News

News

• May 27, 2014 27 May'14

  Customer empowerment shifts enterprises' focus, sparks innovation

  Companies need to take a data-driven approach to marketing, sales and product development to stay ahead of the customer empowerment curve.

• May 12, 2014 12 May'14

  Social media analysis for the masses and more CRM news

  BlabPredicts forecasts Web conversation up to 72 hours in advance; Genesys teams up with Zendesk for multichannel customer service and other CRM news.

• April 24, 2014 24 Apr'14

  Salesforce in-app mobile customer service hits beta

  Salesforce has released Salesforce 1 Service Cloud SOS in beta, a mobile customer service application with live chat.

• April 03, 2014 03 Apr'14

  From good to great: Kawasaki's art of enchantment

  At the AIIM 2014 conference, Guy Kawasaki outlined three pillars of behavior common to companies that have mastered the art of customer enchantment.

• March 20, 2014 20 Mar'14

  CRM development: Building apps on top of CRM systems

  Companies are turning to CRM to build new customer-facing applications. Does this kind of CRM development save time and money?

• March 07, 2014 07 Mar'14

  CRM software subscription models: Do they make sense?

  Cloud trends have made the software subscription model attractive to companies rather than paying a lump-sum up-front cost.

• March 03, 2014 03 Mar'14

  Community forums become customer support software

  Customer support software exploits community forums to address customer support issues in a low-cost way.

• February 10, 2014 10 Feb'14

  Avaya IP Office includes contact center: CRM news

  Avaya IP Office has a new release, 8x8 is improving virtual contact center offerings, and InTouch has new offerings for CRM pros.

• February 03, 2014 03 Feb'14

  A sneak peek for CRM applications and more

  CRM professionals can look forward to new applications hitting the market and redefining the very meaning of the word 'customer,' says Alan Earls.

• January 14, 2014 14 Jan'14

  CRM trends 2014: Insights from the ICMI

  ICMI's Sarah Stealey Reed offers her insights about CRM trends in 2014, including emerging channels and the importance of getting the right data.

• January 09, 2014 09 Jan'14

  Virtual contact center provider 8x8 secures a new patent: CRM news

  A contact center infrastructure provider secures a patent, and other news from the CRM market.

• December 24, 2013 24 Dec'13

  Target data breach creates poor retail customer experience

  Target's security breach damaged more than wallets; poor retail experience hurts relationships with customers.

• December 06, 2013 06 Dec'13

  CRM trends 2013: A retrospective

  The year is almost over, so it's time to look back and reflect on what mattered to the CRM industry in 2013 -- and look ahead to the future.

• November 22, 2013 22 Nov'13

  Salesforce.com consultant: Salesforce1 is the big deal this year

  A conference attendee calls Salesforce1 'the big deal' after the opening keynote at Dreamforce 13, and talks marketing automation in the cloud.

• November 21, 2013 21 Nov'13

  Connecting the dots ... Salesforce marketing analytics and the cloud

  The CFO of a social media startup talks about his excitement regarding marketing analytics and cloud marketing after a keynote at Dreamforce 13.

• November 14, 2013 14 Nov'13

  Insider predictions for Dreamforce 2013

  It's time for Dreamforce! Find out what new innovations will be announced in San Francisco this year.

• November 04, 2013 04 Nov'13

  Thoroughly modern multichannel CRM for today's Millies

  The secret to modern multichannel CRM is engaging customers when they want it, how they want it. Read this tip by Brent Leary to learn more.

• October 01, 2013 01 Oct'13

  Contact center outsourcing trends for 2014 and beyond

  Despite controversy, outsourcing isn't going away -- in fact, some say conditions are just right for growth. Watch this brief webcast to learn more.

• August 23, 2013 23 Aug'13

  Dayna Steele: Let customer service representatives be people

  Scripting and strict rules won't help customer service reps provide good service -- letting them be human will, says consultant Dayna Steele.

• August 20, 2013 20 Aug'13

  Relationship rock stars: Customer experience best practices revealed

  Consultant Dayna Steele explains how effective CRM and being a rock star have a lot in common.

• July 16, 2013 16 Jul'13

  Amy's Baking Co: Poster child for social media marketing plan mistakes

  SearchCRM's Lena Weiner looks to an episode of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares for some key examples of mistakes to avoid when launching a social CRM initiative.

• June 25, 2013 25 Jun'13

  Oracle cloud computing strives for relevancy with Salesforce.com deal

  Oracle's database, hardware, Java and Fusion are being integrated with Salesforce.com in a partnership announced Tuesday.

• June 13, 2013 13 Jun'13

  The Salesforce acquisition of ExactTarget: What to expect now

  Salesforce's acquisition of digital marketing software firm ExactTarget is virtually a done deal. Find out what customers can expect for the future.

• May 15, 2013 15 May'13

  ACCE conference honors the best workers in the call center industry

  The ACCE conference celebrated its 10th anniversary with the ICMI awards dinner. Find out which companies were recognized for excellence in service.

• April 22, 2013 22 Apr'13

  Windows 8 operating system a marked change in touchscreen environments

  Move aside iOS: Windows 8 operating system could be what turns tablets and smartphones into serious business platforms.

• April 10, 2013 10 Apr'13

  SugarCon speaker reveals 10 reasons why social CRM projects fail

  Culture issues and lack of compliance policies are just two of the factors that work against social CRM, according to one speaker at this week's SugarCon conference.

• March 21, 2013 21 Mar'13

  Convergence attendees rethink CRM initiatives for the modern era

  Business people attending the Microsoft Dynamics Convergence conference talk about the difficulties and rewards associated with CRM initiatives.

• March 14, 2013 14 Mar'13

  Convergence conference should highlight changes to Microsoft Dynamics

  Answers to product changes could come as New Orleans hosts the four-day Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2013 conference.

• February 28, 2013 28 Feb'13

  Salesforce customers will see new message behind social CRM technology

  Salesforce.com emphasized Salesforce customers over social technology at its annual winter conference, according to consultant Denis Pombriant.

• February 14, 2013 14 Feb'13

  School of Rock humming with Salesforce's Do task management application

  Dropbox, Google Drive, Harvest and other services are now available on Salesforce's Do application.

• January 10, 2013 10 Jan'13

  NetSuite acquires Retail Anywhere, touts revised e-commerce technology

  A BMX bicycle dealer talks about Retail Anywhere, a point-of-sale company acquired today by CRM vendor NetSuite to update its e-commerce technology.

• December 17, 2012 17 Dec'12

  Salesforce integrates Work.com with Sales Cloud platform

  Available next year, Salesforce.com's Work.com will merge human capital management with sales in the cloud.

• November 15, 2012 15 Nov'12

  Gartner Magic Quadrant finds field service management options lacking

  The annual Gartner Magic Quadrant report found field service management technology fragmented but potent for growth.

• November 02, 2012 02 Nov'12

  Microsoft Dynamics CRM software now includes Yammer and Skype

  Microsoft added a new user interface and integrated Skype and Yammer in an update of its Dynamics CRM software.

• October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12

  HR departments lag in employee engagement strategies, study finds

  A majority of human resource departments fall behind in customer experience efforts by not engaging employees, a study found.

• October 19, 2012 19 Oct'12

  Salesforce, Microsoft announce major marketing software deals

  Salesforce.com has partnered with 20 vendors to fill out its Marketing Cloud platform, and Microsoft acquired automated marketing vendor MarketingPilot.

• September 21, 2012 21 Sep'12

  Salesforce.com tackles social marketing with Marketing Cloud

  Salesforce.com is getting into the marketing technology business with its latest release, Marketing Cloud.

• September 20, 2012 20 Sep'12

  Salesforce CEO Benioff responds to burning questions at Dreamforce

  Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff spoke to an audience for 3 hours at Dreamforce. Then the audience got to ask questions.

• September 20, 2012 20 Sep'12

  Salesforce unveils a slew of social products at Dreamforce conference

  Salesforce.com officials at Dreamforce 2012 unveiled several new cloud products aimed at bringing social media-style collaboration to the workplace.

• September 13, 2012 13 Sep'12

  Dreamforce 2012 expected to focus on cloud marketing and sales issues

  Dreamforce 2012 is expected to draw 70,000 people and will highlight Salesforce.com's cloud-based sales, services and marketing products.

• August 23, 2012 23 Aug'12

  Application bundling becoming a force on Salesforce App Exchange

  FinancialForce.com will bring more bundled services to the Salesforce App Exchange through a partnership with Jobscience and AccountAbility.

• August 09, 2012 09 Aug'12

  Gartner: Social media revenue soaring despite moderate user increase

  IT analyst firm Gartner predicts social media companies will take in nearly $17 billion in revenue this year.

• July 06, 2012 06 Jul'12

  Company ditches pen and paper, integrates SugarCRM with telephony

  Storage facility business hopes to see ROI on Web advertising with SugarCRM after recording data on ads with pen and paper.

• July 02, 2012 02 Jul'12

  911 software maker integrates Salesforce.com CRM with GP accounting

  An emergency response software seller needed a little help tying a new CRM platform to its inventory and back end systems.

• June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12

  Oracle ties social, CRM, analytics products to customer experience

  Oracle is bringing together its many social, analytic and CRM acquisitions under a new customer experience management product strategy.

• June 21, 2012 21 Jun'12

  Adobe stresses personalization at digital marketing conference

  Experts recommend taking time and making the most of data to market digitally.

• June 14, 2012 14 Jun'12

  Half of Fortune 1000 won't see ROI with social CRM, analyst predicts

  Gartner predicts only half of Fortune 1000 companies will see return on investment from social CRM.

• June 08, 2012 08 Jun'12

  Oracle and Salesforce make play for social CRM platforms

  The CRM heavyweights bought up a handful of social CRM start ups this month and it should convince CRM buyers to invest in the technology themselves, analysts said.

• June 05, 2012 05 Jun'12

  Service identifies cell phone numbers of call center customers

  A new offering from WhitePages Pro allows call centers to identify cell phone numbers when customers call in.

• May 23, 2012 23 May'12

  Mohegan Sun bets big on Infor CRM across sales, service and marketing

  Mohegan Sun's new CRM software platform aims to connect with customers, reduce agent churn and overhaul the sales force.

• May 21, 2012 21 May'12

  New call center certification targets social media

  CIAC certification now includes testing on the use of social media in call centers.

• May 17, 2012 17 May'12

  Chatter growing louder, more call centers see value of social media

  Attendees at the ACCE call center expo say they’re ready to engage customers through social media.

• 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 10, 2012 10 May'12

  Health care reform catalyst for customer service improvements

  Although many don’t immediately think of CRM and health care together, recent U.S. legislative changes to health care standards are causing organizations to think of patients as customers.

• May 03, 2012 03 May'12

  Mobile CRM apps aim to connect smartphones, contact centers

  Customers won’t start from scratch with new mobile app “bridge” programs that transfer their information to contact centers.

• 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 26, 2012 26 Apr'12

  House bill aims to restrict call center outsourcing

  Proposed federal legislation would slow the exodus of call center jobs, but analysts question the intent behind it and effectiveness.

• April 25, 2012 25 Apr'12

  Salesforce.com creates cloud network for governments

  The Government Cloud will offer a dedicated, secure infrastructure for government agencies.

• April 23, 2012 23 Apr'12

  E-commerce, social media driving CRM, experts say

  E-commerce will keep growing, forcing companies to improve their CRM systems and break down silos between the two, analysts predict.

• April 17, 2012 17 Apr'12

  At-home call center agents promise savings, but reservations linger

  JetBlue is among several companies that tout use of stay-at-home call center agents; still, not every business likes them.

• April 10, 2012 10 Apr'12

  At-home call center agent recounts joy, pain of virtual workplace

  A stay-at-home call center agent talks about the job’s freedom and occasional disconnectedness.

• April 03, 2012 03 Apr'12

  Enterasys touts success of social CRM; lumber executive buys in

  An Enterasys executive applauded use of internal social media at Gartner’s annual CRM conference, saying it has improved his company’s sales and culture. It may have a place for everyone.

• April 03, 2012 03 Apr'12

  Cut through copious contact center data with contact center KPIs

  Expert Donna Fluss shares contact center KPIs that managers can use to measure contact center performance -- and when to apply them.

• 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

  Loyalty programs good, observers say, but customer service must lead

  With many companies turning to loyalty programs to lure new customers and retain existing ones, experts note that the best programs are built on a solid customer service foundation.

• March 29, 2012 29 Mar'12

  Internal social CRM strategies, personality seen as building brand awareness

  Social CRM is still about business strategy and customer satisfaction, but the social part brings a whole new element to traditional CRM.

• 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.

• March 29, 2012 29 Mar'12

  Technology-empowered agents create a positive customer experience

  Providing customer service agents with knowledge and technology improves the overall customer experience, according to industry experts.

• March 28, 2012 28 Mar'12

  Retailer personalizes its service with mobile CRM

  Harry Rosen, a high-end clothing retailer, won a Gartner’s CRM award for the way it uses mobile CRM in its stores, running CRM on smartphones and tablets.

• March 23, 2012 23 Mar'12

  Effective lead management can boost profits, Gartner says

  Gartner analyst Chris Fletcher explains where companies should be focusing their lead management efforts.

• March 22, 2012 22 Mar'12

  Transparency, honesty sweeten customer experiences, Gartner says

  Highly personalized relationships with customers were recommended by Gartner at the research group’s annual Customer 360 Summit.

• March 20, 2012 20 Mar'12

  Gartner: Marketing, customer service must merge

  Customers now own the business relationship, so companies need a coordinated approach to hear them, according to Gartner analysts at the research group’s annual conference.

• March 15, 2012 15 Mar'12

  Salesforce.com folds Rypple HR into its ‘social enterprise’

  Salesforce.com has completed the first integration between its HR software acquisition and its core CRM system, and one analyst thinks the technology holds lots of possibilities for the future.

• March 07, 2012 07 Mar'12

  Claims of customer focus mostly talk, report finds

  A recent report finds that while many companies claim to be customer focused, they lack the technology, processes and focus on data to deliver.

• February 27, 2012 27 Feb'12

  Virtual agents go from service to sales for antivirus software maker

  Better technology and consumers eager to avoid phone calls are increasing the use of virtual agents for customer service, but one pioneer is adding them to online sales as well.

• February 09, 2012 09 Feb'12

  As social media expands, companies need to center social CRM plans

  With social CRM gaining popularity, companies need to identify their audiences are and what social media sites and technology they use, analysts say.

• February 09, 2012 09 Feb'12

  Red Sox hit home run with custom Microsoft CRM app

  The Boston Red Sox spent seven years searching for a CRM system to handle ticketing and fan engagement before selecting a custom version of Microsoft CRM.

• February 06, 2012 06 Feb'12

  Microsoft makes mobile move with next CRM release

  Microsoft next release of Dynamics CRM includes a new mobile module, offering native support for most mobile devices. It also adds new social, compliance and reporting features.

• February 02, 2012 02 Feb'12

  Company finds cloud ERP integration brings plenty of on-premises work

  In-house Oracle expertise proved crucial to integrating Salesforce.com’s CRM application through the Informatica Cloud service.

• February 02, 2012 02 Feb'12

  Social media for B2Bs finds engaged, focused customers

  Listen as social media expert Paul Gillin offers tips for using social media in B2B settings.

• January 31, 2012 31 Jan'12

  Salesforce.com rebuilds Assistly into Desk.com, a help desk for SMBs

  Salesforce.com has turned its acquisition of Assistly into a new customer service application, targeted specifically at the SMB market.

• January 27, 2012 27 Jan'12

  Standards, clear-cut touchpoints vital to cloud ERP integration

  Integrating cloud applications with on-premises ERP presents a long list of challenges. Industry experts weigh in on what to tackle first and how.

• January 24, 2012 24 Jan'12

  Is the content industry focusing on the customer?

  A blog post has columnist Denis Pombriant pondering the future of the content industry and whether it is focusing too much on products.

• January 23, 2012 23 Jan'12

  Speech analytics is worth the pain

  Expert Donna Fluss discusses the benefits of using speech analytics in the contact center and other areas of business.

• January 16, 2012 16 Jan'12

  Sales software report: SFA, analytics on the rise, Excel use falls

  Sales organizations are decreasing their use of Microsoft Excel, while adding sales force automation tools and strongly considering analytics, according to a new benchmarking report.

• January 10, 2012 10 Jan'12

  Measurement, monitoring essential to customer experience management

  Learn how Coca-Cola and ING Direct expanded their customer experience management in social media approaches by measuring goals and monitoring customer feedback.

• 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?

• December 28, 2011 28 Dec'11

  Analysts predict social, mobile CRM as main trends for 2012

  Find out why CRM analysts say social media data integration and mobile CRM are two key areas to watch in 2012.

• December 23, 2011 23 Dec'11

  Was 2011 the year of ‘peak software’?

  Two recent headlines have columnist Denis Pombriant pondering the future of licensed software and the future of interactions both person-to-person and business-to-business.

• December 22, 2011 22 Dec'11

  Social, acquisitions, CEM topped CRM news in 2011

  In 2011, CRM professionals were faced with acquisitive vendors, a social tidal wave, a push for mobile computing and the never-ending demands for better, faster customer management systems.

• December 21, 2011 21 Dec'11

  Group pushes for social media measurement standards

  Consultant and author Katie Paine has formed a social media standards group to create definitions and best practices for defining customer relationships, influence and engagement.

• December 16, 2011 16 Dec'11

  Salesforce, SAP, Oracle get ready for HR software battle

  With the planned acquisition of Rypple, cloud giant Salesforce.com intends to target SAP and Oracle in the human resources software market.

• December 14, 2011 14 Dec'11

  More disruption predicted for CRM software market

  Columnist Denis Pombriant examines this year’s CRM highlights and says tools focused on engagement, collaboration and gamification will disrupt and redefine the market going forward.

• December 12, 2011 12 Dec'11

  Salesforce.com cloud CRM apps demanding IT skills for customization

  Salesforce.com users are adopting traditional IT practices of software development and project management to tailor this cloud CRM software to meet their business requirements.

• December 08, 2011 08 Dec'11

  Digital marketing strategies demand deeper understanding of customer behaviors

  Companies can cash in on customers’ increasing use of social and mobile channels, as long as they target their messages and don’t overstay their welcome.

• December 05, 2011 05 Dec'11

  Social channels changing contact center certification

  Contact centers will see overhauled programs for certifications next year that address the full range of channels, with emphasis on social media technology.

• November 30, 2011 30 Nov'11

  Salesforce unveils Radian6 Social Marketing Cloud

  Salesforce.com is continuing to deliver its social enterprise message with the unveiling of the Radian6 Social Marketing Cloud, a social marketing service that lets enterprises interact with customers.

• 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.

• November 22, 2011 22 Nov'11

  Social monitoring tools give GNC marketing muscle

  Nutritional products retailer GNC finds customers on social channels and uses targeting marketing tactics to win new business.