Social CRM

Social CRM

Towards enhanced Customer Relationship Management

Social CRM

55

Table of contents
Foreword 
Executive summary 
Introduction 

B
1.1
1.2
1.3

Social CRM: a reality today, an imperative for tomorrow 

A fundamental trend 
A necessity 
A threat? 

4
5
6
8
8
10
11

C Social CRM: an opportunity for companies 

2.1 Companies must play an active role in the debate,
not just be a part of the ecosystem 
2.2 The virality principle affects every department within a company 

12

D
3.1

18
18
18

Revolutions sparked by Social CRM 

Augmented customer knowledge 
3.1.1 Information ownership policies 
3.1.2 An endless flow of information using it will be complex
but not impossible! 
3.2 Social influence as a factor in listening to the customer 
3.3 Social influence as a factor in augmented customer segmentation 

3.3.1 Participation: a social influence criterion 

3.3.2 Social influence: a new segmentation criterion 

12
13

19
20
22
22
23

E Getting to grips with Social CRM 

4.1 Understanding the change in Customer Relationship
Management processes
4.2 In-depth modeling of the organization of your company 
4.3 Evaluating the effectiveness of Social CRM 

4.3.1 Who still talks about ROI? 
4.3.2 Delivering the right information to different audiences 
4.3.3 Return on objective (ROO) and key performance indicators (KPI)
as tools to measure Social ROI 

28

F Social CRM technologies are mature 

5.1 The challenge: intelligent integration of Social CRM and traditional CRM 
5.2 Overview of existing technologies 

40
40
42

28
29
34
34
35
36

6.1





6.2
6.3

Essential elements of a Social CRM strategy 

The 5 fundamentals of Social CRM 
6.1.1 Reciprocity 
6.1.2 Reactivity 
6.1.3 Consistency 
6.1.4 Transparency 
6.1.5 Engagement in a true corporate approach 
The truth about a few Social CRM myths 
Some strategic advice to get you started 

44
44
44
44
45
45
45
46
47

H
7.1
7.2
7.3

Social CRM tomorrow 

The challenge of identifying customers 
Your products are social 
Your staff is social 

48
48
48
49

Conclusion 
About 
Acknowledgements 

50
51
52

Foreword
Markets are conversations was the prophecy of the Cluetrain manifesto1 at the end of the
last century. In this forward-looking book on marketing, published when the Internet was in
its infancy, the authors were already highlighting the inexorable move towards a rebalancing
of the power struggle between a company and its customers.

DIGITAL IDENTITY

Ten years later Paul Greenberg, regarded as one of the pioneers of CRM, defined the emergence of Social CRM as the companys response to customers seizing power and dominating the conversation. We have come full circle: consumers have taken control. Brands are
the subject of thousands of simultaneous conversations and must fight to make themselves
heard.

Stanislas Magniant,

Head of Digital, EMEA

MSLGroup

In the extremely fluid and unstable world of social media, Social CRM is not the latest marketing trend or simply an elevation of traditional CRM, kitted out with a fashionable adjective.
It is the adaption of companies organization and brands communication to a new Customer
Relationship Management landscape. E-reputation and community management still very
new and evolving disciplines are generally perceived as communication-related functions
and activities. Social CRM goes further: it has made its way into the heart of current thinking
in Commercial Management, Customer Services, Communications, IT, etc.

Twitter account
@ msl_group

Mail
stanislas.magniant@consultants.publicis.fr

Sites :
www.mslgroup.com

Social CRM aims to solve the fundamental dilemma of how to make

human-scale marketing scalable

Social CRM is changing the scale and perspective of brand involvement in social media.
What was once a Communications department issue is now becoming an organizational
challenge for any company that claims to be customer-centric. Social CRM is the connection between social media and a companys internal and external communication systems.
The question for companies is no longer whether to engage with social media, but rather how
to engage with it. Companies that have already started implementing Social CRM strategies
rapidly see the impact on their internal processes.

DIGITAL IDENTITY
Eric Lvy-Bencheton,

Social CRM aims to solve the fundamental dilemma of how to make human-scale marketing
scalable.
The combined expertise of Atos Consulting and MSLGroup in Communications and Management Consultancy sheds a new light on Social CRM strategy implementation and its impacts.

Partner, Sale & Marketing / Customer

Relationship Management practice,
Atos Consulting

Compte Twitter

Stanislas Magniant, Head of Digital, EMEA, MSLGroup

Eric Lvy Bencheton, Partner, Practice Sales & Marketing / Customer Relation Management,

@scrm_elb

Atos Consulting

Mail

White paper translated from the French Social CRM : vers la Relation Client augmente,
published Nov. 2011.

Eric.levy-bencheton@atos.net

Sites :
www.fr.atosconsulting.com
http://www.pearltrees.com/t/social-crm/
id3058044

Social CRM

http://cluetrain.com/book/95-theses.html

Once a company designs how it will engage with customers, it needs the
organizational capabilities to deliver: adding staff, building a social-media
network infrastructure, retooling customer care operations, or altering reporting
structures (McKinsey Quarterly
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_print.aspx?L2=16&L3=20&ar=2834)

Executive summary
The recent explosion in social media usage, combined with the transformation of the consumer into a
consumactivist, has permanently changed the relationship between a company and its customers.

These days, the customer experience is often made public: consumactivists no longer hesitate to use
social media to voice their views. Their views have a major impact on the purchasing decisions of others
within their social circle and companies are unable to control them.

This loss of control means that companies must change in order to stay in touch with their customers the
question is not whether they should change, but how.

Following the example set by customers, companies have positioned themselves on the social media
landscape. This is creating a large number of access points for consumers, who do not hesitate to make
themselves heard.

There is a very small window to adapt: we are facing a tidal wave that is moving much faster than previous
Customer Relationship Management evolutions during the 1990s or the more recent emergence of the Web.
You only have two to three years to act.

We are facing a huge new phenomenon, but also new opportunities: when the social media virality principle
is utilized to its full extent, what you lose in terms of control, you gain in terms of quality and frequency of the
relationship.

Who has not dreamt of obtaining better information, improving customer segmentation according to
personal influence, and working on the effectiveness of Communications strategies?
Who has not dreamt of continuously securing business opportunities, and more qualified ones? Who has
not dreamt of improving their customer service handling by capitalizing on new social channels?

In order to survive the rapid upheavals created by social media and to capitalize on these opportunities,
companies must ask themselves serious questions and update their technology accordingly to ensure they
are ready for this new revolution - Social CRM.

Social CRM

INTRODUCTION

More and more companies are taking a stand on Social CRM. There is a proliferation of press articles and blog postings
on the subject1. But it is still difficult to find a definition of Social CRM that everybody can agree on. This is no doubt the
nature of great changes: we experiment before we theorize.
The document you are now reading is intended to be practical rather than academic. To delineate the subject more
clearly, we offer a frequently-used definition of Social CRM to make it easier to understand the initiatives in this area and
how to get the most of it. It is Paul Greenbergs2 definition, a recognized authority, speaker and experienced practitioner
in the field of CRM3:
Social CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy supported by a technology platform, business rules, workflow,
processes and social characteristics, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment. Its the companys response to the
customers ownership of the conversation.4
No trace of the words Web, social network, blog or 2.0 in this definition. But Social CRM is unequivocally linked
to the explosion in content production by Internet users and to the relationships established between them via social
media. It has merely detonated an inevitable phenomenon: markets have become conversations and, in the future,
conducting a relationship with customers will mean entering this realm in order to engage in a dialogue with them.
Beyond the communication dimension, Social CRM revitalizes the entire relationship between companies and their
customers. This is based on a deep-seated change in brand attitude (highlighting transparency, sincerity and even a
certain form of modesty) and on new types of relationship that place particular emphasis on this idea of a conversation.
A company that wants its engagement with Social CRM to succeed must first ask itself some searching questions about
processes, organization, technology, and financial and human resources. This is the philosophy and strategy element
of Paul Greenbergs definition. There is no room for improvisation: just as there are firmly established methods and
processes for managing telephone calls or incoming e-mails, there must be methods and processes for Social CRM.
Augmented Customer Relationship Management does not mean having a Facebook page or Twitter account purely for
one-way communication, or to imitate competitors.
This document uses analyses of flagship initiatives to highlight the innovative nature of Social CRM by demonstrating
how it can transform or complement other CRM channels.
First we will see that Social CRM is already a reality, done by some companies on a daily basis. We will explore the
reasons that motivate companies to enter into these new conversations with their customers. This will enable us, as a
second step, to understand what Social CRM is changing in terms of the practice of Customer Relationship Management. Finally, we will discuss the various best practices that are beginning to emerge in this field and the traps to avoid.
In the course of our analysis, we will strengthen this overview of Social CRM by including the views of SCRM experts
and practitioners, companies, tool editors, consultants, academics, etc. Together they will provide, if not the keys to the
door, then at least the tools for reflection so that your organization too can successfully engage in fruitful conversations
with customers.

The term Social CRM has been identified as a trend in

searches carried out on Google since April 2010:

Social CRM

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22social+crm%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

http://the56group.typepad.com/about.html

Author of CRM at the speed of light, Social CRM 2.0 Strategies, Tools, and Techniques for Engaging Your
Customers, McGraw-Hill, 2009 (4th edition).

CRM is a philosophy & a business strategy, supported by a technology platform, business rules, workflow,
processes & social characteristics, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order
to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted & transparent business environment. Its the companys response
to the customers ownership of the conversation.
http://the56group.typepad.com/pgreenblog/2009/07/time-to-put-a-stake-in-the-ground-on-social-crm.html
http://www.cluetrain.com/book/index.html

What is the difference between social media

and social networks?
Before discussing Social CRM in more details, it is important to point out the difference between
social media and social networks.
Social media are tools which facilitate interactions, collaboration and sharing of content
between Internet users. Social networks focus in particular on relationships between an individual and his or her contacts.
They are a sub-component of the large toolkit represented by social media.

THE MAIN TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social
networks

Blogs

Facebook,
Twitter,
Google+,
Linkedln,
Viadeo,
...

Wordpress,
Tumblr,
Blogger,
Posterous,
...

Forums

Multimedia
sharing
platforms

PhpBB,
Bbgraph,
...

Youtube,
Dailymotion,
Vimeo,
LastFM,
Flickr,
...

Collaboration
tools

Quora,
Yahoo Answers,
Wiki-Answers,
Wikipedia,
Delicious,
...

Social CRM

1
Social CRM
a reality today,
an imperative for tomorrow
1.1/ A fundamental trend
there are plenty indicators that quantify a companys use
of social crm. According to a survey conducted by IBM
in October 2010*, nearly 80 % of companies have a social

media presence and most use social media for Customer

Relationship Management purposes.

