News

News

• 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 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.'

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• 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.

• December 17, 2015 17 Dec'15

  Marketing automation adoption takes off: 2016 technology trends

  As we look ahead to the 2016 IT trends to watch, one key CRM theme is marketing automation adoption, which is poised to grow, says an expert.

• December 16, 2015 16 Dec'15

  Box-Salesforce partnership brings ECM features to CRM

  A new partnership will bring the cloud file-sharing capability of Box to Salesforce.

• December 14, 2015 14 Dec'15

  Creating an effective content marketing strategy

  Marketers need to put customer experience at the center of content marketing strategy. Technology and process should take second place.

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  Salesforce Analytics Cloud still slow to take hold

  Released with much fanfare in 2014, the Salesforce Analytics Cloud has encountered some company successes, but also more tepid response than expected. What's holding it back?

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  Oracle Marketing Cloud updates mobile capabilities

  Updates to the Oracle Marketing Cloud aim to give marketers and salespeople more mobile customer engagement options, as well as testing capabilities for marketing content.

• November 18, 2015 18 Nov'15

  Salesforce Marketing Cloud now sports predictive analytics tools

  Upgrades to the Marketing Cloud enable marketers to score customer behavior and adjust marketing campaigns to re-engage, or boost interest among, customers.

• November 12, 2015 12 Nov'15

  Oracle announces cloud-based CRM knowledge management

  Oracle expands knowledge management tools for its service cloud; SalesforceIQ for Small Business gets Desk.com customer service integration.

• November 11, 2015 11 Nov'15

  Old-school technology companies getting left behind in cloud disruption?

  Larry Ellison fired a shot across the bow, saying traditional companies like IBM and SAP are no longer competition for Oracle. An expert discusses cloud disruption in this podcast.

• November 06, 2015 06 Nov'15

  Salesforce IoT cloud may already be proving its value

  Microsoft is among the companies trying to use Salesforce IoT cloud and Thunder event processing to turn big data into smart data.

• October 27, 2015 27 Oct'15

  Oracle Marketing Cloud updated, with focus on data

  Oracle's latest updates to its Marketing Cloud are designed to help marketers make better use of data to segment and target customers, as well as manage campaigns more efficiently.

• September 21, 2015 21 Sep'15

  Salesforce Wave can yield results -- when your house is in order

  Getting analytics applications like Salesforce Wave ready to yield insight to adjust business behavior can be challenging. You need to get some foundational issues in place.

• September 21, 2015 21 Sep'15

  Dreamforce 2015 conference coverage

  Salesforce continued to tout products such as Wave and Lightning at Dreamforce 2015 while also introducing users to new ones like its IoT and Health Clouds.

• September 18, 2015 18 Sep'15

  Microsoft-Salesforce partnership paves way for Salesforce IoT Cloud

  The Microsoft-Salesforce partnership, which integrates Lightning with Office 365, is paving the way for a much bigger deal: IoT Cloud.

• September 14, 2015 14 Sep'15

  Will Salesforce Wave Analytics' upgrade be persuasive for users?

  After a year on the market, Salesforce Wave, the BI platform, gets an upgrade. But there are continuing question marks about its value.

• September 04, 2015 04 Sep'15

  Salesforce Lightning strikes with app development for business users

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

• September 01, 2015 01 Sep'15

  Salesforce launches Service Cloud Lightning Console on eve of Dreamforce 2015

  With Dreamforce 2015 approaching, Salesforce is applying its new Lightning application to customer service, with the Service Cloud Lightning Console.

• September 01, 2015 01 Sep'15

  FinancialForce project management tool boosts Lexmark's ECM services

  When Lexmark took on FinancialForce to manage its technology services projects, its ability to provide services blossomed

• August 25, 2015 25 Aug'15

  Salesforce launches Lightning Experience

  Salesforce Lightning gets a facelift; Oracle Marketing Cloud buys Maxymiser.

