Published on the 01/04/2010 | Written by Newsdesk
Once upon a time, those with a sharp commercial eye might have mined the hills, with pickaxes, for gold, now they mine the web with software tools for the golden sales opportunities out there…
Be careful what you say and do as an organisation, because the web really is watching you.
Of course, if you’re one of the good guys it’s sweet. But even adverse comments on blogs and Twitter – the micro-blogging phenomenon – can be turned to advantage by the canny.
For example, a chap of iStart’s acquaintance tweeted that he couldn’t buy the kind of useful battery-powered screw-driver from Mitre 10 that he’d recently seen an electrician wielding to do a tricky, tight-corner job. Quick smart came a reply from Mitre 10’s marketing department that the company had four such screw-drivers in a store quite nearby and the latest model too.
Intelligently, the store wasn’t concerned about it and its products being disparaged; it was focused on a potential sale. This is a personal, effective example of the emerging new Social CRM discipline in action (the convergence of social networking and CRM). It allows companies to track comments being made about them online, so they can both monitor their public image and respond if they wish, as Mitre 10 chose to do.
Sophisticated software tools to help do this are now starting to appear. But Twitter itself offers monitoring software too, for those of a slightly geeky bent who would like to get started quick smart.
