Over the past year or so I've had the great opportunity to participate in a number of events on the topic of Social CRM. I've been to New York (five times..and going back two more times), Boston (twice - including the Rockstars of Social CRM deal with Radian6), San Francisco, Orlando and Detroit. I've even gone to Buenos Aires to talk Social CRM.
I've been so many places talking about this stuff its unreal. But the one place I haven't really talked much about Social CRM is Atlanta - where I live. Well, thanks to the folks at Sage Software I will be able to add the ATL to the list of places I've talked Social CRM. That's because the Sage Summit - their annual user conference - is coming to town next week, taking place at the Georgia World Congress Center!!!
While I do enjoy participating in conferences taking place in other parts of the country (and the world), there's something really cool about having a company like Sage hold its conference in my backyard. And Atlanta is a great place for these kinds of events, so let's hope other vendors follow Sage's lead and come down here for some real southern hospitality.
Sage Summit takes place November 9-12 and has a host of general sessions and breakouts that will cover a number of application areas. One of those areas is customer relationship management. That's where I come in, as I've been invited to talk about Social CRM and some of the trends I see taking place.
I am extremely excited to be a part of Sage Summit (just check the short video below...). I'm excited anytime I get a chance to talk about Social CRM, but I admit that it's even more fun having an opportunity to do it right here at home.
If you happen to be in Atlanta next week attending the conference, and interested in the subject of Social CRM, please come join me on Wednesday, November 11th at 8:30am et. And if you can't make it to Atlanta, no problem! Sage will be streaming it live over the web. Just click on the "Register today" badge and you can check it out for free from wherever you are. And if you do register and attend the webcast, Sage will also send you a complimentary eBook I put together with some more thoughts I have on how companies can increase their chances to succeed with Social CRM.
Ken McGaffin is the chief marketing officer of Wordtracker - the makers of some of the leading keyword research tools on the market for search engine optimization.
Recently Chris and Wordtracker put together an information packed ebook - Blogging for Business: 50 Steps to Building Traffic and Sales. I had Chris and Ken on to talk about some of the key points covered in the 160+ page book. They touch on strategies, tools, tactics and techniques for getting off the ground if you're a newbie, or upping your game if you're trying to take your blogging to the next level.
It was impossible to get to everything covered in the book, but we did talk about how Chris uses Google Analytics to track blog traffic, and Feedburner for tracking engagement and conversions. He shares a few tricks he uses to get convert site visitors to subscribers. And Chris also explains why he tracks complaints - and shares why he actually encourages people to complain. And Ken shares how he finds great ideas for getting past writer's block, and a great story of how you can use keyword research to help improve social media monitoring efforts. I hadn't thought of this before but these kinds of research tools are not just good for finding words to feature in your content, but they're also great for finding words you should be monitoring on Twitter to enable you to join realtime conversations important to your business. Also check out Chris talking about the case study he did on using Twitter to launch a new website.
Check out the conversation below, or download the mp3 by clicking here. I got a great deal out of talking to them, and found the ebook to be a wealth of valuable information. And if you're interested in the ebook, you can use this link to get it for $29 - $10 off of the $39 regular price. Big thanks to the folks at Wordtracker for giving my blog readers this special discount.
It wasn't because I'm a faithful TypePad customer. It wasn't even because she's used to bossing guys named Brent around (her husband's name is Brent). It's because she is passionate about blogging and does not let anything get in the way of expressing her passion for it - and for doing it right!
Do yourself a favor and check out Lorelle as she shares some great advice on listening to yourself to come up with blogging ideas, why the world is waiting to hear from you, and how you can use WordPress with BuddyPress to create a community around your blog. And especially check out how she keeps putting me in my place!
I recently had a briefing from the folks at Helpstream. And while I didn't get hands-on with it, what I saw of it I liked. The integration of community functionality, social marketing and traditional CRM looks to be on target. But I'll reserve final thoughts on the service until I've had a chance to really check it out.
I don't have to reserve my opinion of Helpstream CEO Bob Warfield. I recently had a chance to speak with Bob and enjoyed getting his take on where social CRM is going. Bob shared his vision of what social CRM is, and the importance for companies to develop and implement social business processes. He also talks about the social CRM manifesto Helpstream put out on the company blog.
I totally agree with Bob on the social business process front. It's what differentiates social CRM from just hanging out on social sites and seeing how many followers you can accumulate. I like what Bob had to say, and the direction Helpstream seems to be headed in. So check out my conversation with Bob below, or download the mp3 here.