WHAT IS YOUR COMPANY DOING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY ?**

Communicate with customers

74%
65%

Respond to customer questions

60%

Promote events

52%

Generate sales leads

50%

Sell products / services

Solicit customer reviews

48%

Capture customer data

46%

Brand monitoring

46%

Customer research

43%

Recruit employees

43%

Employee-to-employee interactions

41%

Solicit customer ideas

40%

Provide support

40%
38%

Expert insights/thought leadership

37%

Training/education

35%

Customer-to-customer interactions

27%

Vendor or partner communications

Social media usage by companies

*S
 urvey questioned
351 executives from
8 large industrialized
and emerging countries
(USA, UK, France,
Germany, India, China,
Brazil, Australia).
** Note :
n-351. Not shown in
figure. I dont know 9 percent and Others 2 percent.
Source :
IBM Institute
for Business Value
analysis. CRM Study 2011

Social CRM

This survey of 351 business leaders from the major developed and emerging countries also gives some idea of
how working with social media is perceived. Nearly 70%
of the executives who took part said that their company

would be perceived as disconnected if it did not engage

with social media, while half of respondents said
that their organization reaches customers better
thanks to social media.

Percentage of companies
with a profile on a social site*

79%networking sites
Social

79%

Media sharing sites

55%

Microblogging sites

52%

Wikis

48%

Blogging sites

45%

Social review sites

36%

Social bookmarking sites

31%

18%

3%

37%

8%

41%

7%

45%

7%

45%

10%

52%

12%

55%

Have a profile/presence

14%

Do not have a profile/presence

Dont know

Penetration of social media usage in companies

Nevertheless, social media presence and activity do not

mean true integration with the overall companys CRM
process. Many studies demonstrate this, including the
study by the Brand Science Institute (European study,
2010) which reveals that only 7% of companies have
really understood the value of social media for

CRM. So there is real scope for improvement The

SugarCRM1 study conducted in January 2011 goes even
further, pointing out that only 26% of companies integrate
information retrieved from social media with their existing
CRM data. They are aware of this gap as 72% said that
they plan to do this within the next year.

http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/about/press-releases/20110118surveyscrm.html

The professional view:

accelerating CRM trends

The first CRM evolution centered on the widespread use of call centers and sales force
automation (SFA) lasted 10 years. The second evolution, based on the Internet and more globally,
on multichannel marketing, took 5 years. We believe that the current Social CRM revolution will
take a maximum of 2 to 3 years to become a practice used by the majority of companies.
Eric Lvy-Bencheton Partner, Practice Sales & Marketing / Customer Relationship Management,
Atos Consulting

*N
 ote :
Numbers rounded
to equal 100 percent.
Source :
IBM Institute
for Business Value
analysis. CRM Study 2011

Social CRM

1
1.2/ A necessity
It is easy to explain a companys keen interest in social
media, whether this is expressed through true integration
with CRM or, as is most commonly the case to date, by
a desire to achieve this. Whether they like it or not, it is
in the interest of all companies to engage in Social CRM

Facebook has 750

processes without delay, simply because they need to be

where their customers are. This universal catchment area is
increasingly located in social media. The figures below are
highly persuasive:

million active members worldwide

80% of French Internet users use at least one social network (uniform distribution
across socio-professional categories and age profiles)

80% of consumers want a dialogue with brands on the Internet

78% of Internet users trust recommendations posted on social media by their peers

(compared with just 14% for advertisements)

74% of Internet users have a more positive image of brands that engage in conversations
on social media

Sources : https://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics and The Comscore 2010 Europe Digital Year and Mdiamtrie

Social media, a mass phenomenon for customers

Companies are faced with the challenge of adapting and

evolving to meet the needs and demands of these new
social customers.

It is not only social networks that influence purchasing

decisions: for example, 21% of Internet users decide to
buy a product after reading a blog.* If we know that 33%
of French people consult blogs at least once a month**,
we can measure the commercial impact of this social
medium.

The expert view:

dont forget good old

discussion forums
Forums are not dead in fact, they are much more effective. Conversations in social networks
are light, but are much longer and go into far more depth in forums. There, you ask questions
and get answers. This doesnt happen in social media, where people express themselves without
necessarily expecting a reaction.
Frdric Cavazza, Fredcavazza.net

* Source :
emarketer 2009
* * Source :
Mdiamtrie 2009

10

Social CRM

1.3/ A threat?
When companies start to take an interest in Social CRM
they often wonder how they can use social media to open
up a new channel of communication and exchange about
their brand. They do not realize that customers have not
waited for them: they have already started the conversation on the new open forum - social media. If companies
and brands do not answer, there is a danger that they
will simply be excluded from discussions that affect them
more than anything else.

The most important thing is to listen actively and to respond: companies must abandon the fantasy of controlling
conversations about their brand. Nowadays, consumers
themselves decide which platforms they want to use to
voice their comments. These platforms come in various
forms, as the diagram below shows.

OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Overview of social media by field of use, 2011 (by Frdric Cavazza)

Several striking facts emerge from this breakdown of social

media into 7 families:
 acebook and Google are present on all the usage fields
F
listed and dominate the social media ecosystem
Platforms which are extremely popular one day may quickly
disappoint if they do not meet the expectations of the social
customer, while new players are constantly appearing*
The social medium itself is not important the important
thing is the usage potential (i.e. the opportunities) it offers.

At one time, people would first approach a companys customer services department if they had a problem or question.
Today, this behavior has changed. When customers experience a product for the first time or make their first purchase,
their instinct is increasingly to approach community platforms
on the Internet to share that experience and ask for help or
advice. Customers are gradually becoming accustomed
to using Facebook or Twitter to get support or register a
complaint. Not taking this into account could be fatal for
companies1.

Companies can no longer channel discussion and must

implement tools and processes that enable them to be in
direct contact with consumers so they can react accordingly. The rules of the game have changed: where Customer
Relationship Management is concerned, companies offer their
products, customers call the shots.

Want Customer Service? Complain on Twitter :

http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/family-money/want-customer-service-post-your-complaint-on-twitter/

*F
 or example, Rupert
Murdoch bought
MySpace for nearly
600 million dollars in
2005 but it was sold for
barely 35 million in June
2011. Facebook tops the
social networks these
days, but will Google +
change the landscape?

Social CRM

11

2
Social CRM:
an opportunity for companies
2.1/ Companies must play an active role in the debate,
not just be a part of the ecosystem
Social CRM is a response to the behavior of consumactivists. It puts the customer back at the heart of corporate
strategy, using social media as the vector to this new
approach. It goes much further than Social Marketing. It
no longer encourages loyalty purely through transactions
or marketing, but also through relationships and conversations. This new approach rests on four pillars: engagement,
conversation, participation and content distribution.

The challenge for companies is to reconstruct relationships

within the ecosystem created by consumers, and to
become a proactive player in the conversational network
of social media.

CHANGES IN CUSTOMER/COMPANY RELATIONSHIPS

From transactional...
Personalized
marketing

Q uality of Customer Relationship

Management often measured as
the operational quality of the transaction
Intermittent contact with customers
Company

Mass
Marketing

Brand

Q uality of Customer Relationship Management

measured throughout the life cycle
C ontinuous contact
Increase in the number of relationships
maintained by the brand

Push

12

Social CRM

... to relational and conversational

Collaborative & interactive

2.2/ The virality principle affects

every department within a company
The intrinsic characteristics of social media, such as
participation, freedom of expression and accessibility,
mean that customers are free to voice their opinions independently of the sales pitch.
The figures* below illustrate the power of the link between
customers created by this new channel:
7
 8% of Internet users say that they trust recommendations from consumers that are published on social media
(compared with 14% for conventional advertisements)

 4% of Internet users say they are influenced by the

7
opinion of a peer in a forum or on-line discussion, more
than by a straightforward promotion in the form of topdown communication
3 8% of consumers say they have changed their mind
after reading a negative opinion on social media
Customers no longer hesitate to use social media before
any other channel in order to obtain information, express
and disseminate their opinions, both positive and negative, to the entire community.

Satisfied customers tell three friends,

angry customers tell 3,000
Pete Blackshaw, author of the book of the same name**

We should not believe that controversy originates in social

media: they are more likely to be the sounding board.
The most damaging, sensitive or simply amusing pieces
of information will experience the most consistent virality.

improvement, this viral propagation principle is just one

of several fantastic opportunities that can be exploited
through Social CRM.

This revolution in conventional customer interaction channels must be seen as a real opportunity to reinforce the
customer/company relationship. The information made
available through these new channels is far richer and
more immediate, due, without doubt, to the inherent virality effect of social media. It represents an enormous pool
of opportunities for all functions within a company.

Effective handling of customer dissatisfaction

Whatever the business process, from effective handling

of customer dissatisfaction to increasing customer loyalty,
content distribution or sales strategies effectiveness

A dissatisfied customer who is not dealt with by a company will stimulate churn within the community.
By contrast, a dissatisfied customer who is helped by
the company as part of an effective conversational relationship will produce the opposite effect by talking about
his or her experience. This may therefore prompt some
dissatisfied customers to return as satisfied or even loyal
customers.

CORRELATION BETWEEN CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION AND CHURN RATE
Satisfaction index

Social customer
Traditional customer
Churn rate (%)

* Sources:
Nielsen Trust and
Advertising Global
Report and
Mdiamtrie Fevad
* * Satisfied Customers
Tell Three Friends,
Angry Customers
Tell 3,000, Crown
Business, 2008

Social CRM

13

14

Social CRM

Its new loyalty program rewards consumers who link their

Facebook, Twitter and/or Foursquare accounts to their loyalty card. The companys customers can continue to use their
normal loyalty card to gain points for each dollar spent and at
the same time collect additional points on each transaction if
they have linked their social accounts (+1 point/account).

Enriching your loyalty programs

If we focus on customer loyalty, we find two approaches:
traditional loyalty programs based on discount vouchers,
loyalty points and special promotions, and engagement
programs focused on building a history between the customer and the brand. The key to Social CRM is to combine
these approaches by increasing transactional value through
conversations. This will help building long-term relationships
with customers and increase their engagement with the promise of tangible benefits.

Example of the impact of Social CRM on the consumer*

0%

10%

Consumers who recommended the brand

to their friends

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

USA - Holiday period (from 31 October 2010 to 1 January 2011)

The Retail Consumer Report 2011 - RightNow

EXAMPLE OF CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION HANDLING

VIA SOCIAL MEDIA (Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, Citysearch, etc)

* Source :
Harris Interactive
for Rightnow

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1691476/consumer-affairs-the-new-advertising-department

Customers who are satisfied with the customer service they have received
will not hesitate to tweet about it.

13 sep

drnorth dnorth
@KLM Thanks - I just got through on the phone line and its being sorted out
now. Thanks for the kind attention.

Il y a 4 heures

curns Jon Curnow

I never publicly thanked @KLM for the speedy response to my tweets on
Monday. Nice service, thanks!

