The CRM space has been languishing for a few years, but that's set to change in the near future. In fact, CRM will be one of the top priorities for enterprise spending in 2013 and 2014, Gartner has predicted. "Managing customer relationships used to be about tracking transactions," said SocialText CCO Michael Idinopulos. "Now it's all about creating interactions."
It's OK for sales professionals to Always Be Closing, but they also want to Always Be Observing -- that is, constantly noticing things about prospects that can help personalize the relationship. Social media and social CRM are key resources for digging up details that can help clinch not just the first sale but the ones that come after.
The devil is in the details, the saying goes. When it comes to B2B selling, the dollars are also in the details.