I just checked the forecast for Colorado Springs. Lows in the 20s.... I mean I hear it's beautiful out there and I'm looking forward to it, but lows in the 20s? Really?
I'm headed out to Colorado Springs to check out the RightNow Technologies user conference. It's my first time going to a RightNow event so I'm curious to see what takes place there. I'm also curious to see what they've done with HiveLive in terms of integrating the social network platform with their core CRM functionality.
One of the folks I hope to catch up to is Dave Vap - RightNow's VP of Products. I had an opportunity to talk with Dave just after the HiveLive acquisition was announced. He gave me his take on why RightNow made the move, what it will mean to their customers, and how they will help customers implement social crm strategies. You can check the conversation out below, or download the mp3.
I've been talking a great deal (unfortunately not on this blog lately...) about the power of accidental communities. I call them that because I stumbled my way into starting a few of them. Stumble is the right word because I had no intention to start anything, I just wanted to keep track of stuff on Twitter, and maybe get involved with a few conversations.
About this time last year I had been writing and talking (mostly to Paul Greenberg) about the idea of social CRM for about a year. I had just finished a whitepaper on Social CRM for the folks at Sage Software and was looking try to connect with other folks interested in this area. I was also right in the middle of the whole Barack 2.0 thing, which made me look at Twitter in a whole new light. So I decided to start using a hash tag on Twitter to start tracking anything I tweeted about with respect to social CRM - that tag was #scrm.
As I began using the #scrm tag I noticed something - nobody else was. I would use it to share links and keep track of conversations, but weeks went by without anyone else using the tag. Then @ScorpFromHell (aka @Prem_k) started using it like crazy. He used it so much we began to question if he was just one person... the verdict is still out on that. Then others started using it and joining the conversation. Guys like @Mjayliebs and @CRMStrategies and @EKolsky. There was @JohnFMoore and @MKrigsman and @Jesus_Hoyos...... and @DrNatalie and @Lager and @Kitson.
So what started as nothing more than a way to keep track of stuff on Twitter turned into a real community of people interested in the development of this thing we (NOW) call social CRM. And not only are these people interested in social CRM, they are interesting people period. I know this because the #scrm hash tag made it possible for me to really get to know them. And the hash tag made it feel like I already knew them when I met them face to face, like recently at the CRM Evolution and Oracle OpenWorld conferences. Check the picture below of me, Esteban Kolsky, Paul G, Marshall Lager and Denis Prombriant - taken by Michael Krigsman at OpenWorld.
Oh yeah, the hash tag also put me in touch with some of the smartest people in the space. And while I was the alone in the wilderness when I first started using it, I'm not alone any longer as more than 670 people are now using the #scrm tag. It's by far the best place to go to keep up with what's going on with social CRM. So as far as accidents go, this one ranks among the very best I've had.
To give you just a little sample of the great conversations taking place there, I recently invited a few of the #scrm regulars onto the Technology For Business Sake show to get there take on.....well, you know. So check out @Prem_k (Prem Kumar), @Mjayliebs (Mitch Lieberman), @Ekolsky (Esteban Kolsky) and @CRMStrategies (Brian Vellmure) as they share their must-hear takes on everything Social CRM. Listen below or download the mp3 by clicking here. Enjoy!
When you think of hot spots for social media activity Atlanta usually doesn't jump immediately to most people's minds. But there really is a lot going on down here. And while there have some good social media events in the ATL, we still don't have that signature event that really puts Atlanta on the social media map.
That all might be changing with New Media Atlanta, taking place on September 25th at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. NMATL will be an all day event very heavily focused on professional folks looking at social media from a business perspective. And to show how serious they are about making this a signature event, Chris Brogan is coming to town to speak!
In addition to Chris there will be a number of knowledgeable speakers to round out the day, including my buddy Desiree Scales of Bella Web Design. Desiree and Matt Fagioli - one of the event organizers - came down to the studios to record a conversation about the conference. They do a great job of giving me the scoop on what to expect for the day. All I can say is that I'm excited to be one of the speakers at what I think will be the first of many years for this cool event. And I'm not just saying this because the after party is going to be at a bowling alley. Did I mention my bowling prowess from back in the day? Time for me to get the old "soup bone" ready cuz I'm about to throw-down like I did back in the day!
