| Stock Ticker |
| LivePerson | 2.85 |  | 0.18 |
| Selectica | 1.16 | | 0.07 |
| ICT | 9.15 | | 0.55 |
| Interactive | 11.01 | | 0.49 |
| SupportSoft | 3.62 | | 0.14 |
| Vignette | 12.26 | | 0.45 |
| ClickSoftware | 2.46 | | 0.07 |
| Salesforce | 69.5 | | 1.88 |
| Oracle | 23.37 | | 0.62 |
| Convergys | 13.84 | | 0.34 |
| Epicor | 7.25 | | 0.16 |
| NetSuite | 16 | | 0.3 |
| Rainmaker | 3.23 | | 0.06 |
| eLoyalty | 5.59 | | 0.07 |
| ATG | 4.17 | | 0.05 |
| Teletech | 15.99 | | 0.19 |
| Nortel | 5.99 | | 0.07 |
| Amdocs | 30.86 | | 0.36 |
| RightNow | 16.71 | | 0.17 |
| Chordiant | 6.27 | | 0.06 |
| Pegasystems | 14.89 | | 0.14 |
| CDC | 3.07 | | 0.02 |
| NCR | 26.22 | | 0.08 |
| Sykes | 19.81 | | 0.06 |
| SPSS | 33.9 | | 0.09 |
| Intervoice | 8.21 | | 0.01 |
| HP | 45.47 |  | -0.04 |
| Tekelc | 16.83 | | -0.02 |
| NICE | 28.11 | | -0.36 |
| APAC | 1.47 | | -0.02 |
| SAP | 57.45 | | -0.84 |
| Astea | 3.59 | | -0.09 |
| Unica | 8.3 | | -0.42 |
|
As of 4:00 p.m. on 8/7/08 |
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 "Our Take"
| | About
"Our Take"
"Our Take" is a collection of daily
vignettes covering a wide range of CRM topics. It's an attempt to add our own spin to the world of CRM. We will use the column to share our perspectives, opinions,
epiphanies, web nuggets, or quite frankly anything that moves us. Get ready to expect the unexpected. And, don't be shy about sharing your thoughts.
|
9/11/06 - Developing References is Hard Work
I spent many years on the vendor side of things. And I can tell you that developing references is hard work. Very hard work. Our sales reps wanted more references. They wanted the case studies written up. They wanted the success stories publicized in the press. They wanted permission to contact these happy customers. To be more accurate, I would replace the verb "wanted" with "demanded." They were simply echoing the demands of their prospects.
Interestingly, sales reps wanted all this as long as it didn't involve their accounts. Why? It's hard work getting permission. And, more importantly, they know that once they provide access to their customers, fellow sales reps will overuse the privilege of contacting that precious reference. It's additional work for everyone that doesn't really benefit the people that have to put out.
So the few sales reps that do offer up their customers as references find their customers get over-used in a hurry. Customers are typically good sports about being references. At least for a while. The attitude of benevolence can change when they feel taken advantage of. So when you contact a reference, be sensitive to the fact that this person is doing you and the vendor a favor. There's probably nothing in it for him.
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
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