News

News

• 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 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.

• Sponsored News

  • How to build an agile support team

    Sponsored by Zendesk - With the world changing at lightning speed, agile support teams are finding ways to quickly adapt to the changing needs of their customers and their agents. See More

  • Agility starts with self-service

    Sponsored by Zendesk - Agile companies are pouring resources into online health centers, and with good reason. Anticipating and answering your customers’ most common questions helps to tame spiking tickets when teams are inundated or when staffing levels are low. More than 60 percent of agile companies (those who have kept resolution times stable, despite a surge in tickets) in our Zendesk Benchmark dataset have added new articles in recent months, while 15 percent have increased their staffing to ensure that content reflects the changing needs of their customer base. See More

  • Prioritizing fast responses with live channels

    Sponsored by Zendesk - There’s no magic formula for agility. What works for your team (and your customers!), may not work for everyone else. But for teams that have continued to respond to customers just as quickly as they did before the pandemic, one clear strategy has emerged: agile companies are prioritizing speed above all else. And they’re using live channels to do so. See More

  • Customers are turning to messaging. Why aren’t agile companies doing the same?

    Sponsored by Zendesk - If 2020 had a breakout star, messaging would be it. Usage of channels like WhatsApp and SMS (text) has grown faster than any other this year. And increasingly, customers are signaling that they want the convenience and familiarity of channels they already use in their personal lives. See More

  View All Sponsored News
• 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.

• December 16, 2016 16 Dec'16

  Salesforce-AWS partnership expected to benefit customers

  By switching to Amazon Web Services, existing Salesforce customers could gain insight from AWS apps that will easily integrate with Salesforce.

• December 14, 2016 14 Dec'16

  Customer experience trends: Why predictive analytics failed and more

  Bluewolf co-founder Eric Berridge looks at customer experience management in 2016, predictive analytics challenges and why customers must be at the center of your strategy.

• December 07, 2016 07 Dec'16

  Using call analysis, funeral service company digs up dead data

  With insight from its phone call leads, Arbor Memorial was able to find out that calls accounted for 1.5 times more sales than online-based leads.

• December 06, 2016 06 Dec'16

  Why has the Microsoft-Salesforce partnership soured?

  While the Microsoft-Salesforce partnership was touted with great fanfare just two years ago, the relationship has since soured.

• December 02, 2016 02 Dec'16

  AI, IoT, intelligent systems take center stage in 2017 technology trends

  Experts held forth on the promise and pitfalls of technologies that are changing today's environment at the Gilbane conference.

• November 29, 2016 29 Nov'16

  Insightly adds CRM security to its product

  With smaller security budgets and IT teams than enterprise businesses, small and medium-sized companies are more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Insightly's new security features hope to combat that.

• November 29, 2016 29 Nov'16

  How the sales cycle has changed in the wake of inbound marketing

  HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan recently outlined research on how the sales cycle has changed: Supply is up, demand is down and the cold call is dead.

• November 18, 2016 18 Nov'16

  Five tips to boost sales reps' sales forecast accuracy

  Sales managers are constantly trying to squeeze more revenue out of sales reps, but these tactics can be counterproductive.

• November 14, 2016 14 Nov'16

  Inside the Salesforce strategy: Acquisitions, AI and Commerce Cloud

  Salesforce Einstein and Commerce Cloud are at the forefront of this year's Salesforce strategy, but the company works to gain momentum around IoT Cloud.

• November 09, 2016 09 Nov'16

  IoT technologies bring efficiency and customization to manufacturing

  KUKA Robotics is using IoT technologies to automate assembly line manufacturing and usher in customization.

• November 02, 2016 02 Nov'16

  Election Protection helps voters with call center technology

  Election Protection handles upward of 100,000 calls per day as Election Day nears, routing calls from high-call-volume states using Genesys.

• November 01, 2016 01 Nov'16

  How Dunkin' Brands brought one-to-one marketing from hype to reality

  Dunkin' Brands has long built a name through traditional advertising. But it wanted to personalize marketing with one-to-one marketing methods.

• October 26, 2016 26 Oct'16

  Abacus aims to find missing data in marketing expenses

  By combing CRM data, Abacus looks to provide finance teams with a clearer picture on costs accrued during marketing campaigns and events.

• October 20, 2016 20 Oct'16

  Salesforce rebrands SteelBrick as Salesforce CPQ, adds Einstein

  Salesforce plans improvements to mobile and desktop UI, and to predictive capabilities, in fully integrated quote-to-cash process -- formerly SteelBrick.

• October 14, 2016 14 Oct'16

  Salesforce Analytics Cloud gives the sales funnel a B-12 shot

  Sales and marketing teams that work in silos when they should be sharing data risk losing deals. Here's how two companies use Salesforce Analytics Cloud to fix the sales funnel.

