News

News

• May 15, 2018 15 May'18

  HubSpot customer service tool Service Hub aims to transform SMBs

  HubSpot's Service Hub, the new customer service product, aims at helping small and medium businesses complete the view of the customer, combined with the company's sales and marketing products.

• May 14, 2018 14 May'18

  Recapping Oracle Modern CX: CX execs share challenges

  What's on the minds of customer experience execs right now? This Pipeline podcast breaks down grumblings and rumblings from Oracle's Modern CX show.

• May 10, 2018 10 May'18

  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.

• April 23, 2018 23 Apr'18

  What Salesforce's CloudCraze acquisition means for customers

  CloudCraze president calls the acquisition by Salesforce 'a huge win' for its customers and for Commerce Cloud customers, with the capability of selling B2C and B2B on one platform.

• April 19, 2018 19 Apr'18

  Salesforce Field Service Lightning gets appointment, scheduling upgrades

  While the new Field Service Lightning features will help Salesforce users connect customers to their service needs, it lacks any of that Einstein touch of other Salesforce products.

• April 13, 2018 13 Apr'18

  Measure your digital marketing ROI, keep your job

  Oracle customers weigh in on executive's hypothesis that analytics can now prove ROI of the martech stack -- or soon will -- and make marketing a revenue center just like sales.

• April 12, 2018 12 Apr'18

  Salesforce World Tour Boston talks Integration Cloud, Social Studio

  Salesforce World Tour sessions included dives into Philanthropy Cloud, integrated surveys and Salesforce's new Integration Cloud.

• April 10, 2018 10 Apr'18

  Oracle CX Cloud adds AI tools for B2C, B2B customers

  Oracle announces infusion of its Adaptive Intelligent apps into several CX Cloud products and promises more to come, with sales, marketing and service all getting upgrades.

• April 09, 2018 09 Apr'18

  Importance of customer experience highlighted at Adobe Summit

  The Pipeline podcast looks back at the Adobe Summit and the conference's main themes. Listen in as our team discusses how the NFL uses Adobe to better personalize customer campaigns.

• April 06, 2018 06 Apr'18

  Using Salesforce Social Studio, Harvard saw power of social media

  By looking at its social media data with Salesforce, Harvard Graduate School of Education saw more than 65% of article traffic generated through social media.

• April 06, 2018 06 Apr'18

  Adobe DMP a touchdown for NFL's data-driven marketing strategy

  Heading into the 2017 season, the NFL made a concentrated effort to better understand its data and its audience. It turned to data governance and Adobe Audience Manager.

• March 30, 2018 30 Mar'18

  Customer personalization takes center stage for 24 Hour Fitness

  When it came time to engage more effectively with customers, 24 Hour Fitness looked to industry leaders in customer personalization for inspiration.

• March 28, 2018 28 Mar'18

  Adobe Experience Cloud to aid company digital transformation

  Products are no longer the focus, according to Adobe. The customer experience is where it's at -- and Coca-Cola agrees, as the company executes its digital transformation process.

• March 23, 2018 23 Mar'18

  Salesforce acquisitions reach new heights with MuleSoft purchase

  The intrepid Pipeline podcasters break down the MuleSoft acquisition, which enables hybrid cloud/on-premises CRM. Also: Salesforce Essentials replaces Desk.com and SalesforceIQ.

• March 22, 2018 22 Mar'18

  Salesforce-MuleSoft deal focuses on data integration

  Beyond producing a hybrid cloud product with its new Integration Cloud, Salesforce now has capabilities for customers to build microservices with MuleSoft's technology.

• March 16, 2018 16 Mar'18

  Salesforce small business tools get major refresh

  Emphasizing the 'S' in 'SMB,' Salesforce goes after companies with 20 employees or less with Salesforce Essentials -- with hooks into Trailhead's free training.

• March 15, 2018 15 Mar'18

  Salesforce e-commerce gets B2B boost with CloudCraze purchase

  To improve its e-commerce offerings, the CRM company bought B2B commerce product CloudCraze for an undisclosed amount. The purchase will add B2B functionality.

• March 07, 2018 07 Mar'18

  How a millennial workforce benefits sales teams, CRM

  Millennials bring more than just their iPhones to the conference table. Here's why you need to stop dumping on your millennial sales force and embrace their tech-savvy ways.

• March 06, 2018 06 Mar'18

  Why improving social media customer service is important

  By having a social media strategy in place, companies can quickly respond to customers' concerns through social media.

