The 2011 CRM Evolution was buzzing with more than sessions, showcases and keynotes. It housed a live webinar featuring Brent Leary, co-founder of CRM Essentials and Laurie McCabe of SMB Group. Hosted by David Alston, the roundtable-type discussion put the spotlight on small businesses and the transformation process of becoming a successful social organization.

They also discussed spaghetti on the wall. But we’ll get to that.

If you missed yesterday’s webinar because you spent the afternoon in meetings, taking phone calls, checking email or attempting all three at the same time, don’t worry. Today’s post recaps the session, houses the presentation slides, shares the webinar audio recording and more.

So let’s dive in.

Brent and Laurie started with strategy. Social media is a place for strategic vision and for small businesses, that plan is going to lead to stronger effectiveness and results. But where do you begin?

Listening is key. This will enable your business to understand the environment and determine customer sentiment toward your brand. You’ll start to notice where your customers are spending most of their time on the social web. Plus, as Brent Leary put it, “The more you listen, the more people will want to talk to you.”

Think through your content. Before you start pushing out messages, ensure your content is valuable to consumers. That doesn’t mean high quality (some of the best video content can be done with a handheld camera such as simple how-to videos) and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. It should obtain interest and grow conversation and community. This is not about tooting your own horn or blasting marketing messages. After all, why use old media approaches in a new media format?

Institute meaningful engagement. As you listen to consumers and share valuable content, you can also begin to engage with them and start conversations. This is a place for idea creation and connection. You’ll start to foster your own community to nurture and grow. Always think about how to bring conversations into your business. Keep an open dialog to address challenges and build trust. Using monitoring tools will enable you to more easily track these conversations and engage.

Approach with an open mind. Now we come back to spaghetti on the wall. Social media will benefit small businesses in different ways and to determine what works best for you, consider a trial and error approach. Constant gathering and actioning will enable you to see what’s working in order to optimize for better results. You try something to see what sticks, a.k.a the “spaghetti on the wall” approach.

Make it a group effort. Keep all parties of your business involved with social media. Integrate social strategies across multiple departments such as HR, product development and CRM. This will enable a more agile, responsive, and proactive program and will grow and extend relationships internally and externally.

The insights in this webinar will help you go from a marketing organization to a great social media organization. Here’s even more information from the session:

• Audio recording [Adobe Connect]
• Slide presentation
• Laurie McCabe’s blog post recap

What are your thoughts on this webinar? Feel free to share!

Getting up close and personal with your critics is one of the hardest parts of maintaining a presence in social media. But it’s actually quite a typical story for how companies tend to get started in social: someone gets wind of a blog post, tweet storm, or even a dedicated site slam-trashing their brand all over the place. Panic ensues. What to do?

Here are some guidelines, mostly from a corporate customer service perspective, for addressing negative feedback on the web. And as always, common sense and best judgment apply.

1. Decide whether or not the item warrants a response.
There are such things as posts you should ignore, including obvious “troll” postings, rants, or degrading portrayals of people or companies that are baseless and inflammatory. Feeding these beasts is usually a waste of time; instead, monitor quietly to gauge the response to the item from the *rest* of the community and respond to substantive criticism only when it will result in progress.

2. Acknowledge the issue.
The “I’m sorry we disappointed you” can go a long way to diffusing a tense situation and an unhappy customer. It’s not about admitting fault, it’s about acknowledging someone’s feelings of frustration or disappointment. Do this publicly in the medium where the complaint or negative post occurred – it helps the community see that you’re paying attention and responding – and take the follow up conversation to private channels if needed.

3. Find out what went wrong.
Ask to understand what happened, and what made the experience go awry. Ask what will make it better. You can do this via a backchannel like email if more comfortable for the customer or if confidential information needs to be shared, but make sure you do it.

4. If there’s misinformation, correct it.
Provide factual (not emotional) information in response, along with an offer to elaborate or provide more detail if needed and available. Keep your points and information relevant to the complaints or criticisms specifically, never make it personal, and don’t speculate or presume you understand the surrounding circumstances without gathering more information. Provide contact information for a real person for follow up whenever possible. (not a general customer service line).

