????“CRM”對很多人來說只是又一個讓人摸不著頭腦的英文縮寫，它的全稱是“客戶關系管理”。而就算是這個名詞，聽起來也頗為無趣。

????雖然名字起得缺乏吸引力，但是CRM卻是一個風生水起的行業。各大CRM公司開發的客戶關系管理軟件能夠幫助廣大企業管理與當前或未來的客戶和商業伙伴的聯系。現在，這類系統已經廣泛應用于市場營銷、客戶服務和活動策劃等領域。在這個行業里混飯吃的軟件公司不勝枚舉，它儼然已經發展成了一個市值達180億美元的市場。2012年這個行業的市值增長了12%。據市調機構 MarketandMarkets發布的一份報告預計，到2018年，該行業的規模有望增長至242億美元。

????這個行業一些領軍企業的大名早已經如雷貫耳，比如Salesforce.com、SAP、甲骨文（Oracle）、微軟（Microsoft）、IBM等等。其中Salesforce.com在2012年的銷售額達到了25億美元，位列榜首。SAP以23億美元的銷售業績緊隨其后。

????盡管CRM行業已經取得了相當的成功，但是隨著社交媒體的規模日益擴大且重要性日益提高，各大CRM軟件公司發現，他們已經走到了一個重要的節點。

????美國富國銀行（Wells Fargo）的一位高級企業軟件分析師稱：“現在一切都圍繞著智能手機轉，社會上發生的任何事都能用手機捕捉下來。”他還表示，人們通常認為只有年輕人對社交媒體著迷，但事實卻并不是這樣的。“我母親已經六十多歲了，但是她上Facebook的時間比我還多。”

????社交媒體的力量已經影響到了商業領域。Twitter對于商業來說非常重要，商務社交網站LinkedIn更是不可或缺。很多公關公司都對企業客戶表示，現在社交媒體幾乎已經是唯一的重要媒體了。因此，CRM軟件公司必須要善用社交媒體，否則將來就有靠邊站的危險。這種需求為CRM界開辟了一個全新的市場，也就是所謂的“社交CRM”市場。MarketandMarkets的那份報告同時還預測，社交CRM市場的規模現在大約在19.1億美元左右，到2018年，這個市場的規模將增長至90億美元。

????Nimble是社交CRM領域里比較有代表性的一家公司。公司的創始人喬恩?費拉拉也是最早一批在CRM領域吃螃蟹的人。1989年，他和朋友共同創辦了一家“金礦軟件公司”，后來在1999年把這家公司賣給了FrontRange公司。2009年，闊別CRM行業十年后，費拉拉有在2009年創辦了Nimble公司，因為他認為市面上針對小型企業的CRM產品要么不夠令人滿意，要么就是太貴、太復雜。另外他也注意到社交媒體的興起，還注意到其他CRM公司對這股趨勢不夠重視。費拉拉相信他的產品“可以幫助正確的人找到正確的商機。”

????Nimble的功能很簡單：它會從多個社交媒體（包括電子郵件、Twitter、Facebook、LinkedIn等）精選有用的數據，把它打包整合，方便用戶與客戶直接取得聯系，而不必把自己所有的社交媒體都掃蕩一遍。用戶只需登錄Nimble.com，輸入密碼，就可以進入一個類似Facebook或LinkedIn的系統，然后可以在這個系統里選擇通過什么方式來聯系客戶。

????到目前為止，這個平臺已經取得了一定的成功。自從今年五月Nimble發布第三次更新以來，它的用戶數已經擴大了300%。費拉拉稱，每個用戶平均花在這個平臺上的時間達到5.5小時。他說：“可以說我們已經找到了‘圣杯’。”

????網絡媒體公司Plastick Media就是一個這樣的客戶。這家公司的業務開發副總裁肖恩?瑞利表示，他們公司在采用Nimble之前用的是一款名叫High-Rise的軟件，是一個主要針對小型企業的產品。由于這款軟件的界面存在缺陷，因此瑞利稱Hight-Rise是一個“不好用，不親民”的產品，之后就換成了Nimble。他說：“Nimble更漂亮，更先進，對用戶更友好。而且說實話，它為我們促成了更多的生意。”不過High-Rise公司拒絕對此發表評論。

????"CRM" looks like yet another jargony business acronym -- it stands for "customer relationship management," which just doesn't sound all that sexy.

????Lack of appealing acronyms aside, the CRM industry is booming. CRM companies create software that helps businesses manage contact with current and future clients and partners. The systems are used in a whole host of fields including marketing, customer service, and event planning. Bursting at the seams, the business is $18 billion in size and saw 12% growth in 2012. A report by MarketandMarkets predicts that the industry's size could increase to $24.2 billion by 2018.

????The leaders in this space are well-established names you already know: Salesforce.com (CRM), SAP (SAP), Oracle (ORCL), Microsoft (MSFT), and IBM (IBM). Salesforce leads all CRM companies with $2.5 billion in sales in 2012, with SAP coming in a close second at $2.3 billion.

????With all its success, the CRM market now finds itself at an important juncture due to the constantly growing—in significance and size—role of social media.

????"Everything revolves around your smartphone now," says Jason Maynard, a senior enterprise software analyst at Wells Fargo. "Everything that happens can be captured." He adds that contrary to popular belief, the recent obsession with social media is not restricted to youth: "My mom is in her sixties, but she is on Facebook more than I am."

????Social media's potency means it now affects business. Twitter is important. LinkedIn is crucial. Many PR firms tell corporate clients that social media is the only media type of substance anymore. As a result, CRM outfits must be social media-proficient or risk becoming obsolete. This need has opened up a whole new market within the CRM community, called "social CRM." The same MarketandMarkets report estimates this fragment of the business is $1.91 billion in size -- and will grow to $9 billion by 2018.

????One company in the social CRM space is Nimble, founded by CRM pioneer Jon Ferrara. He cofounded GoldMine Software Corporation in 1989, which he later sold to FrontRange in 1999. After 10 years outside the business, Ferrara founded Nimble in 2009 to capitalize on his conclusion that CRM products for small businesses were either unsatisfying or too expensive and complex. Additionally, he noticed the upswing of social media and that other CRM companies were not paying attention to this trend. Ferrara believes his own offering "can connect the right people to the right opportunities."

????Nimble's function is simple: It culls data from a wide range of social sources (including email, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) and combines it so that users can contact customers without having to scour all of their social media outlets. Customers navigate to Nimble.com and type in a password to access a system similar to Facebook (FB) or Linkedin (LNKD). There, they can choose how they'd like to reach out to their customers.

????So far the platform has appeared successful, boasting a 300% increase in users since launching its third update in May. According to Ferrara, the average time a Nimble user spends on the interface is 5.5 hours. Clients, he says, "tell me we have hit the holy grail."

????Plastick Media, an internet-based media agency, is one such client. Sean Reilly, its VP of business development, says that before Nimble, Plastick used High-Rise, a small business-focused CRM company, but after finding flaws with the interface, calling it "clunky and uninviting," Plastick made the switch. "Nimble is prettier, more sophisticated, and much friendlier to use," he says. "And let's face it, it helps us close more deals." High-Rise declined to comment.