How does Lithium make money with social CRM?

Bambi Francisco Roizen · January 17, 2011 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/15c5

Lithium Technologies CEO Lyle Fong explains the economics of tapping into social communities

Thanks to sites like Twitter, customers are more powerful than ever. As their opinions can spread like wild fire across the Web. To tap into these disparate conversations across the Web on social platforms, corporations are hiring servies, like Lithium Technologies. In this third part of my four-part series with Lyle Fong, CEO and founder of Lithium Technologies, we talk the economics of his business. In this interview, Lyle talks about how Cisco Systems saved $20 million by leveraging social media tools to tap into its customer base to act as support centers.

Lyle also talks about competitiors in the space. Lithium has raised some $45 million in venture financing to help corporations tap into social media. But other companies are starting to raise a war chest too. Last fall, Get Satisfaction raised $6 million, for a total of nearly $11 million in financing.

(Note: See the first two interviews with Lyle.

Bambi Francisco Roizen

Founder and CEO of Vator, a media and research firm for entrepreneurs and investors; Managing Director of Vator Health Fund; Co-Founder of Invent Health; Author and award-winning journalist.

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Lithium Technologies

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Joined Vator on August 18, 2010

Your customers are everywhere. Lithium helps you find your social customers, understand their influence, and build lasting relationships. For market leaders such as Best Buy, AT&T, Research In Motion Limited (RIM), Univision, and PayPal, Lithium is the leading provider of social customer solutions that deliver real business results. The Lithium Social Customer Suite offers complete social monitoring, a comprehensive community platform, and actionable analytics across millions of blogs, forums, and social networking sites. Our technology is proven in high-volume, growth environments and provides security, open and custom APIs, and multi-language support. Founded in 2001, Lithium is privately held with headquarters in Emeryville, California. For more information, visit www.lithium.com. Or, engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, and our community – the Lithosphere.