5. If you have a solution at the ready, offer it.
No solution yet? Explain what next steps you’re going to take to come to a resolution. If at all possible, have the responder be someone who is authorized to actually solve the problem without having to escalate it and pass them around to several people. Follow up to be sure that whatever was promised – whether resolution or just information – is delivered. Your CRM systems come in handy here.

6. Realize that not everything needs fixing.
If you want to respond to a situation or criticism but don’t intend to change your product or practices as a result, that’s fine. A critique doesn’t always mean there’s something that needs correcting. But if you can, offer a calm explanation of your position, in real words. Just clearly stating your position can be reassuring to your customers, even if you agree to disagree. Skip the corporate speak.

7. Don’t be terse or defensive.
Nothing kills trust faster (and it’s amazing that company representatives do this, but they do). Focus on positive outcomes and moving the situation forward, not rehashing details that have already been covered. In fact, gauge the tone of the conversation and be willing to have a sense of humor and a dose of humility. Those can diffuse a situation faster than putting your guard up.

8. Respond in public whenever possible, and bring the right person to the conversation.
Contrary to what you might think, acknowledging and accepting criticism in front of an audience can strengthen your reputation. When responding, use a professional but friendly tone, take a few moments to think through your response (vs. an off the cuff reaction), and support information you’re providing with links or other references wherever possible. Bring in the right person for the response – like, say, a product engineer vs. a public relations person – if you can. *Who* you bring to the discussion can speak volumes about whether or not you take it seriously.

9. Be creative about what’s next.
What about having a negative reviewer be part of your next product innovation brainstorm, or contribute ideas for your loyalty program? It’s not for the faint of heart, but it can be a gold mine of new perspectives.

10. Say thank you.
It’s just as important in the face of a critique as when you’re told something nice. Thank them for sharing their experience, and caring enough to be angry and say so. It’s a great opportunity for you to learn, and graciousness can diffuse even the most sticky situations. (It’s called the art of diplomacy.)

Bonus round: Know when to fold ‘em.
Realistically, there is a time to walk away. When you have attempted resolution for a problem through all rational channels, sometimes you have to say you’ve done the best you can, thank them for their perspective, and let it drop.

If criticism of a product or service devolves into mud slinging, accusations of malpractice or illegal activity, or personal threats or attacks, it’s time to walk away (and perhaps consult legal counsel for your business if liability or other regulatory issues are in question). Civil discourse and discussion is fine, even healthy. Nastiness is not.

Perhaps the most important lesson in addressing criticism online is to keep the door open, and don’t get discouraged. If you’re thrust into a crisis and need to respond, take the opportunity to keep the channels of communication open with your customers and learn from what you hear and read. Responding to negativity isn’t the ideal way to start the conversation, but it can sure be a great incentive to keep it going and learn a few things along the way.

What have you learned about engaging detractors online? Can you share examples of what’s worked for you and what hasn’t? We’d love to learn from you, and help guide others too.

image credit: the Italian voice

At our recent event Customer Service 2.0 | Proactive and Social, we highlighted and explored the principles behind the move towards social customer services and the impact this is having on engagement and business strategy across multiple industries. We also explored the idea that social media is less about the form of technology utilised and more about the interactions between individuals in this medium.

As the event clearly highlighted, effective communication in any medium (be it social media or otherwise) is multi-faceted and involves using facts, insight and feedback to inform on-going strategy. As such, we wanted to share with you some feedback from the event. We feel this feedback gives a valuable insight into important issues within social media customer service and the varied aims our delegates have, when embarking on their own enterprise-wide social media strategies.

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Definitions.

Labels.

Buckets.

All of these descriptors help us feel more comfortable in wading the sometimes perilous waters of business. The familiarity of “chunking” our thoughts and business processes form a protective life raft. Unfortunately, dependence on this comfort mechanism, limits our ability to learn how to swim and explore the contents below the surface. We create silos within our thinking processes, just as we form silos in our organization when something transformative rises up from the depths. Is it by nature we form these factions? Even if it is determined by nature or nurture, how can we identify, understand, and breakdown these silos?

