
Social CRM Means Business in 2012 - jpdoggett
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gartnergroup/2012/02/16/social-crm-means-business-in-2012/
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jpdoggett
...but technology won't be enough to make it really work.

I would argue that social networking (and marketing) has boomed at the
individual / consumer level because the technology alone has been enough to
catalyse new ways of interacting. Business (and especially B2B business) is
different. The motives are different, the risks are different and the
economics are different.

B2B companies won't "like" each other but they will try to form new
partnerships within extended value systems to do business more efficiently and
effectively. This relies particularly on network credibility & trust (i.e. no
infiltrators), efficient discovery and requirements-matching based on complex
criteria, and extensive third-party feedback, among other factors.

B2B execs won't tolerate information overload and won't filter through reams
of user-generated content, most of which is likely to be self-promotional
because few have the time or inclination to produce genuine value-add content
on their own initiative. They will also need to carefully manage the nature
and scope of specific interactions within and across corporate boundaries to
prevent "off-message" embarrassments.

Finally, the commercial dynamics of social business networks will be very
context-specific and will vary widely depending on the underlying market
structures and the complexity of the transactions taking place. It's not like
B2C which is more of a straight fight over who can capture biggest market
share: it's a more nuanced balance between inter-company collaboration in non-
differentiating areas and competition elsewhere.

New and better technology will help, sure, but I believe that for social
business to achieve its true potential requires a model with expert human
interaction at its heart. Their role will be to tailor the networks to the
context, guarantee the authenticity and legitimacy of members, stimulate
collective intelligence and prevent abuse. That's what is preventing the vast
majority of B2Bs from using social networking as more than a token marketing
tool right now. The technology exists already that could create huge surpluses
of value by streamlining the B2B transaction process but it will need a
specialised group of professionals to apply it. I guess it's like the
publishing industry. The technology itself is no longer revolutionary but it
takes more than technology to launch and operate a successful business
magazine. The know-how is crucial.