In addition to dealing with dissatisfaction, listening to

social media means companies do not just pick up on
irritated or disappointed customers but also any positive
comments that would normally never reach customer
services. In other words, Social CRM is the ideal way
of creating a win-win discussion between the two par-

2
ties: customers achieve an optimum level of satisfaction
because their expectations have been heard and acted
upon, while the company gains a better understanding
of its customers and strengthens its links with them. Now
more than ever, customer service is developing into the
spearhead of marketing via social media1.

cornpankakes Mallory LeNoir

Got my camera back, and its as good as new!! #thanks SONY :)

1 sep

bethleg Elizabeth Telg

Waited 20 mins in the @starbucks drive thru and they treated me
to a free drink! #worthit #greatcustomerservice #thanks!

07 aot

sarahperkins618 Sarah Perkins

Great customer service experience with @BofA_Help! Thanks guys :)

Il y a 19 heures

Consumers who posted a complaint or negative

comment and were contacted by the company
Consumers who withdrew their complaint or negative
comment after being contacted by the company

turned their negative comments into a positive

recommendation after being contacted

Consumers who have become loyal to the brand

and made more purchases

A very interesting example is Tasti D-Lite, which stands out

because of the particularly innovative nature of its loyalty program. This American manufacturer of frozen desserts is the
first to propose changing its traditional PAP (points-based
loyalty program) to a system based on the SNAP platform
(Social Network Appreciation Platform).

In exchange, a message is automatically generated on

their profile and they can be located automatically at Tasti
shops on Foursquare.

I just earned 5 TastiRewards points at

Tasti D-Lite HQ http://myTasti.com/
30 minutes ago from pcAmerica Tasti D-Lite TastiRewards 

Reply

Retweet

BJ_Emerson
BJ Emerson

Checkin History
A history of what youve been up to... click the [x] to delete unwanted checkins

Thu Jan 7

Tasti D-Lite HQ - I just earned 8 Tasti Rewards points at Tasti D-Lite

HQ http://mytasti.com/ [X]

 11:49 AM

Thu Jan 7

Tasti D-Lite HQ - I just earned 8 Tasti Rewards points at Tasti D-Lite

HQ http://mytasti.com/ [X]

 4:16 PM

The Tasti D-Lite social loyalty program

It is too early to say whether and to what extent this Social

CRM program will prove more effective in term of building
customer loyalty, but some preliminary results are already
extremely positive. For example, the customer participation
rate is high and the automatically generated messages on
participants social accounts tend to be reposted.

This initiative, which will no doubt be copied many times over,

makes remarkably good and continuous use of the virality effect of social media and of the power of the customer
reward concept.

The professional view:

extending the customer experience

into social networks

Salesforce has worked with Disney to create a system that will enable them to store Facebook
applications in the cloud. Disney fans can then install these from the Disneyland page. Salesforce
does not develop the applications. It supplies the infrastructure to media agencies and they exploit
it for their own purpose. Were always amazed to see the creativity of our customers! In the case of
Disney, for example, fans can use an application to prepare for a visit to a park, share their souvenir
photo album, etc. The aim is to create a relationship with the brand in the true sense an experience.
Alexandre Dayon, Executive Director CRM, Salesforce

Social CRM

15

2
Social media can be used to gain a clearer understanding
of an individuals profile, their history and their environment. This enables companies to create a closer and

more intimate relationship with the individual, encouraging

brand loyalty. Bank of America is doing just this.

The professional view:

F-banking, a new way of building

customer loyalty for banks
Facebook has already overtaken e-mail as a communication tool. For banks, it is inevitably
becoming an important communication channel along with traditional methods of customer
communication. It is also a more human, personal collaboration space. In the United States, as
soon as children leave home, the family becomes more fragmented. There is no incentive for them
to stay with the same bank. Hence, the need has arisen to create an online family bank space,
to maintain a privileged relationship. Facebook becomes a channel that allows a different type of
relationship in the sense that it is much more targeted than traditional channels.
Alexandre Dayon, Executive Director CRM, Salesforce

Content distribution
Social CRM is a lever of choice for the acquisition of
new customers. Brands can use social media to provide
information about the launch of new offers, events and
competitions, and can count on their friends and followers to relay their message. Audiences are increasingly
attracted to the sites, blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter
accounts of brands, increasing the visibility of the brands
products and services. At one time, launching a viral
marketing campaign was like throwing a bottle into the
sea: companies could not keep track of how their cam-

paigns were progressing. But with social media they can

monitor progress very accurately by following mentions,
retweets, bookmarking, likes and other +1 comments.
By targeting the most relevant influencers in their market,
brands can take advantage of a sounding board and follow the progress of their message using social monitoring
tools. The larger the circle of influence of the customer
in question, the more worthwhile these efforts will be.
These ambassadors are the driving force behind Social
CRM, the means by which information is propagated.

With Social CRM, everything in a marketing and communication

campaign can be quantified (number of hits, message transfers, etc.)
with accurate statistics on what was liked or not liked

Louis-Serge Real Del Sarte, Director of E-reputation & Community Management, Ginger Group

16

Social CRM

Even outside coordinated campaigns, social media are a

way of reinforcing the on-line presence of brands and top
of mind awareness among consumers. If the editorial
content published is relevant, original or amusing, it will be
passed on. Prospects can always contact a company directly if they wish to find out more about what it can offer.
Effectiveness of sales strategies
Social media profoundly change the behavior of consumers/buyers, which in turn impacts on the interaction
with a companys sales force. They are an endless source
of pre-purchase information. Previously, prospects had

to obtain information from the company directly. Now

they can get pre-sale advice from users like themselves,
who are not subjected to the brands sales pitch. 91% of
buyers say their on-line purchases are influenced by comments from consumers* and 21% of Internet users decide
to buy a product after reading a blog**. Internet users can
easily acquire an excellent understanding of a companys
products and services because, as informed consumers,
they are less susceptible to the ready-made pitch from
a salesperson.
Social media quite simply represent an additional sales
channel that a company neglects at its peril.

The professional view:

the best Social CRM fruits

have yet to be picked

Social CRM can increase customer loyalty and facilitate a closer relationship. Customer loyalty
means market share. Companies that dont go down this route will lose out in terms of sales.
We are still on a rising trend where the practice of Social CRM is concerned. It hasnt reached
its peak yet.
Alexandre Dayon, Executive Director CRM, Salesforce

* Source :
JC Williams Group
* * Source :
E.Marketer

Social CRM

17

3
Revolutions sparked by Social CRM
Social CRM requires companies to re-examine the traditional concept of CRM. This involves a change in attitude. It
takes the form of three paradigm shifts in the organization
and management of customer relations and is geared

towards augmented Customer Relationship Management.

This new step involves three aspects of CRM: customer
knowledge, listening to customers and customer segmentation.

3.1/ Augmented customer knowledge

Customer knowledge is an essential key factor for successful Customer Relationship Management. Until recently, it
was thought that this area had reached maturity. Unique
customer repositories and customer databases (datamarts) were regarded as fully mature, allowing information
to be grouped and structured. This information could be
descriptive information about customers, data about their
transactions, segmentations, score types, etc.
Social media offer an unprecedented opportunity to take
advantage of many additional types of information, but we
face two main obstacles:
data ownership policies implemented by some players
are often restrictive, but subject to unilateral changes
a considerable volume of data is involved

3.1.1/ INFORMATION OWNERSHIP POLICIES

A number of solutions are available to help companies overcome some of the difficulties referred to above.

Creating dedicated spaces for companies enables them to

collect information that they have the right to use for their
own benefit. This means that they can continue to use data
obtained from discussion forums, blogs, LinkedIn space, or
even Facebook applications.
However, there are often restrictions on identifying customers which make it impossible for customer knowledge to
be augmented with social information. One way of overcoming this is to consider the customers journey as part of
an overall logical process in the following cycle: marketing
campaigns website social networks.
Web Analytics and Social Analytics technologies are
mature enough to make it possible in the future to track
customers throughout the cycle and link up their identity, email, web information and other information obtained from
social media.
The only remaining pitfall is the laxity of some big players
in social media, notably Facebook, in terms of user data
policies.

The professional view:

when social media learn

the rules of business

Companies sometimes tell us they fear what they perceive as the instability of the main social
media in terms of terms and conditions, confidentiality agreement, user engagement, etc. Today,
this risk is declining due to large social medias movement towards activities monetization.
Social media are increasingly becoming part of the global ecosystem of a new, booming economic
industry: Social Business. As a business community, this industry will rely on a certain number
of predictable behaviors that all players in the ecosystem will be able to use as a foundation on
which to build relationships. The convergence of objectives and interests between companies that
are starting to engage with social media and social media that are becoming more and more like
companies is rapidly proving the skeptics wrong.
Eric Levy-Bencheton, Partner, Practice Sales & Marketing / Customer Relationship Management,
Atos Consulting

18

Social CRM

3.1.2/ A
 N ENDLESS FLOW OF
INFORMATION USING IT WILL BE
COMPLEX BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE!
Existing technologies are capable of gathering social information and linking it to customer information. But how will
this data be used?
The challenge for companies is to know how to make
sense of the data and capturing the tweets or comments
that have the most significance for the company.

Existing applications and powerful semantic text recognition technologies are on hand to overcome this challenge.
But we still need to know how to define the relevant elements to be traced and the ad hoc processes, so that this
raw material can be structured into a logical system geared
towards action. We are facing a qualitative leap in customer information that will enable us to collect and exploit a
wealth of contextualized information.

The professional view:

the best defense against abuse

is the user
Being followed by a brand on Twitter or installing a Facebook application for that same brand
may mean that customers information will appear on a companys CRM databases without their
knowledge. Would the mad dreams of marketers seeking unlimited customer knowledge (beyond
the bounds of what is reasonable) then be realized? Even if they were, we would be wrong to
underestimate the clear-sightedness of social media users. Most of them are highly capable of
identifying infringements of their right to confidentiality. Companies who cross the line must be
warned: they run the risk of creating a negative buzz that could be very detrimental to their image.
Eric Levy-Bencheton, Partner, Practice Sales & Marketing / Customer Relationship Management,
Atos Consulting

Social CRM

19

3
3.2/ Social influence as a factor in listening to the customer
Immensely popular? Totally unappealing? Suggestions for
improvement? Companies have no idea what will trigger
their next brand buzz. Fortunately, tools are available to
help them identify the messages that may be circulating
on the subject*. But beyond the tools, companies should
be demonstrating their willingness to listen. All they need to
know is: who should they be listening to? A study published

by Meteor Solutions in April 2010 shows that 1% of social

media users are capable of generating more than 20% of all
traffic into a website1. So identifying these influencers will
increase the effectiveness of a companys communication
processes. It will naturally want to focus its CRM efforts on
these influencers.

social graphs:
the pattern of social relationships between people4

A term popularized by Facebook, the social graph essentially refers

to the global mapping of an individuals circle of influence2.
Social media are allowing us to go further still by analyzing the interest graph of an individual,
which defines the connections linking him to other individuals who share the same interests3.

