Features

Features

Customer relationship management (CRM)

• Tech virtual conferences plagued by problems, boredom

  Tech vendors staging virtual events during the pandemic have stumbled in trying to reproduce the in-person conference experience. Some have succeeded.  Continue Reading

• Building a successful CX governance operating model

  When developing a CX governance operating model, leaders should consider four key components: people, measurement framework, processes and tools and technologies.  Continue Reading

• 3 key training areas for remote sales success

  Remote work is easy for some departments, but sales teams may struggle without in-person interactions. Businesses should train sales reps to be successful while working from home.  Continue Reading

• 3 ways CRM improves customer experience

  To be efficient, businesses need their information in one place. Using a CRM system, companies can improve CX by keeping track of their customers and automating business processes.  Continue Reading

• 9 steps for negotiating deals with Salesforce

  Understanding the Salesforce fiscal calendar, motivations of sales agents and what your businesses needs from a deal are key steps in negotiating contracts with the CRM giant.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce adds new features to Trailhead Live and Go mobile app

  Trailhead Live now features a live chat option and is available on Trailhead Go. While the mobile app fills a need, users still gravitate toward the desktop version.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce salary survey shows increase in Trailhead use

  The annual Mason Frank International survey shows the top two Salesforce certifications are administrator and platform app builder. Trailhead use has also increased.  Continue Reading

• Software CDP features don't equate to CDP branding

  While many tech companies have software with customer data platform attributes, some vendors, such as Salesforce and Oracle, don't put the CDP label on them.  Continue Reading

• AI-powered CRM platforms compared

  CRM vendors are working to bring AI utility to their products in diverse ways. Learn about the similarities and differences between AI functionality in the major CRM platforms.  Continue Reading

• Compare the top 10 customer data platform software products

  CDPs can provide a distinct competitive advantage, but selecting a product can be tricky. Learn about the top platforms on the market, including major features and pros and cons.  Continue Reading

• Big retailers share their CX strategies

  Effective customer experience strategies have a big impact on business success. Hear what Carnival Corp., Ritual Cosmetics and Ashley Stewart have to say about CX.  Continue Reading

• AppExchange, acquisitions key to the future of Salesforce

  In the first 20 years of Salesforce's history, acquisitions and products drove rapid growth. In the next 20, AppExchange partners will play a crucial role in the company's growth.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Trailblazer community must keep pace to fuel growth

  Salesforce Trailhead's mission is to provide current and prospective customers with admins and developers. Growing that talent pool is crucial to Salesforce's health.  Continue Reading

• Microsoft CDP helps businesses unify customer data

  Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights takes data from disparate sales, service and marketing systems to bring it all into one golden record of the customer.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce customers supplement CRM with AppExchange tools

  Salesforce customers are turning to the AppExchange to supplement their CRM function. Many find AppExchange tools to be more cost-effective and to integrate better with the CRM.  Continue Reading

• Have success with SAP C/4HANA on-premises-to-cloud migration

  There is no one way to complete a CRM platform migration, but a little planning and asking questions along the way can ensure you are on the road to success.  Continue Reading

• These are the ABCs of marketing in the digital age

  Audience understanding, behavior analysis, marketing convergence and accessible design are the ABCs of marketing in the digital age, according to Microsoft's Purna Virji.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Einstein Vision sinks teeth into shark recognition

  Using drones and a modified version of Salesforce's Einstein Vision, marine biologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, can track and identify great white sharks.  Continue Reading

• Field service providers drive CX, engagement, retention

  Manuel Grenacher, general manager of SAP Service Cloud, offers tips for using CX best practices to improve the lives of both field service providers and the people they service.  Continue Reading

• Organizations reap benefits of mobile CRM apps

  Salesforce now offers organizations such as Cornell University the ability to render CRM systems as apps, making it easy to manage students and faculty at a number of colleges.  Continue Reading

• SAP CX tools evolve in the face of data privacy, AI

  'Experience data' from Qualtrics will help SAP boost its customer experience offerings. The company is also considering how AI can help and where privacy concerns fit into the CX landscape.  Continue Reading

• Enosix CMO, who branded SAP Leonardo, talks martech strategy

  Shawn Reynolds, the former architect of SAP's Leonardo AI brand, moves to SAP-Salesforce integrator Enosix. He discusses marketing strategy in this age of overwhelming martech choices.  Continue Reading

• Businesses see increasing importance of video conferencing

  Video chat is another channel for businesses to interact with employees and customers. Learn why businesses are placing increasing importance on video conferencing and about its effects on CX.  Continue Reading

• Pega Cloud is Pegasystems' preferred platform

  In a Q&A, Alan Trefler, Pegasystems CEO and chess master, ruminates about the cloud, the symbiotic relationship between chess and AI, AI inflation, and the pivot to CX.  Continue Reading