• March 02, 2018 02 Mar'18

  When selling on social media, marketers weigh chatbots vs. humans

  Marketers interested in social selling need to weigh whether to use chatbots or deploy actual customer service agents. The decision depends on a number of variables.

• February 28, 2018 28 Feb'18

  IT Priorities survey: CRM trends indicate move to the cloud

  Hybrid cloud and on-premises IT should remain the norm for years. But more respondents to TechTarget's late 2017 survey indicate more cloud CRM and social media monitoring.

• February 28, 2018 28 Feb'18

  Salesforce certification salary data: Admin, dev in demand

  The 2018 Mason Frank International Salesforce Salary Survey's bumper sticker: The talent's holding the cards as employers increase bids for their services.

• February 05, 2018 05 Feb'18

  Salesforce buys Attic Labs, adding to Quip capabilities

  Quip receives back-end capabilities with open source database after Salesforce purchase of Attic Labs.

• January 23, 2018 23 Jan'18

  Salesforce-Oracle breakup on the horizon? Some say it's possible

  Whether or not Salesforce is building out its own infrastructure is the first big CRM story in 2018, but it won't be the only one.

• January 23, 2018 23 Jan'18

  Salesforce Trailhead gets social boost for admins, developers

  Salesforce might not own LinkedIn, but it's creating a similar online social network of certified professionals via Trailhead, complete with vanity URLs and more detailed profiles.

• January 18, 2018 18 Jan'18

  Salesforce databases remain Oracle, for now

  Oracle and Salesforce executives deny reports of Salesforce moving on from Oracle infrastructure.

• December 08, 2017 08 Dec'17

  Salesforce Quip gets a facelift

  At Dreamforce, Salesforce launched a major update to its Quip collaboration environment that enables employees and users to customize the collaboration interface.

• December 07, 2017 07 Dec'17

  Salesforce small-business CRM customers can tap into AI, too

  Salesforce small-business faces heavy competition from more nimble, agile, less expensive boutique CRM vendors. Yet, the largest CRM platform woos SMBs like it does bigger fish with features for AI.

• December 06, 2017 06 Dec'17

  Einstein AI drills deeper into Salesforce clouds

  Einstein AI tools show great promise and are expanding deeper into the Salesforce clouds. Many smaller companies still need some convincing, but have high hopes for the future.

• December 04, 2017 04 Dec'17

  Europe's highways lead to customer service in the cloud

  Daniel Krauss, founder and CIO of FlixBus, discusses how his vision for cloud brand management helped unify many of Europe's numerous regional bus companies.

• December 01, 2017 01 Dec'17

  Salesforce for nonprofits enables Year Up to track people, metrics

  Running the IT backbone for a national nonprofit that benefits young adults requires CRM-style management of donors, educational entities, employers and students.

• December 01, 2017 01 Dec'17

  Marketing with Salesforce caps Lids' app strategy

  Marketing with Salesforce: A conversation with Lids Sports Group SVP of E-commerce and Marketing Jeff Pearson on how brick-and-mortar chains compete with online-only retailers.

• December 01, 2017 01 Dec'17

  AI for retail next phase of Salesforce Commerce Cloud

  Can Salesforce's customers help 'the Salesforce economy' catch up to Amazon's? Rob Garf hopes so, breaking down the latest additions to his platform in this video interview.

• November 29, 2017 29 Nov'17

  Eight must-have call center systems for customer service

  It can be challenging to pick a call center technology, implement it and optimize it for the best results. Here are the top eight call center tools to deliver the best customer experience.

• November 28, 2017 28 Nov'17

  Salesforce Pardot adds fresh B2C style to VMware B2B sales

  As a mature software company hoping to freshen its sales approach in the age of marketing automation, VMware is looking to consumer marketing techniques to win new enterprise business.

• November 16, 2017 16 Nov'17

  Salesforce-Google integration bolsters CRM, analytics functionality

  Offering an alternative to AWS, Salesforce chooses Google Cloud as its potentially cheaper public cloud option for international customers.

• November 10, 2017 10 Nov'17

  Pipeline podcast: Salesforce SMB customers to benefit from Google deal

  Salesforce executives at Dreamforce discuss the impact of the new partnership with Google on Salesforce SMB customers, who'll be able to tap into Google Analytics and more.

• November 09, 2017 09 Nov'17

  By aligning sales and marketing, Mizuho OSI could sell faster

  By implementing Salesforce CRM and Pardot and aligning sales and marketing, Mizuho OSI shortened the time it takes for prospects to become customers, leading to quicker sales.

