If you are involved in any type of product or service sales, chances are you have some kind of CRM system in place.  For small businesses, this might simply be an spreadsheet with customer records that you use to manage contacts and client status.  For large organizations, this might mean the deployment and operationalization of a enterprise-class system like SalesForce.  In either case, these efforts will probably need to be revisited in the context of social media, and in the context of a legitimate social strategy.

Historically, business owners have pushed and pulled customers through a sales cycle of some kind.  These typical follow the Awareness -> Engagement -> Conversion -> Retention model, or some similar variant.  Throwing social interactions into the mix brings businesses away from this, and into a land where the customer has more guiding influence.  Rather than being the “pushees” and “pullees”, they are doing some of the shoving themselves.

To understand how to take your CRM efforts into the social space, you need to put on a slightly different hat, and you certainly need to understand how to engage your customers, and when.  Typically, customers are diving into (or starting) social conversations about products and services in one of several ways:

1. Making a Statement:  They simply make some kind of comment somewhere in the social web about something.  They are not necessarily expecting a response.  An Amazon book review might be an example of this.  This can take several forms however, and it is important to know if the person is venting, enjoying being a subject matter expert, ramping up for a decision, or just killing time.
2. Having a Chat:  They take their statement to another person, and engage in a conversation about an issue.  Facebook email, or other closed system of communication, is an example.  This may be a lop-sided engagement if one person is more active than another.
3. Crying for Help:  This is a person who wants to start a dialogue and throws a comment or critique out into the social web hoping for a response.
4. Seeking Advice:  This type of person has a specific concern or question that they need answered.  They are probably not as desperate as the Implorer, but are certainly more focused than the Statement Maker.
5. Socializing:  They are engaged in a community for any number of reasons (i.e. they love the topic, love being helpful, etc.) and are very active and engaged.

These are just some ways to look at how people are getting engaged, and what their intentions might be.  As a social leader in your organization, it is up to you to identify these folks and come up with ways to identify their needs, and figure out a way to satisfy them.  Implementing a social CRM plan will require that you understand these audiences and have a plan to engage them.  Remember:  once you’ve started this relationship, you’ll need to keep it going.  Be sure to have the methodologies and resources in place to do so.