Social CRM For Dummies

Chapter 3

Overcoming Challenges to Social CRM

In This Chapter

• Tapping into social CRM best practices
• Preparing a plan of action
• Setting goals for a social CRM program

Clearly, there are many benefits to using social CRM to gain more information about customers. However, this new information can lead to other challenges that you must be prepared to face.

Adapting to this flood of information can be overwhelming. A company must make organizational, technological, and strategic shifts to fully integrate social CRM into an organization of any size. As a fairly new process for businesses, social CRM guidelines are still being developed. In this chapter, we outline current challenges in social CRM and provide best practices for overcoming these obstacles.

Understanding the Challenges of Social CRM

One of the biggest challenges in social CRM is the speed at which new technology, communication channels, and customers adapt to each other. Social CRM is a major shift in the way companies perceive and interact with customers. Monitoring technology can't always keep up with changes and additions to social media platforms, and we can't always predict customer adoption and use patterns of new social media channels. Frankly, we don't know what we don't know until we experience it personally.

Integrating social CRM into your organization requires flexibility as both businesses and customers adjust and adapt to the social CRM process. Here, we identify some of the most common challenges you ...