Ok... let me calm down - bowling always gets to me... So check out the short conversation here (or download the mp3):
To learn more about the New Media Atlanta go here:
I hope to see you there... with bowling shoes on! Oh and if you need even more reason to go to NMATL, check out Desiree singing about why you should go:
One of the vendors in the leader category was Sage for it's ACT! contact management application. ACT! has been around forever, and has close to three million users. But with ACT! 2010 - the latest version released at the beginning of the month - Sage really brought the application into the "Social Age" with the ability to track information from Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites from within the app.
I recently had an opportunity to speak with Larry Ritter, Sage SVP and GM of CRM Solutions, to get some insight into what's new with ACT! 2010 and how it might impact the lives of the huge customer base. Larry touches on the why they changed the interface, the ability to track social network information, and the new email marketing/drip marketing capabilities that ACT! 2010 provides. Larry also discusses how members of the ACT! community site are helping to shape the direction Sage is taking with the product.
BTW today Sage announced a pilot cloud computing initiative for its SalesLogix product. I haven't had a chance to digest this yet, but you can check out the press release to learn more.
I'm back! Just returned yesterday from my first international speaking gig in beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina. Will do a full post on that later, but for now on with the show...
I am very excited to be teaming up with two great partners - small business expert and publisher of Small Business Trends Anita Campbell, and BlackBerry - to organize a 4 part webinar series we're calling Small Business Wednesday Webinars. The whole idea behind the series is to provide small business types like you and me an opportunity to learn some best practices for utilizing social networks, mobile devices and other technologies to better connect with today's socially-empowered customers and prospects. And let's face the facts here - if you want to give your business the best chance to succeed in "The Social Age" you'll have to figure out how to use this stuff to reach people that are in constant motion.
We're lining up a group of really sharp small business professionals and experts to share their knowledge and experiences with using social media, online services, and mobile applications to build strong business relationships in the age of social media. Subjects the experts will be tackling include:
The series kicks off Wednesday September 23, 2009 at 1:00 pm ET (New York time) with a discussion on using social media to connect with today's mobile customer. Featured small business professionals for this webinar include Pamela O'Hara of social CRM vendor BatchBlue, and Network Solutions' Shashi Bellamkonda - also known to many online as the Social Media Swami.
Anita and I hope you'll have an opportunity to join us the next few Wednesdays as we learn how to utilize these important new tools and strategies to better connect with today's socially-empowered, on-the-go customer. Thanks again to the folks at BlackBerry for making this possible!
A few weeks back on a recent episode of The CRM Playaz Paul and I were joined by Marshall Lager and Chris Bucholtz - two of our favorite writers (and talkers) in the industry. As bloggers/analysts/pundits/loud-mouths each of us get contacted regularly by vendors and their pr firms to keep us up to date on what's going on. Many times vendors/pr firms are looking to introduce themselves in order to build a relationship, show us a new product or service, or even to get one of their execs on one of our shows. And one such CEO reached out to Paul to introduce himself and his company, but arrogant manner in which he did so ended up making him great fodder for all four of us. You really have to check it out the show to hear just how badly things went for this guy.
Paul's story immediately made me think my own BRM story of arrogance, starring a person I'll call Madame Yes (using this to protect the names of the ignorant - not innocent). More on her in a minute...
Now I'm glad to have blogger/analyst relations folks like Oracle's Susie Penner, Sage's Ryan Zuk, and many others keep me up to speed with what's going on with their companies, and to set up conversations with executive team members. I also appreciate when CEOs and founders of smaller players reach out to me to introduce me to what they're up to. Mercury Grove's Scott Annan and BatchBlue's Pamela O'Hara are two that come immediately to mind that I keep my eye on because of a friendly email approach. This helps me try to stay on top of what's going on in the CRM industry, and allows me to be interviewed for this month's issue of Entrepreneur magazine on CRM/social media-related topics. participate in things like CRM magazine's 2009 Market Leader awards in the small business suite category. By the way be on the lookout for post I did on Paul's ZDNet blog on CRM where I share a few thoughts on how this year's awards played out.
So I really appreciate the vast majority of companies that contact me looking to share their story with me and to start a dialog. I sometimes get overwhelmed with requests, but I really encourage folks looking to connect to continue sending emails, tweets, Facebook wall writings and other forms of communication, and I'll try my best to touch base. As long as you're not like Madame Yes.