• October 12, 2016 12 Oct'16

  Salesforce bot automation brings customer service to a new level

  Salesforce's AI helps companies stay on top of CRM where customers often want immediate customer service on mobile devices and social media, but human interaction remains critical.

• October 11, 2016 11 Oct'16

  Sam's Club digitizes sales cycle with Salesforce change management

  With dwindling memberships among its key constituency, Sam's Club needed to digitize its sales process and step into the modern era with a CRM system.

• October 06, 2016 06 Oct'16

  Mastering descriptive data analysis yields better predictions

  Descriptive and predictive analytics methodologies can be mutually beneficial weapons in the battle to gain a competitive edge and convert prospects into customers.

• October 06, 2016 06 Oct'16

  Collaborative tool Quip furthers Salesforce integration

  Pinterest used Quip to enhance collaboration between different departments in order to create new video advertising for its popular social media application.

• October 05, 2016 05 Oct'16

  T-Mobile migrates to Salesforce Lightning for sales efficiency

  T-Mobile made the move to Lightning Experience to make its sales reps more efficient.

• October 05, 2016 05 Oct'16

  Predictive lead scoring among new Sales Cloud features

  Einstein offers sales reps insight to smarter lead scores, but users wonder how deep the predictive capabilities of Salesforce's newest feature will go.

• September 29, 2016 29 Sep'16

  Predictive sales tools in Dynamics 365 empower sales reps

  Dynamics 365, like all Microsoft products, is expected to receive an AI upgrade as CEO Satya Nadella touts the 'democratizing of AI' for its services.

• September 28, 2016 28 Sep'16

  Data is an asset, but intelligent systems on horizon

  Companies are now seeing the critical nature of using data intelligence and data quality within intelligent systems to understand their customers.

• September 16, 2016 16 Sep'16

  Dreamforce 2016 coverage

  Conference coverage for Dreamforce 2016 in San Francisco covering updates on new innovations and developments in Salesforce products and beyond.

• September 13, 2016 13 Sep'16

  Salesforce buys mobile messaging app HeyWire

  Salesforce plans to integrate HeyWire's technology into Service Cloud, opening up another way for companies and customers to communicate.

• September 08, 2016 08 Sep'16

  Salesforce Wave Analytics App integrates with B2B marketing

  With added functionality for Salesforce Wave, users can now receive analytics for B2B marketing and financial services without having to leave the Salesforce platform.

• August 30, 2016 30 Aug'16

  Speculation abounds over features of Salesforce Einstein

  Smarter predictions for sales and marketing reps, better compilation of company data and what it means are among the ideas industry analysts speculate for Einstein.

• August 19, 2016 19 Aug'16

  Data-driven marketing is trend for next 12 months, says Vala Afshar

  Bringing intelligence to marketing systems is the theme for the next year, says Vala Afshar of Salesforce.

• August 19, 2016 19 Aug'16

  Integrated marketing strategy is a must-have, says Salesforce exec

  Companies now need to share information between sales, marketing and service to ensure that customers get seamless service and companies gain maximum insight.

• August 18, 2016 18 Aug'16

  Salesforce Inbox adds another layer of integration Calendar

  Salesforce hopes to reduce the need for sales reps to toggle between apps while on the go by combining email and calendar events in one app.

• August 17, 2016 17 Aug'16

  Latest Salesforce acquisition focuses on smart analytics

  With the purchase and integration of BeyondCore, Salesforce hopes to help sales reps learn from their data and gain predictive insights.

• August 15, 2016 15 Aug'16

  Inside Ted Cruz's presidential campaign management software strategy

  Sen. Ted Cruz didn't clinch the Republican nomination, but not for lack of technology. Campaign management software on Salesforce tracked donations, volunteers and voters.

• August 11, 2016 11 Aug'16

  Security provider's Field Service Lightning rollout strikes gold

  With Salesforce Field Service Lightning, one security system provider scrapped paper contracts in favor of a digital system and quickly increased sales. Here's how.

• August 04, 2016 04 Aug'16

  Quip joins growing stable of Salesforce apps

  With the addition of Quip, Salesforce users can perform word processing tasks without leaving the CRM provider's platform -- which may spell bad news for Microsoft.

• July 29, 2016 29 Jul'16

  CRM cloud app market consolidates with Oracle-NetSuite acquisition

  CRM users and industry insiders look at promises and history to predict how Oracle's acquisition of NetSuite's cloud applications might play out.

• July 27, 2016 27 Jul'16

  Politico Pro endorses Salesforce, SteelBrick for subscription sales

  After implementing lead-to-cash software, subscriptions for Politico Pro content jump from 1,500 to 2,200 during high-profile election cycle.

