December 2009

Magazine Features

No Substitute for Experience

When the economy (eventually) rebounds, customers will be swayed by differentiators. That's why the smart companies are investing in customer experience now.

FreshDirect’s Secret Ingredient: Customer Focus

In a CRM exclusive, the chief executive officer of the grocery-delivery success story reveals why customer experience is what really matters.

Video Is More Than Viral

Forget YouTube sensations and wardrobe malfunctions. After years spent bound up by bandwidth, video is finally able to help your business become the star of the show.

Information Overload

Your data is multiplying, your channels are extending, the chatter is never-ending. You're already having trouble keeping up with the stream of information. What happens when that stream becomes a flood?

Front Office

Great Relationships Start with Good Experiences

There are instances when primarily focusing on the experience makes sense.

Reality Check

The Integration Advantage

Unifying the sales process and the CRM system is essential.

Customer Centricity

Presence Is Accounted For

Is unified communications the next disruptive technology for customer service?

The Tipping Point

7 Keys to Customer Experience

Big-picture advice for how to improve the customer experience over the next year.

Connect

The New Customer Record

You need more than just transaction data if you want to take action.

Pint of View

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

A quick look at year's-end uncertainty and future possibilities.

Insight

How Many Clicks Does It Take?

Forget all the bells and whistles—usability reigns supreme among CRM users.

On the Scene: Gartner CRM Summit '09—Trust Is the New Differentiator

Big brands and consumers alike see a newfound value in trust.

Video, At Your Service

A contest turns the customer service center into a film location.

Market Focus: Energy/Utilities: A Lightbulb Moment for Customer Interaction

Can a proactive consumer strategy help North America find the impetus it needs to reinvest in customer-facing technology?

Required Reading: Think Again. And Again.

Customers aren't unreasonable, says author William Cusick -- they just make decisions without necessarily being able to articulate why.

CRM on Twitter: December 2009

The word on the street about CRM.

REAL ROI

Chatty-Chatty Makes a Bang-Bang Online Experience

Nationwide talks its way to a more successful automotive quote-and-buying process with nGenera CIM.

On Your Marketing, Get Set, Go

With the help of Brainshark's on-demand Web events, Corporate Visions sees record sales in its consulting business.

EarthLink Connects to a World of Loyalty

Analyzing churn helped the Internet service provider improve not just the targeting of its messages, but its overall customer retention as well

Secret of My Success

UC and a Side of Fries

Equipment manufacturer Henny Penny cooks up better customer service thanks to Cisco Systems' unified communications solutions.

Re:Tooling

Re:Tooling -- Sales Compensation Management: Always Be Selling

Streamline and automate how sales professionals are compensated so they can focus on what they do best: selling.