Comments for CRM Mastery e-Journal

Comment on Reaping the Benefits of Unified Customer Communication Management by Garima Rai

Garima Rai — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 09:22:50 +0000

Very informative white paper! As we all know, new generation customers’ demand more personalized, contextual communications, delivered in real time, through their preferred channel. Customer Communication Management provides a platform to deliver smart communication, maximizing the effectiveness of all communication touch points while complying with regulatory mandates and branding guidelines. An integrated CCM with enterprise content & BPM framework provides organizations an agile process for creation, review and distribution of personalized communication across multiple channels consistently.
If interested in CCM you may find this useful:
http://blog.newgensoft.com/tag/customer-communication-management

Comment on 7 Ways To Generate More Sales Revenue With Marketing Automation by Tihomir Petrov

Tihomir Petrov — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:13:04 +0000

Very good post and advice. I will certainly check the complete article

Comment on Social CRM Adoption Slow but Adopters Enjoy Advantage by Tihomir Petrov

Tihomir Petrov — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 07:27:17 +0000

I am very surprised from the only 26% who integrate SM with CRM but in my opinion this will change and increase over the time, I mean the %!

Comment on Social CRM Adoption Slow but Adopters Enjoy Advantage by Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:21:19 +0000

Social media is a powerful marketing tool that should be implemented into a CRM system. Social media is where the consumers are and it’s where to reach them with your message. Not incorporating that info into your CRM data is a mistake.

Comment on CRM Vendor Proposals: 10 Items You Need Most by Drew at Intelestream

Drew at Intelestream — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:34:14 +0000

A well-rounded list all companies should consider when implementing their CRM. I would suggest as well budgeting in the time and money for training: pre-, during and post training. Solid training will ensure everyone’s on the same page; encourage participating and full adoption; foster collaboration and camaraderie; and ensure that everyone is well equipped, well informed, and well prepared to use the CRM solution, even as the company endures staff turn-over, lay offs, and other unforeseen situations.

One thing to avoid is trying to accomplish too much too soon. Take your time: identify what your company needs the most; secure enough budget; and allot enough time for a smooth and well-planned deployment.

Comment on Reaping the Benefits of Unified Customer Communication Management by Tania Sharma

Tania Sharma — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 12:03:55 +0000

Hi,
There is an exclusive webinar being organized on Customer Communication Management. Craig Le Clair, One of the leading Customer Communication Management Experts, Forrester Research would be sharing his knowledge and insights. Do care to register:

Title of the webinar: Better Customer Experience Demands Smarter Communication
Date: Feb 1,, 2011.
Time: 10.00 AM – 9.00 AM EST (New York Time)
Link for register for participation: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/954551401
Participation Fees: $0.00

Comment on Selecting The Right Mix of Customer Self-Service Technologies by Matt at Intelestream

Matt at Intelestream — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 02:02:17 +0000

It’s not just a case of choosing the right technologies, but ensuring that you know why you’re using them. The strategic, offline element has to be undertaken before committing to any purchase. As you’ve correctly pointed out, canvassing your customers is a good place to start, but don’t forget to look at how your company can accommodate and meet their needs – you don’t want to commit to a technological integration nor give it fanfare for the customer, if your company hasn’t the wherewithal to pull it off. Self-service empowers the customer to, well, serve themselves. Yet introducing it shouldn’t neglect the implementation and maintenance of such a service.

Comment on Is Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Catching Up to salesforce.com? by Jim Berkowitz

Jim Berkowitz — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:36:33 +0000

Hey Neil–Thanks for your comment! Yes–I’ve seen the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Special Promotion and Standard pricing. Microsoft is obviously being aggressive in this area.

But when evaluating and comparing any two, or more, CRM Suite solutions like salesforce.com and Microsoft CRM, the total cost of implementation (and ownership) is where one should focus.

First you have to consider critical functionality requirements. If one solution includes all of your needed functionality while the other will require additional add-ins, modules, or third-party apps, this must be considered.

Second, you need to look at your existing technology infrastructure. Obviously with Microsoft, if you already have most of their infrastructure in place (SQL, SharePoint, Mobile Express, etc.), then great! If not, however, the cost to implement Microsoft CRM can quickly mount.

Finally–because CRM Suites are a fairly mature market, products like salesforce.com and Microsoft will offer much the same, functionality wise. The important thing to remember is that its not “what” these solutions do… its “how” they do it. You need to carefully look at how key processes for your organization will work within each solution. How close is each to working the way you want to work… Evaluating this will give you an idea as to how much time, effort and skill will be needed to configure and customize each solution to meet your specific needs. Again, these costs can add up to significant amounts if you’re not careful.

So, even though Microsoft’s Dynamic CRM 2011 per user service cost is less then salesforce.com’s–there’s much more to consider before assuming that, in the end, it will actually be less expensive to implement.

Comment on Is Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Catching Up to salesforce.com? by Neil Benson

Neil Benson — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:37:44 +0000

Hi Jim, great article. As a Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner, I respect salesforce.com and the success that it has enjoyed. Of course, there are lots of smaller points of differentiation between salesforce.com and Dynamics CRM but one of the big ones you didn’t discuss was the pricing.

Have you seen the standard and promotion pricing that Microsoft has published for CRM Online? Any thoughts about whether prospects evaluating salesforce.com and CRM Online might be influenced by the costs?

Comment on 5 Tips for Building Stronger Customer Relationships by Customer support software

Customer support software — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:22:00 +0000

I totally agree with Jim on this. Along with point 5, I also suggest point 1, which I think is also important.