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• 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

• location-based marketing (LBM)

  Location-based marketing (LMS) is a direct marketing strategy that uses a mobile device's location to alert the device's owner about an offering from a near-by business.  Continue Reading

• Why workforce management and customer experience go hand in hand

  Associate workforce management, or WFM, and customer experience have more in common than you might think. Continue Reading

• A guide to mobile CRM applications

  Mobile CRM applications help organizations keep up with their on-the-go customers, improve customer service and retain customer loyalty. Continue Reading

• Multichannel integration is the next step for customer service

  There have never been more ways to connect with customers. That's why forward-thinking companies are integrating data across channels. Continue Reading

• Definitions to Get Started

  • buzz marketing
  • contact center as a service (CCaaS)
  • customer service and support
  • contact center

  • call center
  • multichannel marketing
  • chatbot
  • call center agent (call center representative)

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• A guide to call center analytics

  Call center analytics creates a more personalized customer experience, and organizations from health care to Disney are rapidly seeing the rewards.Continue Reading

• Test your knowledge of customer experience management best practices

  Take this short quiz to test your knowledge about customer experience management best practices.Continue Reading

• Call center operations quiz

  Call center operations are working hard to keep up with the technology revolution. Find out why the call center is not just for telephones anymore.Continue Reading

• social media listening

  Social media listening, also known as social media monitoring, is the process of identifying and assessing what is being said about a company, individual, product or brand.Continue Reading

• Salesforce AppExchange

  Salesforce AppExchange is Salesforce.com's cloud computing marketplace, through which end users can access, download and install custom software applications.Continue Reading

• Force.com

  Force.com is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) product designed to simplify the development and deployment of cloud-based applications and websites.Continue Reading

• Heroku

  Heroku is a cloud-based development platform as a service (PaaS) provider.Continue Reading

• gamification

  Gamification is the application of game theory concepts and techniques to non-game activities. Game theory is a branch of mathematics that seeks to understand why an individual makes a particular decision and how the decisions made by one individual...Continue Reading

• CRM user interface guide

  This guide provides an at-a-glance look at Oracle, SAP, Microsoft and Salesforce.com’s user interfaces for their mobile client, Outlook integration and sales dashboards.Continue Reading

• Workforce management (WFM) software

  Workforce management (WFM) software is an umbrella term for desktop and mobile programs that help a business manage staff scheduling. The term originated in contact centers and other service businesses that employ a large number of workers who are ...Continue Reading

• coalition loyalty program

  A coalition loyalty program is a loyalty card system that offers incentives to customers of two or more businesses in return for allowing those businesses to collect user data. Such a program packages customer benefits into a single customer loyalty...Continue Reading

• Hosted CRM

  Hosted CRM is an arrangement in which a company outsources some or all of its customer relationship management (CRM) functions to an application service provider (ASP). The hosted CRM model is said to increase return on investment (ROI) by ...Continue Reading

• silent attrition

  Silent attrition is a situation in which customers stop patronizing a business without any communication.Continue Reading

• call center schedule adherence

  Call center schedule adherence is a common metric used in the call center to determine whether or not call center agents are working the amount of time they are scheduled to work.Continue Reading

• chief customer officer (CCO)

  A chief customer officer, or customer experience officer, is generally responsible for customer research, communicating with company employees and taking charge of customer experience metrics. The position typically reports one level below the chief...Continue Reading

• call center shrinkage

  Call center shrinkage is a measure of how much time is lost in the call center because agents are unavailable to receive calls.Continue Reading

• workforce optimization (WFO) software

  Workforce optimization (WFO) software is a program suite that combines recording, quality management (QM) and other call center technologies into one console with the purpose of optimizing call center performance.Continue Reading

• Call center interaction dos and don'ts

  Read about call center interaction dos and don'ts and get tips for improving the customer experience, customer trust and customer retention through call center interactions.Continue Reading

• Five call center sales tips and techniques

  In difficult economic times, ramping up sales in the call center can provide another outlet to help companies meet sales quotas and drive sales effectiveness. We've gathered these five tips for companies looking to improve call center sales and ...Continue Reading

• How to use Web 2.0 technology for customer service, marketing, sales

  As more customers head to the Web to review products, make purchases and find information, forward-thinking companies need to learn how to leverage Web 2.0 to stay competitive. Here are a few ways you can use Web 2.0 technologies to improve your ...Continue Reading

