September 2021

Magazine Features

The Best CRM Software, Solutions, and Innovators: The 2021 CRM Industry Awards

Our 20th annual awards recognize the vendors that shined the brightest during the past year.

The Best CRM Software and Solutions: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

Our top five picks in 10 categories point the way forward with the best products and capabilities hitting the market in customer service, marketing, and sales.

Six Top Innovating CRM Companies for 2021: The CRM Conversation Starters

These vendors kept the industry abuzz with products, services, and integrations that add up to innovation in sales, marketing, and customer service.

The Best Enterprise CRM Software and Solutions: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best CRM for Midsize and Small Businesses: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best Contact Center Infrastructure: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best Contact Center Analytics: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best Workforce Optimization (WFO): The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best Contact Center Outsourcing: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best Business Intelligence and Analytics: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best Marketing Automation Software and Solutions: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

The Best Sales Force Automation (SFA) Software and Solutions: The 2021 CRM Industry Leader Awards

Amazon Web Services Connects More Channels with AI and Analytics: The 2021 CRM Conversation Starters

AWS rolled out Contact Center Intelligence (CCI) to help companies add machine-learning-based intelligence to their contact centers.

Facebook Is Now Kustomer-Centric: The 2021 CRM Conversation Starters

Facebook increasingly looks to help companies do business on its site and makes a larger push into social commerce.

Qualtrics Builds New Bridges for Customer Data and Feedback: The 2021 CRM Conversation Starters

Qualtrics recently bought Clarabridge, a provider of omnichannel conversational analytics, for $1.1 billion.

Uniphore Pioneers Human and Machine Unification: The 2021 CRM Conversation Starters

Uniphore's vision is to disrupt an outdated customer service model by bridging the gap between human and machine using voice, AI, and automation.

Zendesk Moves into a New Suite and New Markets: The 2021 CRM Conversation Starters

Recent moves have transformed the San Francisco-based company into a full-featured CRM vendor, providing software-as-a-service products related to customer support, sales, and customer communications.

Five9 Acquisition Turns Zoom into a Full Business Communications Company: The 2021 CRM Conversation Starters

With Zoom's Five9 acquisition, the company looks to build the customer engagement platform of the future.

Front Office

Our CRM Industry Awards Turn 20 Amid a World of Change

It was hard not to notice that this year has seen an unusually high number of significant mergers and acquisitions.

Reality Check

The Contact Center WFO Market Is Transforming

The story of this market is explained not by the pandemic but by digital transformation and the migration of contact center solutions to the cloud, both of which were accelerated by COVID-19.

The Tipping Point

Six Future-Ready Trends to Boost Your Digital Transformation

Thanks to technology advances and the pandemic, we've passed the point of no return. Transforming your business must happen now

The Last Line

Great Customer Experiences Don’t Require Disney World Delight

Businesses should set their sights at a lower, more important target.

Insight

‘Reimagined’ Consumers Have New Priorities

Accenture finds that post-COVID consumers value different things.

Customer-Obsessed Companies Pull in 2.5 Times More Revenue

Higher profits, customer retention, and employee engagement follow CX initiatives, Forrester finds.

I Read 27 Best-Selling Books on Sales So You Don’t Have To

Skip the long reads and strengthen your sales chops with these top 5 skills

Three Steps for Managing Customer Risks with Subscription Selling

Companies need to add a subscription readiness dimension to customer segmentation and coverage tiers.

Tips for Building a Continuous Loyalty Program

Rewards have to offer a differentiated customer experience, Forrester Research urges.

The Next Step

Chatbots Can Turbo-Charge Your CRM

Automated conversations can augment human ones at critical junctures.