CRM Buyer
http://www.crmbuyer.com
CRM Buyer -- "The Essential Guide for CRM System Purchasers"en-usCopyright 20092009-11-20T13:45:24-08:00ECT News NetworkECT News NetworkCRM Buyer -- "The Essential Guide for CRM System Purchasers"hourly12009-11-20T13:45:24-08:00CRM Buyerhttp://www.crmbuyer.com/images/rss/cad_100x36.jpg
http://www.crmbuyer.com
Health Insurance CRM, Part 2: The BPO Catalyst
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68702.html
CRM has lagged in the health insurance industry, but a major transformation is imminent. "There's been a reluctance to make comprehensive investments in technology compared with other sectors," said Gartner analyst Joanne Galimi. "Generally, the firms in the sector have been very tactical, only investing in specific areas -- basically reacting to pain points."John K. Higgins2009-11-20T04:00:00-08:00Healthcare
CRM has lagged in the health insurance industry, but a major transformation is imminent. "There's been a reluctance to make comprehensive investments in technology compared with other sectors," said Gartner analyst Joanne Galimi. "Generally, the firms in the sector have been very tactical, only investing in specific areas -- basically reacting to pain points. Some of the resistance stems from the complexity of installing lots of modules and because it's very costly." Mergers within the industry, beneficial in gaining market share, have added to the problem.
]]>2009-11-20T04:00:00-08:002009-11-19T17:05:48-08:00AA.com Sucks the Fun Out of Trip-Planning
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68699.html
It's fitting that the last stop on my tour of travel-planning Web sites for the E-Commerce Times was American Airlines. The site illustrates all of the problems that spurred this special look at travel sites in the first place. Travel sites have developed a reputation for being hard to navigate and poorly designed with cluttered user interfaces.Erika Morphy2009-11-20T04:00:00-08:00E-Commerce
It's fitting that the last stop on my tour of travel-planning Web sites for the E-Commerce Times was American Airlines. The site illustrates all of the problems that spurred this special look at travel sites in the first place. Travel sites have developed a reputation for being hard to navigate and poorly designed with cluttered user interfaces. Not all of the sites I visited for this series fit that bill, but American Airlines sure did.
]]>2009-11-20T04:00:00-08:002009-11-19T15:34:51-08:00Salesforce.com Pumps Up Volume of Workplace Chatter
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68696.html
Salesforce.com is marrying its cloud computing bona fides with its growing expertise in collaboration in Salesforce Chatter, a new application and development platform. The company introduced the product at its Dreamforce tradeshow and conference under way in San Francisco.Erika Morphy2009-11-19T12:49:41-08:00Product News
Salesforce.com is marrying its cloud computing bona fides with its growing expertise in collaboration in Salesforce Chatter, a new application and development platform. The company introduced the product at its Dreamforce tradeshow and conference under way in San Francisco. Salesforce Chatter, which borrows from the social networking models made popular by Facebook and MySpace, allows company employees to collaborate internally using a secure, private social network.
]]>2009-11-19T12:49:41-08:002009-11-19T12:51:17-08:00Health Insurance CRM, Part 1: Shifting Into Catch-Up Mode
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68690.html
The health insurance industry, especially in the U.S., has a long way to go before it achieves a high level of performance in the use of customer relationship management tools. However, pressure is coming from market forces -- including new government healthcare reform policies -- that will compel improvements in health insurance CRM, whether insurance companies want it or not.John K. Higgins2009-11-19T04:00:00-08:00Healthcare
The health insurance industry, especially in the U.S., has a long way to go before it achieves a high level of performance in the use of customer relationship management tools. However, pressure is coming from market forces -- including new government healthcare reform policies -- that will compel improvements in health insurance CRM, whether insurance companies want it or not. A new wrinkle in health insurance that is just now emerging as a major factor -- and one that will be more important in the future -- is Consumer Directed Healthcare.
]]>2009-11-19T04:00:00-08:002009-11-19T23:34:37-08:00Can T-Mobile Get Its Groove Back?
