Are Enhanced Privacy Concerns Removing the Social From CRM?

Yes and no. Long before the recent data privacy gaffes by Facebook (and others), both LinkedIn and Facebook severely limited (in some cases altogether) the ability of third-party applications to gather user info and import it into their own systems. This included Social CRM.

I could never figure out why other than maybe it was a market share control issue. I also predicted, and the jury is still out, that LinkedIn wanted to be a CRM. They started down that path by introducing CRM-like features which have since been removed (some are still available in one or more of their premium platforms).

LinkedIn has started to loosen those requirements for some CRMs but, that too is more limited than it would appear to be on the surface. I recently sat in on a LinkedIn Sales Navigator demo and asked questions about their allowed integration with Salesforce. While they tout “syncing”, that sync, as it pertains to contacts, is one-way only (Salesforce to LinkedIn).

You cannot, for example, sync saved leads in LinkedIn to your Salesforce account and you cannot even export those for a manual import. When I dug deeper, I was told that this would amount to compromising (maybe even selling) client data. Now it all makes sense and, depending on how you look at it, it only makes the promise of Social CRM … more challenging.

I happen to represent Nimble (click here for how-to videos). In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth and Nimble integrated tightly with both Facebook and LinkedIn and it still communicates with other social platforms including Twitter. When LinkedIn and Facebook cut off their faucets, Nimble, and others, were able to create workarounds which were basically accomplished through page scraping.

This capability is pretty much gone now as is several of the actual applications that relied heavily on these technologies but, Nimble is still here and continues to innovate around these challenges. Their Smart Contacts Widget allows you to create contact records from anywhere on the web.

Nimble Prospector will attempt to find email addresses and addresses. Integrations with Owler and CircleBack brings even more information to the contact record and it is pretty amazing at what Nimble’s contact smart summary can create out of, seemingly, thin air. Of course, there continues to be strong limitations which means that our efforts must be redirected to our own social activities and processes.

Regardless, Social CRM has exposed our need to address social channels as an increasingly accepted standard form of communication. Additionally, there is no question but that social, right now, can deliver intelligence and opportunities that were simply not available to us … before social.

At its core, CRM is still about managing contact information, communications, and calendar activities (tasks, events, reminders, etc.). These are what the CEO of Nimble, Jon Ferrara, calls the “3 C’s” and they were also the crux of CRM’s predecessor, Contact Managers.

While it might take a few more steps due to recent limitations, CRM can still be effectively used to manage social channels including communications and information. Not to be trite but, you do have the ability to create notes so, if nothing else, create them. Next, use your CRM to keep you on track by creating tasks and reminders. Everything that you need should be found in the contact record. It’s really that simple.

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!