• July 18, 2016 18 Jul'16

  Companies sidle up to customers with marketing personalization

  Salesforce Marketing Cloud is helping companies inch closer to customers, particularly with tactics like marketing personalization.

• July 12, 2016 12 Jul'16

  New Microsoft Dynamics 365 service marries CRM to ERP

  With Dynamics 365 integration and role-based licensing, Microsoft gives customers something they don't get from other CRM systems, and changes how companies buy cloud services.

• July 05, 2016 05 Jul'16

  Configure-price-quote integration effective for Salesforce

  SteelBrick's technology gives Salesforce users the ability to generate quotes on the go, which they say has increased efficiency and forecasting accuracy.

• June 27, 2016 27 Jun'16

  LinkedIn purchase may signal new era of open APIs

  Microsoft's LinkedIn purchase may open up APIs and enable new competitors to take advantage of the treasure trove of social CRM data in LinkedIn.

• June 27, 2016 27 Jun'16

  Microsoft buys LinkedIn database for treasure trove of CRM contacts

  Microsoft bought the LinkedIn database. How will the professional contacts data enhance existing information in Dynamics CRM?

• June 23, 2016 23 Jun'16

  New Salesforce feature aimed to improve data accuracy

  Sales Cloud feature Lightning Voice can improve sales engagement, while decreasing data entry.

• June 21, 2016 21 Jun'16

  Customer engagement strategy helps to usher in business change

  Starbucks succeeds with price changes thanks to a knowledgeable consumer engagement strategy, while Wal-Mart has struggled given a lack of customer understanding.

• June 16, 2016 16 Jun'16

  Customer engagement strategies hinge on social media savvy

  There are a number of tools that help companies collect and analyze customer data behind the scenes, but the most valuable interactions may happen out in the open on social media.

• June 13, 2016 13 Jun'16

  Microsoft-LinkedIn deal to benefit Office 365, Dynamics CRM

  Microsoft plans to acquire professional network LinkedIn for $26.2 billion to provide a more comprehensive system of information for Office 365 and Dynamics CRM.

• June 07, 2016 07 Jun'16

  How to break down silos with Salesforce

  From Maryville University to Xtreme Lashes, organizations are trying to get beyond data islands to better serve customers.

• June 02, 2016 02 Jun'16

  Salesforce unveils Commerce Cloud with latest purchase

  Demandware's technology opens a new avenue for Salesforce, yet leaves gaps in back-office capabilities.

• May 27, 2016 27 May'16

  Predictive intelligence software helps align marketing, sales teams

  By compiling digital footprint and using predictive intelligence, software company 6Sense looks ahead, not back.

• May 26, 2016 26 May'16

  Service Cloud Lightning Snap-ins aim for connected service

  Service Cloud Lightning Snap-ins and two-way video are recent enhancements designed to give customers a better experience and agents a more complete view of customers.

• May 25, 2016 25 May'16

  Maximize growth through sales collaboration

  OHL, a global supply chain management company, grew sales with successful collaboration between sales teams and marketers.

• May 19, 2016 19 May'16

  Salesforce Government Cloud, app sharing ease agency collaboration

  Salesforce Government Cloud Lightning eases government agencies' security concerns, allows for app sharing and improves communication among agencies and citizens.

• May 13, 2016 13 May'16

  Salesforce scoops up another data intelligence company

  Salesforce continues its trend of increasing data intelligence functionality with its third acquisition this year.

• April 20, 2016 20 Apr'16

  Planet Fitness gives Salesforce Community Cloud a workout

  The fitness franchise had far-flung processes and a growing business. Here's how it used Salesforce Community Cloud to get franchisees on the same page.

• April 19, 2016 19 Apr'16

  Quote-to-cash provider's move to Microsoft raises concerns

  Following the purchase of SteelBrick by Salesforce, CPQ partner Apttus branches out with a move to Microsoft Dynamics.

• April 12, 2016 12 Apr'16

  Building modern apps with Salesforce Lightning Experience

  The Salesforce platform aims to promote app development that is fast, user-friendly and modern -- and that, ultimately, creates business-differentiating experiences for users.

• April 12, 2016 12 Apr'16

  Fenway enlists Salesforce to fix sales-and-service communication gap

  Fenway Park Events sells outings at Fenway -- but without a CRM system, sales and service were working at cross-purposes.

• April 06, 2016 06 Apr'16

  Blockchain as a service may be in your future -- like it or not

  Although consumers have been reticent about digital payments, new services -- such as Venmo and blockchain -- are making the benefits of mobile payments difficult to deny.

• March 29, 2016 29 Mar'16

  Philips uses Adobe to throw off burdens of legacy IT systems

  Royal Philips of the Netherlands wanted to step into the modern era of content marketing to better serve customers on its website. But legacy IT systems stood in the way.

