Tips

Tips

• Is SteelBrick CPQ on Salesforce a killer app?

  The SteelBrick CPQ tool is now part of Salesforce. Expert Eric Borthwick offers best practices for using it, and looks at how this affects Apttus CPQ.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Community Cloud opens doors for partners

  The Salesforce Community Cloud brings partners into business processes in new ways -- but documentation and licensing caveats could derail your efforts.  Continue Reading

• Lack of customer understanding can undercut companies

  Companies may think they're doing a terrific job with personalized marketing, but studies show customers have another view. It's time to understand your customer.  Continue Reading

• Don't get buried by a Salesforce Sales Cloud implementation

  Bringing Salesforce Sales Cloud to your sales reps doesn't have to be a revolution. It can be an evolution in their way of working.  Continue Reading

• What's behind the proliferation of Salesforce PaaS offerings?

  Salesforce has announced its vision for a single app development platform. But as more PaaS offerings launch, meeting that goal isn't likely in the immediate future.  Continue Reading

• Top contact center management dos and don'ts

  Customer service agents set the tone for a customer's interactions with a company. Learn how to improve the experience with contact center management dos and don'ts from an expert.  Continue Reading

• It's about the customer lifecycle, not just closing the deal

  A shortsighted focus on closing the deal can cause a company to come up short of its real goal of nurturing consumers throughout the customer lifecycle.  Continue Reading

• Simplifying CRM with the release management process

  Don't get blindsided by the release management process. Protect users and your CRM from the unintended consequences of unanticipated changes.  Continue Reading

• Why multichannel analytics is in your company's future

  Data silos are killing company productivity, but also blocking companies from deriving key insights.  Continue Reading

• Putting contact centers at center of customer experience strategy

  Contact centers were historically viewed as cost centers rather than locus points for enhancing customer experience.  Continue Reading

• Reaching new heights in omnichannel customer service

  Contact center agents can better approximate an omnichannel customer experience with the right tools, such as a single user interface for customer information.  Continue Reading

• How to plan for a Salesforce server switch

  If your company has alerted you about an imminent Salesforce server switch by the CRM provider, here's a step-by-step process to ensure a smooth transition.  Continue Reading

• Building customer loyalty with surprise-and-delight marketing

  To foster brand loyalty, companies can forge emotional connections with customers by giving them unexpected discounts and perks.  Continue Reading

• Evangelizing clean data in Salesforce

  Salesforce can power serious business insight with analytics and other tools, but only when the system houses clean data that's well-maintained.  Continue Reading

• Why Alibaba's social media engagement strategy paid off

  Alibaba broke sales records on Singles Day 2015. What does the Chinese retailer's social media engagement strategy tell us about traditional marketing?  Continue Reading

• Handling unwieldy data with Salesforce Wave Analytics

  With sales teams struggling to access and consume data, Salesforce Wave Analytics promises ease of use and accessibility.  Continue Reading

• Employee engagement strategy improves customer experience

  Contact centers already suffer from turnover that puts customer experience strategies at risk. Companies need to tackle better customer experience via employee engagement strategy.  Continue Reading

• Boost employee retention through descriptive analytics

  Companies are now on a constant hunt for competitive edge via analytics. What they may not know is that descriptive analytics aids in the realm of employee retention strategies.  Continue Reading

• Why killing customer data silos can win you customers

  Customers care about having a great experience. To create that, sales, marketing and service departments need to combine data to provide a complete picture of the customer experience.  Continue Reading

• Despite cloud-based CRM success, data silo issues remain

  While cloud-based CRM tools are making inroads in bridging data silos, smaller, niche tools are becoming more necessary to solve data management challenges.  Continue Reading

• Three global contact center benchmarking mistakes to avoid

  The process of contact center benchmarking is fraught with missteps. Here are some mistakes to avoid if you want to truly create useful metrics and gain a competitive edge.  Continue Reading

• CRM marketplace could undergo new competition

  While the CRM market has long been dominated by a small cohort of established providers, new niche players could shake up the landscape.  Continue Reading

• How to deliver quality mobile customer service

  Companies need to focus on molding a customer experience that meets the needs of their increasingly mobile customer bases.  Continue Reading

• Despite spruce-up, is the Salesforce Lightning UI fully baked?