Direct
Relationship

Person

* See chapter 5

20

Social CRM

Social
Link

Social graph or social Grail?

Indirect
Relationship

http://mashable.com/2010/04/15/social-media-influencers/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/21/tech/main6418458.shtml

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/17/levchin-and-gurley-say-that-next-big-company-will-capture-the-interest-graph/

Sources : Dion Hinchcliffe.

http://web2.socialcomputingmagazine.com

THE INDIVIDUAL, AT THE INTERSECTION

OF THE SOCIAL GRAPH AND THE INTEREST GRAPH

If the same individual is registered on different social media, he will appear at the center of several social and interest
graphs. This emerging area is based not only on our networks of friends but also on people who are like us, and it is
hoped that it will provide a wealth of data to strengthen and enrich Social CRM processes in the coming years.

social
graph

INDIVIDUAL

My relationship network

Social CRM captures messages on social media, enabling

large amounts of quantitative and qualitative data to be
collected and processed internally. This makes it possible

interest
graph
People with the same tastes
and interests

to establish very precise personalized profiles for sales

and Customer Relationship Management purposes.

Social CRM

21

3
3.3/ Social influence as a factor in augmented customer segmentation
3.3.1/ P
 ARTICIPATION: A SOCIAL
INFLUENCE CRITERION
Social influence scoring values the most active and visible
users of social media. So the first thing to consider is the
phenomenon of participation inequality on social media.

Three main types of behavior were formally recognized in

2006 and set out in the 90-9-1 rule by Jakob Nielsen, a
Danish expert in IT ergonomics and Web page usability:

SOCIAL MEDIA PARTICIPATION PYRAMID

DEVELOPED BY JAKOB NIELSEN

1%

of individuals start
conversations

9%

contribute to
the conversation

90%

follow
the conversation

These percentages are not exact; they simply reflect

current participation trends for most social media.

The professional view:

Twitter as an exception

There are many reasons why Twitter is a unique social networking site, but one in particular
stands out: the exceptional levels of participation of its community of users.
Several studies, including BarracudaLabs (2010), show this difference in levels of participation
by comparing different social networks:
- 27% of users had posted at least 10 tweets between June and December 2009, equivalent
to an increase of 29% during this period
- only 34% of users had never tweeted.
Guillaume Vincent, Consultant Practice Sales & Marketing / Customer Relationship Management,
Atos Consulting

22

Social CRM

It is important not to under-estimate the impact and benefits of passive audiences. These audiences bring members of the community together who constantly demand
high-quality interactions and whose participation impacts
on other members of the community.

Even if participation levels cannot be changed, there are

ways to encourage people to engage more in dialogue:

Encourage
contribution:

reward
contributors
set up a contribution
monitoring system

Participation

Make it easier to contribute:

optimize platform ergonomics

simplify browsing for users

Promote
contribution:

g ive extra
prominence to the best
contributors
s hare the responsibilities
of the community

Feeling of belonging

3 factors to bear in mind to improve participation levels

Nielsens distribution lays bare a strong tendency that

needs to be taken into account: by overweighting the most
active 10% of customers in their Social CRM activities,
companies can rely on them to link into the other 90%.
This influence is beneficial both to brands, allowing them
to zero in on market developments, and also to consumers.

3.3.2/ SOCIAL INFLUENCE: A NEW SEGMENTATION CRITERION

Companies have implemented different segmentation
techniques to deal with targets (prospects or customers)
that are as diverse as the targeted individuals themselves:
The following illustration of CRM segmentation provides
an overview of the techniques being used, focusing on the
best customers, or those with the greatest potential:

Which lead
strategic market?

Strategic
segmentation

E.g.: senior citizens

Which product/service offers

at what price?

Marketing/usage
segmentation

E.g.: working population,

conventional people, anxious
people, etc.

Which CRM approach?

CRM segmentation
Segmentation effectiveness

E.g.: gold, silver, bronze

(means vs value)

Different segmentation approaches

Social CRM

23

3
For a long time now, we have been observing that a number of companies are integrating social influence into the
way they deal with customers. Until now, this weighting
has only concerned a limited number of people in welldefined circles, such as media celebrities (journalists in
particular) and political figures, etc. The development
of social media means this trend is now extending to all
contacts within companies, allowing full advantage to be
taken of social influence circles across entire communities.

This personalized approach that is sometimes referred to

as V.I.B. (Very Important Bloggers) and is generally adopted for PR and marketing campaigns, is continuing and
spreading beyond the happy few of the blogosphere.
The development of social networks and the multiplication
of comments posted on Twitter and Facebook in favor of
or against certain brands means that companies must
now give greater consideration to the influencing power of
virtually all consumers.

The introduction of blogs several years ago has seen this

over-weighting logic spreading to certain bloggers, who
are considered influencers or prescriptive authorities due
to their audiences (particularly in the high-tech or fashion
industries).

Evaluating this influencing power by listening to and analyzing consumers via social media and taking into account
consumer-activist power, will improve traditional segmentation techniques.
This is illustrated in the diagram below:

EVALUATING THE POWER

OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Number
of relationships

Level and quality

of participation

Number of
messages and
distributed
content,
responses,
value added
for the
community;
comments,
etc.

Position on the
social graph
Little
influence,
expert channel,
connection,
leader/guru,
etc.

This diagram shows that, contrary to common belief,

audiences are only a single aspect of overall influence
on social media. A position of expertise in a very inter-

24

Social CRM

connected community can be far more influential than a

strong audience in a community that is not very active,
where people do not know each other.

Social influence scoring:

can influence be rated?
The evaluation or, more specifically, the rating of an Internet users influence on social media
is the subject of continuing and in-depth debate amongst e-reputation and digital marketing
professionals. In practice, the influences evaluation a loosely-defined concept based on both
quantitative aspects (audience, reputation) and qualitative aspects (expertise) is just as much
an art as it is a science. Over the last few years, attempts have been made to develop an algorithm
to calculate levels of influence, with varying degrees of success. It wasnt that long ago that
Technorati was considered the oracle of influence - a blogosphere PageRank*.
When Twitter and Facebook arrived on the scene, other attempts to develop universal indicators
emerged, such as MBlast, PeerIndex, Twitalyzer and Klout. The latter rapidly made its mark as the
current yardstick indicator. Taking into account more than 30 evaluation criteria collected via ten
or so baseline social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Blogger, etc.), the
Klout algorithm has become the de facto yardstick for calculating social influence scores. Like
all yardsticks, it is not perfect and has a number of weak points, particularly with regard to the
evaluation of qualitative criteria** and the analysis of feelings. However, it does provide a standard
indicator and a decision-making support tool for the Communications analysts and professionals
who use it.
The algorithm fulfills the initial ambition of its creator, which was to develop a Nielsen of social
media. Klout scoring is now integrated into the majority of community management platforms to
facilitate the process of prioritizing, filtering and qualifying contacts via social media.
Does this mean that a high Klout score is necessary to get quality customer service? Whether it
is or it isnt, this type of segmentation irrespective of social media - is already a reality in most
traditional CRM systems and is standard in management protocols used by community managers
for branding***.
The influence score calculated by Klout or any other influence measuring company provides a
practical tool for systematizing and computerizing factual information. Ultimately, it is up to the
companies themselves, in line with their resources and sales strategy, to avoid getting into a two
weight, two measurements system and to focus on building relationships with their customers.

* PageRank lists the

score attributed by
Google to each Web
site indexed by its
search engines.
** According to the
quantitative criteria
used by Klout, this
would give singer
Justin Bieber more
influence than
President Obama or
the Dalai Lama.
* ** K louts website does
not beat around the
bush and invites
users of aservice to
publish their score in
order to receive better
customer service.

Social CRM

25

Augmented customer segmentation combines relational

segmentation with a social influence score and evolves in
the following way:

AUGMENTED CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

MANAGEMENT SEGMENTATION

Customer:

Silver

Influential

Social
influence
score
(simplified)

(simplified)

Not very
influential

Bronze

Augmented CRM segmentation

...

gold/
VERY
INFLUENTIAL

silver/
VERY
INFLUENTIAL

Bronze/
INFLUENTIAL

gold/
INFLUENTIAL

...

27 possible levels!
Consolidation is necessary to reveal 3 or 4 strategic consumer segments.

26

Social CRM

Very
influential

Gold

Traditional
relational
segmentation

So a gold customer at the top of relational segmentation

model would not necessarily maintain his status as a VIP
consumer in augmented customer segmentation if he did
not have a high enough social influence score. On the
other hand, a bronze customer with a high social score

could present strong entry lead opportunities. The difficulties and expertise would lie in combining and weighting
these two factors from the new customer segmentation
model.

The professional view:

if you love me youll follow me

right into my databases
Disneys Facebook application allows the company to access customer data thanks to the
authorization they are requested to give. This is what is interesting in these types of applications.
When customers install a Facebook application, they are at the same time authorizing the
information displayed on their profiles to be made available to the company. By authorizing the
application, the user automatically enters a companys CRM tool. This means that companies can
see all user interactions, the different applications they have installed on Facebook and possibly
even how they have been used.
Alexandre Dayon, Executive Director CRM, Salesforce

Social CRM

27

4
Getting to grips with Social CRM
Companies adopting a Social CRM approach are taking
a strategic step and will need to consider the necessary

upstream requirements and appropriate tactical adjustments carefully.

4.1/ Understanding the change in Customer Relationship

Management processes
It is not about applying standard customer service processes to an additional channel, i.e. social media. What is
needed is a review of all processes. One of the key tools
in traditional customer service is the call script, which
not only helps agents to respond effectively to customers
problems - and manage call handling time - but may also

assist them in making other potential sales. But social

media customers are often looking for an authentic dialogue, as opposed to the scripted dialogue delivered by
contact center agents. So companies will need to adapt
their conversations with customers so that they are more in
line with the general tone of an exchange.

Professionalizing your social media presence requires the right tools

to optimize the growing flow of interactions but also the right organization
to get the most out of it.

Anthony Poncier, Poncier.org/blog/

Opting for social CRM is without a doubt a long-term commitment. As Loc Le Meur, founder of Seesmic, points out:
Social CRM should be a daily and ongoing practice. It is
not a series of campaigns that need to be implemented.
To consider it as such would be a gross error of judgment.
Long-term Social CRM is proving more worthwhile than
several one-off marketing and advertizing campaigns.
Companies need to find the right balance between steadfastness and speed - a balance which is at odds with firmly
entrenched procedures. A flexible approach to social support is essential.