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68686.html
This fall has not been kind to T-Mobile. First, it had to account for mountains of lost data that Sidekick customers had stored. Then there was the nationwide service outage for millions of U.S. T-Mobile customers a few weeks ago. Now, it looks as though employees at T-Mobile UK have been selling competitors the names of customers whose T-Mobile contracts were about to expire.Katherine Noyes2009-11-18T14:18:35-08:00Customer Retention
This fall has not been kind to T-Mobile. First, the mobile operator had to account for mountains of lost data that Sidekick customers had stored on the infrastructure of Danger, the Microsoft-owned company that developed the Sidekick device. Then there was the nationwide service outage for millions of U.S. T-Mobile customers a few weeks ago. Now, it looks as though employees at T-Mobile UK have been selling competitors the names of customers whose T-Mobile contracts were about to expire.
]]>2009-11-18T14:18:35-08:002009-11-18T14:18:22-08:00PaaS and the Democratization of Innovation
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68670.html
I was re-reading Eric von Hippel's excellent book <i>Democratizing Innovation</i> and found something in it that might help explain the popularity of cloud computing and Platform as a Service. I am on the way to Dreamforce and have little visibility into what Salesforce.com might announce in the next day or two, but no doubt there will be a lot about the cloud, so this might be a good opportunity to make my point.Denis Pombriant2009-11-18T04:00:00-08:00Strategy
I was re-reading Eric von Hippel's excellent book Democratizing Innovation and found something in it that might help explain the popularity of cloud computing and Platform as a Service. I am on the way to Dreamforce and have little visibility into what Salesforce.com might announce in the next day or two, but no doubt there will be a lot about the cloud, so this might be a good opportunity to make my point. Regardless, I will have more to say later. Von Hippel is a genius MIT researcher who has, from what I can tell, spent the last few decades studying innovation.
]]>2009-11-18T04:00:00-08:002009-11-19T08:02:21-08:00Down With Opt-Out, Opt-Tricky Software Distribution
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68675.html
Oh, the joy of downloading and installing free software -- only to have a bunch of unwanted, tag-along junkware, or worse, malware, automatically installed on your computer. Why has this unacceptable practice been the norm in the software industry for so many years? The answer to that question is two-fold: money; and lack of a better option.Darrius Thompson2009-11-18T04:00:00-08:00E-Marketing
Oh, the joy of downloading and installing free software -- only to have a bunch of unwanted, tag-along junkware, or worse, malware, automatically installed on your computer. Why has this unacceptable practice been the norm in the software industry for so many years? The fact is, software publishers see the incredible value that can be driven through utilizing their download process as a revenue channel, and sans a good way to do so, many have mistakenly turned to dubious and oftentimes deceptive opt-out software bundling.
]]>2009-11-18T04:00:00-08:002009-11-17T14:50:17-08:00Talk CRM in Language Users Can Understand
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68663.html
Those of us immersed in CRM take it for granted that people understand what the acronym stands for and what it really means -- the technology, people and processes that go into building stronger relationships with customers. Quite naturally, the people who sell, support and comment on CRM understand all of that. But do the intended users?Christopher J. Bucholtz2009-11-17T04:00:00-08:00CRM
Those of us immersed in CRM take it for granted that people understand what the acronym stands for and what it really means -- the technology, people and processes that go into building stronger relationships with customers. Quite naturally, the people who sell, support and comment on CRM understand all of that. But do the intended users? It astounds me that so many people haven't the slightest notion what "CRM" means. For whatever reason, the message has yet to penetrate the consciousness of a vast percentage of decision makers.
]]>2009-11-17T04:00:00-08:002009-11-16T16:11:02-08:00Don't Give Discount Holiday Shoppers Any Reasons to Walk Away
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68661.html
The holiday shopping season is rapidly approaching, but optimism is fading for many online retailers, with sales growth expected to trend negative through the remainder of the year. As frugal shoppers continue to cut back on discretionary spending, retailers have responded with deep discounts and special offers. These promotions will have varying degrees of success.Charles Wiedenhoft2009-11-17T04:00:00-08:00E-Commerce
The holiday shopping season is rapidly approaching, but optimism is fading for many online retailers, with sales growth expected to trend negative through the remainder of the year. As frugal shoppers continue to cut back on discretionary spending, retailers have responded with deep discounts and special offers. These promotions will have varying degrees of success due to competitive pressures that are pushing down prices, as well as the explosive growth of coupon and comparison shopping Web sites.
