Features

Features

• Marketing automation tools deliver personalization, customer focus

  When buying a marketing automation product, it's important to consider key features, how the tool addresses the organization's size, deployment options, support and pricing.  Continue Reading

• Ensure a good customer experience with CEM software

  CEM software helps companies track, measure and manage the customer experience. Read on to learn just how it differs from CRM software and what a good CEM system should include.  Continue Reading

• Maximize and manage customer experience with CEM tools

  CEM software provides the technological support necessary to successfully manage the customer experience. Discover the extensive benefits the right platform can provide.  Continue Reading

• Make marketing automation software choices to fit business needs

  Examine what core features leading marketing automation software vendors -- including Adobe, HubSpot and Oracle -- and CRM vendors -- including Microsoft, Salesforce and SAP -- offer.  Continue Reading

• A martech stack is vital for successful marketing operations

  When building a marketing tech stack, project stakeholders should consider what tools the organization needs, the level of automation it's trying to achieve and the overall budget.  Continue Reading

• 6 must-know customer experience technology trends

  Our customer experience technology trends survey of 250 North American tech buyers and influencers reveals that the CRM to CX migration is well underway.  Continue Reading

• Trends to follow: Voice SEO and CX personalization

  Voice and personalization are CX trends to follow as businesses place more emphasis on customer experience, according to analysts at Oracle's Modern Customer Experience conference.  Continue Reading

• 4 ways to use chatbots to improve Gen Z customer experience

  More and more chatbots are entering the marketing, customer service and sales spaces. Here are four tips for brands looking to make their chatbots stand out from the others.  Continue Reading

• The pros and cons of customer service AI

  AI is growing deep roots into cloud-based support services, but there remains a question of whether it can provide the empathy and understanding that brand loyalty requires.  Continue Reading

• How Philanthropy Cloud streamlines workplace giving

  Perpetual Energy used Salesforce.org's Philanthropy Cloud to create content, track charitable donations and better engage with employees during its annual United Way campaign.  Continue Reading

• Q&A: How to narrow down your CRM vendor choices

  SaaS consultancy Lunar goes over the dos and don'ts for choosing a CRM system, whether you're licensing one for the first time or migrating to a new system.  Continue Reading

• AAA discovers benefits of Salesforce Service Cloud software

  Using Salesforce Live Agent and Salesforce Service Cloud, AAA Carolinas increased member engagement by 330% and reduced service response time by 54%.  Continue Reading

• Liferay digital experience platform helps company improve CX

  Jack Maina, group chief operations officer of Britam, talks about how the financial services group rebuilt the way it interacts with customers and partners using Liferay.  Continue Reading

• How Salesforce Einstein machine learning makes AI practical

  As it evolves, Salesforce's Einstein AI serves the needs of a growing number of organizations and takes the guesswork out of why certain decisions are made.  Continue Reading

• Customer success tools pave the way for business advancement

  Quick Base launched an online university with the help of Skilljar to offer ongoing training, improving CX and increasing the likelihood of customer retention and loyalty.  Continue Reading

• CEO plots course for Televerde women's prison call centers

  Working at a Televerde women's prison call center outpays many inmate jobs and sets agents up for careers on the outside. CEO Morag Lucey discusses how the company keeps current.  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

• Giving inmates a second chance as prison call center agents

  Televerde staffs contact centers with incarcerated women, where they are paid the federal minimum wage. CEO Morag Lucey and COO Vince Barsolo discuss the model.  Continue Reading

• CRM for nonprofits helps organization streamline work

  Wolverine Human Services' adoption of the Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud halved foster care licensing time and improved productivity within the agency.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce-Apple partnership deepens with new SDK for iOS

  The updated Salesforce mobile SDK makes it easier for developers to build native Salesforce apps for iOS devices using Swift, Apple's programing language.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce.org's CRM for education helps UVA students succeed

  The University of Virginia is one of a number of institutions using Salesforce.org's Education Cloud CRM to recruit students, track student success and manage alumni relations.  Continue Reading

• LA Metro pursues integrated CRM system with Salesforce

  The Los Angeles Metro system integrates the Salesforce CRM with existing payment infrastructure, helping to bridge the gap between old and new technologies.  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

• AMAC prioritizes first call resolution for a better CX

  AMAC uses TetraVX unified communications and the cloud contact center platform Five9 in its three call centers to improve agent workflow, as well as member experience.  Continue Reading

• CRM vs. CX: How companies are pivoting in philosophies

  It might be time to retire the decades-old concept of CRM now that CX is appearing everywhere. Learn how embracing CX alters the thinking of enterprise leadership.  Continue Reading

• CRM for government, Salesforce improve D.C.'s 311 agency

  The Office of Unified Communications in Washington, D.C., said it improved its constituent relationships with Salesforce Service Cloud and Einstein Analytics.  Continue Reading