Just the other day, as I was walking, I was knocked on the head by an acorn. No, I did not have any revolutionary ideas about Newton’s Law, but I was struck (literally) by the social nature of plants. A recent article in the November issue of Discover magazine, discussed the secret social nature of plants. Author, Valerie Ross, shares the results of recent studies observing plant life and the proliferation of their species. In one study, it was found that some plants find mechanisms to distribute their seedlings away from the parent because of microbial enemies living in the soil around the parent plant. Another study found plants like the Sagebrush, survived because of the close proximity to their own kind. In contrast, the Sagebrush plants worked together through airborne chemical cues to protect against insect attack. Ross summarized the findings of the related studies, “If the plants recognize each other’s alarm systems, having relatives nearby may help them keep safe.”

Analysis.

Listening.

Engagement.

How does this relate to social media? Well, how often do we see social media directorates rising up in organizations to embrace the changing forces of social? Quite often. Just like trees or plants releasing their seedlings, many organizations have found that for their social media strategy to gain legs, it must be separated from the rest of the organization and habitual thought processes to survive and thrive. However, the separation cannot be permanent.

Like the sagebrush, organizations have to find a way to integrate the transformative throughout all business functions for sustainability. We have to bring the new into the fold and work together to promote a unified front. What has traditionally been one department’s expertise and kept solely under one domain, must now be shared across the organization. Understanding our processes, observations, and weaknesses-this knowledge-will allow organizations to be unified and stronger, to support their internal and external communities.

The world of Social CRM is rapidly evolving, and it’s a term than many businesses are latching onto as the social media space evolves.

In many ways, I have a feeling we’re doing that because “social business” might feel too lofty or abstract, and things like “social media marketing” don’t really express our desire to wire the implications of social into our companies or the business relationships we have. CRM is at least a somewhat familiar construct, something that many businesses have spent the last decade or two coming to understand, and it’s a great bridge from our existing understanding of customer relationships to learning how they’re changing in front of our eyes (and what we must do in response).

All aspects of today’s social web – from marketing to relationships and the very culture of business – are all related to one another if we’re ever to truly realize the potential of This Thing Called Social. And as we continue to look at Social CRM’s place in the world and its evolution in business, we have to consider some key aspects of it:

1. Social CRM as a Mindset

Social CRM as a concept is complex, and is really at the heart of today’s business shift. It begins with the intent to develop more nuanced and personalized relationships with past, present, and future customers. That comes with it not just the technologies, but the culture shift. The idea that as businesses, we can and should be doing more to bring the voice of the customer into our organization and incorporate it into every aspect of the company, and that we should let it drive both why and how we do what we do. It’s the philosophy that underpins the practice. And it’s really where the work is, because for many companies, this is a gigantic, seismic shift in the way they’ve ever approached customer relationships before.

2. Social CRM as a Mechanism

Much like social media, social CRM is a term you can apply to the mechanics, platforms and systems that provide its infrastructure. So in some moments, when we discuss social CRM, we’re addressing the need for the technologies to adapt and include dimensions of social relationships in the data itself, to integrate that data into other key business systems, and to improve and enhance how that data is delivered back to the people who need and use it. Simply put, one part of social CRM is about evolving the tools we use and know in order to incorporate these new interactions and touchpoints across the web. We need that for the active cultivation of the relationships themselves, and so that we can do detailed analysis at all stages of a customer’s lifecycle with our company.

3. Social CRM as a Strategy

Building a pervasive social CRM strategy will mean it touches many areas of the organization, from sales to marketing to product management to customer service. But in order to do that effectively, both the Mindset and the Mechanisms need to be in place. I’d argue that mindset and philosophy have to come first, or the deployment of all of the best processes, tools, and systems will forever struggle for a foothold. But if a business first wants to build more dynamic customer relationships and then will support that shift by empowering both people and systems, then and only then can an effective strategy follow, from goals through the tactical execution. It’s the equivalent of building a house once the foundation and the frame are actually in place.

Social CRM has massive potential in all three areas, but they’re inextricably linked to one another. One can’t really survive long term unless the others are in play, and over the course of the next several years for most businesses, they’re going to need to shift and evolve in parallel. I’d actually go so far as to say that social CRM can be a significant pivot point for much of social media’s future in business, as the relationships between us and our past, present, and future customers are really the center of it all.

