Zero In On CRM HEROes: The Role of Social Network Analysis

A customer relationship management (CRM) highly empowered and resourceful operative (HERO) is anyone who takes the initiative to apply technologies creatively within business processes to make the customer happy and grow the relationship. Your most influential customers and other interested parties, both internal and external, have significant impact on awareness, sentiment, propensity, loyalty, and upsell. Forward-looking enterprises use statistics-based social network analysis tools to mine for expertise and influence — the key HERO criterion— among customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Visual social network analysis graphs can reveal the shifting cultural dynamics that spell the difference between a successful marketing campaign, one where the HEROes are one of your key assets, and a flop — one where you have no HEROes influential or engaged enough to save a campaign. To the extent that you can identify these people and bring them more formally into your extended support ecosystem, you will be strengthening your CRM programs across the board.