• Leveraging speech recognition technology in call centers

  Learn more about speech recognition technology in this special report, where we've outlined the basics of this up-and-coming call-center technology and what you need to know about speech recognition software for the call center.Continue Reading

• neuromarketing

  Neuromarketing is the study of how people's brains respond to advertising and other brand-related messages by monitoring brainwave activity, eye-tracking and skin response...(Continued)Continue Reading

• loyalty punch card

  A loyalty punch card is a token that lets a customer earn free merchandise or discounts after a certain number of purchases.Continue Reading

• loyalty card program

  A loyalty card program is an incentive plan that allows a retail business to gather data about its customers. The goal of a loyalty card program is to build repeat business by offering participating customers something that isn't available to ...Continue Reading

• transactional marketing

  Transactional marketing is a business strategy that focuses on single, "point of sale" transactions. The emphasis is on maximizing the efficiency and volume of individual sales rather than developing a relationship with the buyer. (Continued)Continue Reading

• The top 10 customer experience questions

  Read our list of the top ten customer experience questions from expert Lior Arussy. Learn about customer experience mapping, the chief customer officer position and more.Continue Reading

• SOA and CRM: Top 10 headlines

  A service-oriented architecture (SOA) can help enable integration between CRM and other applications in the enterprise. These headlines will get you up to date on the latest news and information on SOA and CRM.Continue Reading

• Workforce optimization (WFO) quiz

  Workforce optimization (WFO) is still an emerging call center technology, but in recent years the call center market for WFO has experienced tremendous growth as companies look to optimize their business processes through one unified system. Whether...Continue Reading

• CRM jobs and careers: Special report

  In this CRM jobs and careers special report, you'll find popular news articles, expert advice and other resources to help with a job search or career advancement. Get the latest CRM job market news and headlines from SearchCRM.com and other sources....Continue Reading

• Vertical industry CRM: Special report

  In this vertical industry CRM special report, we've compiled popular news articles and case studies on implementing, managing and maintaining CRM in vertical industries.Continue Reading

• Call center management training

  We've gathered these tips and advice on call center management training to help you train current and future call center managers in your organization.Continue Reading

• Customer surveying and feedback: Top 10 headlines

  The best way to keep your customers satisfied is to solicit their feedback -- and act on it. Failure to do this can be catastrophic for any organization, big or small. We've gathered these headlines on customer surveying and feedback to help you ...Continue Reading

• Quality of Experience (QoE or QoX)

  Quality of Experience (QoE or QoX) is a measure of the overall level of customer satisfaction with a vendor. QoE is related to but differs from Quality of Service(QoS), which embodies the notion that hardware and software characteristics can be ...Continue Reading

• Call center metrics quiz answers

  With answers from the Call Center Metrics School quiz, learn about call center metrics like average handle time, occupancy and schedule adherence.Continue Reading

• Customer experience management: Top five headlines

  In an attempt to build customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, many companies have turned their attention to the customer experience. We've gathered our most popular headlines on customer experience management (CEM) to get you up to date on the ...Continue Reading

• CRM ROI quiz.

  For many years, the return on investment (ROI) from CRM implementations was dissapointing -- at one point, analysts suggested that eight out of 10 projects failed to deliver on ROI promises. Today's reports are more optimistic, and many ...Continue Reading

• Evaluating sales force automation (SFA) software vendors

  In this section of the sales force automation (SFA) guide, review top vendors and options including hosted SFA to help you decide if SFA is the right choice for your organization.Continue Reading

• market leadership

  Market leadership is when an individual or company owns the largest market share or highest profitability margin in a given market for goods and services. Market share may be measured either the volume of goods sold or the value of those goods. (...Continue Reading

• Web 2.0 and CRM quiz

  This quiz on Web 2.0 and CRM was designed to test your knowledge of Web 2.0 technology and social networking and open your eyes to how this technology can help advance CRM initiatives.Continue Reading

• Web 2.0 and CRM quiz answers

  Test yourself on Web 2.0 and social networking and how this technology is impacting CRM, with the answers to SearchCRM.com's quiz.Continue Reading

• Call Center Performance Management Learning Guide

  Performance management skills are essential, yet they aren't easy to master. As a call center manager, you are tested on all aspects of monitoring agents in the call center, including call center planning, developing agent skills, rating agents ...Continue Reading