But we cannot talk about social CRM as a blanket term unless we understand which aspect we’re addressing, and how it impacts the others. Much like social media and social communications. Are we talking the intent? The strategy? The execution?

They’re all intertwined, and they all have importance. But as we continue to discuss where the varying applications of social sit inside our companies and our industry, it does us all well to be specific about our discussions so that we can understand where we have to begin to build.

Have you been chewing on social CRM? What does it mean to your business, and what about it do you feel is getting too much emphasis or not enough? Would love to hear your thoughts and discussion in the comments.

The increasing popularity of social media means that a greater portion of the business is becoming affected by it. Involvement through Twitter, blogs and social networks is no longer restricted to the realm of marketing, as customer services especially is now using social media to reach out to their customer base.

This November 30th we will be hosting an afternoon event for customer service professionals in order to discuss how using social media and monitoring software can help customer service departments improve:

• Customer service response rates
• Customer satisfaction
• Online sentiment
• Service issues

We will be sharing case examples highlighting how we’ve worked with companies to implement enterprise wide listening initiative, how we’ve worked with companies to action key insights gained as well as showcasing our software. In addition to this we will be sharing our most recent Industry Insight Report on how leading brands and their customer services are performing within social media.

We’re extremely pleased to have Guy Stephens, Senior Consultant at Foviance with us for this event. Guy will share his experience in using social media for engagement through his work with The Carphone Warehouse and other major brands and customer service departments.

For more details or to join just email Marketing (at) 6Consulting.co.uk

We have been focusing on customer service this month and in light of of several posts on how to lose your Twitter followers effectively, we thought it appropriate to highlight some key tips on how to provide bad customer service through social media and what steps to undertake in order to turn it around.

1.    Ignore Your Customers

If you are looking to frustrate customers before they even pick up the phone then this might be appropriate. Conveying the image of an organisation seemingly plugged in but then ignoring requests or questions from customers in social media does not help your cause. If you don’t plan on communicating with your customers via Facebook, then is a Page really necessary? Likewise, if you don’t think Twitter would be of use to your business don’t pretend to use it.

If you are not sure of what might work then listen first. Understand what is being said throughout social media; an integral part of any social media implementation plan and strategy. Find out exactly what your customers are saying, where and to whom, understand which avenues of social media would provide added value to both your company and your stakeholders. Once you have tracked this, make sure the knowledge gained is shared throughout your customer services department in order to focus your efforts.

2.    Pretend to Answer Questions

The only thing worse than not responding to your customers is to confuse them even further. Ensure that what you say counts, especially on Twitter. Make those 140 characters work for you even if this means taking five minutes to draft your tweet. If the problem is more complex then make sure you steer the conversation offline to the phone or email in order to provide the additional assistance necessary.

A lot of businesses deal with queries raised through social media by referring them to their website which more often than not does not resolve the problem. What customers are seeking is for someone to solve their query. If the only route to doing so is to jump from channel to channel then this does not usually lead to customer satisfaction but rather to customer frustration.

3.    Don’t Cooperate or Communicate

If you are using a social media channel to complement your customer service strategy make sure that you are connected to the wider business. This can mean using an appropriate CRM system, having a social media policy and ensuring that you have your social media channels included in your customer service objectives. You will find that handovers will run a lot more smoothly if social media is seen as part of the business and not an aside.

In some instances you may need to hand over a query to a more specialised department, but if they are not aware of the social media funnel this may drop off the radar. Alternatively, if there is no agreed system for logging enquiries, customers will find themselves needing to explain the same problem over and over. Therefore, getting the necessary buy in, understanding and having a clear process of communication will save your business considerable time.

4.    Never Escalate Problems

Don’t assume that because the query has come though social media—a channel only you might be responsible for—that you always know the answer. The end objectives of any customer service should be to resolve your client’s problem. While a community manager, often the first one to come across a query, should be well versed in all that concerns the business, they may not always know the answer, or the problem might be severe enough to demand the involvement of a senior manager. To this end it is essential that a proper escalation process is communicated and included in any social media policy.

