Spice up your CRM with social network

Social seems to be the new "hot" kid in the CRM block. Not so new in fact, this is a buzz word since early 2007 but the big push of the social networks and Web 2.0 technologies last year makes it more appealing from a marketing (and investors) point of view.

I won't dare to give a definition of Social CRM because I still have to figure out what is the full extend of social network in the CRM field beyond Twitter and Facebook applications. Try to Google "Social CRM" with your favorite browser and search engine then make your mind up with the advices of the best experts.

One of the most important aspects of a CRM system is its role as a central repository for structured information. While unstructured information are already part of the game, Social CRM will bring a lot of them with the risk to overflow an orderly space. To give the lie to the proverb Too much information kills information, we need more than a Twitter alike interface full of cryptic messages.

My purpose here is not to make fun of Social CRM or the highly successful Twitter. As a provider and developer of online services, we try to understand what features are most relevant for our customers. Behind every trend, there is always something positive. At the same time, it is quite important for us to avoid wasting time and money on useless gadgets.

In the previous post, I mentioned the upcoming features in 2010. The availability of the API to open AppShore to third party applications and reciprocally the development of interfaces to access external web services should give customers, partners and us the technical means of spicing up the current AppShore offering with some Social features.

How to transform your vacations in business?

Back in February this year, the family and I lived in mainland China since 3 years. We love the country and the people but we needed a serious break. After a long debate with the daughter, we settled for 2 weeks of vacations in Japan (her choice) spread across different places to taste various aspects of the country:

• Osaka where we have some friends.
• Kanazawa, a mid sized city with a strong samurai history.
• Nosawa onsen, a traditional mountain village not far from Nagano.
• Tokyo

While in Nozawa onsen, for a too short 4 days ski trip, we met another family and we started to sympathize and to talk about the snow, the weather, the food, the kids and a little bit about our respective businesses then we exchanged emails. Few days later while in Tokyo, I received an email from the "other" family man,  He proposed to meet before our departure to China to discuss a little bit about AppShore...

Fast forwarding, AppShore Japan LLC is incorporated in Tokyo. The offering has been fully translated and localized by a brilliant team of CRM consultants. First customers helped us to test the offering during the few months of the beta period. Website is setup and ready to take orders.

Congratulations Guys, you did a great job!

http://www.appshore.co.jp