• abandoned call

  An abandoned call is a call or other type of contact initiated to a call center that is ended before any conversation occurs... (Continued)Continue Reading

• Preventing call center attrition quiz answers

  Discover how to prevent call center attrition with the answers to SearchCRM.com's quiz.Continue Reading

• Call center interactive voice response (IVR) system quiz answers

  Find out how you did on SearchCRM.com's call center IVR system quiz with these answers.Continue Reading

• Call center interactive voice response (IVR) system quiz

  Call center interactive voice response (IVR) systems continue to expand their functionality. Find out how much you know about today's IVR technology with this quiz.Continue Reading

• silent monitoring

  Silent monitoring refers to the practice of call center managers or senior agents listening to the interaction between an incoming caller and an agent. Silent monitoring is generally used in training and to ensure that customer service and ...Continue Reading

• Apex

  Apex is a development platform for building software as a service (SaaS) applications on top of Salesforce.com's customer relationship management (CRM) functionality.Continue Reading

• skill-based routing (SBR)

  Skill-based routing (SBR) is a component of automatic call distributor (ACD) systems that filters and directs incoming inquiries to call center agents with the most applicable skill sets.Continue Reading

• Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction Learning Guide

  Find out about customer loyalty and satisfaction, marketing, metrics and advice on the best ways to retain customers. This SearchCRM.com guide will lead you through defining, measuring and maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Also, learn ...Continue Reading

• Customer loyalty case studies and industry-specific strategies

  This section of the Customer Loyalty Learning Guide provides a look at other businesses that have implemented customer loyalty programs and examines innovative strategies and industry-specific challenges.Continue Reading

• Case studies of call center best practices

  Discover call center best practices in case studies for call center managers. Learn how some of the best call centers operate.Continue Reading

• Customer self-service case studies

  These customer self-service case studies examine how other companies have implemented self service and what challenges and benefits they've encountered.Continue Reading

• Evaluating and implementing customer self-service technology

  This section of the guide to self service offers explanations of self-service terms and expert advice on customer self service.Continue Reading

• contextual marketing

  Contextual marketing is an online marketing model in which people are served with targeted advertising based on their current page or recent browsing behavior... (Continued)Continue Reading

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM quiz answers

  Looking for answers to SearchCRM.com's quiz on Microsoft Dynamics CRM? Read the answers plus detailed information from our most popular news articles on Microsoft CRM here.Continue Reading

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM quiz

  If you missed Microsoft's Convergence 2007 conference, use this quiz to catch up on the latest Microsoft CRM news. Read our most popular news articles on Microsoft CRM as well as announcements from the conference. Find out how much you know -- and ...Continue Reading

• direct email marketing

  Direct email marketing is a format for email-based campaigns in which standalone advertisements are sent to a targeted list of recipients.Continue Reading

• customer-managed relationship (CMR)

  A customer-managed relationship (CMR) is a relationship in which a business uses a methodology, software, and perhaps Internet capability to encourage the customer to control access to information and ordering.Continue Reading

• Customer loyalty quiz

  Figuring out how to attract and retain happy customers is a struggle for every organization. Find out how much you know about customer loyalty with this quiz. You'll find the most common terms related to customer loyalty, as well as technology ...Continue Reading

• Customer loyalty quiz answers

  Every organization struggles with customer loyalty. Find out how much you know about customer loyalty with the answers to SearchCRM.com's Customer loyalty quiz.Continue Reading

• geotargeting

  Geotargeting is the practice of customizing an advertisement for a product or service to a specific market based on the geographic location of potential buyers. Every country, province, state, county or city in the world can constitute a niche ...Continue Reading

• service assurance (SA)

  Service assurance (SA) is a procedure or set of procedures intended to optimize performance and provide management solutions in communications networks, media services and end-user applications. Service assurance is an all-encompassing paradigm that...Continue Reading

• Opt-In Email

  Opt-in email is a Web marketing term for email that recipients have previously requested by signing up at a Web site or special ad banner.Continue Reading

• first call resolution (FCR)

  In customer relationship management (CRM), first call resolution is properly addressing the customer's need the first time they call, thereby eliminating the need for the customer to follow up with a second call.Continue Reading

• talk time

  In customer relationship management (CRM), talk time is the amount of time a call center agent spends with a caller during a transaction.Continue Reading

• help desk

  In a business enterprise, a help desk is a place that a user of information technology can call to get help with a problem.Continue Reading