Twitter is 'valuable addition' to CRM policy

Businesses using or wanting to adopt a customer relationship management (CRM) service ought to consider the power of Twitter as a free addition to run alongside their existing system, it is said.

Rick Cook of Inside CRM explained that Twitter is essentially social networking whichever way it is looked at and must be accepted as such if the project is to work properly.

For it to be a success, he said, businesses must ensure they are relaxed and focused on having a real conversation, as over-emphasising the social aspect can be unhelpful in times when customers simply want appropriate solutions to their issues.

Mr Cook continued: "Tweeting for business is an art and it takes some study and practice to get it right. However, it can be an extremely powerful tool once you get it right."

Twitter started as a small side-project in March 2006 in San Francisco, California and has since become the fastest-growing social networking service online in the last year.