Technology Elements in CRM 2.0

Technology	Context
Customer Support Self Support	Provide a unique customer experience by providing exceptional customer support
Sales Force Automation Sales Intelligence	Empower the sales force with the tools and data they need to work efficiently
Enterprise 2.0 Collaboration tools	Allow employees to collaborate internally and externally with the applications they know and love
Wiki-Webs Forums	Collect and share knowledge in order to leverage what has already be done
Enterprise Search Engines	Find information quickly – independent of the place
Blogs Idea Banks	Self expression and information sharing with colleagues and customers
Social Bookmarking Tagging	Leverage the “wisdom of the crowds” Crowdsourcing
Mashups	Reassemble existing pieces of information and functionality and build a new service
Really Simple Syndication (RSS)	Subscribe to streams of data on the WWW (e.g. blogs, changes in a wiki, etc.)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)	Optimize the internet presence of the corporation for search engines, so that customers an easily find them
Campaign Management and Marketing Tools	Toolkit to find the right customers of a campaign and execute the campaign effectively
Analytical CRM Business Intelligence (BI)	Analyze customer behavior and draw conclusions; calculate lifetime value, up-sell and cross-sell opportunities, etc.
Real-time Events Dashboards	Empower employees and management with real-time information; Automate actions based on real-time information and events

CRM Strategy 2.0

The CRM 2.0 strategy defines the overall vision and outlining the process of how the customer relationships are handled by a company. This part of the corporate strategy includes general guidelines and processes dealing with customer contacts as well as business ethics related to the customer relations. Incorporating the Customer Relationship Model 2.0 into the corporate strategy can be a game changer. It might help discover blue oceans and unveil opportunities that would have been fallen through the cracks without meaningful customer conversations. CRM 2.0 might even unveil that the current corporate strategy is inefficient and needs to be adapted as a whole.

The Figure illustrates the CRM 2.0 strategy as being the root and driving force for the organizational structure and the technology. While this hierarchy is also valid for traditional CRM implementations, it is even more stringent for next generation Customer Relationship Models. Focusing or starting with technology results in a much higher risk of failure due to not aligned corporate culture and ineffective execution. Technology has to follow organizational and strategic guidelines.

Business Velocity - The Value of Networks

Bob Metcalfe introduced his theory of the value of a growing network around 1980, saying that Value ≈ n². While Metcalfe was at that time trying to sell the concept of Ethernet to potential investors and the formula is heavily discussed by experts in the past years, it can still be applied in many areas of Web 2.0 growth.

Especially the “Critical Mass Crossover” is valid for communities within the social web. While there are thousands of social networking platforms available, the value for users exponentially increases with the number of registered members. Only a few platforms reach a critical mass of users that encourage others to follow and create a vicious circle resulting in market dominance. Being first is the guiding principle because consumers see very little value to sign up and actively engage in a social network that is just a copy of another one having an already grown community.

This results in a high pressure of fast implementation and dispersion of new ideas in order to pass the critical mass and fill the respective segment. The entry barrier for followers is relatively high, although there are usually niches to occupy in terms of uncovered regional or thematic territories.
Ebay is a good example for a company that pretty much completely occupied the global auction market for individuals. Although eBay fees eat up a substantial part of the auction returns for sellers, it is still the number one network because of the large number of potential buyers that do not see the value of searching on other platforms that are cheaper or free for the seller. This creates a tremendous entry barrier for followers and make eBay a company with a revenue of 14.07 billion US$ in 2012.

To gain such a competitive advantage, it is necessary to be fast to market and sometimes sacrifice quality product maturity in order to be first. Going to market with unstable or unfinished products is a difficult and risky endeavor – especially for large corporations that have an established and high valued brand. To avoid any damage to the brand, it is crucial to have an ongoing conversation with customers and let them know about the ongoing development and the existing issues. When communicating honestly, not only can brand damage be avoided, but also interested customers get involved and actively contribute to enhance and develop products and services. These users are more likely to become advocates for a brand or company.