Social CRM: what is it in a nutshell?

During a conversation a few days ago someone asked me what Enterprise Social really meant, and what is "Social CRM".  I will leave Enterprise Social for another post, but I like the definition of Social CRM from Wikipedia.  The last statement sums it up... "It's the company's response to the customer's ownership of the conversation.".  Because companies can no longer control the message about them and their brand, companies need to determine ways to deal with what is being said about them.  Social CRM starts to do this by monitoring the various channels where people are stating their views, gripes, and praises and giving the company the chance to respond to the posts in a proactive manner.  Responding gives the company the chance to resolve the issue or even gain new customers by showing they really care.    A little more detail on this came from a Hootsuite Blog where they talk about 3 benefits of Social CRM for the Financial services companies. Quick read that gives you a sense of what Social CRM can do for a company.