  Salesforce Lightning UI was updated this fall, enabling even greater ease of use, but pain points still exist in the platform.  Continue Reading

• Marketing automation platform needs integration, not features

  One company has tested several marketing automation software platforms and discovered that, with existing Salesforce technology, features may matter less than integration.  Continue Reading

• The challenges of a global contact center

  In order to handle calls successfully, a global contact center needs its agents to have a background in multiple products and to understand multiple cultures.  Continue Reading

• SAP's customer engagement strategy could trump CRM

  SAP is trying to broaden the boundaries of CRM in service of a customer engagement strategy.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce's foray into IoT extends personalized CRM

  Salesforce's venture into the IoT Cloud is yet another prong in its strategy to create personalized CRM and tailor customer experiences.  Continue Reading

• The importance of keeping a brand promise

  In today's competitive landscape, companies need to keep their promises to ensure they retain the trust of their customers.  Continue Reading

• Offering free content attracts customers

  Offering free content may seem counterintuitive when the goal is to sell, but educating consumers -- not just selling to them -- is better for a long-term marketing strategy.  Continue Reading

• How to address the mobile customer experience

  Retailers are coming to understand that mobile devices are increasingly part of the in-store customer experience. But using them correctly is a delicate balancing act.  Continue Reading

• Location-tracking apps help pinpoint customers, workers

  With the power of location-tracking apps, businesses are able to enhance customer service and sales.  Continue Reading

• Interconnected campaigns central to omnichannel marketing

  Digital marketing works best when campaigns are linked using a omnichannel marketing approach to provide a consistent and frictionless customer experience.  Continue Reading

• How predictive marketing analytics is revolutionizing your department

  Marketers, take note: Predictive marketing analytics is changing the way you do your job.  Continue Reading

• How to establish meaningful contact center KPIs

  For contact center KPIs to have meaning and bring success, companies need greater visibility into what these metrics are measuring.  Continue Reading

• Contact center management gains insight with talent management

  Talent management software can help contact centers make more technology-driven decisions to better judge recruiting and agent retention practices.  Continue Reading

• Are chock-a-block CRM features bloating CRM platforms?

  CRM systems abound with different functionality and features in today's market. But is that a blessing or a curse for CRM buyers?  Continue Reading

• Mobile location-based services require customer trust

  Mobile location-based services enable companies to enlist data for greater insight about their customers. But success in LBS isn't guaranteed.  Continue Reading

• Wearable technologies still need to hit their enterprise stride

  Wearable technologies represent a $7 billion industry, but they haven’t yet made their stake in the ground for knowledge workers.  Continue Reading

• Call routing practices focused on customer journey

  Demographic-based call routing has refocused old techniques to provide the best customer journey.  Continue Reading

• Lead-to-revenue management is at the heart of marketing ROI

  Marketing departments are often criticized for their lack of ROI. Lead-to-revenue management helps optimize a company's marketing investment.  Continue Reading

• Productivity applications get boost from the cloud

  By untethering applications from a company's servers or an employee's individual desktop, cloud computing has enabled workers to collaborate in new and more efficient ways.  Continue Reading

• Create a social media engagement strategy to drive connection

  Intelligent use of social media enables companies to engage customers and build credibility online, which underscores the importance of a social media engagement strategy.  Continue Reading

• Developing a social media presence starts with the right platform

  Picking the best social network for your business requires careful planning and knowledge of customer preferences, but doing it right can help expand your company's social media presence in major ways.  Continue Reading

• Personalized marketing rooted in customer insight

  Knowing as much as possible about customers is the first step in personalized marketing. But these practices mean nothing without customer trust.  Continue Reading

• Social media customer service presents new challenges

  Effective social media customer service requires companies to make some key decisions on staffing and division of labor.  Continue Reading

• Diverse content strategy can foster brand loyalty

  If they aren't valued and engaged, customers won't come back to your company. Here’s how to create a diverse content strategy to produce a base of brand loyalists.”  Continue Reading

• CRM and marketing: Terms you should know

  What is a marketing-qualified lead? Do you know what constitutes a 360-degree view of the customer? This glossary highlights these marketing terms and others.  Continue Reading

