October 2008

Magazine Features

There's No Place Like Home

As technology drives flexibility, the living room is becoming the new contact center. Will customer service ever be the same?

The New Breed of CRM Consultant

With the days of never-ending on-premises engagements and limitless budgets long gone, CRM can no longer sustain the consultancies of yesteryear. But what kinds of professional services are still needed in today's CRM industry—and what kind of CRM are consultants selling?

The Price Is Right...You Hope

Maximizing profit isn't about squeezing your customers dry; it's about charging them what's fair. Price optimization is no longer a chore or a secret technology—it's a competitive differentiator for those wise enough to explore it.

How Much Marketing Is Too Much?

Whether marketers send messages across multiple channels or just one, every customer has a limit. The trick is knowing where that limit is.

Front Office

These Marketing Messages Go to 11

if the message in a television commercial isn't compelling, simply raising the volume isn't going to make it so.

Reality Check

CRM on the Inside

What your inside sales team knows about selling, and what your field sales force needs to learn.

Customer Centricity

Self-Service Is Just Less-Than-Full Service

The real thing requires tailored, customized, and personalized solutions.

The Tipping Point

Even SaaS Requires the Right Approach

One "s" stands for "service"—so provide some.

Scouting Report

The High Quality of Quality Management

New solutions continue to make an impact inside and outside the contact center.

Pint of View

An On-Demand Assessment

Five nines of semantic foolishness, at your service.

Insight

Sprinting Toward Disaster?

The mobile-service provider runs into problems and looks to customer experience as a solution.

SAP Retains Market-Share Lead in CRM

Gartner report shows the Wonder of Walldorf still on top—but a lawsuit and other troubles loom.

A Week of Strong Customer Service

An annual tradition provides hope for reps facing ever-increasing burdens.

CRM on Twitter: October 2008

Customer experience tales across the Twitterverse.

Market Focus: Sports & Entertainment -- Build a Good Event and They Will Come

A loyal fan base is the best defense against a declining economy.

Required Reading: United We Stand

One author says it's time the marketing department gets with the program—or else.

Feedback: October 2008

Readers suggest a few other reasons that contact center agents are quitting.

REAL ROI

The Sweet Smell of High-Quality Service

Bath & Body Works delivers a superior customer experience thanks to Astute Solutions.

The Next Act! for an Acquisition

A valuable customer management system is worth saving.

Some Stories Never Get Old

A cosmetics company relies on its customers to share the beauty of its brand.

CRM Eases the Pressure for WIKA Instruments

Selltis helps gauge sales solutions for a maker of industrial gauges.

Secret of My Success

Arranging All the Pieces of the Puzzle

Methodology and training firm Sales Performance International gathers up its scattered client data with Jigsaw Data's online contact management.

Re:Tooling

Tech Solution: Text Mining Tools

Business Problem: Failure to create actionable strategies from unstructured customer data.