]]>2009-11-17T04:00:00-08:002009-11-17T04:24:34-08:00Creating Exceptional Customer Experiences, Both Coming and Going
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68655.html
One of the most important ways marketers can differentiate their offerings in today's unique selling environment is by creating a remarkable customer experience. One step toward achieving this goal is to ensure they have a single database that is tightly integrated with their CRM system to capture inbound and outbound dialogue and create a multidimensional marketing view of the customer.Kristin Hambelton2009-11-16T04:00:00-08:00Marketing Automation
One of the most important ways marketers can differentiate their offerings in today's unique selling environment is by creating a remarkable customer experience. One step toward achieving this goal is to ensure they have a single database that is tightly integrated with their CRM system to capture inbound and outbound dialogue and create a multidimensional marketing view of the customer. However, marketers face some hurdles as the inbound and outbound dialogue between brands and their customers gets increasingly diluted and difficult to control.
]]>2009-11-16T04:00:00-08:002009-11-18T02:39:29-08:00Everyone's Stoked About Cyber Monday - Vendors, Customers and Hackers
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68654.html
Less than 20 days until Cyber Monday. You've got staffing queued up. Your warehouse is full. Your shipper is standing by. But have you considered what will happen on your Web site after a flood of qualified buyers click on the irresistible and precisely worded ad for your product or service? You've got one shot -- one day -- to win their holiday business.Chris Drake2009-11-14T04:00:00-08:00E-Commerce
Less than 20 days until Cyber Monday. You've got staffing queued up. Your warehouse is full. Your shipper is standing by. But have you considered what will happen on your Web site after a flood of qualified buyers click on the irresistible and precisely worded ad for your product or service? You've got one shot -- one day -- to win their holiday business, and you need to be totally sure your customers' data is completely secure, as hackers are just waiting to steal all of those juicy credit card numbers from the thousands of people coming to your site that day.
]]>2009-11-14T04:00:00-08:002009-11-19T10:41:27-08:00CRM for Financial Services, Part 2: Keeping the 'R' in CRM
http://www.crmbuyer.com/rsstory/68640.html
The market for CRM programs will expand in financial services, although the pace of spending will likely slow down in the near term. Still, the rate of CRM spending by financial firms is not the only element that could change in the future. Whether a financial firm already has implemented a program or is about to make an initial investment in CRM, the landscape will be changing.John K. Higgins2009-11-13T04:00:00-08:00Financial Services
The market for CRM programs will expand in financial services, although the pace of spending will likely slow down in the near term. Still, the rate of CRM spending by financial firms is not the only element that could change in the future. Whether a financial firm already has implemented a program or is about to make an initial investment in CRM, the landscape will be changing in terms of how such programs really embrace customers for the long term.
]]>2009-11-13T04:00:00-08:002009-11-16T09:09:35-08:00
CRM has lagged in the health insurance industry, but a major transformation is imminent. "There's been a reluctance to make comprehensive investments in technology compared with other sectors," said Gartner analyst Joanne Galimi. "Generally, the firms in the sector have been very tactical, only investing in specific areas -- basically reacting to pain points. Some of the resistance stems from the complexity of installing lots of modules and because it's very costly." Mergers within the industry, beneficial in gaining market share, have added to the problem.
]]>
It's fitting that the last stop on my tour of travel-planning Web sites for the E-Commerce Times was American Airlines. The site illustrates all of the problems that spurred this special look at travel sites in the first place. Travel sites have developed a reputation for being hard to navigate and poorly designed with cluttered user interfaces. Not all of the sites I visited for this series fit that bill, but American Airlines sure did.
