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c h a p t e r9 :SOCIAL CRM■your customers. This necessitates understanding the points of contact between your
business and your customers.
Social CRM and the general management of conversations and adoption of
Web 2.0 technologies to drive innovation depend heavily on understanding the experi-
ences that create conversations. For Social CRM programs that are intended to change
perceptions, sustain positive word-of-mouth, or address a negative situation, the iden-
tification of the root cause of the experience is essential, as generally speaking it is an
underlying business process or practice that forms the root cause of these conversations.
As a well-understood example, Zappos focuses on high levels of customer sat-
isfaction as the “root cause” for nearly everything that is said about the firm and the
ways in which the company is able to operate internally. Zappos grew based on cus-
tomer referrals, driven by satisfied customers, as a result of its understanding of how
to create the experiences that would drive delight. For example, Zappos relies on mea-
sures of customer satisfaction more than talk time in its customer service teams. They
are able to do this because its employees understand the importance of a satisfied cus-
tomer. Compare this with call agents that are held to strict call-time standards, where
getting the customer off the phone is instead the focus. With its various processes of
delight understood, Zappos pushed the ability to act based on these principles out
into the organization, to the very edges of its business, where its employees come into
contact with customers. Employees are empowered—and expected—to “do the right
thing” for Zappos’ customers. And they do it.
The idea of employee empowerment is worth noting, as it too is a factor in your
Social CRM program. Think about the last time you were in a restaurant, for example,
and you brought an issue to a server’s attention only to hear “Let me check with the
manager....” Compare this with an experience where that same server is able to resolve
the issue right on the spot: Some establishments have specifically trained and empow-
ered employees to make decisions based on judgment and an understood business norm
of customer delight. Which experience are you more impressed with—“I can take care
of that for you” versus “Let me check on that”—and more likely to talk about favor-
ably as a result?
Taking the idea of understanding “root causes” one step further, and again to
reinforce the deep, organization-wide nature of Social CRM and the adoption of social
technology, Zappos carries its mission of “customer delight” right through to its hiring
practices. From Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh comes the following, which is about as “root
cause” as you can get:
“We interview people for culture fit. We want people who are passionate
about what Zappos is about—service. I don’t care if they’re passionate
about shoes.”
By understanding your own delivery experiences and company culture, you can
identify the planning scenarios—for example, changes to customer service policy or