CRM and Social Media: Connecting Customers

11/16/2010 at 10:30 am by The Sage ERP Team

No matter how big or small your company may be, pleasing your customers should still be high on your priority list. Even a massive corporation like Google or General Electric should be just as focused on keeping customers happy, satisfied and loyal as the little bakery down the street or the local used bookstore. For all the millions of different sizes and types of businesses, one thing unites them all: customers.

As companies grow, maintaining personal, meaningful relationships with customers can get increasingly difficult. Large corporations often commit the mortal business sin of viewing their customers as dollar signs or statistics on a marketing report, rather than individuals with distinct tastes and preferences.

Customer relationship management is a critical tool that can help prevent businesses from falling into this common trap. CRM uses a combination of historical data and predictive analysis to form a holistic view of customers as individuals. Utilizing this kind of software is a powerful way to reach out to customers in a way that is unique and valuable. It provides companies with data that can be used to produce noticeable results in improving customer satisfaction and retention.

Of course, CRM is more than just software. CRM is a business philosophy that should be applied at all levels of a company, from the CEO to the receptionist. And CRM can be incorporated into a number of different business ventures – perhaps most notably, in social media.

Nearly every business today maintains some kind of online social media presence, whether it’s through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube. Sites like these allow businesses to connect with customers on a personal level by attaching a face and a personality to what used to seem like an unreachable corporate empire. Companies can use their Twitter and Facebook pages to be humorous, serious, irreverent, professional or any other type of trait. They can use Twitter to respond directly to customers’ questions and use Facebook to examine the kinds of “fans” they’ve amassed.

In a world where the traditional storefront is vanishing, social media is the way that savvy companies continue to enjoy meaningful interaction with the people who keep them in business.