28

Social CRM

In conventional customer support processes, a certain

number of validation steps are necessary. With social
media, it is vital not to end up with too many steps as this
may result in loss of a customer who is expecting greater
reactivity than in traditional media.

Forget the old measures:

the Social Customer Manifesto
- I want to have a say.
- I dont want to do business with idiots.
- I want to know when something is wrong, and what youre going to do to fix it.
- I want to help shape things that Ill find useful.
- I want to connect with others who are working on similar problems.
- I dont want to be called by another salesperson. Ever. (Unless they have something useful. Then I
want it yesterday.)
- I want to buy things on my schedule, not yours. I dont care if its the end of your quarter.
- I want to know your selling process.
- I want to tell you when youre screwing up. Conversely, Im happy to tell you the things that you
are doing well. I may even tell you what your competitors are doing.
- I want to do business with companies that act in a transparent and ethical manner.
- I want to know whats next. Were in partnership where should we go?
Source : The Social Customer Manifesto, Christopher Carfi1

http://manifestoproject.com.au/christopher-carfi-the-social-customer-manifesto/

4.2/ In-depth modeling of the organization of your company

Changes in the landscape of CRM processes should
always prompt changes in how a company organizes its
functional departments, particularly (but not exclusively) the
customer service department.

Companies facing potential re-organization of their departments (Customer Services, Marketing, Communications,
IT) should think about the social media strategy they are
going to adopt so they can make suitable adjustments
to the measures they plan to implement. This will vary for
different companies depending on the level of social media
maturity they have reached and how willing they are to
open their doors to it.

The majority of companies are either still in the pre-social or connected

phase but progress to social maturity can be very speedy. A global
approach within the company is needed so that the strategic augmented
Customer Relationship Management level can be achieved
Eric Levy-Bencheton, Partner Practice Sales & Marketing / Relation Client, Atos Consulting

Social CRM

29

4
SOCIAL MEDIA MATURITY SCALE
OF COMPANIES

The company ...

Strategic

Engaged

Connected

Experimental

Pre-social

No move
towards
social
media.

Some
experimentation
with main social
media. Usage
focuses mainly on
communication
using the push and
passive approach.

Transition to a
phase of active
communication,
although it is still
not conversational
and lacks an overall
strategic vision.

The different stages are designed to draw companies into

the world of Social CRM gradually. A company could decide to continue to base its customer services on traditional
channels. Or it could set up a team to respond to customer

Start of relational
and conversational
usage of social
media.

The social CRM

model is integrated
as an information
silo into the different
functions of a
company with a
limited level of
industrialization.

These companies
have managed
to exploit social
media on an
industrial scale in
a coordinated and
integrated approach
to augmented
Customer
Relationship
Management,
involving customers
in all the key
departments of the
company, i.e. Sales,
Marketing and
Customer Services.

Each company can have its own Social CRM policy relevant to its internal characteristics
(organization, culture, resources, targets, global Communications and Marketing strategy, etc.)
and external ones (expectations, conversations, support, etc.). There is no such thing as a single
practice that can be applied to all companies and no set rules in terms of organization. The existing
corporate structure and culture can be used as a starting point to determine how the various steps
can be optimized and the strategy developed at a pace appropriate for the company. It is unrealistic
to simply ignore previous structures and start afresh. Functional departments within companies
will all have to go digital to accommodate the dominance of digital media in the job people are now
doing. The steps should thus be implemented cross-functionally.
This means integration of Social CRM, conversations, Internet users and new interactive media at
the very heart of company relational processes. Both the tool-related and the internal strategies
need to be defined.

Social CRM

requests posted on social media, create communities of

users to encourage them to converse interactively, or even
use specific tools to automate customer support on social
media.

Social CRM for every company

30

The expert view:

Cdric Deniaud, Mediassociaux.fr

Social CRM has an impact on multiple areas of a company:

Marketing, Customer Services, Communications, HR, etc.
So the responsibility for implementing it is often distributed

across different teams pragmatically, particularly in the early

stages. This raises the question of task-sharing and overall
consistency.

The professional view:

a social media hub at Air France

to improve coordination

We started using Social CRM as a pilot scheme with Air France Music in March 2010. We
organized this project in an ad hoc way and it is being implemented by the Communications and
Brand Services departments. Our official Facebook page was created a little later, in July 2010,
much more straightforwardly. It now has more than 400,000 followers.
Our community management system is a 50/50 joint ownership project run by the Communications
and e-Marketing departments. To manage it, we have set up a social media hub at corporate level
which will comprise of four community managers. What is important at this stage of the process is
voluntary participation. Although we still do not have an official structure on paper, we soon expect
to start making a fair amount of progress in terms of organization.
Marina Tymen, Community Manager / Press Relations Manager
Corporate AIR FRANCE KLM

The following table shows how Social CRM processes are distributed across a company:

Communication

Marketing

Sales

Customer services

Increasing
brand reputation
and visibility

Improving
retention rates

Generating
qualified leads

Monitoring
online
conversations

Online and offline

campaign-mixing
as part of a global
strategy

Understanding
customers in real time
and tailoring offers to
their precise needs,
based on the Social
Graph

Increasing
contact avoidance
by transferring
knowledge
to communities

Managing
and measuring
e-reputation

Encouraging
experience-sharing
and feedback,
rewarding influencers

Capturing sales
opportunities by
identifying leads in
community real time

Capitalizing on
customer knowledge
to enhance and correct
support services for
customers

Utilizing
brand ambassadors
as word-of-mouth
potential

Monitoring consumer
reactions to improve
the effectiveness of
marketing campaigns

Using
communities
to develop lead
identification programs

Reducing
response time
to crisis situations
and complaints

Improving the quality

of services (speed,
relevance, etc.)

Some of the Social CRM challenges posed in the different departments of a company

Social CRM

31

The professional view:

Best Buy, an example of successful Social

CRM linking up the entire company

Best Buy started to follow the discussions it was generating on forums and blogs from 2007. I
joined the company in February 2008 and we opened our first forum in September of the same year.
To establish the ethical rules on publication quickly and efficiently, we forged links with our legal
departments (HR and PR) and received a great deal of support.
We now have about 15 community connectors who communicate online, completely
transparently, for the Best Buy account, including in French and Spanish. We listen to the majority
of questions from our customers online and sometimes even produce short videos with our
responses. For example, we had a number of calls from customers in Latin America who wanted
to find out about arrangements for delivery or pick-up from stores. So we made a short video
in Spanish with our response and have since noticed a decrease of 50% in the number of calls
received on this matter.
The Twelpforce* teams use the same customer monitoring tool as the CRM team and are physically
located within the other customer service teams, which is important. We also use other monitoring
tools to follow conversations about Best Buy, some of which are free and others not. To join the
Twelpforce team, the following requirements generally apply:
a minimum of 6 months experience working in a contact center, plus 4 weeks training on
procedures and some experience of face-to-face contact with customers in our stores. The
members of the team come from a variety of backgrounds and are aged between 20 and 50.
Gina Debogovich, Best Buy Community Manager

Even if Social CRM is everywhere, once a certain volume

of social interactions is reached companies can no longer
manage without a dedicated social CRM team. This team
must be in constant contact with other functional departments, in particular the department to which it is directly
attached, which is usually also responsible for defining

* Twelpforce is the name

given by BestBuy to
an open conversation
platform set up
on Twitter in June
2009. So far, 3000
employees have been
exchanging opinions,
questions and advice
with consumers.

32

Social CRM

the overall social media strategy (for example, the Communications or Online department, as in the case of Air
France). It must also maintain regular contact with the departments that can provide input on customer knowledge
and that can benefit from social media feedback, such as
the Marketing department.

The professional view:

community management and Social CRM

For companies, the process of adapting to social media involves at least three stages.
The first stage, level zero, is doing nothing, or very minimal monitoring. The company starts passive
social monitoring as part of a look but dont touch approach.
The second stage involves detecting changes and analyzing them. This includes data-mining,
integration of the new channel in the marketing strategy, managing the e-reputation of the brand,
etc.
The third stage, after monitoring and analysis, is responding to the phenomenon by engaging in
conversations. Everything depends on this stage. There are several ways for companies to engage
in conversations, such as creating their own blog, a Twitter feed or a Facebook page. the fact that
there is a range of options generally means companies will need two or three community managers
who can ensure the continued visibility of the company on social media. They are responsible for
replying to comments and interacting with customers.
There is a fourth stage that is emerging. Here, community management becomes scalable with a
real team of community managers responsible for interacting with a potentially large numbers of
people. The time will come when flow management systems need to be implemented, e.g. when
managing the communication flow becomes too big of a task for just two or three people. This is
where the real transition occurs - from community management to Social CRM.
Stanislas Magniant, Head of Digital, EMEA, MSLGroup

All the experts consulted warn against the pitfalls to be

avoided. For example, if a dedicated team is set up to
implement a structured Social CRM process, this must

not be at the expense of inter-departmental collaboration,

which is absolutely vital for success. Thierry Spencer,
founder of Testntrust, explains:

The professional view:

inter-departmental work is the key

to Social CRM success

A Social CRM project has more chance of being successful if it is multi-disciplinary and managed
by several individuals working in different functional departments across the company. It is
important for companies to reach a certain level of dialogue and integration between departments
including Communications, HR, Marketing and General Management. So Communications could for
example manage the Facebook fan page and HR the Twitter feed, while Marketing could administer
the database and manage e-mail requests and media investments, etc. If companies do not
organize themselves properly, they risk wearing customers down. The worst Social CRM practice
is still incoherence. A bad Social CRM practice increases the risk of brand disloyalty on the part of
customers. Customers become a blur for companies faced with very large quantities of collected
data. This is why it is necessary to identify specifically those customers that the company really
needs.
Thierry Spencer, co-founder of Testntrust

Social CRM

33

4
4.3/ Evaluating the effectiveness of Social CRM
4.3.1/ WHO STILL TALKS ABOUT ROI?
In 2011, measuring the effectiveness of Social CRM to
justify investments in the new contact channel became
one of the key issues for companies. A recent survey
carried out on 140 international companies has confirmed
this trend1.

Henry Ford explained that the two most important factors of all do not appear on the company balance sheet:
his reputation and his workforce. Social media are in
harmony with the Fordist vision - they are a projection of
human relationships. The notion of Return On Investment
(ROI) is not relevant because relations are not quantifiable
in the same way as a financial investment.

Source Developing a Social Strategy AltimeterGroup,June 2011

http://www.slideshare.net/AmplifyFest/jeremiahowyangamplifypresentation

The ROI for social media is that your company

will still exist in 5 years time !
Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business

Cdric Deniaud (Mediassociaux.fr) makes it clear that

Return on Investment or Return on Objective (ROO) is
still very much dependent on initial strategy. The benefits
of Social CRM cannot be measured uniquely in financial

terms (transactional marketing), as the notion of ROI

would suggest. So what needs to be taken into account
when weighing up and justifying the financial commitment
to Social CRM?