• Oracle's CX strategy points toward real-time responses

  As data increasingly becomes key to an effective CX implementation, Oracle's CX strategy points to what technology it's focusing on to win over corporate customers.  Continue Reading

• Online scheduling platforms open new channel for customers

  New customer-centric tools book demos in Salesforce at a customer's bidding, automating processes that took multiple email messages and forms -- sometimes losing leads in the process.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce buys Salesforce.org: What that means for customers

  Salesforce.com bought Salesforce.org. Nonprofit Cloud customers mull changes they hope to see now that all Salesforce products are under one umbrella.  Continue Reading

• Add real-time customer experience to your CX strategy

  At its recent CX conference, Oracle emphasized how important it will be to provide real-time CX. Users and analysts weigh in on how plausible that actually is.  Continue Reading

• AI customer self-service platforms show analytical maturity

  AI-enabled self-service platforms graduate from traditional customer support activities to more sophisticated methods of analyzing data on customer wants, needs and behavior.  Continue Reading

• How Lucky Brand improved its online customer experience

  As retailers try to keep up with customers' changing expectations, more and more brands are trying to mesh their online shopping experience with their in-store experience.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce makes push for diversity in technology

  Salesforce is maneuvering into industry leadership, making a diverse IT community a priority. Its product development strategy seems to have been crafted with such diversity in mind.  Continue Reading

• Industrial engineering company chooses integrated CRM for CX needs

  Through partnering with only Oracle for all of its CX needs, Schenck Process realizes the benefits of an integrated CRM over multiple products.  Continue Reading

• CRM for nonprofits rewires charitable giving

  Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud and marketing automation tools help charitable organizations gain and retain valuable donors, giving them a more positive experience.  Continue Reading

• Marketing automation tools make personalization possible

  Marketing automation software can be a game-changer for sales and marketing departments, as it helps simplify campaign management and gauge the performance of marketing efforts.  Continue Reading

• Using Shuttle to track sales leads and close deals

  Using Shuttle to track sales leads, sales reps at CBC Settlement Funding can focus less on coordinating follow-up emails and nurturing campaigns and more on closing deals.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce salary survey details pay among professionals

  A new survey of Salesforce professionals, published by Mason Frank International, analyzes Salesforce salary data, employment trends and diversity.  Continue Reading

• 4 signs Salesforce skills demand outpaces talent pool

  Survey points to four reasons the demand and salaries for Salesforce admins, developers and other professionals is high, but talent pool can't meet it.  Continue Reading

• Will Salesforce decaNLP model live up to the hype?

  Salesforce's decaNLP model made a big splash at Dreamforce. But can it deliver on its promises? Here's what to expect from the natural language processing initiative.  Continue Reading

• Sales planning tools sport a B2B customer experience focus

  Sporting goods giant uses sales performance and planning tools to upend traditional product-centric approach, tackle engagement issues and pitch a better story to customers.  Continue Reading

• Customer service chatbots gain ground

  As chatbots begin to replace email as the go-to customer service channel, more and more companies are using AI and natural language processing to improve their chat services.  Continue Reading

• Cannabis CRM replicates dealer-customer relationship

  When a big-city medical marijuana business wanted to better serve clients, it opted for cannabis CRM software that tries to replicate the traditional dealer-customer relationship.  Continue Reading

• AppExchange in Salesforce a slam-dunk for Detroit Pistons' workflow

  The Detroit Pistons needed help getting the most out of Salesforce, so they turned to AppExchange -- although the abundance of choices is sometimes a challenge.  Continue Reading

• Data migration software coming for SAP CRM

  At Sapphire Now, SAP unveiled C/4HANA, a suite of applications that brings together ERP and CRM. To make it easier to switch, migration tools can be added to the suite.  Continue Reading

• Keys to customer engagement on social media CRM

  Responding to positive and negative customer inquiries on social media is important, industry experts say, and that can go far in retaining customers and promoting your brand.  Continue Reading

• Selecting a CRM cloud to host sales, service and marketing

  Azure, AWS and Google are popular public clouds. But not all CRM systems are interchangeable with each of them. Experts break down the decision-making process.  Continue Reading

• Marketers face stiff challenges improving CRM capabilities

  Amid the proliferation of AI and cloud-based apps, marketers acknowledge and take partial blame for problems encountered along the way to improving their CRM capabilities.  Continue Reading

• AI strategy comes first, then AI tools second

  If your organization plans to implement AI into its workflow, be sure to develop a sound strategy and provide the necessary training to get the most out of the software.  Continue Reading

• Clari AI for sales helps to enhance Salesforce

  One company found that when using a variety of different vendors, a third-party AI product was more beneficial than a core vendor's AI offering.  Continue Reading

