According to blogger Michael Fauscette, Social CRM is the tools and processes that encourage better, more effective customer interaction and leverage the collective intelligence of the broader customer community with the intended result of increasing intimacy between an organization and its prospects and customers. Fauscette continues by saying the goal of Social CRM is to make the relationship with the customer more intimate and tied to the company by building a public ecosystem to better understand what they want and how they interact with the various company touchpoints like sales, customer service and more.

Fauscette admits his definition of Social CRM is quite wordy, but he does break it down into more accessible concepts:

Utilize crowdsourcing and listen to customer ideas. Don’t just assume you know what your customers want. Let them have a voice and share things with you to tell you how your interactions can be better.

• Analyze what your customers tell you. Are there common themes where your Social CRM tools and techniques are failing? Or are there just one off cases of disgruntled customers to be handled in individual scenarios?
• Actually use what your customers are telling you. Don’t give customers lip service and then expect them to take you seriously. Actually implement customer ideas and let them know they have helped you develop a better Social CRM game plan.
• Empower your customers. Make them each feel special and like they are actually being treated intimately and one-on-one. Don’t simply lump customers with common complaints together and handle them as one.

More often than not, customers you engage with through Social CRM practices just want to be heard. And that’s what Social CRM is all about. It’s about adding the customer into the mix and allowing them to have a voice. You’ve probably heard someone say, “it’s not all about you,” which in most cases is true, but when it comes to Social CRM, that’s what it comes down to: being all about you [the customer].

MDL Technology can provide the Social CRM tools you need to interact with your customers in the best ways possible. We can help your team respond to customer concerns and leverage those concerns into successes for your Social CRM strategy. We can help you ensure your customers feel like they are part of the process and not just an afterthought.