The Social Consumer
It doesn't just apply to sales either, social media is changing the way consumers look for customer service - 47% of social media users in the US now actively seek customer service through social media, a practice known as Social Care.

A recent survey found that 30% of social media users prefer to reach out to a brand for customer service via a social channel instead of the phone (2012 NM Incite Social Care Survey) and they are doing this irrespective of whether the brand is equipped to handle customer support over social media - they just expect it to.

What is startling about this survey is that it is not just the young, digitally savvy consumers who are using social media for customer support, the survey found that 30% of social media users over the age of 65 are using it too.
To complicate things further, the social consumer is not just an external factor in your business, increasingly these days they are your employees as well. 

These digital natives expect to interact with the organisation they work for in the same type of social manner, using the same kinds of social tools that they are familiar with in other aspects and areas of their lives.

The social consumer is a new breed of engaged and informed customer and that means every industry, every vertical and ultimately every business is going to be rethought in a social way.

This is a real threat to organisations who are unwilling or unable to change. But conversely, it is a huge opportunity for businesses of all sizes who are equipped to handle these new types of interactions in a digitally merged world.
The age of the passive customer is history. Empowered, vocal, connected,  and knowledgeable, to-days consumers are more engaged than ever before and are setting the tone, pace and direction that companies must travel.

Companies must begin to collaborate with and engage the customer, but they need to deliberately decide on the proper response to each interaction with them. This will require greater internal collaboration within the organisation, between sales, finance, operations, innovation and other departments in the company.

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Contrary to assumptions, the average connected consumer is not a texting teenager or a hipster with more devices than flannel shirts. She is 40 years old, earns $63,000 and owns several Web-ready devices. She’s all over Facebook, loves to browse catalogs and is enthusiastic about shopping via her devices. Does she look familiar?
- Visua.ly
There is no one-size-fits-all to developing a Social CRM strategy.To capture the value that can be derived from the unique customer network of your organisation, you must create your own map of what Social CRM looks like for your business.This is a long-term approach that requires careful planning and you need to start now.

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It no longer makes economic sense to send an advertising message to many in the hopes of persuading the few.
- M. Lawrence Light
Former Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald’s

Social CRM: Towards Enhanced CRM

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Discover the tools you need to develop your company in the face of the social revolution, as well as the methodology required to implement specific organizational models.
So how is your organisation equipped to handle this new breed of customer in this new consumer landscape?
How are you geared to compete in a social world?

Call us now on +353 1 960 9057