November 2004

Magazine Features

CRM Claims the Corner Office

Customers now have a champion on the executive team: the Chief Customer Officer. CRM magazine reveals the success strategies of three of these new leaders.

The Underrated Differentiators

Contact centers can help organizations create a significant competitive advantage. Here's how.

Anatomy of a CRM Analyst

Analyst firms provide their services either on demand or on a subscription basis to clients, which comprise end-user businesses, industry vendors, and investment firms.

Front Office

CRM's Dysfunctional Relationship

Companies looking to boost loyalty are starting at the front lines.

Reality Check

Who Really Owns the CRM Initiative?

The vice president must own whether or not the users perceive value from the CRM application.

Customer Centricity

The Disappearing Act

We find ourselves again and again puzzled by customers' needs, and we fail to address them.

Insight

Can You Here Me Now?

Prior to VoiceXML each IVR vendor had its own proprietary languages accompanied by high development costs.

Six Sigma Returns to CRM

Companies are applying Six Sigma to sales and marketing processes, looking for those characteristics of an opportunity that have the greatest chance of success, or those leads that show the hallmarks of quality.

Metrics Should Define Results

Operational goals require effective operations--and that's where systems metrics come into play.

Knowledge Management Plays a Key Role in CRM Success

Knowledge-centered CRM firms have brought greater attention to the crossover.

Statistically Speaking

As a result of the relocation of more than 3,000 call centers from the United States by 2008,130,000 agent positions will be eliminated, according to Datamonitor.

CRM Around the Globe

According to new reports by the Economist Intelligence Unit, customer service issues and CRM initiatives have become a major factor in IT budgeting and prioritization.

The Pulse: In 2005 we plan to...

Hot Seat: Should CRM Focus on Maximizing Top Customers or Boosting the Profitability of Others?

Some loyal customers may be only marginally valuable today, but enormously valuable tomorrow.

Required Reading: Getting the Most From Customer Relationships

Heard & Overheard

BPO: Northern Exposure

Several large companies have already started an exodus from the United States to Canada, including Marriott, UPS, AOL, and IBM.

BPO News Roundup

Companies experimenting with BPO complain of inflexible contracts, difficulty managing vendors, and a lack of performance metrics; ICICI OneSource announced its intention to acquire FirstRing; and automated speech recognition solutions are growing in popularity as their accuracy improves.

Secret of My Success

Blue Cross Blue Shield--Rhode Island Improves its Bedside Manner

CRM united the company's information, which was had been housed in different systems.