From social media to social customer relationship management

TLDR: In this paper, the authors present the augment of the authors, who are IBM consultants, that companies need to meld social media programs with customer relationship management (CRM) to facilitate collaborative social experiences and dialogue that customers value.

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 enga...