Yes, technology is not the solution – but is the aid. To that extent, I am fairly impressed by Lithium at first impression due to the story they tell, the results they have, and their approach to market. Despite having good marketing, they are basing their approach to market in the results from many years of working with communities. I am blown away, almost, by the fact that they track 100 different metrics of user involvement in the community. and the flexibility of the tool.

Alas, I am fearful that some people will, as you say, pay lip service only. However, Lithium is very well invested from what I have seen with their customers and try to prevent this. No vendor is perfect, and I see this as a downfall for early adopters of SCRM who don’t understand the role of technology in a solution.

@Sid,

Ah, you read my mind. Working on getting that information – but from experience I know it is the hardest to get. Good results? easy. I think it is a great point and something I will be looking for in more detail going forward. Thanks for bringing it up.

Everything I know and have seen about Lithium points to it being an excellent tool, friendly looking and well thought. My point was strictly that the same people and organizations that implemented CRM without sufficient thought and planning will be those that implement SCRM, and with all else being equal they’ll put the same level of thought and commitment into it and consequently achieve similar results.

But as I understand Esteban, this is just your summary of what was presented – typically you add your quality critique at the end which most of the times is the icing I wait for.

Another thought I got as I read this, was around the really impressive turnaround case studies of Linksys etc. – Most of the times the data these summary case studies showcase is too overwhelming for readers to forget assessing the real reason – that it actually might not have been just the software. I’m sure for each of these hugely successful case studies, there must be many others that are not equally successful or possibly near-failures (?). And a deep-dive into each of these might reveal another angle altogether that played an equally important or even more important role – the strategy, approach, end users, an evangelist, implementation team, management commitment etc….

Anyways, hope I didn’t drag the discussion in another direction – this definitely is a great summary and brings forth some good thoughtful points Esteban, Thanks!

Regards,

Sid Mishra
@SiddMishra

Given the history of CRM deployment, though, it is pretty safe to predict that while some organizations will deploy Lithium to its full potential, others will only pay lip service to the SCRM scene and retain their old, fragmented ways.