• 6 ways high-performing agents improve customer loyalty

  Sandy Rogers of FranklinCovey offers tips for customer service managers on how to encourage positive traits in agents, such as empathy, responsibility and generosity.  Continue Reading

• Assess priorities before purchasing a marketing automation platform

  The promise of marketing automation is exciting, but the proliferation of tools can be intimidating. Learn how to dispel the confusion when buying a marketing automation product.  Continue Reading

• Customer data to play important role in CX software in 2019

  Analysts see customer data continuing to be the main objective for CX companies, and that integration between platforms and third-party applications will grow in importance.  Continue Reading

• Acquia transforms from WCM to digital experience platform

  Acquia's product roadmap is a metaphor for many WCM vendors, which must focus on digital experience to remain competitive in a quickly evolving market.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Service Cloud Einstein AI's Next Best Action, Bots

  Salesforce closes the distance between its cloud Einstein AI and IBM's Watson with flashy new features, as Service Cloud bows a no-code bot builder and a next best action tool.  Continue Reading

• Use smart workflows to personalize customer experience

  Smart workflows that automate certain decisions must become part of personalization strategies in order for CX teams to better guide customer journeys.  Continue Reading

• Microsoft adds CRM for nonprofits to Dynamics 365 lineup

  CRM for nonprofits, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator, helps nonprofit organizations take advantage of business tools and shared data.  Continue Reading

• Guidelines for navigating the sales software market

  Figuring out whether your organization needs sales force automation, sales enablement or sales forecasting tools can be challenging, and that's before factoring in AI.  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

• Customer service AI tools can improve contact center

  By adding AI to its Salesforce Service Cloud integration, Nokia is trying to bring a proactive approach to customer service, while adding AI to workflow.  Continue Reading

• Customer support automation for B2B requires human touch

  Robert Johnson of TeamSupport and Sandy Crowley of ICANotes offer tips on how B2B companies can use automation to supplement human customer support services.  Continue Reading

• Omnichannel customer service improves customer experience

  Customers have come to expect brands to provide omnichannel customer service, but many companies are still overwhelmed by the idea of introducing new channels and training agents.  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

• Q&A with IBM Watson's call center AI tech lead

  We sit down with IBM's contact center AI lead to talk about chatbots and their evolving role as human customers and support agents learn to coexist with them.  Continue Reading

• Invest in people for better customer experience in marketing

  At the MarTech conference, analysts discussed the importance of customer experience in marketing, customer data protection and designated martech leadership.  Continue Reading

• Voice commerce rides on the backs of little smart speakers

  The use of voice assistants and smart speakers continues to rise, but now companies are looking for ways to apply voice commercially in B2B and B2C sales.  Continue Reading

• Loyalty rewards program fuels convenience store's CX

  Since launching a loyalty rewards program last year, convenience store and gas station Yesway has driven 45.2% of loyalty members from the pump to the store.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce implementation offers window into partner management

  Implementing Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Community Cloud has enabled a national window treatment company to streamline its operations.  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

• Sales enablement tool uses AI to hone pitches

  Sales enablement AI goes beyond Einstein lead scoring as Brainshark applies sentiment and other analyses to practice videos that salespeople create before meeting 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

• Salesforce Health Cloud for Payers brings CRM to insurance

  With its CRM system for payers, Salesforce is targeting a competitive market in which health insurers are fighting for members seeking lower costs and better health outcomes.  Continue Reading

• Tea Forte steeps value from new B2C CRM

  B2B CRM vendors like Marketo and Salesforce have tailored their wares for consumer-facing businesses, but B2C CRM vendor Zaius proved to be the right cup of tea for one company.  Continue Reading

• Augmented reality in retail transforms customer experiences

  Retailers like Hershey's are experimenting with augmented reality to take the customers' experience beyond a smartphone screen and drop it into their living rooms.  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

• Activists get organized with new Salesforce CRM for nonprofits

  Salesforce has adapted its CRM for nonprofits, giving activists a lower-cost way to track fundraising, organize activities and keep their communities engaged.  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

• AI for the enterprise transmitted directly from Mars

  For marketing intelligence to explore new frontiers and achieve its ultimate goal, chief marketing officers may find their CRM applications were once developed by NASA and tested in space.  Continue Reading

• Albuquerque Amazon Alexa skill takes heat off call center

  Tens of thousands of Alexa skills -- voice-activated apps -- exist, with more to come. Learn how a city government's call center created one to help residents.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce's GDPR DPO preps partners, customers for compliance

  Salesforce's data protection officer discusses GDPR compliance challenges and strategies for customers and partners, along with the company's own GDPR readiness.  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

