A CRM Webinar entitled “Keys to Successful Social CRM Programs” took place Oct. 20 and the archived version can still be accessed. The Webinar features Paul Greenberg, who certainly needs no introduction to the CRM industry, as he’s one of the top CRM consultants working today.

“Your customers are now empowered with more choices than ever before, and can talk about you where they want, when they want, and in places you can’t control, ultimately affecting you without your permission,” Webinar officials said. “Customer behavior has changed, and thus, so must you.”

To support your relationships with 21st century customers, the Webinar’s officials contend, it’s important to develop responsive Social CRM programs that support these new dynamics. Greenberg, author of CRM at the Speed of Light, will break down the basics when it comes to crafting successful Social CRM programs.

Greenberg’s best-selling CRM at the Speed of Light, Fourth Edition: Social CRM 2.0 Strategies, Tools and Techniques for Engaging Your Customers, is as close as CRM has to a standard textbook. He is also the president of the 56 Group, an enterprise applications consulting services firm, focused on CRM strategic services including go-to-market strategies for vendors and integrators, implementation strategies, and vendor selection.”

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“In the beginning, Facebook was viewed as a personal-focused networking tool. Now users outnumber the entire population of the United States.”

So say officials of a recent Webinar offered by Parature, titled “Facebook for Business: How to Engage and Support Your Customers Directly on Your Facebook Page.”

Clearly, the Webinar said, Facebook can be a powerful tool for brands, businesses, and non-profits. The presentation was geared to helping businesses maximize their business to get the most out of being on Facebook, including learning how to add the Parature for Facebook customer support application directly to your Facebook Page to ensure your customers’ experience is optimized.

“Facebook is now the Internet's top destination for Web users, beyond Yahoo and all of Google's sites,” wrote TMC’s Tracy Schelmetic recently. “Americans in all age groups spent over 41 million minutes on Facebook last month alone. If you run a business and you ignore Facebook, it's possibly at the peril of your business' health. If you find that the prospect of trying to figure out how to connect your business to the world's largest social networking site makes you break out in a cold sweat, you're probably not alone. Luckily, there are solutions that will help you navigate the unfamiliar water.”

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IVR, as we all know by now, is short for Interactive Voice Response, the wonderful technology that automates a company’s phone calls. You know, the “Press 1 for Accounts...” deal. As officials of Elite Telecom said, “it’s therefore not surprising that there is an increasing amount of organizations turning to IVR to reduce the cost of common sales, service, collections, inquiry and support calls.”

As EliteTelecom officials said, most of us have actually used IVR, for one reason or another: “Take for example flight schedules. You call to check your flight is still flying, that’s IVR. How about bank balances? That report you get back to say your account is beyond overdraft limits and next time you touch the ATM, it’ll eat your bank card, is IVR. Or what about movie show times? Yep, you got it now, IVR.”

Interactive Voice Response “is simply there to help an enterprise run more smoothly and efficient,” EliteTelecom officials said, adding that the company “offers bespoke IVR systems that will instantly benefit your company. Rather than using an outdated auto-attendant, an IVR system will allow you to answer 100 percent of your calls – meaning that your customers are kept happy and your business remains booming.”

A word of caution: There are some inquiries which cannot, and should not, be foisted off onto the IVR system, since that could cost you a customer and everybody that customer knows; they might even go nuclear and slam you on Facebook. And you can’t unring that bell, friends.

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Here’s a question that was posed recently: Do Seattle police still rush respond to house security alarms? The answer will reassure Seattle residents: “Yes, depending on what happens before the alarm is reported.”

Let the Seattle city government explain:

If someone in the home pushes the panic button, officers will be dispatched immediately to an active burglary call. Seattle Police’s Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said: “If a burglary alarm is sounded and a home-monitoring company such as ADT makes two calls trying to verify the alarm's validity, police say officers will respond as though it's an active burglary.”

But here’s where it gets tricky: A company reporting a burglary or intrusion alarm that hasn't made two phone calls attempting to verify the validity of the alarm “won't have their call accepted. They will be told to make the two phone calls, then call back,” Seattle police said.

Why? That policy was started on Jan. 1, 2009, to reduce false alarm responses: “False alarms cost the city an estimated $1.2 million in 2007 and took the equivalent of 12 full-time patrol officers off the street, according to city data,” the police said.

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