• November 09, 2017 09 Nov'17

  Salesforce artificial intelligence meets customer analytics

  Salesforce's Analytics Cloud general manager, Ketan Karkhanis, discusses how artificial intelligence revolutionizes customer analytics and more.

• November 07, 2017 07 Nov'17

  Experts: Time is nigh for a Salesforce Lightning migration

  'Everything forward will be Lightning,' was advice from one analyst at Dreamforce 2017. CommScope's experience proves a move to Salesforce Lightning may be easier than you think.

• November 07, 2017 07 Nov'17

  Salesforce-Google partnership brings cloud, AI enhancements

  Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff revealed a massive cloud partnership with Google to expand globally and give the company's customers access to Google Analytics and other tools.

• November 06, 2017 06 Nov'17

  At Dreamforce, Salesforce applications take center stage

  Quip is expected to become the new Salesforce collaboration standard in Dreamforce unveiling; AppExchange and Einstein announcements reveal push into new markets.

• November 03, 2017 03 Nov'17

  Dreamforce 2017 conference coverage

  The Dreamforce 2017 conference took place in San Francisco on Nov. 6-9.

• October 27, 2017 27 Oct'17

  Salesforce Lead Analytics for Facebook analyzes B2B sales cycle

  The recently released Salesforce offering is the latest in a line of social selling tools meant to help customers identify which ads are working on Facebook and which are not.

• October 19, 2017 19 Oct'17

  Experts: Website redesign must enhance digital customer experience

  Gone are the days of a quick website launch. According to speakers at the Acquia Engage conference, redesigning a website is now a companywide digital customer experience project.

• October 13, 2017 13 Oct'17

  Facebook Messenger chatbots follow HubSpot Motion AI acquisition

  The focus at the recent HubSpot conference turned to the marketing potential of AI-powered chatbots engaging customers. This Pipeline Podcast looks back at Inbound.

• October 06, 2017 06 Oct'17

  AI among new Dynamics 365 features, Microsoft Teams top news from Ignite

  Discussing the top news stories coming out of the newly combined Microsoft Ignite and Envision conferences on the latest Pipeline podcast episode.

• October 05, 2017 05 Oct'17

  How to best manage your martech stack: A Q&A with Scott Brinker

  SearchCRM talks with ChiefMarTec co-founder Scott Brinker about the growing tech landscape, tips for controlling a martech stack and his new role at HubSpot.

• October 02, 2017 02 Oct'17

  Dynamics 365 CRM can help drive the digital transformation process

  At Ignite, Microsoft predicts the future -- and it's one that centers on Dynamics 365, artificial intelligence and digital transformation.

• September 27, 2017 27 Sep'17

  New Dynamics 365 features take center stage during Ignite keynote

  Dynamics 365 and the future direction of Microsoft products were given center stage during the Ignite keynote delivered by Satya Nadella.

• September 26, 2017 26 Sep'17

  Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM takes center stage at Ignite 2017

  Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella kicks off Microsoft Ignite with talk of future products, use cases for AI and continued bundling of Microsoft products.

• September 19, 2017 19 Sep'17

  Salesforce Einstein AI expands reach as Dreamforce approaches

  Salesforce Analytics extended to data sources outside the platform. Salesforce Einstein AI adds forecasting, email insights and opportunity scoring features for Sales Cloud users.

• September 13, 2017 13 Sep'17

  How enterprises can take advantage of social media mapping

  If your company wants to tap into the emotion and sentiment customers display on social media, social media mapping may be the answer. Learn about one company's approach.

• September 08, 2017 08 Sep'17

  Adobe Sign, Microsoft Teams integrations expand partnership

  The first of several planned 'joint solutions' expands Adobe Sign into Office 365; Microsoft Teams integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud; Adobe Stock to speed reviews and approvals.

• September 06, 2017 06 Sep'17

  On tap for Microsoft Ignite conference: Adobe, Dynamics 365, LinkedIn

  New Adobe integrations and further integrations of existing products are possible announcements from Microsoft Ignite 2017.

• August 31, 2017 31 Aug'17

  Salesforce unveils image recognition technology for Social Studio

  Salesforce's Einstein Vision for Social Studio currently only works with Twitter, but other integrations are expected.

• August 10, 2017 10 Aug'17

  Humanitarian company uses Dynamics 365 for Talent for quicker deployment

  Chemonics upgraded its technological process from telex-era capabilities to cloud-based software for its worldwide projects.

• August 04, 2017 04 Aug'17

  Will new Salesforce Lightning features convince customers to migrate?

  Salesforce hopes new Lightning upgrades convince customers who haven't migrated to the new UI to do so, but analysts remain skeptical.

