BUS631: Brand Management

Since Social CRM complements CRM, in order to obtain a Social CRM methodology, called the SCRM-IRIS methodology, that guides the development and implementation of Social CRM in a company, an initial version was first developed based on the CRM implementation methodology presented by Chalmeta. This methodology was supplemented, adapted and updated based on the review of the existing literature on Web 2.0, Big Data, CRM and Social CRM, as well as on the experience of the authors. This initial version was then applied to one company with the aim of analysing, validating and refining it. In order to carry out the application, a work plan based on the case study methodology proposed by Runeson and Höst was followed. This consists of the following stages: Design and planning of the case study; Preparation for data collection; Collecting evidence; Analysis of collected data; and Validation of collected data. Each of them is described below:

Design and planning of the case study

The aims of the case study are: (a) to validate the SCRM-IRIS methodology by verifying and confirming its usefulness, accuracy and quality, and (b) to refine and improve the methodology developed initially from the experience acquired by the researchers, the feedback obtained from the company involved, and the conclusions drawn in the case study.

The research work was conducted over a period of 10 months. The first task was to select the company in which the case study was to be applied. The criteria underlying the selection of this company were essentially: (1) a willingness to collaborate in the research, and (2) the fact that the management of this company was considering the idea of improving the efficiency of their customer relationship management using Web 2.0 and Big Data technologies. The selected company was a SME from the metal sector with a workforce of 250 employees. Their target customer ranges from large supermarkets to little grocery stores and individuals, from all over the world. It is important to note that this company was already using a traditional CRM application.

Preparation for data collection

To begin the research work, an introductory series of group interviews were held in the company. The presentation focused on the basic points of a Social CRM project and, at the same time, the methodology that was going to be used (initial version of the SCRM-IRIS methodology) was also explained to them.

In order to undertake all the research tasks during the application of the methodology in the company, a mixed work team was set up with members that came from both the IRIS Research Group and the Social CRM team of the company. The company Social CRM project team was made up of five area managers, representing the main areas of the company: General management, Commercial management, Financial management, Technical management and Operations management.

Collecting evidence

The data collected were the results of applying the different stages of the initial version of the SCRM-IRIS methodology to the company. Qualitative data were used, which were collected through direct methods (using an assortment of questionnaires and templates) and independent methods (copies of the documents and reports used in the company).

The questionnaires were answered by IRIS researchers during individual interviews with Social CRM project team members. Once the implementation of each of the nine phases that compose the SCRM-IRIS methodology had finished, the IRIS researchers interviewed the five area managers from the Social CRM project team on an individual basis. These interviews lasted approximately 20 min and were open (thus allowing interviewees to give a wide range of answers) and semi-structured (the questions were planned only as a guide, not to be asked in that same order, thereby allowing both the interviewers and the interviewees to improvise). The aims of these interviews were: to analyse the execution of the phase, to obtain feedback about the experience and the observations of each manager in each phase, to detect errors, and to collect proposals for improvement to the SCRM-IRIS methodology from each of them. There was a different questionnaire for each phase, and those questionnaires were common to all interviewees. Table 1 presents an example of the questionnaire followed by the IRIS researchers to conduct the interviews after the process map phase.

Most comments obtained were positive, indicating that the SCRM-IRIS methodology guided them perfectly throughout the implementation of all the phases and made them consider things that had not been proposed so far, such as for example a strategic focus on social customer engagement, the social customer profile that they should lead, and they had to take into account the average age of users. They were also very surprised by the amount of information that could be obtained about social customers. Moreover, negative comments were taken into consideration to improve the methodology, such as the lack of a company social media policy and guidance on how the employees had to use social software, besides training them in legal issues, and the need for different levels of segmentation based on communities and sub-communities. In addition, some negative comments said that once Social CRM was implemented, all possible tasks related to its use should be carried out by low-level staff, as their labour costs were lower, but they must be properly trained and high-level staff must support them when they needed it.

