An alternate view is that the best context for teaching your kids table manners is to invite someone important over for dinner.

Maybe what you describe as a need you sense above is at the core of the CRM-problem. Not the fact that you sense a need, but the fact that it is the need from the corporate IT-departments. What one should really ask: what are the needs of the business, or better: what are the needs of the business Customer’s.

From my own experience I can say, most corporate IT departments have needs that are not in line with business needs, let alone Customer’s needs. They have their own agenda, their own priorities and their own desires.

My advice for any company that wants to sell technology that enables a Social CRM strategy: focus on the needs of your Customer’s Customers, not on the needs of your Customer’s IT department. And: you should be enabled to listen to, engage & collaborate with Customers to better understand those needs. If they won’t allow you, you know how successful their Social CRM Strategy will be.

Thx for “listening”
.-= Wim Rampen´s last blog ..What A Social CRM Strategy is all about.. =-.

I couldn’t agree with you more that (Customer service) communities should not be closed shop. No argument there. Customer services is also just a part of the Social CRM cake.

What I’m saying is that I would like to keep the focus of Social CRM on the Customer cake, just to prevent the cake from getting to big to digest. This most certainly does not mean that others can’t have part of the cake. To the contrary: listening, engaging and collaboration between (Potential) Customers, Employees and Partners is at the core of a Social CRM Strategy. They need to join in!

Thx for your comment on my comment on..
.-= Wim Rampen´s last blog ..What A Social CRM Strategy is all about.. =-.

That is an excellent point, I will paraphrase a bit: ‘Until you learn some table manners, do not invite guests over for dinner.’

Mitch
.-= mitch lieberman´s last blog ..mjayliebs: .@tnemelka: Lots of great comments and feedback: Social CRM or Social Business? http://bit.ly/Msoti #scrm #crm #e20 | commented =-.

Maybe companies need to learn how to collaborate internally before trying to include the ‘outside world’. Implementing Enterprise 2.0 could be carried out in parallel (or in some cases could be a prerequisite) to implementing Social CRM tools. We could add to Paul definition something like “The company’s coherent response…”?
.-= Mark Tamis´s last blog ..The Paradigm Shift is in the People, Social CRM is a Response to it =-.

I too have been “good chunk of time recently on the other side of the fence”. I am collaborating with Prem on something that we will talk about next week. But, the precursor is my post SocialCRM and Enterprise 2.0 and convergence model

There is no doubt in my mind that Social CRM and E2.0 are absolutely slaying the same dragon (nice quote).

Mitch
.-= mitch lieberman´s last blog ..mjayliebs: .@JohnFMoore: Anyone have a dictionary? | Think that was hard, I dare you to read it out loud! (@prem_k, @CRMStrategies) =-.