5.    Don’t Be Proactive

Your customers might not always know where to find you, so take a proactive step to assist your customers. Monitor what is being said in order to provide the assistance necessary when appropriate. Contrary to what has recently been in the news, we have noticed that customers who are provided assistance even when not explicitly contacting a company tend to appreciate this approach. In addition to picking up mentions and questions, having a listening strategy and tool will go a long way to providing key metrics around engagement success, campaign sentiment, or product issues, as well as understanding where within the various social media channels customers are most prominent. All this helps to focus your customer service.

6.    Don’t Personalise

Our earlier post this month showed that adding a personal touch when communicating through social media has a positive effect. While customers might find it easier to communicate via the internet this does not necessarily mean that they don’t want to talk to a real person. Adding a name to a bio conveys the idea that a query or problem is being taken seriously and is being dealt with. Also, doing so will ensure that your representatives are accountable and part of the wider business.

What experiences have you had with customer service in social media? Good, bad, feel free to share.

So often, when we talk about the value of customer engagement, the focus is on the value or return for the organization. What’s in it for us (the organization) does not always translate into what’s in it for the customer who engages with us. Participation in community conversation is not a one-off interaction or simply a means to an end (closing the sale). Especially, not to the customer. Begin by understanding the customer decision making process from their perspective.

1. Need/Want Recognition: Consumer identifies problem/desire? If impulsive buy/decision, the cost to consumer is low. Larger buy/decision is greater risk and cost to consumer. Questions You Need to Ask: How quickly can consumer make this decision? What is sales cycle? Consumable product/brand? Impulsive purchase? Who are influencers? Who are adopters? At what phase does consumer adopt this need/want?
2. Information Search: Once the consumer makes the choice to fill need/want, consumer begins to research best choices available. Questions You Need to Ask: Where are consumers finding info on you/competitors? Most frequently used search terms? How does the consumer speak about product/brand? How does consumer relate to product/brand? or experience the product/brand?
3. Evaluation: Consumer begins to filter information gathered and narrow choices. Questions You Need to Ask: Is there any additional information the consumer needs to make purchase/decision? What/Who are the consumer’s filters? Where is the consumer comfort zone?
4. Purchase: Consumer makes purchase/decision. Questions You Need to Ask: Are the consumers getting what they expected upon purchase/decision?
5. Cognitive Dissonance: Often a consumer has post purchase anxiety and will second guess purchase/decision. This is the beginning of post-product relationship. Questions You Need to Ask: How will you prevent and/or counter this anxiety? Do you have a trial period, guarantee and/or warranty options in place? How often will you follow-up with consumer to gauge satisfaction/issues/additional needs and desires? Would consumer recommend product/brand to a friend (NPV)?

Sync this five-step process with the psychological needs driving human motivation to your brand.

For each step, identify all channels (traditional and social media) where actions are being taken by consumer/community along the customer buying/decision process.

Now from that list, identify appropriate channels and tools you will employ to facilitate customer buying/decision process. (Go to where the customer/community already exists!)

If relevant, this is how you begin making the case for using social media! Set the criteria.

Participate/Engage/Execute in every step of the customer buying/decision process. Always tie back to Step #4 and repeat business. I am not advocating being in the position of always making the sale. Not appropriate. Just be aware of where you and the customer are in the process at all times! The goal is to keep the consumer moving through the process to purchase/decision, maintaining relationship for repeat business/interaction (rinse and repeat) and acquiring new customers into the process through consumer recommendation.

Here are some ways to foster engagement that is valuable to the customer:

• Follow: An organization with zero followers but has a profile on every social media channel does not have a presence. A presence is created through interactions. Do not be afraid to follow people back. Avoid only following back current customers/evangelists, you never know when the opportunity will strike for those who are following you to become a customer or in the position to recommend your organization to a friend.
• Mention: Recognition will make anyone feel special. When appropriate, respond personally or highlight a lesson learned from someone within your community.
• Incorporate: If you’re ready to monitor and actively listen for feedback, your customers will tell you what they love, hate, want and need. Demonstrate your organization is not just letting the feedback go through one ear and out the other. Tell customers what changes are based on their feedback.
• Crowdsource: With the above steps in mind, why not form a panel of highly engaged customers to help steer product development? Focus groups can provide you with ideas that you may not have considered. While the Internet may not be indicative of your entire customer base, communities across the social web offer instant feedback and may indicate trends not yet visible in offline feedback.
• Share: Avoid pushing your organization content and messages exclusively. Learn from other businesses and individuals in your community and share their lessons learned and experiences with the rest of your community.

