Paul Greenberg is a wicked smart guy and does an awesome job laying out the definition and rules of engagement for the "social customer." He does a great job of articulating what we are working on with Nearstream and our "buyer-centric" demand capture approach.

Paul breaks down the two types of systems every business needs in a customer engagement world:

• System of Engagement – this is all about interaction and communication the way that the customer/prospect wants it.  Most existing technologies fail here as they are designed to scale personalization vs. provide a mechanism for meaningful engagement.
• System of Record – this is the well defined, known, and entrenched area of CRM systems, billing systems, etc.  They are seller centric and represent the companies record of you.  Systems of Engagement do not replace Systems of Record but without the former the latter becomes less and less relevant.