I was happy to hear of IBM’s acquisition of predictive analytics player SPSS for $1.2 billion, as it’s a healthy sign for the CRM market for two reasons. First it shows that the technology sector in general is still flush with cash despite the downturn, and thus, have shown the ability to consummate acquisitions. Secondly, … Continue reading »
Posted in July 2009 …
What’s Next for B2B Sales and Marketing?
Just read an interesting series of predictions over at the Sales Machine blog regarding the future of B2B sales. Some of the predictions are bold to say the least: such as the disappearance of entry-level sales jobs by 2020. But there are some interesting ideas. And I believe that the changing nature of sales engagements … Continue reading »
CRM: A Necessary Evil or Simply Defining Risk Management vs. ROI?
I spoke with a customer today that referred to CRM as a “necessary evil” and that expects they’re recent implementation to provide them with a “global tool that will enable our sales force to coordinate,” but outside of that, no other return on investment…at least not for the foreseeable future. Hmmm…. The conversation, which summarized … Continue reading »
Adoption vs. Scope Creep: Which is to Blame for More Stalled CRM Rollouts?
We preach a lot about the importance of championing the CRM system to all of our customers. Without a lot of top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top support of a CRM system, and all of the enabling technologies in between – it is easy for a CRM deployment to get off track. But – what about the opposite? … Continue reading »
A Great Example of Social Media in Action
I just came across a nice example of a customer that’s leveraging social media in a simple, yet efficient manner. In many aspects, social CRM is still viewed very much as a nice-to-have or not-at-all, which I think in part is because many are trying to bite off more than they can chew. Like any … Continue reading »
Social Network Profliferation and Migration: Good or Bad for Marketers?
Do you use any social networks as part of your marketing, human capital sourcing, or simply as a tool for understanding market trends? If you don’t now, you probably will be soon. I keep seeing more and more types of social networking plays – from the public platforms like Ning (who just got some new … Continue reading »
Interoperability, at any Cost…
Sometimes I am amazed at just how different the consumer technology world looks at interoperability and industry standards as compared to the B2B and general app software industry. I really do believe that concepts like the cloud and open source have ushered in a new era of application design and deployment – integration and coexistence … Continue reading »
Leveraging Social Media for Startups
A number of startups have had some success by leveraging social media as part of their CRM initiative out-of-the-box. I can see why it’s such a sound strategy. If you’re a successful startup, it means your company has properly identified an addressable market and customer base; a customer base you want to be actively engaged … Continue reading »
The Value of Good Customer Service? $807 Million (if you’re Zappos, that is…)
As a fledgling journalist more than a decade ago (has it really been that long?) I started covering a few companies in this crazy new concept called e-commerce. There were a lot of failures, and only a few success stories. And even at the time, Amazon.com seemed like a long shot bet – with a … Continue reading »
Boeing: A Lesson in the Globalization of Manufacturing and CRM
Boeing’s recent decision to purchase a plant that produces large sections of its new 787 airliner from a subcontractor I think underlines the importance that supply chain management and manufacturing will increasingly play in customer relationships moving forward. It’s an effort to rein in supplier problems that have led to costly delays of the next … Continue reading »
