Manufacturers Embrace Social CRM

Recently, I did a lot of research on the burgeoning field of social CRM technology, in service of Managing Automation’s April cover story, “The Voice of the Customer Finds Its Pitch.” What I found made me feel a bit like an undersea explorer who discovers living organisms where scientists said none could exist.

I think many people who are part of the manufacturing industry handicap it unfairly — myself included. For a long time, we’ve talked about industrial companies lagging other sectors when it comes to technology adoption, for instance. And although that prejudice contains elements of truth, manufacturers, as a whole, are a much more diverse and progressive lot than many of us give them credit for.

That applies to customer-related processes and the new breed of social CRM technology, which is asserting its legitimacy, in part, by claiming its own initialism: SCRM. As Michael Fauscette of IDC cogently points out in a recent online post, SCRM is not some technology module that a manufacturer can purchase to vault it into the realm of Web 2.0, social networks, and the online voice of the customer. But I would venture to guess that most manufacturers already knew that.

In fact, what I found in my reporting was that in some of the deepest corners of the industrial world, companies are fashioning strategies to interact with their customers on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and listening to these new sources of customer chatter for insight that can lead to new products and better customer service. In some ways, it’s the tactical equivalent of listening in on customers’ phone conversations — a lot is said online these days that was heretofore trapped in private discussions. And today it’s practically a party line, because manufacturers and brand owners can speak up for themselves in this new realm. CRM companies are helping them do so in some cases, and, in others, manufacturers are venturing out on their own, learning as they go.

The first revelation is that they are indeed swimming in these waters, in depths we thought were inhospitable to manufacturing life forms. The second is that they’re stronger swimmers than we might have guessed.

Check out the April cover stories for some examples and for a deeper dive into just what SCRM is:

Main story: The Voice of the Customer Finds Its Pitch

Technology feature: Technology Directions: A Flurry of New CRM Apps

What do you think? Are manufacturers technology laggards?