What are other ways your organizations uses to foster long-term relationship building engagement?

We’ve been talking a lot about various aspects of engagement over the past few weeks on the blog. Lauren Vargas wrote a great post about adding social aspects to your CRM strategy, and her point below really stuck out for me.

Before adding social to the mix, you must ensure your organization has a sound infrastructure in place to receive social data and connect to transactional data. Social media elements must be an extension of the CRM infrastructure and the data presentation must not simply be slapped on top, but flow seamlessly into the design.

Earlier this week Teresa Basich detailed 5 ways that engagement is more than talking, and  I was similarly struck by point #3 in her post:

Making the customer experience easier/more pleasant/quicker/all of the above. Does this include talking with them? Usually. But not always. Improved engagement in this case can also mean bumping up the usability of your website. Does your site allow folks to find what they need easily? Does it pique their interest? Does the flow of information on your site allow visitors to navigate through it quickly? This is just one example, but do you see where I’m heading here?

What am I leading to here? I’m leading to the point that companies need to stop thinking of engagement as something “the marketing team handles” and start thinking about it more how my colleagues describe it above. It’s an activity that goes on across all parts of the organization. We call it “answering the social phone” internally, and that phone ideally sits on everyone’s desk and allows all employees to better understand how the conversations that are happening on the social web affect their job.

Ford Motor Co. has been leading the charge in the auto industry with their innovative campaigns for a few years now.  Many of us remember their Fiesta Agents challenge, and many more tuned in to see the reveal of their new Ford Explorer via Facebook. The Awesome Blog wrote a great review of the reveal, and noted:

Ford needed to connect with their potential consumers, generating excitement about the new model and ensuring buyers were armed with in-depth knowledge about the vehicle. Fortunately, Ford tapped the full potential of Facebook in order to create a truly engaging and interactive conversation about the new Explorer, and their approach is worth breaking down for any brand considering a Facebook campaign of their own.

Ford has been out there engaging with their community for years, and the insights that their community provides aren’t just data points limited to marketing. They’re insights that can be used across all business units. Case in point? A tweet yesterday by Ford noting that they’re passing product feedback over to the design team.

There are plenty of examples of companies breaking out of the “engagement is for marketing!” silo, and I wish I had time to share them all. To add two more into the mix, what about Comcast’s great use of service-related engagement, or the Red Cross’ social media disaster relief and notification efforts?

For companies that limit engagement to their marketing departments, the question becomes something similar to what Lauren described above – how can you connect social to transactional data across the enterprise? In other words, what internal channels do you need to create or open up to let everyone take advantage of this feedback? What parts of your organization would benefit immediately from being on the front lines, and how can you put them there?

I’m interested to hear your opinion. What other examples jump to mind of companies that have broken out of the “engagement is for marketing” silo? Share them in the comments!

* Photo provided by CraftyGoat

There’s no doubt that social media has had a big impact on customer service. We’ve seen companies exceed expectations by being proactive and going out of their way to answer customer queries quickly and effectively. These recent developments however have also raised our expectations and we’ve seen customers end up thoroughly disappointed while tweeting their issues at a dormant corporate account in vain.

In anticipation of National Complaints Day, Foviance is organising a roundtable event on August 12^th to discuss exactly what impact social media has had on customer service. The likes of Warren Buckley from BT, Paul Hopkins from Thomas Cook and Rob Skinner from PayPal UK will be speaking alongside our very own Sullivan McIntyre who will share some of the insights we’ve gained over the years in working closely with large corporate customer service departments implementing their social media strategies.

The roundtable discussion will explore how companies are working towards effectively integrating social media channels in customer service. In addition, speakers will also share some of the challenges this has posed and look forward to what the future might hold.

If you’re interested in what companies are doing on this front and our own experiences in this field, follow the discussion on the day: either search #ncd2010 on Twitter or download a full report of the findings through the National Complaints Day website.

Happy National Complaints day!