Thanks largely to the Web, all businesses have to deal with what it means to be “social.” Social business applications are no longer experimental, these are a vital part of companywide communication, company-to-customer communication, customer-to-customer communication. No stranger to this is the CRM Magazine team, which put out an entire issue this month centered on the “social customer” and why social media is giving birth to a fresh era in customer service. One of the major articles, "Who owns the social customer," points to why companies need to understand what customer service communities and related channels can do for them in terms of increasing customer loyalty and engagement.

Calling it “social service,” CRM Magazine talks to companies about why the finding and “connecting” to information in the right medium is of the utmost importance for an increasingly versatile set of consumers who would rather talk to one another in a forum vs. a tired agent in a call center when they’ve got an issue. I discussed this at length with editor Chris Musico while he was putting together this story; here at Helpstream, we believe it’s not about managing customers, it’s about serving them. That’s such a simple concept, but folks forget it easily. They depend on outdated processes, traditional enterprise tools as a replacement for clear, constant and authentic communication. Communities and social CRM can provide this sort of social service communication.

People assume it’s a big deal – but it’s not. It’s the small things that count. Communities and social business applications are about communication, much like your Facebook wall. People update you, you ping people, that’s it, the communication is established. The same can be true for customer service communities. Here, the focus is on customers (not the company!), and we can serve by speaking directly to customers who might need help on an issue, or jump into customer-to-customer communication with a link to a Knowledge Base article or interesting Web site.

The real value for enterprises is that this “social” element of community can work with (not against) what you’re already doing in-house, be it your CRM or particular enterprise tool of choice, to create a fully optimized suite. It’s remarkable. Harnessing communities and social channels can unleash a boost in engagement, customer loyalty, as well as a total increase in page views. You can measure these elements, and that shouldn’t be a detriment preventing your company from taking advantage of a tool that essentially runs on autopilot – well, with the help of a new emerging class of leaders out there, community managers. This is a powerful and important role. Essentially, they’re the true guardians of customer service, helping to build and refine a customer service community that pulls from people and every inch of relevant information.

For me, the integration of social elements and social mentalities in the enterprise is a natural extension of what we all engage in everyday on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even in the workplace – open communication and engagement. Even when we’re trying to find information to help us fix something on our family Web site or check out a restaurant recommendation, we reach out to people and forums online, which has proven to be easy and effective. Our customers are thinking in this same manner; it’s about time we start talking to them in their language.