people not technology. Its an environment where customers and employees are empowered to engage at an entirely new level. It gives sales people greater insights into the nature of their customers problems, concerns and hopes. And, it gives customers the platform to be heard by companies, and in many cases, be the center of innovation.
While traditional CRM has enabled companies to be more effective in their messaging, timing and organizational efficiencies, Social CRM adds a human element to the stored, categorized and tagged data that currently represents your (human) customers. Social CRM adds the “human” variable back into the equation. It gives conversational context, interaction and emotional insight into your customers to allow you not only to better engage them, but to better your products and services around their needs.
This new way of doing business is critical to long-term sustainability and success. Social media has obviously driven this shift, but I think Social CRM is what will drive adoption. Through their use and understanding of traditional CRM, companies can more easily accept and integrate the changes of the new customer into their organizations. So traditional CRM is still critical in the adoption of, and ability to serve the social customer.
To visually understand the transition from traditional CRM to Social CRM, here is another great infographic from Jacob Morgan of Chess Media:
