 OUR TAKE -
The New (Old) Social Network
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 | Measure the Impact of Social Networking on Customer Service
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| Lasting Impressions:
You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
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Basketball Hall of Fame coach John Wooden
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Last week, I wrote about how asking for feedback can be like a cry for help. As a part of the discussion, I asked readers about the role of these new social networks. The response has been great. One response suggested an new (old) social network not to be overlooked.
He wrote, "We already have a technology within every company that is not being properly used: the CSR. You have given two great examples (hotel clerks and real estate agents) where the CSR fails to fix a broken sales process. The CSR already knows how the social media will report on his/her customer service. The CSR already knows the opinions of the customer (both the good and the bad) but fails to report on it to management. Why? There are many reasons: short term vs. long term perspectives, lack of training, fear, politics, cultural issues, financial, etc. It is not simply the fault of the CSR. We all fail to create the environment that allows information to be reported and acted upon."
Here is more: "Social media sites now give valuable insight into customer's thoughts and feelings about the company and its products or services. Insights we already have available from our CSRs but fail to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, there is an important difference between the input we could get from properly using our CSRs and social media. Using CSRs we can be proactive and fix customer problems hopefully before they become too large. With social media we will be reactive and the problems may become too public and too big to fix."
Would we ignore the input from CSRs if they wrote on social networks what they heard from their customers That's my take. What's your take?
Gary Lemke, Publisher
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 NEW IN CRM
News: SupportSoft Signs Agreement to Sell to Consona Corporation
Consona has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the enterprise software related assets of SupportSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRT) in an all-cash transaction valued at $20 million. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2009. Upon closing, the enterprise software related assets of SupportSoft will operate as product lines within Consona. The SupportSoft’s Intelligent Assistance Suite is positioned as complementary to the Consona CRM service and support suite as they are built for organizations that are required to service and support complex, high technology products and services in order to maintain long-term customer relationships, such as cable, telecom and software companies; managed service providers; and large IT helpdesks.(Consona
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Article: Growth Through Self-Service
A vast group of customers are dissatisfied with their self-service experiences on Web sites of technology companies, according to a recent survey. The survey found that 55 percent of consumers rated their self-service experience as about the same, worse, or much worse than it was two years ago. In addition, 65 percent of consumers have switched providers because of poor service or products. Despite these problems, a robust online self-service and support portal is a competitive necessity, a key strategic differentiator and a growth-engine opportunity. Companies that do not take the steps necessary to enhance their sites will find themselves falling behind organizations whose online self-service support capabilities are more aligned with customer needs and preferences.(DestinationCRM
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News: CA Taps Verizon for Unified Communications & Collaboration
Verizon Business is helping CA transform its global contact center and enterprise operations with a new unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) solution. Under the agreement, Verizon Business will provide an advanced Private IP network integrated with the Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1 platform to more than 12,000 CA employees in 65 locations in 35 countries. Verizon Business IT consultants will also help CA make the most of this new IP communications environment to enhance productivity and collaboration across CA's call center operations. The new call center environment will integrate voice over IP (VoIP) and UC&C to help CA fully leverage its personnel in the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific so the company can become even more responsive to its customers' needs. It will also enable CA call center agents to telework - conduct business at locations other than a traditional call center - thus enabling CA to quickly mobilize its workforce and maintain continuity of business operations in the event of unforeseen circumstances.(Verizon
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Article: What Makes a Social Network Valuable? The Answer Surprises
“What do we know about the networks of high performers? What promotes knowledge worker productivity? What would you do if you could see these networks? What would you do differently?” Rob Cross, author of a new book, Driving Results through Social Networks, shed light on the answers to these questions and others. These questions are especially important because the answers lead organizations away from practices that worked a year ago, but might not today. For example, if you really want to know how your firm won a new client, what’s the value in knowing that your marketing team began by mining a database? (CustomerThink
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