Social has been a catchword around marketing circles for a while, but now social is being used as a model for all business practices and strategies. The benefits of running a social business are undeniable. Designed consciously around sociological rules and social tools, having many implications for the businesses from within and without. Social customer relationship management, the corporate reaction to catch up with the fleeting customer, while plagued with challenges of scalability, includes brand monitoring and community interaction to listen to clients or customers. But this is not just a marketing or customer service concept, a social business must include an internally open culture based on sharing and collaboration.
This great webinar Social Business: Taking “social” to the core of your organization by Stowe Boyd, Peter Kim, Jeremiah Owyang, Joshua-Michele Ross, is a great introduction to these concepts.
In the video, they go on to say that 2010 is the Year of Social Business Policy, and they just might be right considering the Department of Defense has recently release their social media policy.
The social business, then, should exist within all sectors of the business:
- Internal – employees of the company, lower level staff to management
- External – customer and client relationship management
Internal Culture of Openness and Innovation
It is sad that not more managers are eager to encourage and maintain this model for their businesses. No employee should be too low to speak to the highest employee in the company, no idea should be considered based on the rank of an employee on the corporate ladder, and a frank and open environment should allow for opportunities for all employees to share their creative and innovative ideas.
There are obstacles to overcome – management might be resistant or on the other employees might not see the value in participating. But if the heads of the business can embrace the open culture of the social business, it should not be hard to rally the troops. One thing people want more than money is a dream and social business is about people.
External Candour and Responsiveness
Customer relationship management within a social model is a newer idea, and while the concepts of brand monitoring and community participation seem relatively easy to understand, the issue of scale is where most companies will find their greatest challenges. The addition of new tools and new areas of consumer behavior to monitor, while extremely exciting, must be integrated into a new social customer relationship management policy and process to ensure that it all does not become just noise.
But besides the challenges, adding social to your customer relationship management program allows for much deepened loyalties and consumer trust. One to one dialogue stimulates a solid business relationship if the proper best use practices are understood.
Any plans to take a look at your business model given the technological changes that allow for more social discourse? Do you know of any companies doing this admirably?
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