It would be incorrect to say that there is a new type of customer out there. In reality, they are the same customers, they’re just consuming their data and information in a different manner. They’ve gone social.
This shift has forced businesses to approach their customers in different ways. The message has been replaced by the conversation. The methods of communication have morphed from a simple line to a convoluted mess of back and forth interactions. The way that businesses perform customer relationship management has spun on its head.
This graphic by our friends at GetSatisfaction brings it all together for us in an easy-to-follow visualization.
Click image to enlarge.
About JD Rucker
Got to say this is upside-down & back-to-front thinking.
It’s not people out there who’ve changed, it’s CRM folk who’ve had to change their map of human behaviour: we aren’t self-determining individuals whose prime function is to interaction with the brand and it’s activities; we are fundamentally social creatures who are adapted for a world of others. Always have been and always will.
Please try to keep up at the back!
Mark’s right, the customer hasn’t changed, but his expectations have. Still, it’s a fundamental leap of faith for most companies who are now approaching social media marketing for the first time, or at least seriously for the first time. The switch for “old guard” companies is significant, and the adjustment period isn’t finished yet.
Thankfully, the learning curve is not that steep, since engagement is a concept that shouldn’t be so foreign to seasoned business professionals who know how to convert users into consumers (there is a difference).
This post is gold, thanks for putting it together. I’ve been saying since 2004 that social software would become the standard for Customer Relationship Management. How could it not? The usability was light-years ahead of CRM technology just 5-6 years ago. Salesforce chatter is a perfect example of this. I don’t think the customer will ever change, even if the technology does.
I was searching for some info on how customers think today and you’ve summed it up in an easy to read manner. I think that businesses fail because they try to ‘manage’ relationships with customers… when they should be ‘building’ relationships instead. Now, that we have more options right at the speed of type, may the genuine brand win the game. Authenticity Rules! – marissa @ garious