• Data-driven marketing strategy mixes old, new practices

  The wealth of customer data available today has changed marketers' job descriptions. But the more things change when developing a data-driven marketing strategy, the more they stay the same.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise video metrics a must to measure success

  Increasingly, companies have turned to video for customer service, product demos and branding. But they need to measure success with enterprise video metrics.  Continue Reading

• CRM documentation paves way to successful release management

  As companies use a CRM system in the wild, they need to be able to make tweaks, and those changes need to be well-documented.  Continue Reading

• Roofing company shatters the ceiling on sales technology

  Kelly Roofing turned to Microsoft Dynamics to increase communications among salespeople and the back office -- and improve customer service.  Continue Reading

• Sales management software helps teams get a jump on leads

  As customers become more knowledgeable about products, sales reps can't just rely on the gift of gab. Today they need sales management software that help target people who are ready to bite.  Continue Reading

• Workforce management software in contact centers: Pros and cons

  Workforce management software can help contact centers run more efficiently, but it's not a panacea for cost savings.  Continue Reading

• Has Salesforce Wave lived up to the hype?

  Six months after its launch, Salesforce Wave, or Analytics Cloud, may not be delivering on its high post-Dreamforce expectations.  Continue Reading

• Enhancing customer engagement strategy through a mobile experience

  Consumers use mobile devices constantly. Marketers can capitalize on this by developing a rich, engaging mobile experience to drive sales.  Continue Reading

• Sales and marketing alignment strategies to avoid self-sabotage

  Marketing automation and CRM systems can help, but proactive cohesion among sales and marketing teams is the main driver of better service offerings.  Continue Reading

• Are customer experience analytics just the flavor of the month?

  Customer service initiatives come and go. Could customer experience analytics be here to stay?  Continue Reading

• The benefits of a virtual contact center model

  Company investments in contact center agents, facilities and technology can be an enemy to profits. The virtual contact center model may defray some costs.  Continue Reading

• Post-sale interaction helps to build customer relationships

  Companies tend to focus on the events leading up to a sale. But research suggests that post-sale interaction is key for long-term relationships.  Continue Reading

• Microsoft's Power BI puts business users at forefront

  With Microsoft Power BI, the company is demonstrating a shift in focus to enable business users to better analyze data.  Continue Reading

• Omnichannel customer experience takes aim at information silos

  Companies still struggle to join multiple communication channels to create a seamless experience for customers, whether it's that be for shopping or sales or service.  Continue Reading

• Evaluating Salesforce Lightning

  Salesforce's application builder, Lightning, aims to democratize the app creation process by putting tools in the hands of business users.  Continue Reading

• Using CRM systems for more than your sales department

  You can use CRM systems to manage processes in business units other than sales.  Continue Reading

• How direct mail can enhance your marketing strategy

  While marketers increasingly rely on digital marketing methods, don't overlook direct mail. When used correctly, it can foster customer engagement.  Continue Reading

• 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?  Continue Reading

• Beyond metrics: Putting call center data analysis into action

  How can the numbers enable decision-makers to translate the 'science' of the numbers into the 'art' of analysis?  Continue Reading

• Contact center automation takes flight

  Contact centers are wrestling with how to incorporate new communication channels into their strategies while reducing costs and boosting efficiencies. Enter automation.  Continue Reading

• 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.  Continue Reading

• If you need to close more deals, consider predictive lead scoring

  Today, companies struggle to find the most promising sales leads. Predictive lead scoring can make the process more efficient.  Continue Reading

• CRM skills training essential for system management

  The right CRM training is crucial to the management and development of a CRM system. Make sure your staff has the right CRM skills to survive.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce vs. Microsoft Dynamics: Why I choose Salesforce

  While Salesforce can be more costly than Microsoft Dynamics, ease of use and a healthy ecosystem of support can make it a persuasive choice.  Continue Reading

• Video, live chat usher in multichannel customer service challenges

  Multichannel customer service now encompasses mediums like video and live chat. But these forums have their own requirements to be effective.  Continue Reading

• Improving data quality with better CRM system design

  If your CRM system isn't designed for ease of data entry, it can undermine data analysis and decision making. Here's how to promote cleaner data.  Continue Reading

• Why designing for mobile CRM has been falling flat

  While companies are hot to trot on mobile CRM, they can lose sight of the purpose of mobile tasks: to bring efficiency and productivity.  Continue Reading

• Want to get into mobile marketing? Know your customer

  In this book excerpt, author and industry watcher Chuck Martin shows how customers' mobile behaviors should dictate companies' marketing strategies.  Continue Reading

• Are marketing automation tools the greatest asset in the sales arsenal?

