The Social Customer ─ How Brands Can Use Social CRM to Acquire, Monetize, and Retain Fans, Friends, and Followers

"The social customer is your NEW customer. And if you don’t recognize it, they will be someone else’s new customer. Adam Metz presents a clear, concise game plan for attracting them, connecting with them, and keeping them. Don’t just buy this book: invest in the content. Actually, invest time to implement the content."
—JEFFREY GITOMER, author of The Little Red Book of Selling and Social BOOM!

"This book connects two key dots in the customer equation: knowing why your customers uniquely do business with you and taking actions that cause them to repeat that choice more frequently."
— RICH BLAKEMAN, sales vice president, Miller Heiman, from the Afterword

"I’ve seen the future of marketing and it delivers in less than 300 pages. Adam Metz’s The Social Customer makes a compelling case for revolutionizing your thinking about how you connect and build a relationship with your customer in a fashion that shrinks your marketing team and amplifi es the love the world feels for you and your product. Not easy stuff, and, done the wrong way, it’s dangerous."
— CHIP CONLEY, founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and author of PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow

About the Book

IF you look at the people who follow your company via social media simply as "social media users," you’re missing a much bigger picture. They are, above all, your customers—and as such, they have a multitude of needs. But without the right social media strategy, they might not remain your customers for long.

Adam Metz is prized by clients and online fans for his understanding of what makes both companies and their customers click—and how social media can get them in sync and drive revenue. In The Social Customer, he teaches you all you’ll need to know to transform your business—not just on the Web but across the board. Even if Facebook and Twitter were to disappear tomorrow, these are the fundamentals that will always apply—whatever the technology and whatever the social media. You’ll learn:

• How to transform your brand into a coveted "Social Object"
• Where your brand currently stands with your social customers—and how to mobilize your customers to get the word out
• The "The Ten Commandments of Social Customer Relationship Management"
• How to harness the power of collaboration
• How to delight your customers and win loyalty through individualized Treatment
• What terms like "Social Marketing" and "Social Sales Insights" really mean—and why they can be vital to business success

Metz also includes anecdotes, case studies, and outside-the-box inspiration from branding innovators—ranging from upstart punk bands to absolute giants like Burger King and SAP—all designed to keep you thinking critically, creatively, and with the kind of flexibility that will keep your social customers engaged as your company grows.

Adam Metz is the VP of Business Development at Metz Consulting where he has consulted with nearly 100 companies on how to acquire, manage, monetize, and retain customers from the social Web. Metz lives in Oakland, California.