• August 13, 2015 13 Aug'15

  Salesforce Community Cloud adds Buy button for e-commerce options

  In an effort to make sales even easier, Salesforce has incorporated a Buy button into its Community Cloud.

• July 24, 2015 24 Jul'15

  Oracle Sales Cloud update aims to boost sales, efficiency

  Oracle updates its Sales Cloud to increase sales; Infer announces new lead gen product; and Xactly Strategic Services aims to drive workforce management.

• July 17, 2015 17 Jul'15

  CRM in marketing success hinges on emotional connections

  In this book excerpt, consultant David Forbes advocates that companies focus on understanding what motivates consumers when marketing their products.

• July 01, 2015 01 Jul'15

  The death of the mall could spell rise of mobile retail economy

  While malls are dying, lifestyle centers could signal the next chapter for retail -- aided by mobile technologies.

• July 01, 2015 01 Jul'15

  Service for Apps brings in-app support to Salesforce Service Cloud

  Service for Apps allows Salesforce Service Cloud users to embed live agent support and a knowledge base within their applications and other CRM news.

• June 18, 2015 18 Jun'15

  Salesforce releases Wave Analytics Apps and Sales Wave Analytics

  Wave Analytics Apps, the latest offering from Salesforce, makes crunching the numbers easier through tighter integration with Salesforce 1.

• June 17, 2015 17 Jun'15

  Salesforce updates Marketing Cloud with new Journey Builder

  Salesforce has released a new version of the Marketing Cloud, with a spruced-up Journey Builder, enabling marketers to tailor interactions with customers based on real-time behavior.

• June 12, 2015 12 Jun'15

  Customer identity management still thorn in side of e-commerce

  As mobile e-commerce gathers steam, companies are struggling to make it a frictionless reality for customers and pain-free for themselves.

• June 08, 2015 08 Jun'15

  Who will buy? Data-driven sales teams aim to know

  A handful of companies are giving reps analytics tools to chase down promising leads, diagnose sales performance and forecast business opportunities.

• June 04, 2015 04 Jun'15

  Goldmine CRM software wins with desktop as a service

  Goldmine CRM Software turns to desktops as a service (DaaS) model to update existing applications to the cloud, saving itself from irrelevancy in an ever-growing field of competitors.

• May 28, 2015 28 May'15

  Salesforce ties Wave analytics tool to big data platforms

  Salesforce is getting more involved in big data analytics, with new partnerships that open up its cloud-based Wave analytics technology to Hadoop and other big data systems.

• May 22, 2015 22 May'15

  Cloud telephony, omnichannel service main trends at ICMI Expo

  At the ICMI Contact Center Expo, users were interested in how to make their centers more efficient while serving customers in whatever channel they choose.

• May 14, 2015 14 May'15

  Nordstrom mines Beacon benefits in personalized customer service

  Nordstrom is trying to bridge the gap between online and physical shopping experiences for its customers through Beacon technology.

• May 11, 2015 11 May'15

  Contact center analytics still an afterthought for many

  Analytics tools have been incorporated into various enterprise departments. So why are contact center analytics still considered novel rather than vital?

• May 08, 2015 08 May'15

  Entrepreneur takes road less traveled in technology-driven business

  Ken Kelly didn't plan on taking over his father's company. But a few classes in Microsoft Office paved the way to a multimillion-dollar small business.

• May 07, 2015 07 May'15

  When startup success is built on startup failure

  A startup that launched to great fanfare and venture capital attention started to crumble less than two years later. How did the CEO pick up the pieces?

• April 30, 2015 30 Apr'15

  Adaptive expands CPM offer; Salesforce in HCM market

  Adaptive Insights offers new templates for corporate goals, sales and finance; fast integration with Salesforce for analytics.

• April 30, 2015 30 Apr'15

  Could Oracle, Microsoft, or IBM buy Salesforce?

  Only a few companies could afford to buy Salesforce.com. Is a buyout on the horizon, though?

• April 17, 2015 17 Apr'15

  Customer self-service a must-have for Oracle Collaborate attendees

  Companies now see online self-service options as a must-have for customer experience strategy.

