It is very interesting that you mentioned two of the biggest changes brought on by the use of Social Channels in CRM: better feedback / insights, and a change to business execution (my contention soon to be put into a blog is that sales is changing dramatically, and marketing and CS are picking up most of the pieces that used to be sales).

thanks for the read, and a very interesting comment

It is inevitable that the information in social networks be brought into traditional CRM applications just as it was inevitable that a marketing and support function was added to sales force automation systems.

Leon Tribe
.-= Leon Tribe´s last blog ..Dynamics CRM-GP Adapter is looking to be a Scribe-killer =-.

“I cannot even count how many meetings and conversations I had in the past four months with executives who wanted to talk about SCRM – only to be asked how to setup Twitter or Facebooks Fan Pages”.

I have seen something different in Latin America. Executives or agencies are sort of looking into analyzing conversations first from the PR perspective, but are realizing that they need a way to engage with the conversations in Facebook and Twitter. When they start engaging the customers with conversations they quickly come to the realization that they need processes, work-flow… and a away to convert the conversations into transactions – i.e. integration with CRM systems.

Yes… there are many companies that see Social CRM only as Facebook or Twitter. But in the last 6 months I have seen many companies looking for community platforms and CRM integration with Social Media… But the problem now is who is going to have ownership of the social channels in the organization… this is still up in the air in Latin America. Many companies still do not want to let go of their information… and do not really want collaborate or engage with customers 100%. Organizations have the Web 2.0 tools but still have Web 1.0 mentality.
.-= Jesus Hoyos´s last blog ..Nubes de Conversaciones durante el 2009 =-.

Yes, I agree that the market will be determined by the acquisitions. The only caveat is that this whole space moves so incredibly fast, that who ever tries to pull IP into their fold will have a very short window to execute.

I love cheering for the little guy! In the middle of the consolidation, one of the little independents will make their presence known and may alter the course slightly…or better. Like the US Soccer team this summer – victory is not expected or predicted but will be fun to watch!

(Did I just call the US “the little guy”? – wow time for more caffeine)
.-= Mitch Lieberman´s last blog ..Do the pundits practice what they preach? =-.

“I found that some people are absolutely unaware of how the whole social things is more important than the intern driven/rogue initiative and how it can fit into their overall organizational strategies.“

What I meant in that above statement is that I found some people who were exposed to social media/networks only as much as their “rogue” initiatives allowed them. They are not sure how much sense it makes at an organizational level. Many were aware of the social web because of their kids’ involvement & the huge brouhaha in the media. But then not aware of how it affects their business.

Thank you for the post & the discussions.
.-= Prem Kumar Aparanji´s last blog ..Context is queen, especially for Social CRM =-.

So, I replied to everyone here before I got to this since I wanted to think what to say.

1) you know me… acronyms and definitions are so not me

2) It is interesting that you mention some of the new companies that will be taking place of the acquired ones. It is certainly a fact that as (if) we grow out of the recession the more money invested into these young-ums will translate into more market presence, better products, and replacement of the “stalwarts”. I sense that is already beginning to happen (I have some preferred companies I picked for what they are doing, off-the-beaten-path but cool stuff I am highlighting in a soon-to-be-produced post). I agree with you –but, even if that happens what is going to shape the market more is going to be the acquisitions, not the replacements. Agree?

3) Very interesting observation in that organizations will fail to put controls in place – or fail at social. I must admit i am not the biggest cumbaya, let’s all be social together guy out there — but i definitely see the value for organizations imposing some MVOG (mission, vision, objectives, and goals) as well as resources behind these efforts. Maybe we are differing on how we use the word control — but even then, if they cannot control it even Gen-Xers won’t be interested in taking on that, that — experiment to an enterprise scale — a least not for some industries (we can assume B2C in massive customer-base like hi-tech, electronics, retail, etc. won’t be affected — but financial services, insurance, healthcare, etc. will due to the heavy regulations). I do see that these industries that tend to spend the most into innovation in any new enterprise will lead the way in exercising more control and seeing some results. As you said, I may be wrong or not… will see.

4) you have the answer in your comment — try we will. I think this is going to be the case for 2010 — although i don’t expect to write the book on best way to do scrm in that year… or the one after. it will probably take some time to get there (and this is where the loud and proud part comes in). We will see lots of try-and-fail, try-and-almost-get-there, and try-and-succeed implementations that are not born out of luck or timing like now, but out of the beginning of best practices in 2010 — that I am willing to bet on (maybe i will even make it a prediction for 2010).

Thanks for a great comment, and the read!

Appreciate the compliment. I think indeed that 2010 is going to be awesome!

Thanks for the read and comment!

This is not my predictions post, or the roundup – those are coming in the next few days, but this is one of three posts I am doing with the State of the… post (experience and customer service are the other two, don’t have enough on communities yet to make it – that will be next year).

As for Organizational control – it was a surprise (almost) to find that it was as present. I truly expected to find more rogue deployments and lesser executive involvement (Prem mentioned some executives who did not get it, that i was expecting mostly). It was a pleasant surprise…

As for the ” … untangle the silo effect …” if that is to happen then I can retire in peace. I have been advocating for that way before we got to Social, and even more so now. Why the whole premise of my EFM model was to be able to leverage cross-channel feedback into a single system…

I hope you are right, and that we are in that track.

Thanks for the great comment!

Other than being funny, you are also very astute in noticing something that escapes most people: sales is the only one that has not jumped up-and-down with Joy when it comes to SCRM.

The old 1:1 sales model is bound to change sooner rather than later, but I don’t think that SCRM is going to be driving that change. Until that happens, Social Sales will only have unintended consequences — the shift of functions and operations to marketing and sales. Why, just yesterday I was having this conversation about how Sales just wants to “press the flesh and collect the check”, and they are essentially passing lead scoring, prospecting, and other functions over to social sales and social marketing functions gladly.

Sure, it is an oversimplification that will irate most sales people – probably. But I think that selling to the community, as opposed to the individual, is the way we are going — and you don’t need sales people for that (at least not the same as today). I will not go there yet, as i don’t want to start that debate (yes, I know I am wrong — before we go down that road).

I would love to hear more about the evolving role of marketing, since in my vision is not very clear where they go (although it seems that they are moving into prospect and lead management more and more).

Thanks for the read!

Rob