CRM at the Speed of Light: Social CRM Strategies, Tools and Techniques for Engaging Your Customers (Fourth Edition)

The author goes a long way to explain all the changes confronting CRM, for example, devoting two chapters to customer experience and its importance, as well as mapping the customer experience. He claims that the “inside-out” approach of CRM is now obsolete. Social CRM is an “outside-in” concept and methodology for customer interactions with a company, so we have taken the concepts of CRM 1.0 and CEM and merged them. The book also addresses NPS and questions whether it is enough, showing alternative metrics and the need to recognize the true value or profitability of generating consumer advocates, utilizing additional financial and operational metrics to help drive strategic decision making. (see The Ultimate Question 2.0 review by Senteo for more on NPS) There are examples throughout and case studies, for example, an overview of on-premises vs. on-demand and open-source applications (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, Sage CRM, SaaS, SugarCRM, Cloud Computing).

Given the title of the book, the author preaches the virtues of CRM throughout and questions potential challengers such as customer experience management (CEM), which is assumed to just be merged with CRM in order to address the new challenges of Social CRM. Nonetheless, readers would be well served to delve more into good customer experience books for a complete picture (see The Experience Economy and Infinite Possibility). Also, while the book gives many examples of applications of both the theory/strategy and systems, the book could use more information on implementation issues and ongoing measurement/management issues.

A social revolution in how we communicate has taken place in recent years. Smartphones, social web tools, and the instant availability of information in an aggregated and organized way provide real-time intelligence to customers, not just the enterprise.
Social CRM is critical to business success in today’s hyper-connected environment. Customers’ expectations are so great and their demands so empowered that a Social CRM strategy must be built around collaboration and customer engagement, not traditional operational customer management. It’s the company’s response to the customer’s control of the conversation that makes Social CRM work.
Written by CRM guru Paul Greenberg, CRM at the Speed of Light, Fourth Edition, reveals best practices for a successful Social CRM implementation. Greenberg explains how this new paradigm involves the customer in a synergetic discussion to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment.

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the subject of CRM. It provides a unique analysis of the impact of social media and technology on the customer relationship, resulting in a transfer of control to the customer vs. the previous models of transformation of the organization to focus on the customer from “inside-out.” It also provides ample examples of how companies in a wide variety of industries are using tools and strategies of CRM in the era of social media.