• April 13, 2015 13 Apr'15

  Microsoft Convergence focuses on analytics, cloud

  Microsoft Convergence attendees explored the new cloud-based Power BI analytics tool at the conference.

• April 13, 2015 13 Apr'15

  Salesforce aims to increase number of Salesforce consultants, SIs

  In this Q&A, Salesforce channel chiefs Tyler Prince and Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh reveal the vendor's strategy for growing its consultants/system integrator channel.

• April 08, 2015 08 Apr'15

  Bouquet Training hones contact center agent skills

  Bouquet Training, a module in the Bouquet CDM platform, enables managers to customize contact center agent training courses based on customer feedback.

• April 01, 2015 01 Apr'15

  New digital marketing trends for 2015 emerge with full force

  Companies are enlisting a variety of data, such as consumer location and demographics to join digital marketing with in-store, physical experiences.

• March 24, 2015 24 Mar'15

  Has Microsoft cloud strategy evolved?

  Microsoft is trying to lead customers to the cloud with hybrid offerings, such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM. But will that succeed?

• March 19, 2015 19 Mar'15

  Philadelphia chief customer service officer honed skills in private sector

  To clean up Philadelphia, Rosetta Lue uses technology to be responsive to citizens -- and customer experience principles to treat residents like VIPs.

• March 11, 2015 11 Mar'15

  Pet supply company furthers multichannel strategy by moving to cloud

  Pet Supplies Plus needed to consolidate a handful of legacy systems and move to the cloud to better serve its customers in a multichannel fashion.

• March 09, 2015 09 Mar'15

  Personalized marketing and customer trust go hand in hand

  Marketers strive to provide personalized experiences to their customers. But customers will only reveal personal information in exchange for trust.

• March 03, 2015 03 Mar'15

  Security is a sticking point for mobile payment adoption

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

• March 02, 2015 02 Mar'15

  Cultivate art and science in your sales management strategy

  Mark Roberge, chief revenue officer at HubSpot, uses serious data analysis when hiring sales staff. But science doesn't crowd out instinct.

• March 02, 2015 02 Mar'15

  Contact center knowledge management gives agents clickable intel

  Contact center agents are supposed to help customers with issue resolution. But that's tough when agents lack good working knowledge of products.

• March 02, 2015 02 Mar'15

  Mobile customer service gives citizens a voice with government

  Philly 311, a new mobile customer service app for the city of Philadelphia, helps citizens report neighborhood incidents and engage more deeply with city government.

• February 10, 2015 10 Feb'15

  Customer data becomes the turf for companies' competitive advantage

  Corporations are using customer data to gain a competitive edge in the market, but new analytics technologies pose privacy downsides.

• February 06, 2015 06 Feb'15

  Salesforce Partner Program for Consulting Partners redesigned

  In channel news this week, Salesforce made changes to its partner program for consultants; Infinio launched its first partner program; Kaminario updated the Accelerate Partner Program; and more.

• January 20, 2015 20 Jan'15

  Sales management strategies: Leading from the trenches

  Russ Hearl built a sales team from three 'lone wolves' to a fleet of 40-plus reps. How? By taking a Henry Ford approach to sales management strategy.

• January 13, 2015 13 Jan'15

  Adobe Campaign pushes consumer personalization further

  Adobe Campaign, the marketing automation tool in the Adobe Marketing Cloud suite, enables companies to use customer data to tailor marketing efforts.

• January 12, 2015 12 Jan'15

  Customer personalization now part of closing the deal

  Companies want to use data to personalize customer interaction and boost sales. But data silos have left some adrift.

• January 08, 2015 08 Jan'15

  Social engagement opportunities about more than selling

  In this book excerpt, thought leader and author David Giannetto discusses ways companies can cost-effectively identify and gain customers.

• October 14, 2014 14 Oct'14

  Digital transaction management: The 'last mile' in paperless business

  Companies often regress to paper processes because they aren't ready to digitize the 'last mile' of signature. Enter digital transaction management.