  The more your sales reps know about prospects, the faster they can close deals. Here's why marketing automation tools deliver real sales intelligence.  Continue Reading

• 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.  Continue Reading

• Which data tools do you need to make information actionable?

  Organizations now know that lost employee productivity comes from data overload. Which data tools can help workers sift through the information?  Continue Reading

• Is your digital content strategy achieving business outcomes?

  Raise your hand if your digital content strategy includes ways to measure the impact of content on business outcomes.  Continue Reading

• Customers expect increasingly personalized Web experiences

  Now that customers are accustomed to more tailored digital experiences, mobile digital experiences, companies must find the best ways to deliver personalized Web content that keeps their audiences engaged.  Continue Reading

• Customer data integration needs strategy to derive meaning

  Your approach to customer data integration needs to be guided by another strategy to determine which information is relevant.  Continue Reading

• Don't let false assumptions drive your customer communication strategy

  Companies often assume they know their customer base and then dial in customer communications. Here are three tactics to truly connect with customers.  Continue Reading

• Customer experience strategy: Chasing that 360-degree view

  How can companies remove data silos to get a full picture of their customers?  Continue Reading

• Players in the 2015 marketing automation software market

  CRM platforms are reaching further and further into the marketing domain. What does the merging of capabilities mean for 2015?  Continue Reading

• What marketing automation software won't automate

  To get the most from marketing automation tools, there's some not-so-automated work to do before, during and after deployment.  Continue Reading

• Poor-quality customer data can undermine CRM adoption

  If your CRM system is just a place to house bad data, the information will undercut not only business decisions but also, use of the database.  Continue Reading

• Resources for nontechies to become Salesforce developers

  For the 99% of you who are nontechies, there are resources out there to turn you into a Salesforce developer and get you connected in the community.  Continue Reading

• Voice of the customer strikes new bargain in B2B marketing

  B2B marketers are now facilitating a better deal with their customers: In exchange for data, they need to provide customer value.  Continue Reading

• Semantic technologies fuel the Web experience wave

  Content is increasingly contextual, incorporating cues from user online behavior to serve up a better audience experience.  Continue Reading

• Connecting the data dots in marketing automation systems

  Marketing automation can alienate or anger customers if data is poorly integrated between marketing automation systems and other tools, such as CRM software.  Continue Reading

• Integrating marketing automation software with a CRM system

  Marketing and sales departments need a consistent way to share knowledge, so marketing automation and CRM systems need to enable knowledge exchange.  Continue Reading

• CRM systems are for customer relationships, not transactions

  Companies need to stop viewing CRM systems as just a place to house transactions.  Continue Reading

• The misnomer of 'customer lifecycle management'

  Is customer lifecycle management really just about iterations of contact with customers and prospects?  Continue Reading

• Native advertising must be compelling, not disingenuous

  Native advertising is effective when it's up front about selling -- and packaged in good storytelling. But consumers can sense when it's disingenuous.  Continue Reading

• Using geolocation data to shape future campaigns

  In part one, we explored how companies are using geofencing to identify customers' location and target ads and offers to them based on data about their preferences. Here, we explore how geolocation technologies could predict the future.  Continue Reading

• CRM pitfalls: The premature go-live date

  Companies are often eager to get CRM systems up and running as fast as they can. But beware the premature go-live date.  Continue Reading

• Customer experience improvements hinge on good customer data

  Companies need to make it worth customers' while to supply their customer data.  Continue Reading

• Honing lead generation techniques with your CRM system

  You can collect lead generation data from multiple sources and use a CRM system to target marketing and sales campaigns.  Continue Reading

• Wearable computing devices and the rise of single-purpose technology

  Wearable computing can gather data that gets crunched in real time with a device as small as a USB stick. But wearables are mostly single-purpose.  Continue Reading