The professional view:

RONI (Risk Of Non Investment)

The effectiveness of Social CRM is measured firstly in terms of the risks incurred by companies
who decide not to use it. Deciding not to adopt a Social CRM approach means refusing to align with
a long-term sociological evolution in consumer behaviors. Companies are exposed to criticism on
social media but cannot get involved in the conversations about them. They are also missing out
on potential business opportunities that could bring fundamental changes to the customer/brand
relationship and increase profitability in the long term.
Guillaume Vincent, Consultant, Practice Sales & Marketing / Customer Relationship Management,
Atos Consulting

34

Social CRM

4.3.2/ D
 ELIVERING THE RIGHT INFORMATION TO
DIFFERENT AUDIENCES
Firstly, it is essential to provide information in a way that
is appropriate for each audience. This is a stratified ROI
concept inspired by the research of Jeremiah Owyang1
(Altimeter Group) and can take the following form:

source Framework: The Social Media ROI pyramid, Jeremiah Owyang,

http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2010/12/13/framework-the-social-media-roi-pyramid/

Role

Business executives

Metrics

Business metrics

Specific data
(examples)

Profit generated,
reputation rating, cost
reduction assessment,
etc.

Business stakeholders
(management, employees,
suppliers, investors, etc.)

Social Media Analytics:

information obtained
from comments on
social media

Scope of conversations,
impact of ambassadors,
resolution rate of issues,
etc.

Operations
(community managers,
developers, agencies, etc.)

Customer
and prospect
engagement data
(optin, etc.)

Number of clicks, fans,

followers, check-ins,
views, retweets, etc.

Different indicators correspond to different levels of decision-making

The latest common mistake is to provide participation

information (clicks, fans, views, etc.) to senior managers to
demonstrate the effectiveness of a Social CRM operation.

Social CRM

35

4
4.3.3 RETURN ON OBJECTIVE (ROO)
AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI) AS TOOLS TO MEASURE SOCIAL ROI
The Return on Objective helps companies that are
genuinely customer focused to improve their operational
evaluation of the quantitative and qualitative impact of
Social CRM.

Instead of measuring the success of a campaign by focusing only on additional profit generated, ROO allows companies to better anticipate the overall Social CRM gains
based on the conversational and relational impact as well.

Ultimately, it is the strategic planning stage that is crucial if the ROO for
Social CRM is to be measured properly. The objectives the company wishes
to achieve must be clearly identified, as well as the type of information to
be collected and analyzed. This will enable companies to focus on KPIs
designed to help them anticipate whether their Social CRM strategy is likely
to be a success or a failure.
Guillaume Vincent, Consultant, Practice Sales & Marketing / Customer Relationship Mangement,
Atos Consulting

We have identified four big strategic objective categories

(brand perception, effectiveness of marketing, revenue
growth, savings) and some examples of relevant KPIs (the
same KPIs can be used for different objectives):
1) Strategic objectives on brand perception
Social CRM is about improving the reputation of a brand,
its association with customer values, buying intentions
linked to this, etc. For example, a Facebook* campaign by
Procter & Gamble led to an increase of 8% in the opinion
that its deodorant (Secret) is more effective than its competitors products.
Being reactive and proactive on social media means
companies can avoid damaging criticism. By providing
an immediate response to customer dissatisfaction, they
can prevent complaints from spiraling into unmanageable
situations. The importance of guarding against this snowball effect cannot be stressed enough.

* Ibid

36

Social CRM

Examples of KPI:
Identifying with the brand
-V
 olume of online posts and print-offs
- D evelopments before, during and after Social CRM
campaigns
Share of Voice
- N umber of times the brand is mentioned on social
media
-C
 omparison with competitors
Brand equity
- Loyalty
- Reputation
-P
 erceived quality
-B
 rand associations
-O
 ther assets
Customer experience and satisfaction
- Satisfaction rates compared with other contact channels
-L
 ikeliness to recommend (Net Promoter Score)
Propensity to buy
Churn rate

2) Strategic objectives on marketing effectiveness

Brand website audiences, the number of links to these
sites and how they are indexed by search engines can all
benefit from the Social CRM approach. Frdric Cavazza
describes this type of benefit in the following terms:

The expert view:

the initial gains should be in terms

of audience and presence
Firstly, Social CRM provides indirect information. Traditional company websites audience is
increasing thanks to shared links on social media. Secondly, social media enable companies to get
closer to customers who spend a lot of time on them. Its always good for a company to be where the
customers are.
Frdric Cavazza, Fredcavazza.net

Examples of KPI:
SEO
-D
 evelopment of referencing on search engines
-V
 olume of traffic on a company website
-V
 olume of traffic on social media
Scope and development of conversations:
- Number (and growth in the number) of followers, fans,
subscribers
-N
 umber of connections on third-party software
-N
 umber of interactions
-A
 udience participation
N umber of clicks, shared threads, mentions, responses, assessments, comments, retweets, votes,
downloads, participants, favorites
n

3) Strategic objectives on revenue growth

In this respect, several brands have seen a satisfying
return on investment. Dell, for example, which was one
of the first companies to be hugely successful in selling
its products on Twitter, has served as a model for other
success stories such as @JetBlue and @Zappos.
Since it was established in June 2007, @DellOutlet has
generated additional revenue and represents an attractive
Social CRM initiative with direct sales objectives. The
company used Twitter as a logical first step in the information push, which did not prove very effective in terms of
social ROI, only then to realize that what its customers
wanted were conversations with the brand.
Dell has adapted to these new consumer expectations by
improving the customer experience through the creation
of accounts on social media. @ DellOutlet, which was
managed by a single person until very recently, is one
of them. Every week, it offers its subscribers exclusive
deals on reconditioned and new equipment. These can be
viewed on the site http://www.dell.com/Outlet.

Social CRM

37

4
URLs are traced to determine the turnover generated by
using Twitter and to analyze the most attractive offers
based on the opinion of consumers. Dell research has
also shown that its Twitter account @ DellOutlet has
helped increase its visibility on the international stage.

In terms of results, the following curve shows revenue

growth generated by @DellOutlet:

6 500 000 z

7 000 000
6 000 000
5 000 000
4 000 000

3 000 000

2 000 000
1 000 000
0

2007

500 000 z

2008

3 000 000 z

2009

2010

Turnover generated by the @DellOutlet Twitter account as part of total turnover

from the DellOutlet site

The main benefits:

F or a fairly small investment (one person full-time up
to 2009, currently two) @DellOutlet has succeeded in
making several million dollars of additional profit
Dell has also released its stock of products returned by
customers (so storage savings can also be taken into
account)
Dell uses the account to respond to customer requests
through conversation and combines this with tangible
benefits, e.g. exclusive offers, discounts, etc.

4) Strategic objectives in terms of savings

This is not the only criterion that allows a social ROI to
be calculated, but it still needs to be taken into consideration. It can take the form of either an increase in sales
or a savings on marketing costs. Intel has indicated that
setting up the Jive community (the Intel Channel Voice
community) has reduced the number of conferences
that Intel previously organized for its customers, saving
a considerable amount of money on these events (each
costing Intel an average of $500,000).

These several millions are not huge compared with the

total turnover of the group, but they clearly demonstrate
Capitalizing on the collective intelligence of consumers

the
advantage
of
using
social
media
as
an
additional
aug through
platforms
known
as
Web
self-service
or
even


mented
sales
channel.
self-care
platforms
also
relieves
the
burden
on
customer



and
support
services.


Examples
of
KPI:


Leads
generated
by
social
media:
A
good
example
of
this
is
the
Web
Assistance
intranet



 ider
w
audience
generated
by
social
media
forum
set
up
by
Orange.
The
concept
behind
this
is
based



of
contact
forms
completed
on
the
company
on
the
fact
that
new
mobile
phones
and
service
offers

n umber


website
by
people
who
visited
the
site
through
links
on
are
coming
onto
the
market
every
month
and
technophile


social
media
users
are
often
way
ahead
of
call
center
agent
training



umber
of
contact
forms
completed
directly
on
social
programs.
This
can
mean
that
agents
are
sometimes

n


media
(contact
tab
on
the
Facebook
or
LinkedIn
com more
of
a
hindrance
than
a help
to
these
users
when
they


pany
profile
page,
for
example)
call
technical
support
services.
On
the
internal
forum
set



Impact
of
social
media
on
online
and
offline
sales:
up
by
Orange,
agents
can
discuss
customer
feedback


urnover
t
generated
through
social
media
received
by
telephone
and
how
they
have
dealt
with
it


of
differentiated
transformation
in
social
media
through
their
own
personal
research.
Its
an
internal
com
r ate


monitoring
munity
that
is
really
gathering
momentum
through
the


r
rate
compared
with
other
channels
questions
customers
are
asking.
The
resulting
knowledge

etention
base is then periodically re-introduced into the companys
Knowledge Management tools*.

Sou ce
Che C en EBG 2007

38

Social CRM

Examples of KPI:
Cost per lead compared with other channels
Cost of customer data acquisition compared with other
channels
Creation of community content:
-n
 umber of notes and assessments (User Generated
Content)
- forums, wikis
number of issues resolved by customer support
services
number of issues resolved by the community
n

Savings on customer support services:

- r esolution rate
-c
 ost of using social media support services compared with other channels
- r ate of contact avoidance on other more costly channels (e.g., telephone)
Savings on marketing surveys:
- r educed survey, interview and small group costs
- r educed costs for focus groups and mystery shoppers, thanks mainly to the availability of customer data
from social media

An example of multi-faceted Social

CRM strategy : Best Buy
Best Buy is one of the leaders in large-scale distribution in the United States and across the world
with more than 4,000 retail outlets and 155,000 employees. The group is participating in a global
Social CRM initiative, which has the following key objectives:
reducing customer service costs
increasing customer satisfaction
generating conversations about Best Buy offers
better understanding of customers
using social media for CRM activities throughout the Best Buy group
Various metrics are demonstrating the success of this approach. To take just one example, when
the iPhone was launched, 2.5 million consumers used the dedicated forum, generating more than
100,000 conversations. Community-to-community support (or peer-to-peer support) for this product
reached up to 95% of the total customer support services provided.
All these activities have had a positive impact, particularly on Best Buys image in the eyes of
consumers, but also on the level of employees motivation within the company. This is how new
career paths have emerged for call center workers who have this new set of social networking
skills, explains Gina Debogovich, Senior Community Manager at Best Buy.

Social CRM

39

5
Social CRM technologies are mature
Once a company has defined its Social CRM objectives,
tools will need to be implemented in accordance with the
strategy.

5.1/ The challenge: intelligent integration of Social CRM

and traditional CRM
The challenge when implementing a Social CRM strategy
is knowing how to combine the power and relevance of
both CRM and Social CRM to make the most of custo-

mer/prospect information and contacts and ensure proper

management of content.