For those not familiar, Madame Yes was a character on an episode of the Flintstones who claimed she was too important to do dirty/dangerous work. Even being a little kid her arrogance made me wanna "holla", even if she was pretty good looking. See for yourself:
Now you know she must have touched a nerve, if I still remember that episode all these years later. But that same irritating, arrogant nature came back to me recently when I received an email from my new Madame Yes - actually this Madame Yes had to have her assistant send this, as she no doubt was too important to contact me on her own:
Good Afternoon,
I am Madame Yes's assistant and she would like to schedule some time to speak with you next week. Can you give me a few options that I can schedule for about 30 mins?
Onward & Upward
Sincerely,
Madame Y's Faithful Virtual Assistant
This is the email I got - the only thing changed is the name... once again to protect the name of the ignorant (not the innocent). This is it... really. So, would you really be surprised to find out that I did not respond to this? Now I was planning on answering this, except for the following little things:
I didn't know who the heck Madame Yes was, and this email never told me who the heck she was. I guess she assumed I was supposed to have heard of her.
She wants to schedule time to speak with me and doesn't say why she wants to, and what she wants to speak about
The "Good Afternoon" greeting has all the warmth and humanity of a robot
If she really wanted to connect with me she would have had her virtual assistant use a better template, or maybe even wrote the email herself
I mean, come on, madame. Would any of you be rushing to the keyboard to respond to this mess? I was so irritated by this that I actually spent valuable time searching for info on this character - and now I know why she didn't say much about herself.
Now compare Madame Yes to another email I received that same week, from Robin Carey of Social Media Today:
Hi Brent,
I'm a big fan of your blog and your insight into CRM in general. I don't know if you are aware of our company, Social Media Today, but we create web-based communities around btob topics, including TheCustomerCollective.com. We've worked with a number of leading bloggers in CRM, including Paul Greenberg, Denis Pombriant and others, but somehow we've never connected with you.
I've got a webinar coming up for which your input would be IDEAL, but I wondered if we could have a brief conversation about our mutual interests in the next day or two
Now after reading this, it wasn't a question of will I answer this, it was more about how quickly I could answer it. Let us count the reasons why:
Hi Brent - that sounds like a person... a friendly person at that
She gave me a nice compliment right off the bat. Now who wouldn't like that. It made me feel like my mother wasn't my only blog fan.
She didn't assume that I knew who she was or that I knew her company. Being highly respected in the business community I had definitely heard of her, her company and many of their sites, but i appreciated her modest approach.
She mentioned to people I have the utmost respect for
She mentioned what she wanted to talk about
This is night and day compared to Madame Yes. I was eager to speak with Robin, and have done so on numerous occasions on our way to building a very cool business relationship.
Madame Yes - I'm talking directly to you now - you're not too important to study Robin's approach to BRM. And while you're at it study how the Horn Group's Melissa Hick introduced herself to me recently, on behalf of her client, RightNow Technologies:
Hi Brent -
Before you set CRM aside for the weekend and get into the #fridaynitemix, I wanted to send an update onRightNow Technologies.
If you had ( but i know you didn't) read my previous post (Why I Learned Everything I Need to Know About Social Media in 1989, Not 2009) than you'll know that every Friday night on Twitter I play DJ and use the #fridaynitemix tag to keep track of the music I tweet out. And I give a disclaimer letting my CRM friends know that I'm going into music mode. And that disclaimer is how Melissa starts her email to me, letting me know that she's paying attention to me on Twitter. Guess what Madame Yes, that's all I needed to see before I made up my mind to follow up with her.
Now you're not too important to follow Robin and Melissa's examples if you knew it would get you a "yes" response, are you madame?
Charlene Li's Blog Charlene's blog should be read by everybody trying to determine if blogging, rss, wickis and other web 2.0 concepts should be implemented for their business....period!
CRMchump A lot of good information. And how can you not like a blog titled CRM chump?
CRM Mastery E-Journal Just a great source of information on all things related to CRM
PGreenblog Paul Greenberg has alot to say and he always makes it enjoyable to read. If you want to keep up with the CRM industry this is the blog for you. He'll also keep you up to date with his favorite sports franchise - the Yankees.
I've been so many places talking about this stuff its unreal. But the one place I haven't really talked much about Social CRM is Atlanta - where I live. Well, thanks to the folks at Sage Software I will be able to add the ATL to the list of places I've talked Social CRM. That's because the Sage Summit - their annual user conference - is coming to town next week, taking place at the Georgia World Congress Center!!!
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