Roundtable Topic: CRM and Web 2.0: Leveraging New Technologies to Engage Customers
We asked the top CRM vendors to offer tips to our readers on how they might best leverage new “Web 2.0” CRM technologies to engage customers. Nitin Badjatia, an Enterprise Solutions Architect at Consona CRM, advises readers on the importance of transparency in the construction of a collaborative CRM environment.
Customer Participation and CRM 2.0
Contributed by: Nitin Badjatia, Enterprise Solutions Architect, Consona CRM
Forward thinking companies realize that engaging in this new ‘web 2.0’ world requires more than just enabling the new channels of communication, it requires a set of powerful tools to coordinate and manage these interactions, and provide intelligent feedback to all participants. Architected to enable this new paradigm, the best knowledge management suites can serve as core technologies that drive better interactions with your customer ecosystem by building a collaborative environment that leads to greater satisfaction and loyalty.Over the last decade, companies have seen a radical shift in the way their customers interact in the marketplace. The traditional mode of using defined channels of communication, has given way to a broad array of connection points with potential, and existing customers. At the same time, today’s customers expect a higher degree of transparency from companies whose products they rely on. This expectation of transparency is often met with mixed signals by companies that are unsure how to engage in the new paradigm.
As traditional channels erode and a broader community ecosystem emerges, companies must rethink their loyalty equation by understanding how to engage in the new environment. That new environment can drive to even higher customer loyalty through enhanced customer involvement in many crucial aspects of an organization, including customer support, product management and engineering, and marketing.
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