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August 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Social CRM Chat Highlights for August 21 #sCRMchat

Welcome to another weekly recap of our fast-growing Social CRM chat on Twitter.

This week, we talked about the relevance of Social CRM in the relams of small business owners and, as usual, enjoyed a fantastic discussion around this topic.

We’ve rounded up some of the highlights from the chat for you to enjoy below. And, this week, we’re experimenting with a funky slideshow version of the recap – let us know what you think!

Enjoy.

#SCRMchat Highlights, August 21

The weekly recap from Jugnoo’s Social CRM chat on Twitter.

Storified by JugnooMe · Thu, Aug 23 2012 07:15:09

Another week has flown by, and we’ve held another edition of #sCRMchat! This week’s topic focused on small businesses – how can these companies utilize social CRM in building and maintaining customer relationships. Our usual hosts, Hessie Jones and Danny Brown were unfortunately away - one is away tanning on the sunny islands of Hawaii, and the other, trapped in depths of our office clawing his way out of work. To make up for their absence, we invited @FeastInc as our very special guest, helping us host this small business edition of #sCRMchat.
We decided to kick off #sCRMchat right at the beginning – is it possible for a small business to get started with social CRM right now? What does it need to make it happen?
@JugnooMe A1: definitely! Interaction is the name of the game! #sCRMchatFeast Interactive
@JugnooMe I’d say enthusiasm and a want to interact with their customers in a manner not completely oriented to further sales #sCRMchatJeremy De Mello
The consensus was that social CRM is indeed something that small businesses could get started with right away. The key factor is interaction – being open to unplanned conversations and sharing with your customers. We were curious though, is that all that is necessary? Do you need to fully plan out your sCRM program?
@JugnooMe It is always a good idea to have a plan. Gives you something to refer back to if things go awry. #scrmchatMatt Andaloro
@JugnooMe yes and no. They should be prepared with content, but in terms of interaction, all they need is a social media policy #sCRMchatAtlas Symposium
This generated more discussion, with participants hovering between having concrete plans to fall back on, versus having a loose plan and keeping their customer interactions spontaneous. With that in mind, we wondered, what is holding small businesses back from taking their CRM social?
@feastinc @JeremyDeMello @jugnoome I think part of it is based around lack of control and horror stories about what could go wrong #scrmchatMatt Andaloro
A2. To get started – I think SMB need to rethink the definition of CRM #sCRMchatBrian Blatnicki
A common point that came out of that question was fear. Coincidentally, we featured a blog post the other day on this very topic – how the fear of social media is hindering your efforts and how you can conquer that fear. I personally loved @BrianBlatnicki’s point on how we need to rethink CRM now that social is involved. Our strategies, conceptions and assumptions of the past might no longer work.
From there, we started discussing the question – is it easier for a small business to go social?
@JugnooMe 100% yes. They can provide unmatched customer service, change quickly to adopt trends, and show more personality #sCRMchatAtlas Symposium
@JugnooMe A3: SMB may not have a vast customer base and that may initially be a hinderance! #sCRMchatFeast Interactive
There was a mix of opinions. For those believing that small businesses would have an easier time implementing social, key factors were nimbleness, less bureaucracy and ability to experiment. On the other hand, those who thought small businesses would have a harder time believed that lack of resources and a smaller customer base posed a hindrance.
Once again, thank you to all who participated in this week’s #sCRMchat, and a major shout out to @FeastInc for co-hosting this edition of #sCRMchat. 
Are you a small business? Have you tried implementing social CRM for your business? If yes, how has that worked out for you? If not, why not? Let us know in the comments below! For more exciting discussions on social CRM, join us again next Tuesday, August 28, at 1pm EST, where we will be discussing how to strategize your social presence and business decisions around sCRM.

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