• Comparing the top marketing automation software vendors

  Don't be afraid of software migration if there's another technology that better fits your company's needs and if long-term benefits outweigh short-term costs, experts say.  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

• Customer service chatbots help reduce product returns

  In previous years, Azumi Mobile was overwhelmed with customer calls after the holiday season as users attempted to return smartphones. This year, chatbots helped address that issue.  Continue Reading

• Colorado modernizes with Salesforce for government projects

  Colorado licenses Service Cloud and other Salesforce technologies to improve its citizens benefit program.  Continue Reading

• Blockchain loyalty programs building future of customer experience

  While blockchain platforms are still under construction and use cases are still being written, Hooters invests in its own. Others -- including employee rewards -- are to come.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce gets a blockchain distributed ledger tool

  Blockchain technology is the ultimate connectivity layer, and it can be used to help solve thorny customer service issues when paired with Salesforce, according to one vendor.  Continue Reading

• Meet your friendly service agent -- The sales chatbot

  AI chatbots enable companies to automate some sales and service tasks, but the combination of people and smart machines creates better outcomes than either one alone.  Continue Reading

• Smart contracts on blockchain the next wave of CRM automation

  Sales and service contracts get automation from blockchain platforms as applications become more user-friendly and infrastructure evolves to support them.  Continue Reading

• AI chatbots augment humans working in contact centers

  It might seem like contact centers are all being automated by AI chatbots, but for now, the jobs of human agents are still safe while all the kinks are worked out.  Continue Reading

• Marketing reporting software is dying, says InsightSquared CMO

  InsightSquared CMO discusses the importance of vendor-agnostic reporting and why marketing-only reporting software is dying.  Continue Reading

• Artificial intelligence technologies a boon for customer insights

  AI can help companies shrink the gap between customer data and actionable insight by feeding intelligence into CRM, marketing automation and other operational tools. Here's how.  Continue Reading

• What key features do today's leading social CRM tools offer?

  Before purchasing social CRM software, learn the important tools and services you should be looking for and which of today's leading vendors offer them.  Continue Reading

• Taking on a virtual agent helps mint new wine connoisseurs

  Having trouble selecting the wine that goes best with a special meal? And what if your preferred shop doesn't have it? Vivino helps you choose -- and, if needed, find -- the right wine.  Continue Reading

• Retail AI predicts consumer behavior for targeted marketing

  Not all of travel club Secret Escapes' members want to see all 140 last-minute sales it runs every week. AI marketing personalization tool Jetlore helps prevent over-messaging.  Continue Reading

• Future of artificial intelligence in CRM rests with the bots

  Chatbots may seem basic or rudimentary now, but just wait: AI advancements will take virtual agents to new levels of competency to engage customers.  Continue Reading

• Looking ahead at trends in CRM in 2018

  More AI capabilities, intelligent security and augmented reality should gain prominence for CRM users in 2018.  Continue Reading

• Do customer service chatbots need to pass the Turing test?

  Experts say organizations should focus on enhancing the customer experience with chatbots -- not so much on passing the legendary Turing test for artificial intelligence.  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

• Customer data governance policies: Stop stalking, start selling

  Customer data governance policies differ from traditional data governance in several ways. Finding that line between building trust among customers and stalking them is a start.  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

• Are businesses ready for AI applications?

  As the amount of data grows exponentially and computing power strengthens, now is the time for business applications to get a boost from artificial intelligence.  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

• How to get the most out of social CRM software

  Social CRM software requires a commitment of time and money. Consider the pros and cons and ask these important questions before choosing a social CRM platform.  Continue Reading

• Horizontal CRM vs. vertical CRM: What do you really need?

  Cloud-based computing is making it easier to customize CRM applications for vertical industries -- but would a horizontal CRM app work just as well for you?  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Einstein still on its way to personalization perfection

  The artificial intelligence platform Einstein can help organizations mine data for leads and direct targeted marketing at customers. But there are some things it can't do yet.  Continue Reading

• Accenture serves up data for all via Salesforce Wave analytics

  Accenture rolled out Wave analytics along with other Salesforce tools to 25,000 users within five months. Though the project moved quickly, it's also being done carefully.  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

• Is user adoption of Salesforce Analytics Cloud the next wave?

  Salesforce Wave filled an analytics void when it was released -- but there are caveats. Learn more about the benefits and challenges of moving to Salesforce Analytics Cloud.  Continue Reading

• How marketers are reining in the sales funnel process

  The sales process, captured by the sales funnel, is no longer as linear as it once was. How can marketing teams use sales funnel management to gain control of the customer journey?  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

• What to expect from the Salesforce Sales Cloud platform

  Salesforce Sales Cloud is a CRM platform featuring a number of sales and CRM tools, which help businesses of all sizes manage their B2B and B2C engagement and sales strategies.  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

• 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