Tutorials

Tutorials

• Choosing an open source CRM vendor

  Get help choosing an open source vendor and finding the best open source CRM system for your needs. Read about open source applications from SugarCRM.  Continue Reading

• Open source CRM implementation

  Learn best practices to follow during an open source CRM implementation and get tips for using open source software. Also, read open source CRM case studies.  Continue Reading

• Evaluating open source CRM software

  Get started evaluating open source CRM software and find out if the open source model is right for you. Also, learn about open source for small businesses.  Continue Reading

• Open source CRM tutorial

  Get an overview of open source CRM software and learn about the advantages and disadvantages of open source software and the open source business model.  Continue Reading

• SaaS CRM industry news and trends

  This section of the guide offers an overview of SaaS and on-demand CRM vendors and the competition in the industry.  Continue Reading

• SaaS CRM software evaluation and implementation

  This section of the SaaS and on-demand CRM guide covers the evaluation and implementation process of SaaS CRM. Find out the pros and cons of SaaS CRM as well as common challenges that business face with on-demand CRM software.  Continue Reading

• SaaS and CRM on demand vendor guide

  Use this CRM OnDemand vendor guide to evaluate the on-demand CRM market and get a complete SaaS CRM product and SaaS vendor overview.  Continue Reading

• SaaS and On-Demand CRM Learning Guide

  This guide covers the pros and cons of SaaS CRM, definitions of SaaS and on-demand CRM terminology, industry news and trends, information about SaaS CRM software providers and tips for evaluation and implementation of SaaS CRM systems.  Continue Reading

• Evaluating sales force automation (SFA) software vendors

  In this section of the sales force automation (SFA) guide, review top vendors and options including hosted SFA to help you decide if SFA is the right choice for your organization.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Automation Learning Guide

  This sales force automation (SFA) guide covers critical components of building and managing a successful and effective sales force. Learn how to get started with a sales strategy, the most important things to evaluate in sales force automation ...  Continue Reading

• Mobile CRM basics

  This section of the Sales Force Automation Learning Guide features an introduction to mobile CRM, including benefits of mobile technology and case studies of mobile success.  Continue Reading

• Effective sales management

  Learn how to develop effective sales management strategies for sales force automation software in this section of the Sales Force Automation Learning Guide. Find tips to increase end user adoption and learn how to manage sales incentives.  Continue Reading

• Customer service excellence best practices: Tip #6

  In the final tip of the series, learn about customer service best practices and read case studies of organizations that achieved customer service excellence.  Continue Reading

• Change management in a customer service strategy: Tip #5

  This tip provides ways that change management should be incorporated into a company's customer service strategy and how it can contribute to overall customer service excellence.  Continue Reading

• Building a customer service strategy with organizational leadership: Tip #4

  Find out how organization-wide leadership and values affect customer service strategy in this fourth tip in the customer service excellence series.  Continue Reading

• Employee satisfaction and customer service excellence: Tip #3

  Find out how employee job satisfaction affects a company's overall customer service excellence in this tip.  Continue Reading

• Improving customer service with effective business processes: Tip #2

  In this tip, learn how a company's business process management can affect overall customer service strategy and customer experience, and how customer service can be improved with better business processes.  Continue Reading

• Call Center Performance Management Learning Guide

  Performance management skills are essential, yet they aren't easy to master. As a call center manager, you are tested on all aspects of monitoring agents in the call center, including call center planning, developing agent skills, rating agents ...  Continue Reading

• Customer service excellence: Six tips in six minutes

  This tip series can get you on the path to company-wide customer service excellence. Each tip explores one component of a thorough customer service strategy, including using customer intelligence, company employees, leadership and organizational ...  Continue Reading

• Using customer intelligence in a service strategy: Tip #1

  This tip from the six-part series on customer service excellence offers ways that businesses can use customer intelligence as part of a successful customer service strategy.  Continue Reading

• Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction Learning Guide

  Find out about customer loyalty and satisfaction, marketing, metrics and advice on the best ways to retain customers. This SearchCRM.com guide will lead you through defining, measuring and maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Also, learn ...  Continue Reading

• Measuring customer loyalty

  This section of the customer loyalty guide will provide tips on measuring customer loyalty and evaluating loyalty efforts in the call center and with technology tools.  Continue Reading

• Customer retention: Long-term strategy

  Use this section of the customer loyalty guide to find out more on customer retention and handling common situations that might impede long-term customer retention.  Continue Reading