• Digital sales transformation may require shadow IT dark ops

  Sales tech initiatives culminating with flipping the AI switch require operational and IT prep involving data aggregation, training salespeople and, possibly, shadow IT experiments.  Continue Reading

• This is the year CRM AI remakes sales automation

  You've heard so much hype about AI, collaboration platforms and analytics in the past three years. This coming year, you'll implement these technologies and enable more sales automation.  Continue Reading

• Customer data analytics a slam dunk for the Spurs

  The San Antonio Spurs adopted Kore Software to build on top of its CRM to help with customer experience.  Continue Reading

• Experts weigh in on the future of blockchain CRM technology

  As blockchain technology makes its way into more industries, how will it affect CRM? We asked three experts what they foresee for blockchain CRM.  Continue Reading

• Consultant's 15 Salesforce certifications about more than pay

  Chris Gardner has 15 certifications and plans on getting more. While that's paying off for his bottom line, he says, they can also help give clients peace of mind.  Continue Reading

• CRM system comparison: How the 'big four' CRM providers stack up

  What differentiates the 'big four' CRM providers? Explore the advantages and disadvantages of Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft and SAP with this CRM comparison.  Continue Reading

• How training, seven Salesforce certifications helped reboot a career

  John Coppedge became a Salesforce admin almost by accident -- and then he got laid off. Seven Salesforce certifications later, he's on a different career path.  Continue Reading

• Automation features help settle CRM migration quandary for one office

  Insightly CRM for G Suite or Salesforce? One of a manufacturing company's 72 offices takes the road less traveled.  Continue Reading

• The leading CRM tools offer a full range of functionality

  Choosing the right CRM suite requires meticulous planning, careful consideration of your organization's needs and requirements, and attention to detail.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Architect Certifications pay off for Nashville developer

  A slew of Salesforce certifications have given Doug Ayers a leg up: He earns more and reaps recognition. Learn more about his journey to become a Salesforce certified architect.  Continue Reading

• Comparison of the top CRM platforms and marketing automation tools

  There are many CRM products to choose from, each offering a broad range of functionality. Here, we've simplified the buying process by comparing the leading CRM products.  Continue Reading

• CRM, martech stack helping customers hear Sprint now

  Sprint CMO Roger Sole shares his company's reboot story and explains how technology is radically changing his department's approach to marketing.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce partner integration enables passwordless login

  Tempe's private tech university added passwordless authentication via QR codes to ease Salesforce logins and add a layer of security.  Continue Reading

• Tips for evaluating CRM platforms and marketing tools

  The right CRM platform and marketing automation tools can give your organization a boost, not just in sales and marketing, but in every area of your customer engagement strategy.  Continue Reading

• Top five benefits of speech analytics tools for contact centers

  Learn the top benefits of speech analytics technology for contact centers, and how speech analytics tools can lead to a better customer experience.  Continue Reading

• CPQ tools market gains traction in front office

  While the CPQ market is consolidating, its importance in expediting front-office processes and enhancing the customer experience is growing.  Continue Reading

• Which track on the Salesforce certifications list is right for you?

  The Salesforce certification list seems long and complicated. But it's not -- if you break it down into tracks and look at salary data for ROI on training.  Continue Reading

• What can social CRM software help your business accomplish?

  Fully understanding what social CRM software helps you accomplish is key to choosing the best platform for you. Learn what key functions you should look for in a social CRM tool.  Continue Reading

• Navigate the challenges of location-based technologies

  Location data is used to not only provide navigation, but also to enhance customer engagement and improve marketing. But the path to success with location technologies can have bumps.  Continue Reading

• CRM gets smart with artificial intelligence technologies

  Moving away from legacy CRM to cloud-based systems that can integrate big data and machine learning should be a top priority for businesses, say CRM professionals.  Continue Reading

• Mobile LBS poses challenge for companies, consumers alike

  Mobile location-based services have the potential to give companies serious consumer insight, but ethical issues abound.  Continue Reading

• Mobile location-based services teeter on ethical line

  Mobile location-based services can yield information about customers, but companies need to travel a careful line with the information they gather.  Continue Reading

• Mobile, social CRM table stakes for customer engagement strategy

  Mobile and social CRM have reshaped the customer experience, creating two-way conversations and multichannel endeavors.  Continue Reading

• The pros and cons of Salesforce Sales Cloud

  Sales Cloud targets sales reps focused on action, not details. While the app has dominated CRM, there are some areas of needed improvement, such as mobile.  Continue Reading

• Mobile consumer behavior reshaping digital commerce

  Mobile consumers will account for nearly half of all e-commerce transactions in a couple of years. Find out what sets them apart from traditional digital e-commerce users.  Continue Reading

