In today’s world, we need to move beyond CRM to add in the social component that is prevalent in SCRM. But what does that even mean?

It means adding “relationship” into CRM (Customer Relationship Management) in the way it was originally intended. It means gaining valuable and insightful information about what’s really important to people, as well as about how they really make decisions, do work, and live their lives.

The advantage is huge.

“Social data” refers to the proliferation of online conversations occurring relative to your company, products and services, as well as competitors. By their nature, these conversations are unstructured.

Social analytics solutions allow you to collect social data. These include exposure to social conversations and channels that you may not already be a part of. Social analytics solutions also give you the ability to analyze the data using proven scientific methodologies centered on natural language processing and semantic technologies.

Analysis turns the data into actionable intelligence centered on the behaviors of customers and other interested parties across the web.

Why? Because…

Transactional data derived from traditional CRM activities tells you what your customers did. However, social data captured by Social CRM activities shows you why customers behaved as they did.

The result will go far beyond how we collect data. It will also impact how we manage our businesses. However, the real promise of SCRM is remembering it adds a social layer to existing CRM processes. That is, SCRM will not replace CRM but will enhance it.

I’ll be talking more about this topic in tomorrow’s Focus roundtable with Dr. Natalie Petouhoff.

 

(Fyi…the title of the roundtable is The Promise of Social CRM, part 2 and it’s part of the Simplifying Social Business roundtable series held on Wednesday at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET. If you’re reading this blog post after 9/28/11, you can listen to a recorded podcast of the event.)