Herbert Wagger's Blog

Use Case for Social CRM - Lead Generation

Herbert Wagger  6 October 2010 09:09:29

The Use Cases for Social CRM

Social CRM intends to solve all problems currently addressed by Classic CRM tools, but it also leverage social technologies to better address certain use cases.

Social Media Monitoring and Social Lead Generation

Traditional methods of lead generation rely on broadcasting to a large list compiled by and rented from media companies and hoping that a very small number reacts to it and become leads.

That statistical reliance on serendipity (catching the “suspect” at the exact time she is sensitive to the message) is not enough and cannot sustain a medium-sized business in a competitive space.

The new “funnel” is not in static lists, but in online communities, where prospects can give out the signals of readiness without depending on statistical luck. Social CRM tools allow the monitoring of those social venues and detect the exact right time (both for the seller and the buyer) to establish sales contact.

As an experiment, if you have not yet tried Twitter yet, go to the their site and type the name of your company (or another well-known company, maybe the leader in the space you are in) in the search box. Spend a couple of minutes studying the results. If you are lucky, you will see posts from users that look like this “Hi, I am considering buying the X solution from BigCompany but looking for alternatives. Any suggestions?”.
Image:Use Case for Social CRM - Lead Generation

Don’t you think that looks like a lead? With Social CRM, you don’t need to be lucky, the tool will help you to engage with the relevant communities so that you don’t miss those “signals of readiness”.

Conclusion

The shift from Classic CRM to Social CRM will happen over the next several years. But the time to invest in research and select the right partners for the journey ahead is now.

As mentioned before, Social CRM is the evolution of CRM and no vendor has the perfect solution for everyone.  We believe the use cases above can serve as a good starting point for you to look at what your current CRM tool lacks and what each vendor can offer.

Also refer to: