CRM Magazine articles from February 2005

CRM Magazine archives from February 2005

When CRM Leaves You Flat
February 1, 2005... ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT my wife, Katie, and I were starkly reminded of the difference between customer relationships and customer management. A sharp nail in the road, followed by a series of dull thuds, followed by the always ominous words, "Shhh....

Is blogging viable in the contact center?(CRM TRENDS AND NEWS ANALYSIS)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Some say blogging is an effective tool for improving communication and customer service. Customers can interact and exchange thoughts in a "community" setting. Others feel blogging is detrimental to customer support. Which is it? Those...

Enterprise CRM: Change Is Inevitable; Vendors, Strategies, and Focus Are All Certain to Evolve in 2005
February 1, 2005... The new year will not be a quiet time for enterprise CRM development. Vendors are looking to capitalize on some of the confidence rebuilt in recent years through on-demand and tactical deployments, while they fend off competitive challenges from...

What is the most important initiative for your customer service organization in 2005?(CRM TRENDS AND NEWS ANALYSIS)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INITIATIVE FOR YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE ORGANIZATION IN 2005? MANAGE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MORE EFFECTIVELY 43.1% ACROSS MULTIPLE CHANNELS CUT SERVICE COSTS 24.1%...

Marketing Automation Hits the Mark: Marketers Are Seeing Solid ROI from New Technologies
February 1, 2005... Marketing automation has been on the scene for years, but according to some industry pundits, it's finally taking hold because companies are seeing results, and then taking that ROI to lock in or improve their marketing budgets. "Companies...

Real-Time Analytics: Excellent Insight, or Speedier Mistakes? Think beyond the Upsell When Evaluating Next Generation Analytics Strategies
February 1, 2005... For years the chief use of real-time analytics (RTA) has been to provide recommendations for cross selling, usually in a call center or Web transaction. While useful for tactical decision-making, it is only now that companies are beginning to...

Heard & overheard.(CRM TRENDS AND NEWS ANALYSIS)
February 1, 2005... "CRM gave us a single tool, a single interface, and a unified front for customer service." --Aaron Bean, manager of technical services and employee solutions, Cherokee Nations Enterprises "Data quality isn't sexy or glamorous, so it...

Tracking the Evolution of CRM
February 1, 2005... In the most recent collaboration by Accenture's CRM strategists, Defying The Limits: Mastering High Performance CRM takes a unique vantage point for surveying the past, present, and future of CRM. Accordingly, this year's theme is "The Evolution...

Are you currently using or planning to use ...(The Pulse)
February 1, 2005... ARE YOU CURRENTLY USING OR PLANNING TO USE... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A COMBINATION OF DELIVERY MODELS 12% STILL IN THE SELECTION PROCESS 4% ON-PREMISE CRM 42% HOSTED CRM 27%...

Is Social Networking an Overhyped Fad or a Useful Tool? When Put to the Test, This Sales and Marketing Application Delivers
February 1, 2005... CSO INSIGHTS is in the process of completing its 11th annual sales effectiveness study of more than 1,000 companies worldwide, so I am again reviewing what impact CRM is having (or not having) on the performance of sales and marketing...

It's Not Your Father's E-Learning: The Entire Concept of Agent Training Has Been Turned on Its Ear, and Delivers Unprecedented Levels of Efficiency and Productivity
February 1, 2005... EVER SINCE the first call was taken in the first call center there has been a need for agent training. Ongoing training coupled with time and experience is the best way to ensure excellence in customer service. Traditional training usually took...

Seven Mistakes in Managing Customer Profitability: Taking the Right Approach Can Lead to a Sustainable Competitive Advantage
February 1, 2005... USING IT systems to gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of how to maximize profits from customer interactions is still in its infancy. There is a lot of theory out there, but not enough experience. Companies have made, and...

Churchill Downs Bets on Its Brand; Month 8: Strategic Deal-Making Marks a New Approach to Funding CRM
February 1, 2005... PICTURE THIS: A Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) customer visits one of the company's horse racing tracks, socializes, places bets--and wins a few--and enjoys slow-motion replays of the races on a state-of-the-art, high-definition TV. The satisfied...

Listening, with Interest: ING Is Growing Satisfaction-And Revenue-By Asking Customers and Partners What They Want, and Then Giving It to Them
February 1, 2005... Catherine Smith, COO of ING U.S. Financial Services (USFS), is certainly no stranger to a customer-focused culture. In her previous roles at the company she was responsible for customer service for the ING USFS retail and work-site business...

It's Showtime! Entertainment Companies Are Putting the Spotlight on Targeted Customer Strategies to Improve Service, Build Loyalty, and Grow Wallet Share
February 1, 2005... JUST BECAUSE people love a certain kind of music or enjoy seeing a Broadway show or can't wait to place their next bet doesn't mean they're guaranteed to come back to your venue. That's why entertainment companies are now using the same approach...

6 Ways to Maximize Contact Center Profitability
February 1, 2005... iN THEORY, transforming a contact center into a profitable operation is a widely accepted and straightforward proposition: cost center + new processes and new technologies = profit center. In practice, the equation is tricky to execute, and only...

What data quality means to CRM practitioners.(BEST PRACTICES FOR CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ORGANIZATIONS)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... At first, the term data quality sounds like a platitude, something meant to secure assenting nods at meetings with consultants--"Of course, we can all agree that quality data is important." The recent data quality push in CRM, however, does...

BT Execs Live a Day in the Life of Their Agents: Senior Managers Spend Time with Front-Line Staff for an Up Close Look at Customers' Concerns
February 1, 2005... Too often the senior executives who make the decisions that directly effect customers interact with them the least. At British Telecom (BT) Group, however, the communications giant keeps its senior-level managers from being out of sync with the...

Driving Quality into the Proposal Process: Reynolds & Reynolds Built Uniformity into Its Sales Approach to Improve Productivity and Results
February 1, 2005... An automobile assembly line is a study in predictable, repeatable quality. So it comes as little surprise that Reynolds & Reynolds, which specializes in software and services for the automotive industry, wanted to build more consistency and...

Harbor Freight Tools Cans Spam: The Retailer Has Seen Double-Digit Results through Better Targeting Its Email Marketing
February 1, 2005... As the Internet became an increasingly efficient marketing vehicle for Harbor Freight Tools, the company's email marketing campaign had become a weak spot. The 37-year-old tool-and-equipment catalog retailer was using a multichannel...

How to ... Manage Multiple CRM Vendors in 5 Steps
February 1, 2005... According to the latest figures from CSO Insights, more than 25 percent of new CRM project plans call for two or more technology providers. Avoid finger-pointing hangups and incompatibility holdups by remembering these key procedures: Start...

Co-Operative Bank Credits Its Sales Growth to Performance Management: The Financial Institution Is Improving Both Employee Productivity and Earnings with Its Monitoring and Training Initiatives
February 1, 2005... Most contact center managers would agree that providing CSRs with feedback is the Golden Rule for training and motivating agents. But using scores of reports from different systems to track down performance data can hinder that transfer of...

Secret of My Success: Project Genesis Launches Network Integrator Novell from Silos of Information into the Integrated Customer Service Space
February 1, 2005... * Why CRM? We were looking to enhance our service capabilities for our customers over the Web and by phone. We had to change our customer service so we would have a 360-degree view of our customer base, an integrated application for our...