Crm/Social Media Technology: Impact on Customer Orientation Process and Organizational Sales Performance
The importance of technology in managing relationships with customers has grown significantly, especially with the advent of innovations such as cloud computing and web-based technology. One of the more popular topics in both academic research and busines
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shorter sales cycles, and better collaboration with customers. This type of integration will more effectively capture conversations and truly provide a 360-degree view of the client. Third, effective utilization of sales-focused technology, in the form of CRM and social media, starts with understanding customer processes. Firms with higher customer orientation are more competitive due to the level of understanding of their clients’ needs and buying habits. This understanding combined with integration of CRM and social media results in more successful firm performance. The study also makes a pioneering contribution to the existing research that has mostly been focused on sales force automation technology. In today’s competitive environment, organizations need to focus on delivering high value to their customers through focused, customeroriented business processes. New CRM and social media technologies have changed the way organizations interact with customers and have allowed enhanced understanding of customers’ needs and concerns (Marshall, Moncrief, Rudd, and Lee 2012; Rodriguez, Peterson, and Krishnan, 2012). These new technologies have enabled customers to communicate effectively with organizations and to improve the relationships between the buyer and seller. In this research, we assessed the positive impact of CRM and social media on customer orientation processes (i.e., processes focused on customer satisfaction and commitment) which, in turn, positively impacts sales performance. Traditional and Social CRM should be tightly integrated into both marketing and sales strategy, in order gain a deeper understanding of customers, develop further commitment and loyalty, which in time will increase overall sales performance. FUTURE RESEARCH The findings also suggest various avenues for future research. Scholars may wish to take a deeper look into potential moderating effects, such as the technical competency of the firm, sales personnel capability, size of the firm, level of the respondent within the company, or other context variables. Another area of future research would be to examine the rate of adoption and proficiency in various industries. Certainly, given the importance of revenue generation, longitudinal studies should be a priority for future researchers. FIGURES Figure 1 - Customer Orientation Mediation Model
Figure 2 - Customer Orientation Mediation Model Results
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REFERENCES Hunter, G. K. & Perreault., W. D. (2007). Making Sales Technology Effective. Journal of Marketing, 71(1), 16-34. Jun, M. & Cai, S. (2010). Examining the Relationships between Internal Service Quality and its Dimensions, and Internal Customer Satisfaction. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, 21(2), 205-223. Li, D., Chau, P. Y. K. & Lai, F. (2010). Market Orientation, Ownership Type, and E-Business Assimilation: Evidence from Chinese Firms Decision Sciences, 41(1), 115-145. Marshall, Greg W., Moncrief, William C., Rudd, John M., and Lee, Nick (2012), Revolution in Sales: The Impact of Social Media and Related Tec
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