• July 27, 2017 27 Jul'17

  Service Cloud Lightning upgrades give agents improved UI, mobile app

  With the latest upgrades, Service Cloud Lightning enables easier contact center customization and provides a mobile app for agents.

• July 21, 2017 21 Jul'17

  Upgrades to Salesforce PRM app target high-tech, manufacturing

  By upgrading its Sales Cloud PRM capabilities, users can now easily deploy partner channel processes, including discounting and website branding.

• June 19, 2017 19 Jun'17

  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.

• June 19, 2017 19 Jun'17

  CRM AI is the top topic at PegaWorld 2017

  Large enterprise customers demonstrate novel uses of Pegasystems' CRM platform for business process management as Pega leadership, users mull the potential of CRM AI.

• June 09, 2017 09 Jun'17

  Salesforce enters account-based marketing space with Einstein ABM

  While Salesforce's ABM offering has integration and first-party data advantages, it can still benefit from third-party data augmentation providers.

• June 08, 2017 08 Jun'17

  AI, IoT and Trailhead were main themes at Salesforce World Tour Boston

  In the second taping of The Pipeline podcast, we discuss the customer stories mentioned at the Boston event, the tight security and Salesforce's push of Trailhead.

• June 07, 2017 07 Jun'17

  GDPR and marketing: Keep an eye on European regulations in the works

  Companies selling to 27 European Union nations must monitor how the GDPR will affect marketing, as the EU creates new guidelines for CRM use of customer data.

• June 07, 2017 07 Jun'17

  Customer data mining rules changing in Trump's corporations-first era

  As Trump negates regulations against mining of customer data, consumers are mixed when it comes to trusting AI to act on those insights, Pegasystems research shows.

• June 07, 2017 07 Jun'17

  To update its insurance agency software, Farmers went with Salesforce

  When looking to upgrade its decades of legacy systems, Farmers Insurance turned to Salesforce and its bundle of products, leading to increased customer satisfaction.

• June 07, 2017 07 Jun'17

  Three execs discuss using -- not abusing -- customer contact channels

  Customer contact channels offer many potential touchpoints, but customers don't want to hear from you that often. Three executives share strategies for balanced customer contacts.

• June 06, 2017 06 Jun'17

  The major themes from SiriusDecisions Summit 2017

  Winning martech strategies highlighted the recent three-day conference, as well as SiriusDecisions keynotes and product showcases.

• June 06, 2017 06 Jun'17

  Pegasystems turns up heat on Salesforce Einstein CRM AI

  AI in CRM holds promise, but Pegasystems' CEO warns business users not to believe the hype -- especially around Salesforce and Oracle AI.

• May 25, 2017 25 May'17

  Personalized marketing a step closer with weather data

  By partnering with multiple data monetization companies, The Weather Company is providing more data points to marketers and advertisers.

• May 18, 2017 18 May'17

  Build a martech stack beginning with CRM, marketing automation and CMS

  There are about 5,000 vendors in the marketing technology space, but you may need only about three for a complete martech stack. Here's how to choose the right ones.

• May 10, 2017 10 May'17

  Salesforce AppExchange releases vendor-facing upgrades

  The improvements to the Salesforce AppExchange benefit companies and ISVs building on AppExchange, with lower pricing and more tools.

• May 02, 2017 02 May'17

  Oracle, Pegasystems CRM add Alexa, Facebook Messenger APIs and more

  In strikingly similar moves, CRM rivals Oracle and Pegasystems provide support for new Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Facebook Messenger channels driven by AI, APIs.

• April 25, 2017 25 Apr'17

  Customer experience technology vital for CMO role

  The changing technology landscape has reshaped the role of CMO to be not only a demand generator but also a revenue driver.

• April 21, 2017 21 Apr'17

  Business analytics tools help music-identifying app uncover insights

  After tiring from limited and ineffective Excel reports, app company Shazam turned to Salesforce Wave Analytics to quickly extract insights and create actionable reports from data.

• April 20, 2017 20 Apr'17

  Industry-specific CRM systems still on the rise

  Certain segments, such as real estate or the cannabis industry, have unique regulations and specific customers that benefit from specialized CRM.

• April 14, 2017 14 Apr'17

  Adobe and Microsoft strengthen partnership, integrate products

  By partnering, two tech giants are able to fill the gaps they have in their customer experience platform.

• April 05, 2017 05 Apr'17

  Watson AI capabilities coming to business apps

  While gaining traction in the healthcare space, IBM's Watson is expected to start latching onto business operations in 2017 and beyond.