The professional view:

the key to future success is the convergence

of social networking and CRM

Traditional CRM is about collecting and managing customer data, while Social CRM is a
strategy for customer engagement. Therefore, while traditional CRM is sales driven, Social
CRM is conversation-driven and sales become by-products. Social CRM seeks to favor word-ofmouth and turn your customers into ambassadors, amplifying your communication. To be more
reactive, this requires organizational changes, specifically the promotion of close collaboration
between your customers, suppliers, partners and yourselves in order to provide an answer
matching their expectations. In particular, this change requires an internal social layer around
customers processes. This will improve customer centricity, but also allow your company to
adopt a conversational approach to the development of products or services, paving the way for
co-production and co-innovation. One question remains though, are you able to listen to them,
understand them and redirect them to the right person?
Anthony Poncier, Poncier.org/blog/

In a world dominated by Customer Relationship Management, we are not going to get involved in an Old versus
New debate. Social CRM and traditional CRM tools are
designed to be merged.

The expert view:

CRM, Social CRM? Were not going to fight about it.

Social CRM is an integral part of CRM and certainly not a matter for the digital network team. In
April 2011, Salesforce acquired Radian6 and purchased a stake in Seesmic. Its a sign that a natural
merging process is going on between the CRM aspect and the social media aspect.
Yann Gourvennec, Web Director, Social and Digital Media, Orange Group

40

Social CRM

If companies are generally using an ad hoc social media

management strategy as their starting point, it will no
longer be viable once the number of interactions passes a

certain threshold. Then there is the challenge of selecting

the right tool(s) to allow the threshold to be crossed.

The development of social media has led to a cultural change in the way
people communicate but more important than that, has raised customers
expectations. In order to match these expectations, youll have to evolve and
integrate this cultural shift into the core of your companys strategy.
Anthony Poncier, Poncier.org/blog/

The professional view:

when the social

aspect moves up a gear

It is humanly impossible to manage tens of thousands of customers and coordinate hundreds of

contributors, as this inevitably leads to a bottleneck situation. Social CRM is about getting company
representatives and customers to interact with each other. This can help relieve bottlenecks,
create processes and organize teams - and its all thanks to the professionalism and effectiveness
of CRM. Community management requires further modernization to meet the needs of Social CRM.
Sophisticated tools are in place to facilitate the sharing of information (Buddy Media, Radian6, etc.).
At MSLGroup, we use a lot of industrialized tools for community management on Twitter and
Facebook. This was the case for Hootsuite, which we used during the e-G8 forum.
Within just a couple of days, we had brought together 20,000 fans on the Facebook page and 2,000
followers on the Twitter account for the event, and had a 24-hour community management service
available in three different countries.
Stanislas Magniant, Head of Digital, EMEA, MSLGroup

Social CRM

41

5
5.2/ O
 verview of existing technologies
Despite the fact that Social CRM is still an emerging market, software developers have understood its importance
for companies. Their products meet the various requirements in terms of functions and objectives.

FUNCTION

Description

OBJECTIVES

Listening

Listening to information on social media as a way of

becoming better acquainted and adapting strategies
offline (understanding how customers/prospects
perceive the company or new products/offers and being
able to measure the effects of online or offline marketing
campaigns - without retrieving customer data).

Listening to social media

for offline analysis and
responding in non-real time.

Collecting

Retrieving raw data from people who have registered on

identified sites.

Enhancing the database

for offline analysis and
responding in non-real time.

Redirecting

Retrieving and sorting information to ensure it is

redirected to the adequate group of people.

Using data from the right

people for offline analysis
and responding in non-real
time.

Interacting

Retrieving information from social media intelligently and

integrating it into the various existing databases to build
an overall picture of the contact.

Enabling online reactions

(in real time) and using
intelligence in the selected
channels.

Measuring

Assessing the performance of CRM KPIs implemented

thanks to data obtained from social media.

Adapting CRM KPIs

that have already been
implemented.

Typology of Social CRM tools

42

Social CRM

There are already lots of offers on the market and these are
fairly homogeneous. For analytical purposes, a distinction
can be made between generalist suppliers and specialist suppliers.

Generalist suppliers enable companies to:

- implement solutions by module
- develop without changing supplier
- install an interactive platform solution with real-time measures

Generalist suppliers
Companies choose a generalist supplier when they wish
to implement a multi-platform approach that would allow
them to adapt their strategy in line with changing requirements.

Companies choose a generalist supplier when they know

their Social CRM strategy and how it is expected to progress, which may be in several stages, or with urgent requirements for an interactive platform and real-time measures.

 Specialist suppliers
Specialist suppliers enable companies to install any
module proposed by the chosen supplier according to their
objectives.
Companies choose a specialist supplier when they know
exactly which Social CRM strategy they wish to implement;
there is little requirement for an interactive platform and
implementation is single-stage.

MATURITY

The majority of these suppliers implement analytical strategies, leaving substantial room for further development in
the area of real-time measures.
The choice of tool also depends on the level of Social CRM
maturity that the company has reached:

STRATEGY

FUNCTIONS

OBJECTIVES

Listening / Collecting /
Measuring

Managing KPIs on a single

channel

Level

Listening, measuring and

analyzing the information
retrieved from social
media.

Level

Obtaining an
overall picture
of the contact.

Listening / Collecting /
Redirecting / Measuring

Managing KPIs continuously

and in an integrated manner
on different channels

Level

Creating community
platforms

Listening / Collecting /
Redirecting / Measuring

Proactively engaging customers

and monitoring them on
different channels

Creating interactive
platforms

Listening / Collecting/
Redirecting / Managing /
Measuring

Managing KPIs and

responses in real time on
different channels, whilst
integrating customer
participation

Level

The 4 levels of Social CRM maturity

Social CRM

43

6
Essential elements
of a Social CRM strategy
6.1/ The 5 fundamentals of Social CRM
6.1.1/ RECIPROCITY

6.1.2/ REACTIVITY

Social CRM introduces the notion of reciprocity where

traditional one-way marketing strategies are used, e.g.
company-to-consumers/prospects. Consumers are willing
to enter into a dialogue with a company and share their
suggestions, fuelling brand creativity. They will, however,
expect their input to be acknowledged in return.

Sundays and public holidays are of no importance to Internet users - they post information on social media whenever
they want. The speed at which the message spreads varies
depending on the nature of the conversation, i.e. whether it
is negative, sensitive or simply amusing.

Community forums, such as the American Express Open

Forum, are good examples of this indispensible company/
customer exchange concept. Open Forum is intended to
provide SMEs with the knowledge, tools and social network
they will need to develop their business. In addition to providing a contact directory to enable SMEs and experts to get
in touch with each other, the forum also hosts various multimedia information from company CEOs and experts who
have been contacted by American Express (in the form of
pdfs, videos, podcasts, posts, etc.), and has a collection of
first-class content produced by Internet users to enrich the
community environment.

Maintaining this conversational aspect and keeping the exchange of views flowing means that expectations in terms
of responsiveness are higher on social media than on other
channels. It is therefore crucial that companies set up a Social CRM tool as soon as possible to allow them to detect
situations with potentially high virality (mass propagation),
so that they can respond with minimum delay, including
outside office hours. The aim is to avoid the development
of controversial debates and to deal with crisis situations as
soon as they arise.
In this respect, the mobile tools on smartphones are proving to be the preferred method for companies to stay
connected to their communities and to empower their
employees.

The professional view:

mobility, a Social CRM prerequisite
Mobile company management is a new but very worthwhile practice that has already
proved itself, as Dell again illustrates. Dell provided its 10,000 managers with mobile phones
that have Seesmic installed on them and are set-up to accommodate the main social media as
well as Dells internal social network. This was done with the help of Chatter, a tool developed by
Salesforce. The aim was to put a social radio in the pocket of each manager, allowing them to
hear what is being said about Dell and to communicate amongst themselves. The benefits of this
mobile strategy were proved during the mini crisis relating to the cost of Air France tickets after
the earthquake in Japan. Despite the fact that the conflict began on a Sunday, mobile management
of social media meant that the Communications managers from the company could provide the
necessary response and appropriate solutions within a very short period of time.
Loc Le Meur, Founder of Seesmic

44

Social CRM

6.1.3/ CONSISTENCY

6.1.4/ TRANSPARENCY

Initiatives on social media must not only be consistent with

one another, but also with other contact channels if there is
to be synergy between online and offline strategy.

Brands can no longer expect to be adorned with virtue.

Consumers know all too well that brands are not perfect;
they exchange enough views about this on social media!
They are willing to excuse companies for some mistakes,
providing that companies acknowledge the mistakes and
put an action plan in place in order to rectify them properly.

This requires an understanding of both community needs

and codes to ensure that the right methods for handling
contacts are used, as well as effective circulation of information within companies, which is facilitated by internal
social networks.

The professional view:

do not hide your faults,
work with your customers to improve
By not being transparent, open and honest, the brand is seen as an entity that inspires little
confidence. Contrary to advertising, social media are often considered to be like a bath of sulfuric
acid in the sense that they first bring out negative aspects - that advertizing would simply omit
so that they then focus on positive aspects. Instead of hiding negative elements, it is better to
highlight them to reassure customers and create a trust relationship. In some ways, social media
function like word of mouth. At Seesmic, this is exactly how it works; any comments about our
shortcomings can be found on feedback.seesmic.com. We acknowledge these comments and do
our best to provide responses with suggestions for rectifying them.
This attitude helps foster an environment of trust, authenticity and transparency within
communities.
Loc Le Meur, Founder of Seesmic

6.1.5/ ENGAGEMENT IN A TRUE CORPORATE APPROACH

Social CRM impacts a lot of people: customers, prospects but also employees. Commitment to the approach
is essential. Firstly, so that members of teams who are
directly affected can ensure that company initiatives are
implemented correctly and secondly, because employees
themselves are members of social media sites. When
they express their opinions about employers, including on
personal social networking sites such as Facebook, it is
important that their comments respect the image that the
company wishes to project. The search for influencers and
ambassadors must begin within the company itself.

This requires education, information and training. Contact

center agents appear to be best placed for taking concrete
action on social media (monitoring, detecting prospects
and responding to complaints). They already know the
company culture, are experienced in Customer Relationship Management and are better able to manage delicate situations. Their training should be a priority.
But company engagement in Social CRM must occur at
all levels and be seen as a clear priority. The commitment
shown and example set by senior management is fundamental in this respect.