• Determining the best CRM software for your organization

  Whether you're a large enterprise or an SMB, we've narrowed your search for the best CRM software by comparing both on-premises and SaaS offerings from the top 11 vendors.  Continue Reading

• Customer communities aren't credible without legwork

  Customer communities can't be credible sources of customer support if companies don't do the up-front work to make the information authoritative.  Continue Reading

• Examining the platforms available in the Oracle CX Cloud

  The Oracle CX Cloud provides large enterprises with platforms that offer customer engagement tools to support and enhance their sales, marketing and customer interaction needs.  Continue Reading

• Examining the SAP CEC suite

  The SAP CEC suite of platforms provides large enterprises with omnichannel customer engagement tools to support and enhance their sales, marketing and customer interaction needs.  Continue Reading

• Zendesk customer service software expands client support

  Zendesk customer service software provides users with tools to help manage and improve their customer engagement strategies and customer support services goals.  Continue Reading

• LBS powers personalized intranet design

  Frustrated by its needle-in-a-haystack approach to locating pertinent corporate info, Citrix geared its intranet to specific employee needs worldwide.  Continue Reading

• Cubs merch store homers with location-based mobile marketing

  Sports World Chicago got a boost by targeting a captive audience of potential merchandise buyers near Wrigley Field.  Continue Reading

• Location-based apps hit the streets, the seats and everywhere else

  New technologies are helping companies reach customers more effectively by targeting constituents' locations alongside other customer data. But it's still the early days for location-based services.  Continue Reading

• What to expect from the HubSpot CRM platform

  HubSpot CRM is a free platform aimed at small- and medium-sized businesses that offers both basic and enhanced CRM tools to customer relations teams.  Continue Reading

• Considerations for buying the right CRM tool

  By identifying your must-have features, you can select the right CRM tool you'll need in order to build your customer engagement strategy.  Continue Reading

• What to expect from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015

  Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 is a CRM platform that can be used by businesses of all sizes to manage all aspects of their B2B and B2C engagement strategies.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Lightning strikes with app development for business users

  When Salesforce rolled out its development platform, Salesforce Lightning, it showed promise. But what are the real-world applications of it today?  Continue Reading

• Cloud-based CRM enters new territory for Salesforce partners

  Channel partners are pursuing increasingly sophisticated Salesforce implementation projects, helping customers integrate and optimize complex systems.  Continue Reading

• Zoho CRM platform overview

  Zoho's cloud-based CRM platform helps businesses manage the key aspects of their customer engagement strategies.  Continue Reading

• Adobe Marketing Cloud CRM platform overview

  Adobe's CRM platform, Marketing Cloud, aims to help users drive and manage the sales, marketing and customer support facets of their business.  Continue Reading

• What to expect in the Sugar CRM platform

  Sugar, the latest CRM platform from SugarCRM, marries B2B and B2C engagement strategies using a single appliance.  Continue Reading

• Making CRM part of your customer engagement strategy

  One of the best ways to justify the purchase of CRM software is to explore how other organizations use it in their customer engagement strategies.  Continue Reading

• What to expect in the Infusionsoft CRM platform

  Infusionsoft's CRM platform helps small businesses manage the key aspects of their B2B and B2C customer engagement strategies.  Continue Reading

• Improving customer engagement strategies with CRM tools

  There are several different types of CRM tools that can be used to improve your customer engagement strategies.  Continue Reading

• Mobile payment technologies met with interest -- and caution

  While mobile payment systems have piqued the public's interest, a fragmented market and a cautious consumer base have constrained adoption.  Continue Reading

• Security is a sticking point for mobile payment adoption

  Companies jumping on the mobile payment bandwagon need to tread carefully as consumers are still skeptical about the security of their data.  Continue Reading

• In healthcare, information silos block patient data analysis

  Government regulations encourage healthcare providers to maintain information silos, hobbling the data analysis that could improve business processes and patient care.  Continue Reading

• How to pick the right mobile sales force automation app

  Companies shouldn't rush into buying mobile sales force automation apps, but rather base the purchase on how teams really work.  Continue Reading

• Location-based mobile applications poised to take off

  Location-based mobile application adoption is poised to take off, given technology improvements and cost reduction.  Continue Reading

• Mobile POS systems gain ground among SMBs

  Mobile POS systems free salespeople from being chained to registers, allowing them to serve customers where they are: on the retail floor.  Continue Reading

• Location-based apps bring ease, and privacy concerns, to consumers

  Location-based apps can pinpoint consumer location and make hailing a cab into a thing of the past. But the technology also causes consumer privacy concerns.  Continue Reading

• Blue Shield agent maximizes call center efficiency, customer experience

  Jessica Kaufman began working at a Blue Shield of California looking for anonymity … and found the secrets to call center efficiency.  Continue Reading