Since February 2018, the world’s most popular social network has been losing value at a vertiginous pace. As of late March, Facebook had lost nearly $100 billion of its value as investors dumped shares and analysts were concerned about the future of the company. Facebook is now facing Congressional investigations in the United States and is being questioned about its data practices by government regulators around the world.

Local Business Can Learn From Facebook’s Data Scandal

Companies in the High Desert and across California should be paying attention to the Facebook data scandals, particularly if they collect personal information from clients and customers for strategic purposes. Voice over Internet Protocol systems allow integration with Customer Relationship Management software, but business owners should be mindful about their data collection practices in this regard.

Although CRM software has been in use since the 1990s, the full power of this business process was not realized until VoIP came along. VoIP and CRM integration means that every voice call received by a business can be linked with customer profiles, transactions, and contact history, and certain aspects of data collection are handled automatically.

Three large pizzas ordered every Friday at noon for delivery to a La Paz Drive address suggests that this is an office luncheon; the email address of the person placing the order could be obtained for the purpose of sending out coupons, and credit card information can be included in the CRM record to apply discounts and build customer loyalty. Additionally, the names and birthdays of employees could be an opportunity to send free orders of garlic bread as gifts; this customer appreciation gesture may result in additional orders.