Social CRM Tapping into the Emotional Side of the Customer

I spoke as the closing keynote at the Sales 2.0 Conference in Boston. Throughout the conference and even at past conferences I have attended and/or presented, the question still remains – Does Social CRM really apply to sales? Or is it a marketing and customer service tool that doesn’t really benefit sales?

The answer is simple. Social CRM is a very powerful sales application that sales organizations need to embrace as an extension of their core CRM solutions. When a sales professional goes out to sell, they utilize lead management, contact management and other information gathered during discussions with the customer/prospect to create basic customer profiles that also integrate transactional systems data such as previous purchasing history and customer service records. But, by using those solutions alone, organizations and professionals alike are missing the emotional side of the customer relationship – only gained by Social CRM.

What better insights for a sales representative trying to get to know a potential or existing customer than those found on social networks – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or online communities via Social CRM. We all know that social media is the preferred means of communication. Why not tap into that power, capture its emotion and consequently gather ideas for innovation and enable customers to help each other with user communities.