Well, I can’t tell you how much time I’ve been devoting to all the amazing twists and turns happening in the SCRM (see that? I’ve even adopted the ‘S’!) world since last we met on these virtual pages.
Some undeniable truths:
- Social is the new black. Got that?
- Another thing…Analytics that used to take me 6 months of hard work, mental gymnastics, and sleepless nights now happens in an instant. Prettier than I could have ever done it back in the day.
- I have to say things like ‘back in the day’ more and more.
- The Cloud is ubiquitous.
- Mobile and Touch are just ‘how we do it’ now.
- Your Mom is on Facebook. Your Mom (it turns out) is likely an early Pinterest adopter.
- Business is struggling to keep up, to make sense of it, and to use their budget wisely.
- Shiny-Thing Syndrome is rampant. RAMPANT! It is one of my least favorite corporate maladies. Of course, ‘That’s Simple-itis‘ is worse, but I really want to stay on track so I’ll just move on.
- This post is meant to serve as my quick but exciting (to me) return to my blog as well as to let you know where I’ve been.
Hi. I’ve been reading, thinking, talking, implementing, and researching in the middle of this incredible time. At least once a day I feel so excited that I either pick up the phone, compose a tweet, start a chat, or – if I have to – craft an email to let another colleague know how AWESOME it is to do what we do. They know it already, of course, and are very likely kind of getting sick of these interruptions but I just can’t help it. This is hands down the most fun I’ve ever had doing my job. That’s coming from a person (read: nerd) who lists her professional pursuit as a hobby lo these many years.
At any rate, the customer is getting heard. The constituency and community is being recognized. Why? Because we created the equalizing tools that foster this channel. As a result, business needs to LISTEN (and that is just about the MOST exciting opportunity to amaze and delight there is). As I dive into some of the more effective ways to weave listening into traditional Sales, Service, and Community efforts, I just get more blown away. We are really starting to be able to connect with our customers and colleagues and fans and detractors. We’ve got lots to learn from each of these connections and can finally dive into the Big Data (another shiny thing? Not a chance.) with elegance and speed.
So if this is interesting in the least, keep reading! I’ve got a few of my favorite sources below to get your motor running!
- Paul Greenberg on ZDNet. I’ve said it before but this guy just GETS it. In a big way. Kind of my Yoda, he is.
- Radian6 Providing TONS of really useful strategic and tactical content via many channels. Like everything they do: AWESOME
- Kelly Craft Blogs on Social CRM, Gadgetry, and getting it done. Very sharp lady.
- Christopher Barger MAY be the Yoda of Social Business planning?! Read his blog on Forbes, you should.
- Salesforce.com Blog They’re taking a ton of big guns’ ammo and making it available to you. Really pretty and very actionable.
- HubSpot puts a TON of content out for your consideration. I highly recommend their Webinars as well.
CRMjen 