• Customer loyalty case studies and industry-specific strategies

  This section of the Customer Loyalty Learning Guide provides a look at other businesses that have implemented customer loyalty programs and examines innovative strategies and industry-specific challenges.  Continue Reading

• How to build customer loyalty

  Learn how to build customer loyalty and get tips for building a customer loyalty strategy in this section.  Continue Reading

• Case studies of call center best practices

  Discover call center best practices in case studies for call center managers. Learn how some of the best call centers operate.  Continue Reading

• Managing call center agents

  In this section you'll learn call center managing skills, including hiring, motivating and retaining agents and call center performance management.  Continue Reading

• Call center outsourcing decisions

  Learn why call center outsourcing has pros and cons and get help for you deciding if outsourcing is the right choice.  Continue Reading

• Utilizing call center metrics

  Learn ways to manage call center metrics, review common call center metrics and learn how to benchmark your call center against the best in this guide.  Continue Reading

• Call Center Manager Learning Guide

  This guide helps call center managers better understand the most critical issues in today's call centers from strategy to technology.  Continue Reading

• Overview of call center software

  In this call center software guide, review options including quality monitoring (QM), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), self service and hosted call centers.  Continue Reading

• Customer Self-Service Learning Guide

  This guide introduces the fundamentals and benefits of customer self service through articles, examples of best practices, case studies and expert advice.  Continue Reading

• Self service and the customer experience

  This section of the Customer Self Service Learning Guide provides tips on putting customer self-service technology into practice.  Continue Reading

• Overview of customer self-service vendors

  Use this section of the Customer Self Service Learning Guide to find an overview of vendors in the self-service software market.  Continue Reading

• Customer self-service vendors in the news

  This section of the Customer Self Service Learning Guide collects the headlines from customer self-service vendors in the news. Read the latest on where the customer self-service software market is headed.  Continue Reading

• Customer self-service case studies

  These customer self-service case studies examine how other companies have implemented self service and what challenges and benefits they've encountered.  Continue Reading

• Evaluating and implementing customer self-service technology

  This section of the guide to self service offers explanations of self-service terms and expert advice on customer self service.  Continue Reading

• Tip: Design Web sites that build customer loyalty

  In this tip from "Technology and Customer Service: Profitable Relationship Building" by Paul R. Timm, you will learn how Web sites and Web-based customer service can help save money while providing customer service and building customer loyalty.  Continue Reading

• Tip: Apply the power of CRM to build customer loyalty

  This tip from "Technology and Customer Service: Profitable Relationship Building" by Paul R. Timm explains what CRM is and why it is a key part of building customer loyalty. Find out what makes up a CRM system and the steps to a successful CRM ...  Continue Reading

• Tip: Offer help desks to build customer loyalty

  In this customer loyalty tip you'll find out how help desks are different from call centers and what skills help desk agents must have. Learn how help desk technologies can be used effectively to build customer loyalty.  Continue Reading

• Tip: Use effective call centers to build customer loyalty

  In this tip on customer loyalty, you'll learn about effective call centers and how they can impact customer loyalty. This chapter is excerpted from "Technology and Customer Service: Profitable Relationship Building" by Paul R. Timm. Learn more ...  Continue Reading

• Building customer loyalty: Four tips in four minutes

  Use these tips from Paul R. Timm's book "Technology and Customer Service: Profitable Relationship Building" to learn how to build customer loyalty with common technology tools: the call center, help desk, CRM and Web sites.  Continue Reading

• SearchCRM.com's Learning Guide Center

  Find links to all of our learning guides on marketing strategy, call center management, business intelligence, salesforce automation, data quality, self service, VoIP in the call center, call center performance management and open source CRM.  Continue Reading

• Guide to VoIP ROI

  Forecasting the return on investment (ROI) of a VoIP implementation involves weighing savings on local and long distance charges as well as quantifying more elusive soft benefits like increased productivity and ease of adds, changes and management. ...  Continue Reading

• Open Source CRM Learning Guide

  Here you'll find articles, white papers, advice and resources to help you better understand and leverage open source as it applies to your own CRM strategy. From an introduction to open source-related terms to understanding the innovations in tools ...  Continue Reading

• Self Service Learning Guide

  This guide introduces the fundamentals and benefits of self-service. It is meant to provide a "quick start" approach through articles, examples of best practices, case studies and expert advice.  Continue Reading