How do social media change CRM systems and relations with customers?

Social media in the past few years became equally popular as other communication channels. One might even say, that their contribution into information distribution and establishing new contacts is dominant.

It leads to the situation where the companies, no matter what branch they are in, have to be present in social platforms. It is the easiest way to maintain regular contacts with clients. And as we all know, these contacts are a basis in building long term relationships. Naturally, having accounts on these portals won’t be enough, because it is crucial to arrange your contacts according to a certain pattern. This is why professional CRM is so important – compounding with social media tools, it can increase your company’s position on the market.

Social media and CRM – perfect match?

Thanks to social media platform, building relations became a lot easier. It is possible to gather more detailed pieces of information about your clients. At the very moment when any of these platforms is connected with CRM system, data bases will be automatically expanded with new elements. It has a special meaning for companies with services related to all kinds of marketing, event organisations, or trainings. The more detailed are your data about consumers’ interests and career paths, the easier it gets to define their needs and expectations.

Remember that in the 21st century, one of the primary changes within consumer approach is progressive individualisation. Social media let us use this aspect into our account. We all know how important clients loyalty is to the brand. Thanks to social media you can increase your credibility – especially when you have full control over published content and with possibility to formulate substantive answer for every comment.

Websites like Facebook or Twitter are also perfect places for advertisement. It’s worth noticing, that a lot of groups were created in order to share users’ opinions about certain products/companies/brands. Exchange of recommendations and opinions can be a huge opportunity, if we treat those tips from clients properly. It’s obvious that not all of the reviews will be positive, but understand that all of the feedback should influence your future strategies. Especially, if these are not singular situations, but recurring opinions.

What else can we do to improve our processes of building relationships with customers?

Building long-term contacts with receivers of your services/products is your basic task, no matter what size is your company. Notice, that nowadays the subject of transaction is not simply a product or service, but the whole experience of deciding, buying and receiving service connected with the purchase. Communication is essential and with properly used CRM system, you can streamline all of the communication channels. Apart from that, it is worth remembering about a few basic principles:

  • there is a significant competition on the market, which is why you should be constantly striving for better customer service, not only while introducing new features
  • setting specific people to maintain contact with customers is very important, but at the same time all of your employees should be familiar with the CRM system and its functions, as well as the other technics applied by your company
  • very important is regular supplement of customer data – both individual and institutional – in detailed form
  • access to information is available not only for us, but also our consumers – that’s why it is so important to take care of transparency of your services. Publishing data about contractors of specific products/services helps to build trust and gives ground for discussions and talks with the clients
  • negotiations with clients shouldn’t be a scarcity – consider offering price with added value, adjusted to your individual client or company

It all comes down to the fact that all your organisation structure should be focused on clients – and it should be in an individual manner. Improving services or products always has to begin with the research about consumers’ opinions, while the area of your firm’s activity and its scale doesn’t matter that much. CRM systems in almost every of aforementioned spheres enables imposition of evidently positive changes. Of course their introduction has to be managed properly. No matter what is the company’s  profile, you should begin your journey with the easiest on-line version of CRM. Its installation and usage are intuitive which means that training won’t take a lot of time, even for amateurs.

At the same time it is worth remembering, that social media have significant influence on CRM strategies. Depending on the firm’s domain, these websites can be used in many different ways – in marketing, market analysing, improving customer service, or connecting with new recipients for services or products. Thanks to these services it is much easier to promote latest innovations, or commission their implementation to outside entities. The biggest benefit that comes from the integration of CRM with social media can be noticed in companies with B2B profile – that means using electronic means within transaction with individual clients. Both CRM systems and presence in social media can be easily brought into general use in company’s everyday activities – the most important case is still training of your employees in handling these specific platforms. This knowledge is widely available and the implementation process almost intuitive. You don’t have to consider this step any longer, you can simply start looking for the best solution for you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *