Social CRM gives small business owners a new and better way to build those important customer relationships and better connect with the people who really are the heart of their business: The Customer. While social media is an important part of Social CRM, it's not the only part. The "social" is more about the actual socializing that you are doing with your customer, whether it be through social media, email, phone conversations, or face to face communication. Social CRM gives business owners a way to keep track of their interactions with special customer or other contacts.

Social CRM can let you see a contact's social media updates so you can better connect with him or her, and it can also give you a place to keep track of your communications with each separate customer, to make sure that nothing goes unnoticed or gets forgotten. Social CRM basically gives you a full look at your relationship with each and every one of your customers. It gives your business the ability to better connect with the customer and to make a more personal touch with them. Social CRM is more about putting the customer in the driver's seat and allowing them to guide your business to where they want it to go. You just follow suit and be there to meet their needs!

If you are thinking of checking out some Social CRM programs, take a look at BatchBook, KickApps, and Rapportive for some additional ideas of what you will get for your money. It seems that Social CRM is the next wave of customer relationship management, and it gives business owners a more personal and intimate connection to the customer. In a world where most of our business is done through a keyboard, in an impersonal setting, Social CRM is working hard to give that old school customer/business owner connection back to all of us.