• March 25, 2016 25 Mar'16

  Finding the consumer mobile 'happy path'

  Redbox, a video rental company, is well past the tipping point for its customers being on mobile. But capturing sales requires understanding their 'happy path.'

• March 24, 2016 24 Mar'16

  Salesforce Desk.com reveals Desk 360 enhancements

  Desk 360 upgrades to Salesforce Desk.com, the SMB customer service application, enable comprehensive customer service, and bridge data silos between sales and service teams.

• March 22, 2016 22 Mar'16

  Salesforce Wave Analytics for Community Cloud makes its debut

  After murmurings in the Salesforce ecosystem about the next application to receive embedded analytics, the answer brings ROI to Salesforce collaboration tools.

• March 15, 2016 15 Mar'16

  Field Service Lightning brings field service management to Salesforce

  Field Service Lightning brings new field service management capabilities to Salesforce. But what about partners that offer field service?

• March 11, 2016 11 Mar'16

  SalesforceIQ Inbox now includes Outlook integration

  This week, Salesforce rolled out Outlook integration with SalesforceIQ Inbox, a sales productivity add-on to its CRM, targeting longtime woes for sales reps.

• February 24, 2016 24 Feb'16

  Users discontent with data insights from analytics apps

  Companies use analytics apps to derive meaningful data insights, but survey results indicate they are discontented with their BI tools. Can Salesforce Analytics Cloud fill the void?

• February 23, 2016 23 Feb'16

  Salesforce Sales Cloud strategic choice to tackle data silos

  Companies are moving to the Salesforce Sales Cloud, in part, because of data integration woes. Here's how two companies stitched disparate systems together with Sales Cloud.

• February 22, 2016 22 Feb'16

  Adobe Marketing Cloud sports new mobile app features

  With the addition of new mobile app features, Adobe Marketing Cloud strives to make enterprise mobile apps more compelling and user-friendly.

• February 15, 2016 15 Feb'16

  Salesforce exec discloses plans to boost one-to-one marketing

  Traditional mass marketing methods don't cut it anymore. Salesforce discusses its plans to bring one-to-one marketing to customers.

• February 09, 2016 09 Feb'16

  Salesforce Lightning upgrade may create winners and losers

  Recent upgrades to Salesforce Lightning may benefit customers who can now build new apps -- but how will it affect partners who have apps that tackle the same problems?

• February 08, 2016 08 Feb'16

  Omnichannel customer service is no small feat

  Seamless, efficient customer service is the elusive goal of omnichannel. Salesforce expects to deliver it using IoT to give contact centers 'spooky intelligent' systems.

• February 08, 2016 08 Feb'16

  Improving customer service with knowledge management systems

  Contact centers gain a competitive edge through new knowledge management systems that put accurate, up-to-the minute customer data at their fingertips.

• February 03, 2016 03 Feb'16

  Salesforce Lightning platform plans, availability revealed

  The Salesforce Lightning platform plans for 2016 spell big changes to the way users interact with CRM systems -- and it may encroach on Salesforce's partner ecosystem.

• February 03, 2016 03 Feb'16

  Does Salesforce Health Cloud 'get' patient data?

  When Salesforce entered the healthcare market in 2015, it not only piqued interest but also shocked observers. Is it as well positioned as it says to be the steward of patient data?

• February 01, 2016 01 Feb'16

  Can Salesforce Community Cloud solve app fatigue?

  Can Salesforce Community Cloud succeed in enterprise social networking where the competition has failed?

• January 26, 2016 26 Jan'16

  Salesforce IoT Cloud not vying with infrastructure providers

  Confusion has surrounded Salesforce's intentions with its IoT Cloud, which the company addressed at its recent analyst summit.

• January 26, 2016 26 Jan'16

  Salesforce App Cloud debuts Heroku for secure development

  Salesforce App Cloud now sports Heroku Enterprise, a platform as a service offering that lets customers and partners build applications on top of the Salesforce platform.

• January 25, 2016 25 Jan'16

  Salesforce IoT Cloud still on road to maturity

  Offerings such as Salesforce IoT Cloud are open for business. But are IoT-connected devices ready to generate meaningful data?

• January 18, 2016 18 Jan'16

  Salesforce Sales Cloud centers on CRM data quality

  Garbage in, garbage out is the oft-used mantra, and it should be the watchword for CRM systems. CRM data quality can make the difference between system adoption or abandonment.

• December 22, 2015 22 Dec'15

  Emerging CRM technologies took center stage in 2015

  New CRM technologies such as the Internet of Things and native analytics apps piqued interest in 2015. But adoption of these technologies has yet to reach critical mass.

• December 17, 2015 17 Dec'15

  IT trends for 2016: Why IoT devices have a way to go

  While technologies like the Internet of Things are beginning to make their mark, they are still in the 'formative stages,' says an expert.