• April 04, 2017 04 Apr'17

  Salesforce Einstein AI powers Sales Cloud makeover

  Salesforce Einstein AI brings enhancements to Sales Cloud. While lead scoring, dialing and activity capture get automation features, Watson integration looms in the distance.

• March 31, 2017 31 Mar'17

  With growth of social networking comes social media selling

  With Sales Navigator enhancements, which include an enterprise edition, LinkedIn hopes to capitalize on sales reps' increasing use of social media as a sales tool.

• March 30, 2017 30 Mar'17

  With Amazon Connect, AWS puts experience to work in contact center space

  By offering an inexpensive cloud-based contact center product, Amazon hopes to monetize its own software in a new growing market.

• March 30, 2017 30 Mar'17

  How AI, IoT and big data lead to new insights via data mining in CRM

  SAP Labs director Seema Thomas discusses how big data infuses mature technologies -- such as AI, CRM and IoT -- with cutting-edge insights to drive better sales

• March 23, 2017 23 Mar'17

  AI advances can slow a Salesforce cloud migration

  Showing incremental improvement and investing over time are keys to successful cloud implementations, especially in government.

• March 20, 2017 20 Mar'17

  When choosing marketing tools, focus on process, not technology

  Neura CMO Kris Bondi answers questions about the evolving role of a CMO and the modern challenges of the position.

• March 15, 2017 15 Mar'17

  Campaign Monitor's Tagga acquisition merges email marketing, CRM

  The purchase of Tagga is expected to help Campaign Monitor combine cloud email marketing with CRM. Less costly, more personalized marketing campaigns will be possible.

• March 13, 2017 13 Mar'17

  Intelligence comes to workforce management software

  By combing insights about where employees spend time when using sales and marketing apps, Radial was able to better streamline the customer and sales and service agent experiences.

• March 09, 2017 09 Mar'17

  Six tips for simple, effective SMB cloud CRM implementations

  Thrush Aircraft flew through a cloud-based CRM implementation by engaging employees all along the way. Here are tips based on its success.

• March 08, 2017 08 Mar'17

  IBM-Salesforce partnership brings Watson and Einstein together

  By combining Watson's troves of unstructured data with Salesforce's CRM data, users can mine for even greater insights.

• March 07, 2017 07 Mar'17

  Economy drives new CRM opportunities; businesses struggle to use them

  It's time for sales and service departments to become better connected. Businesses are just beginning to skim the surface of the potential for their integrations.

• March 06, 2017 06 Mar'17

  Salesforce upgrades include heavy dose of Einstein

  Salesforce introduces image recognition software and upgrades its cloud products with new Einstein-related features.

• February 27, 2017 27 Feb'17

  Full-funnel marketing gains importance as CRM applications evolve

  Longtime CMO Dave Karel of Clari answers questions about the changing landscape of marketing and the role of the CMO.

• February 21, 2017 21 Feb'17

  Chatbots, IoT implementation drive SAP next-generation CRM

  As CRM chatbots improve, as well as IoT implementations to support customer service, SAP users find new uses for the tech, thanks to tighter integration to S/4HANA.

• February 01, 2017 01 Feb'17

  How Salesforce AI aims to change everyday business

  The Salesforce flavor of artificial intelligence, Einstein, is trying to bring practical productivity to everyday tasks, but can it prevail over long-standing competition?

• January 26, 2017 26 Jan'17

  Software creation is not for every startup

  While it may be beneficial in the long run, creating AI software requires patience, investment and the right cast of employees. For one company, the investment paid off.

• January 24, 2017 24 Jan'17

  Chatbot integration brings intelligent insight to your fingertips

  Automation and notification processes are increasingly being left to chatbots, providing employees with clearer project updates and leading to less monotony.

• January 18, 2017 18 Jan'17

  Quip acquisition of Unity&Variety beefs up subsidiary

  Salesforce hopes to add visual and creative elements to its document tool, while Commerce Cloud's integration with Facebook Ads hopes to make buying easy.

• January 06, 2017 06 Jan'17

  What effect will Salesforce acquisitions have on the company's future?

  After buying 10 companies in 2016, analysts are watching for Salesforce's next step -- whether it be more acquisitions or more integration.

• January 03, 2017 03 Jan'17

  Three key 2017 technology trends to know

  Predictive analytics, voice-activated devices and artificial intelligence will take shape as significant technology trends in 2017. Some still await further maturity.

• December 21, 2016 21 Dec'16

  Strong customer experience still awaits customer data integration

  Dufl and Kone are both on the move with their operations and are trying to create a solid customer experience by combining data from various back-office systems.