Social CRM (CRM and Social networks mashed together) is now being offered by many different companies each with their own version of what they really consider it to be. While companies like Hearsay and Lithitum are building some terrific pieces of Social CRM, for Social and CRM to truly reach their married potential there needs to be a deeper level of integration between social and existing enterprise CRM systems.

I make the jump directly to the enterprise because while small businesses may be able to nimbly move between CRM systems until they land on the correct SASS solution, enterprise companies have legacy systems with possibly millions of customer records. There is no desire, nor ability to move to a platform built for small business. Thus they are left with silos of information and can not have a full view of their customers. How then can companies begin to integrate social with their current CRM systems?

I believe that the absolute vital first step in integrating social and enterprise CRM, the lynchpin if you will, is contact profile matching. Continue Reading…