Conversion Marketing forum

Twitter is used successfully by various companies for customer service purposes. And I don’t have to explain that an optimal customer service is more important than ever in this digital and social era (although it’s too bad some companies needed ‘social’ to see that again). There are good examples of companies that have used Twitter successfully for customer service purposes. There are at least as many examples of others that have not been so successful.  

What is customer service via Twitter? In an ideal world, it means that the entire problem or question your customer has is solved via the micro-blogging channel. Some companies, having the necessary resources and integrated vision, can do that. Read more »

The importance of customer networks for Social CRM and word-of-mouth marketing is very often looked at from a pure social media viewpoint with typical components such as influencers, communities and brand advocates. It is an important approach when looking at the correlation between clients and social media, but also at the dynamics within client networks from the social customer viewpoint.

There are various levels in customer networks and even various kinds of client networks depending on for example interest, interaction, typology, content and even channel. These different networks and their sub-segments are connected to each other by several connections which can also be segmented depending on amongst others the intensity, strength and frequency. Read more »

Outsourcing some and even many elements of CRM, in the “traditional” sense, has gained popularity during the economic recession, both in the midmarket and among larger companies.

The recession was and is not the reason why businesses increasingly outsource certain parts of their CRM-related activities though and, obviously, certain parts of the CRM process are more outsourced than others. Among them we typically find IT-related activities and call centre operations.

In this age where customers and prospects increasingly control their buying journey online and call the shots in their interactions with businesses, one might question this outsourcing evolution.

On top of that social media is changing CRM. Well, it’s not social media themselves. It’s the demand for more relevant, valuable, real-time, personal and adequate answers and solutions people want from businesses that are changing CRM.
It’s also the overwhelming amount of data we obtain about contact moments and digital footprints and, finally, it’s the transformations that are necessary to service a customer and nurture a lead in a customer-centric and cross-channel way. Read more »

Last week, Forrester’s William Band, posted about “The Five Old School Fundamentals For CRM Success”. Old school doesn’t equal ‘bad school’ so let’s take a look at Mr. Band’s five fundamentals.
You will discover that they still stand, although maybe the link with today’s digital changes and the integration with interactive channels might be missing a bit.

Nevertheless, the post is about CRM and five proven strategies, as William Band sums them up and found them when interviewing 58 executives.

We review them one by one. But let’s start with a quote from the post: “Attention to discipline in execution is what sets CRM winners apart”.  Read more »

Social media are increasingly adopted by both people and businesses and have a major impact on our daily lives.

The social networking phenomenon has influenced the way people communicate with their friends and family and, obviously, the interactions between people and businesses. Read more »