]]>
Salesforce.com is marrying its cloud computing bona fides with its growing expertise in collaboration in Salesforce Chatter, a new application and development platform. The company introduced the product at its Dreamforce tradeshow and conference under way in San Francisco. Salesforce Chatter, which borrows from the social networking models made popular by Facebook and MySpace, allows company employees to collaborate internally using a secure, private social network.
]]>
The health insurance industry, especially in the U.S., has a long way to go before it achieves a high level of performance in the use of customer relationship management tools. However, pressure is coming from market forces -- including new government healthcare reform policies -- that will compel improvements in health insurance CRM, whether insurance companies want it or not. A new wrinkle in health insurance that is just now emerging as a major factor -- and one that will be more important in the future -- is Consumer Directed Healthcare.
]]>
This fall has not been kind to T-Mobile. First, the mobile operator had to account for mountains of lost data that Sidekick customers had stored on the infrastructure of Danger, the Microsoft-owned company that developed the Sidekick device. Then there was the nationwide service outage for millions of U.S. T-Mobile customers a few weeks ago. Now, it looks as though employees at T-Mobile UK have been selling competitors the names of customers whose T-Mobile contracts were about to expire.
]]>
I was re-reading Eric von Hippel's excellent book Democratizing Innovation and found something in it that might help explain the popularity of cloud computing and Platform as a Service. I am on the way to Dreamforce and have little visibility into what Salesforce.com might announce in the next day or two, but no doubt there will be a lot about the cloud, so this might be a good opportunity to make my point. Regardless, I will have more to say later. Von Hippel is a genius MIT researcher who has, from what I can tell, spent the last few decades studying innovation.
]]>
Oh, the joy of downloading and installing free software -- only to have a bunch of unwanted, tag-along junkware, or worse, malware, automatically installed on your computer. Why has this unacceptable practice been the norm in the software industry for so many years? The fact is, software publishers see the incredible value that can be driven through utilizing their download process as a revenue channel, and sans a good way to do so, many have mistakenly turned to dubious and oftentimes deceptive opt-out software bundling.
]]>
Those of us immersed in CRM take it for granted that people understand what the acronym stands for and what it really means -- the technology, people and processes that go into building stronger relationships with customers. Quite naturally, the people who sell, support and comment on CRM understand all of that. But do the intended users? It astounds me that so many people haven't the slightest notion what "CRM" means. For whatever reason, the message has yet to penetrate the consciousness of a vast percentage of decision makers.
]]>
The holiday shopping season is rapidly approaching, but optimism is fading for many online retailers, with sales growth expected to trend negative through the remainder of the year. As frugal shoppers continue to cut back on discretionary spending, retailers have responded with deep discounts and special offers. These promotions will have varying degrees of success due to competitive pressures that are pushing down prices, as well as the explosive growth of coupon and comparison shopping Web sites.
]]>
One of the most important ways marketers can differentiate their offerings in today's unique selling environment is by creating a remarkable customer experience. One step toward achieving this goal is to ensure they have a single database that is tightly integrated with their CRM system to capture inbound and outbound dialogue and create a multidimensional marketing view of the customer. However, marketers face some hurdles as the inbound and outbound dialogue between brands and their customers gets increasingly diluted and difficult to control.
]]>
Less than 20 days until Cyber Monday. You've got staffing queued up. Your warehouse is full. Your shipper is standing by. But have you considered what will happen on your Web site after a flood of qualified buyers click on the irresistible and precisely worded ad for your product or service? You've got one shot -- one day -- to win their holiday business, and you need to be totally sure your customers' data is completely secure, as hackers are just waiting to steal all of those juicy credit card numbers from the thousands of people coming to your site that day.
]]>
The market for CRM programs will expand in financial services, although the pace of spending will likely slow down in the near term. Still, the rate of CRM spending by financial firms is not the only element that could change in the future. Whether a financial firm already has implemented a program or is about to make an initial investment in CRM, the landscape will be changing in terms of how such programs really embrace customers for the long term.
]]>