At Dell, the CEO sometimes interacts personally with users. Involving the
CEO allows trends to be detected through interaction with Internet users.
This can speed up the decision making process.
Loc Le Meur, Founder of Seesmic

Social CRM

45

6
6.2/ T
 he truth about
a few Social CRM myths
Like any innovation, Social CRM is often misunderstood or
sparks resistance from those opposed to change within
the organization. This lack of understanding and resis-

tance gives rise to myths or prejudices, which sometimes

become ingrained. The table below puts these to rest once
and for all:

MYTH N1: SOCIAL CRM IS NOT HERE TO STAY

Social CRM is the answer to changing consumer behavior
Advanced tools with customer data that can be increasingly exploited
40% increase in market value compared with 2010 and more than 20% extra in 2012 (Gartner)
40% rise in budget spending

MYTH N2: SOCIAL CRM = FACEBOOK + TWITTER + (GOOGLE+)

 hese social media are not the only scope for action
T
First prioritize Social CRM integration on the corporate site of the company
Fish where the fish are: casting a wider net on social media, where most of the brand consumers are brought together
E xtending out to the preferred social media of influencers

MYTH N3: SOCIAL CRM STOPS AT CUSTOMER SERVICE

It impacts on all departments of a company
Priority departments at present: Marketing, Sales and Customer Services
O nce a certain level of maturity has been reached there is internal collaboration and co-creation.

MYTH N4: ONLY THE COMMUNITY MANAGER CAN BE TASKED WITH SOCIAL CRM
Maturity analysis of the organization is needed to determine team requirements, i.e. composition and training

The 4 myths of Social CRM

46

Social CRM

6.3/ Some strategic advice

to get you started
1

 efine your improved strategy, which should combine the benefits of social media with those
D
of your current CRM approach (in terms of target, objectives, budget, etc.) Type of interaction
framework:
L istening, Discussing, Assisting, Empowering, Capitalizing on customer knowledge
Consider the exact strategic and operational objectives needed to evaluate the Return on
Objective (ROO)
Determine the most relevant KPIs and means of measuring the effectiveness of your Social
CRM according to your objectives

Evaluate and implement a management strategy adapted to your organization: centralized,

unique hub, several hubs, etc.? Internal & external procedures, rules of customer engagement?

 nalyze the changes that Social CRM will trigger within the company in terms of employees: training,
A
creation of new positions - will it be necessary to recruit and what type of person is required, etc.?

5
6

Develop a plan for Social CRM-specific organizational change using diagnostic procedures for the
various elements of the plan:
Human (corporate culture, sensitivity to social media, management of distributed content, etc.)
Strategic (vision, engagement of senior management, approach to management, etc.)
Technological (CRM tools, CRM system architecture, platform used, process, etc.)

Choose
the tools that will support your Social CRM strategy
Social functions to be integrated into the existing CRM tool: listening, assistance, conversation,
management, analysis and performance measurement
Launch trials early on, during the continuous Proof of Concept stage adapted to social media

Our 6 recommendations for making your Social CRM a success

Social CRM

47

7
Social CRM tomorrow
Although Social CRM is still in its infancy, it is preparing for
a series of changes as a result of evolving techniques and
practices on the part of consumers and companies.

7.1/ The challenge of identifying customers

The proliferation of social media, general like Facebook
and Twitter, professional like LinkedIn and Viadeo, or even
thematic, make it difficult to identify consumers. The same
customer or prospect can be present on different networks

and the history of his relationship with the brand can be difficult to decipher. In this context, identifying and rewarding
the customer becomes a crucial issue.

7.2/ Your products are social

Some surprising technological innovations are about to
change our relationship with brands. Brands are already
engaged in a relationship with their customers and fans
that is becoming more and more personal, but they will

soon be joined in the conversation by the products

themselves! Now consumers can be friends with their
favorite brands. But they will also become more and more
directly linked, on social media, to the products they own.

The professional view:

Social CRM meets M2M
Salesforce and Toyota have made it possible to involve a car in social networks,
for example, to become a friend of, say, a Prius on Facebook. The car and car dealer can also
become friends. This means that vehicles can actually broadcast a variety of information via
the news feeds of their owners, such as brakes wear level, oil level, etc. Dealers can then use this
information to send targeted promotional offers to car owners, at just the right time. Its like Social
CRM meets M2M (Machine-to-Machine).
Alexandre Dayon, Executive Director CRM, Salesforce

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7.3/ Your staff is social

Another Social CRM trend is to join internal social
networks set up by companies. This allows steps taken by
communities internally to be consistent with Social CRM
initiatives. You can certainly see the benefit of encouraging
employees to interact directly with consumers to deal, for
example, with a technical problem posted on the forums.
If Sun Microsystems and Microsoft can do it then why not
other companies too? This is what motivated Dell to go

the extra mile with the launch of its Social Media Listening
Command Center. This mechanism for listening to consumers on social media is expected to track an average of
22,000 posts about Dell every day. These posts will then
be analyzed and segmented according to aspects such
as subject matter, tone (and what it says about the customers feelings) and geographical location1.

The aim is to allow each employee to have a social radio enabling them to
listen to customers conversations on social media. This is what the control
center does in nine languages soon to be eleven all over the world. ()
All company departments are soon going to be using social media and
community tools
Manish Mehta, VP Social media & communities, Dell2

http://mashable.com/2010/12/08/dell-social-listening-center/#view_as_one_page-gallery_box483

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ooKojHMkA&feature=player_embedded

Customer service does not start or stop at the customer

platform, it extends to all social media. This helps minimize
the potential gap between personal and professional usage

of social media, which has been linked to expectations identified amongst generation Y employees.

The professional view:

how far will we go to integrate
companies social networks with Social CRM?
In order for a brand to be really customer centric, the companys sales representatives must know
everything that is being said about the brand. They must know what customers are saying about it
as well as what the sales manager is saying on Twitter. The information must be directed to them.
Its very similar to what is currently being offered by Salesforces Chatter.
Company employees registered on the Chatter internal network can sign up to a customer record
in the CRM tool. This records the text of the chat exchange with the customer on the companys
website in the CRM tool. Customer service employees who follow the customer record on Chatter
will see this document appear in their news feed straightaway. They will then be in a position to
respond and take appropriate action.
Alexandre Dayon, Executive CRM Director, Salesforce

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49

Conclusion
The world is changing and these new paradigms made
possible by technology mean consumers can get their
revenge: they are taking control once and for all. Companies owe it to themselves to be reactive by fitting into this
new social ecosystem, even if this means losing control in
terms of their relationships with customers and prospects.
But the shift from a purely transactional approach to one
that focuses on relationships and conversations - improving customer experiences and increasing sales - will
enrich relations. So what a company loses in terms of
control, it is able to win back in terms of relationship
quality.
This evolution - which could also be described as a
revolution - transforms companies and really puts them
to the test in the face of the emergence of social media.

All areas are affected. The need for Marketing, Sales and
Customer Service jobs will certainly be questioned, and
these will perhaps become the first positions to come
under scrutiny. But more generally, it is the entire management structure of the company that must be reconsidered. Companies must take the evolving and technological
landscape of CRM into account and adopt a coherent,
alert and engaging social media strategy.
Atos Consulting and MSLGroup are your partners in this
transformation. They will provide the auditing tools you
need to develop your company in line with its Social CRM
maturity level as well as the methodology for enhanced
customer segmentation. They will also help you implement
specific organizational models.

WHAT ATOS CONSULTING AND MSLGROUP CAN OFFER

Strategy &
organization

E-reputation

Online monitoring
Opinion analyses
Dialogue plans
Social media marketing

Maturity analysis
Social CRM
Social CRM strategy
Segmentation
Competitive benchmark

Social CRM

Coaching

Social media training

Crisis communications
Editorial activities
Communication plans

Transformation &
Technology
A
 ugmented customer
knowledge
Social marketing
Social contact center
S ocial CRM technology
advice

Steps taken by Atos Consulting and MSLGroup in the field of Social CRM

50

Social CRM

About
What Atos Consulting
and MSLGroup can offer

MSLGROUP Social Hive is the global social media practice of MSLGROUP, pooling 150+ dedicated
operatives across North America, Europe, and Asia, with second to none expertise in social media
counsel, online PR, Community Management, social media analytics and social media marketing.
MSLGROUP Social Hive is a strategic and trusted digital advisor to our clients. A pioneer in influencer
marketing, word of mouth, real-time insights and heritage in third party advocacy. Were able to
cross-pollinate ideas and help our clients in the Conversation Age.
Social Hive is part of MSLGROUP, the Publicis Groupe PR, Corporate Communications and Events
global network.

Atos is an international information technology services company with an annual turnover of 8.7
billion Euros and 78,500 employees in 42 countries. Serving a global client base, it delivers hightech transactional services, as well as consulting, technology, systems integration and information
management solutions. Atos provides technologies that support the development of its customers
and help them achieve their company vision and goals. Atos is the official international information
technology partner for the Olympic Games. The Group is quoted on the Paris Eurolist Market and
trades as Atos, Atos Consulting & Technology Services, Atos Worldline and Atos Worldgrid.
Atos Consulting is the consultancy branch of the Atos Group.

Social CRM

51

Acknowledgements
We give our heartfelt thanks to all the experts and
professionals who have shared their experiences
with us throughout this document:
 rdric Cavazza, Social Media Consultant / Expert,
F
fredcavazza.net
Alexandre Dayon, Executive Director CRM, Salesforce
 nthony Poncier, Social Media Consultant / Expert,
A
poncier.org/blog/
Gina Debogovich, Best Buy Community Manager
 dric Deniaud, Social Media Consultant / Expert,
C
mediassociaux.fr
 ann Gourvennec, Web Director, social and digital
Y
media, Orange group
Loc Le Meur, CEO, Seesmic
 erge Real del Sarte, Director of e-Reputation and
S
Community Management, GINGER Group
Thierry Spencer, Founder And Director Of Testntrust
Marina Tymen, Press Office, Air France

We would also like to give a big thank-you to the

people who have helped make this document a
reality:
 hierry Gadou, Managing Director, Atos Consulting and
T
Fabrice Fries, CEO, Publicis Consultants, both driving
forces behind this project
Stanislas Magniant, Head of Digital, EMEA, MSLGroup
 enot Faverial, Deputy Director, Publicis Consultants
B
Net Intelligenz
 line Rannou, Consultant, Publicis Consultants
E
Net Intelligenz
 ric Levy-Bencheton, Partner, Practice Sales &
E
Marketing / Customer Relationship Management,
Atos Consulting
 irginie Auboyer, Senior Manager, Sales & Marketing /
V
Customer Relationship Management, Atos Consulting
 lodie Chizat and Patricia Blanc, Managers, Sales &
E
Marketing / Customer Relationship Management,
Atos Consulting
 uillaume Vincent, Consultant, Sales & Marketing /
G
Customer Relationship Management, Atos Consulting
 tphane Harbulot and Elie Assouline, Publicis
S
Consultants/Illustrations

This publication was coordinated

by Assane Sine and Jrme Delacroix
at Smartwords.

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Social CRM

53

Notes

54

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Social CRM

55

Social CRM

Social CRM

Towards enhanced Customer Relationship Management