• May 15, 2012 15 May'12

  Call center agents’ behavior should be focus -- not clunky metrics

  A consultant at the recent ACCE call center expo urged call centers to drop the glut of performance metrics and favor a human approach.

• May 02, 2012 02 May'12

  IBM’s plans are in Tealeaf with purchase of CEM analytics firm

  IBM is strengthening its CRM footing with the acquisition of Tealeaf Technology.

• April 02, 2012 02 Apr'12

  Gartner: Companies must master Master Data Management best practices

  Companies should put aside internal differences to get handle on MDM, a Gartner researcher says at the group’s CRM conference.

• March 29, 2012 29 Mar'12

  Cross-channel communication CEM support: A work in progress

  Industry experts say companies need to step up plans for cross-channel customer service or risk damaging customer experience management strategies.

• January 05, 2012 05 Jan'12

  Employee focus transforms customer experience management strategies

  CEM initiatives suffer when employees can’t provide their perspectives on customer concerns.

• January 03, 2012 03 Jan'12

  Planning and allocating resources for customer experience management

  Customer experience management (CEM) crosses multiple departments and IT systems. How should organizations tackle the enormous task of mapping out a CEM transformation?

• November 29, 2011 29 Nov'11

  Customer experience analytics: Separating hype from fact

  SearchCRM expert Donna Fluss compares the latest types of customer experience analytics applications.

• September 28, 2011 28 Sep'11

  Experts say CEM technology can build single view of customer

  Communicating with customers through multiple channels is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Find out how companies use CEM technology to craft a single view of the customer across channels.

• July 11, 2011 11 Jul'11

  Red Cross boosts donor relationships with new CRM system

  The American Red Cross hopes to infuse new life into its donor marketing program with an overhaul of its CRM and call center operations.

• July 05, 2011 05 Jul'11

  Front-office technologies in CRM: the new rule of three

  Technology has come to the front office in more ways than one. In fact, three front-office technologies -- social media, analytics and video -- are reshaping the landscape.

• March 22, 2011 22 Mar'11

  PCI DSS offers call center PCI compliance tips

  The payment card industry compliance standards body has released a new document to help contact centers protect sensitive customer data.

• August 26, 2010 26 Aug'10

  Running customer service on Facebook takes tools and training

  Rosetta Stone has launched a program to use Facebook as a customer service channel. It’s all part of a company-wide initiative to be more social.

• April 26, 2010 26 Apr'10

  Switching your focus from B2B to B2C with social media and CRM

  Getting the word out to your customers isn’t just a matter of buying simple advertising anymore -- it’s about engaging with them socially. Denis Pombriant explains the ideas behind this new trend.

• January 27, 2010 27 Jan'10

  10 steps to a practical social media business strategy

  Leveraging social media is an increasingly important -- and rewarding -- project, but it takes careful planning. Columnist Allen Bonde explains.

• January 18, 2010 18 Jan'10

  SAP demos new Twitter integration

  Like many in the CRM market, SAP is seeking to tie emerging social media networks into its CRM software. In this video demonstration, SAP shows off its Twitter integration.

• December 14, 2009 14 Dec'09

  The five dimensions of a social media persona

  Taking a "persona" view toward social media channels can help marketers build campaigns and craft the right tone for their message.

• November 10, 2009 10 Nov'09

  Social media and CRM -- The marketing perspective

  In his first article evaluating the marketing side of social CRM, Allen Bonde offers up some definitions and a framework for discussion.

• October 20, 2009 20 Oct'09

  Siemens’ long journey to CRM: Custom to SAP to Oracle and more

  At one point, Siemens had 500 CRM systems across the company. It has tried custom development, SAP and now Oracle CRM in an attempt to standardize.

• June 10, 2009 10 Jun'09

  Using Web 2.0 technology to build customer loyalty

  Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way companies build customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. In this podcast, Don Peppers talks about Web 2.0 technology must-haves, how to use social networks to improve customer satisfaction and how ...