Once the project had finished, meetings were held with the Social CRM project team in the company in order to enrich the initial SCRM-IRIS methodology by modifying/incorporating/removing phases, tasks, tools, and so on. After this process of revising the initial methodology, it was enhanced by incorporating all the contributions detected and then validated with the general agreement of the Social CRM project team.

Analysis of data collected

The persons responsible for the application of the SCRM-IRIS methodology in the company indicated that the use of this methodology has allowed them to have an excellent view of the needs, scope, consequences and opportunities of the project, as well as allowing them to implement Social CRM quickly and without any significant problems. They also indicated that this has enabled them to have greater control over the project, because all the steps to be performed in each stage of the implementation are clearly defined.

On the other hand, the following benefits have also been highlighted by the Social CRM team of the company as being the most important provided by Social CRM:

• Centralisation of knowledge relating to the company's customers in an accessible (for both internal users and users outside the company) and easy-to-use system, allowing a constant flow of that knowledge.

• Quick compilation and dissemination of information relating to customers.

• Allows an exchange of customer portfolios between salespeople that is quick, easy and reliable, because the system centralises all the knowledge about customers, including the historic features, preferences, movements, etc.

• It records all the history of queries and problems from customers with the solutions that were adopted. This history is available to answer queries or similar problems (for that client or others) more efficiently and requiring less time.

• Users can access the information they need at the time and place where they need it (even in real time). Furthermore, such information is always up to date.

• Decrease in the use of other communication channels (e.g. e-mail, phone, etc.), as the Social CRM enables more effective communication.

• Decrease in the work undertaken by the company's employees due to: (1) the simplicity, speed, centralisation, efficiency and control provided by Social CRM, and (2) customers can manage different tasks on their own, for example, can track their orders, can make or change their orders, etc.

• It allows potential social customers to be found quickly, as well as the tracking of current social customers.

• It allows the company to know in real time what people think about the products and/or services offered by the company, or by their competitors.

After a year using Social CRM, a comparison of the value of some indicators with the value obtained a year before the implementation of Social CRM was performed. In this comparison, some significant increases can be observed due to the introduction of Social CRM in the company. The most significant increases are: New supermarket customers (3 %); New grocery store customers (18 %); New individual customers (27 %); Customer loyalty (11 %); Customer satisfaction (24 %); Amount of sales (13 %); Amount invoiced (10 %); and Presence in new countries (33 %).

Validation of the data collected

As the data collected was qualitative, it was analysed using qualitative data methods of analysis. In this case, the analysis was inductive and was carried out parallel to the data collection, as it was performed after each of the stages that make up the SCRM-IRIS methodology had finished. The purpose of this was to be able to react quickly to the assessments encountered during the analysis of each stage and thus rectify each one of them and take advantage of these improvements in the following stages.

Any threats to the validity of the case study were reduced by using the Lincoln and Guba model, in which five strategies are proposed for use in data collection to tackle three types of threats to validity. The three types of threats considered were reactivity (the researcher's presence can affect the setup of the study), researcher bias (the researcher's preconceived ideas can affect the way the researcher asks questions or interprets answers) and respondent bias (the researcher's influence on the attitude of the people being studied).

With regard to the five possible strategies, in the present case study they were considered in the following way in order to make the results valid: (1) Prolonged involvement: the researcher is familiar with the environment being studied (in this case study, the researchers and the company had already been collaborating on previous projects). (2) Triangulation: the application of several methods in the study of a single object. In this case study, four types were considered: Spatial triangulation of data (three sources of data were considered: observation, interviews and documentation); Personal triangulation of data (all the members of the company Social CRM project team were interviewed in order to obtain information from each of them); Investigator triangulation (the interviews were conducted by a researcher and reviewed by another researcher); and Theoretical triangulation (the different points of view of the members of the Social CRM project team were taken into account). (3) Member checking: obtaining feedback from the people who are interviewed (in the case study, after each interview, a report containing the relevant information from the interview was checked by each interviewee). (4) Negative case analysis: attempting to find another explanation that differs from the one initially assumed for the observed phenomenon (here, the two researchers were working separately (investigator triangulation)). (5) Audit trail: keeping a record of all the documentation of the project so as to be available in the future.