"Our Take" - Past Editions by Date

(Past Editions by: Date, Title, Topic)


 

 
October 2006		  
10/13/06Past Columns
10/12/06Digging Into More Archives Again
10/11/06Digging Into More Archives
10/10/06Digging Into the Archives
10/9/06Catching Up
10/6/06Field Service In Review
10/5/06Getting Field Service Right
10/4/06The Supply Chain Makes Field Service Unique
10/3/06If Field Service Ran Like a Call Center
10/2/06Making the Case for Field Service

 
September 2006		  
9/29/06Why Field Service is Unique
9/28/06Another View of Field Service
9/27/06What’s Special about Field Service?
9/26/06What’s Special About Field Service?
9/25/06CRM Excellence In Action
9/22/06Field Service Gains Momentum
9/21/06New Suites - Not So Fast
9/20/06A New Type of Suite
9/19/06Best-of-Breed Solutions and Integration
9/18/06Best-of-Breed Wins
9/15/06Best-of-Breed or Suites - Here We Go Again
9/14/06Keeping it Real with References
9/13/06Are Negative References More Valuable
9/12/06Reference Incentives
9/11/06Developing References is Hard Work
9/8/06Visiting a Reference
9/7/06Drilling Down with References
9/6/06Talking to a Reference
9/5/06Questions for References
9/1/06How to Research a Reference

 
August 2006		  
8/31/06References - An Alternative to the Bake Off?
8/30/06Bake Offs - Living in a Dream World?
8/29/06Limited Bake Off
8/28/06Bake Offs - More to Consider
8/25/06Bake Off Strategies
8/24/06Should You Do a Bake Off?
8/23/06Bake Off Strategies - More Thoughts
8/22/06Bake Off Strategies
8/21/06Am I Being Too Tough on Conferences?
8/18/06Conferences - Keep it Fresh
8/17/06Why Conferences Are Shrinking
8/16/06Conference Season is Open
8/15/06Know Your Customer
8/14/06Stuck in the Phone Tree
8/11/06Don't Give the ATM Too Much Credit
8/10/06Support That Works - Continued
8/9/06Support That Works - Continued
8/8/06Support That Works
8/7/06"All Hands on Deck"
8/4/06Branding is About Confidence - Continued
8/3/06Branding is About Confidence - Continued
8/2/06Branding is About Confidence
8/1/06Free is Too Expensive

 
July 2006		  
7/31/06CRMAdvocate: MarketingSherpa's Featured Partner
7/28/06Individual Needs Versus Group Needs - Part II
7/27/06Individual Needs Versus Group Needs
7/26/06Raising Above Commodity Status
7/25/06Raising Above Commodity Status
7/24/06Standard Service Equals Standard Sales
7/21/06Too Much Focus on Cost Containment
7/20/06Measuring the Self-Service Experience - Continued
7/19/06Measuring the Self-Service Experience
7/18/06Measuring the Customer Experience
7/17/06See You in Chicago
7/14/06What is Performance Management? - Part II
7/13/06What is Performance Management?
7/12/06Measuring the Customer Experience - Part II
7/11/06Measuring the Customer Experience
7/10/06In Search of CRM Excellence
7/7/06Budgeting for Retention and Acquisition
7/6/06Not all Experiences Should Have the Same Metrics
7/5/06Do You Know What To Measure - Part II
7/3/06Do You Know What To Measure?

 
June 2006		  
6/30/06Not So Fast
6/29/06Call Center Numbers Stink
6/28/06Misdirected Question
6/27/06Service Values
6/26/06Thinking For Yourself
6/23/06Retention Silver Bullets
6/22/06Statistics and Lies
6/21/06The Silver Bullet of Customer Retention
6/20/06Microsoft CRM Update - 2006
6/16/06Happy Father's Day
6/15/06How Do the Pros Do It?
6/14/06Getting the Deal Done
6/13/06Satisfaction Not Guaranteed
6/12/06The Retention Challenge
6/9/06Researching Workforce Management
6/8/06Mergers and Acquisitions, CRM Style
6/7/06Do "Switching Costs" Count as Good Retention Strategy?
6/6/06Recruiting Versus Retaining Customers
6/5/06Recruiting or Retaining: Which is Harder?
6/2/06Do the Big Boys Have Their Hearts in It?
6/1/06A Reason for Unprofitable Customers

 
May 2006		  
5/31/06Don't Go Away Mad . . . Just Go Away - Part II
5/30/06Don't Go Away Mad . . . Just Go Away
5/29/06How Easy it is to Forget
5/26/06Retention and Customer Penalties - Part II
5/25/06Retention and Customer Penalties
5/24/06The Power of Penalties
5/23/06Profits Through Penalties - Part V
5/22/06Profits Through Penalties - Part IV
5/19/06Profits Through Penalties - Part III
5/18/06Profits Through Penalties - Part II
5/17/06Profits Through Penalties
5/16/06The Rest of the Results
5/15/06And the Results . . .
5/12/06Your Opinion Counts
5/11/06Your Opinion Counts
5/10/06Your Opinion Counts
5/9/06Your Opinion Counts
5/8/06How Are We Doing?
5/5/06Does Indefinitely Mean Forever?
5/4/06Fundamental Shifts
5/3/06Some Things Just Need to be Taught
5/2/06Sales - Nurture versus Nature
5/1/06Born to Sell

 
April 2006		  
4/28/06Getting a Degree in Sales
4/27/06Getting a Degree in Sales
4/26/06If Customer Service is So Important . . .
4/25/06If Sales is So Important . . .
4/24/06Customer Centricity under Siege
4/21/06Measuring Customer Centricity - One Last Post
4/20/06Measuring Customer Centricity - Part V
4/19/06Measuring Customer Centricity - Part IV
4/18/06Measuring Customer Centricity - Part III
4/17/06Measuring Customer Centricity - Part II
4/14/06Measuring Customer Centricity
4/13/06How Customer Centric Are You?
4/12/06Customers Are the New R&D Team - Part III
4/11/06Customers Are the New R&D Team - Part II
4/10/06A Cheaper Alternative to Outsourcing
4/7/06Customers Are the New R&D Team
4/6/06Bigger is Not Always Better
4/5/06Will Customers Really Help Each Other
4/4/06Click-To-Call - One Last Point
4/3/06Click-To-Call - Continued

 
March 2006		  
3/31/06Contact Center Maturity - Part 3
3/30/06Contact Center Maturity - Part 2
3/29/06Contact Center Maturity - Part 1
3/28/06Click-To-Call - Part 2
3/27/06Click-To-Call
3/24/06Downside to Execs in the Call Center
3/23/06Walk a Mile In Their Shoes
3/22/06It's My Company
3/21/06Who Jacks In?
3/20/06Get your Execs on the Phone - Part II
3/17/06Executive Mystery Shopping
3/16/06Talking About Disconnects
3/15/06Get your Execs on the Phone
3/14/06Can't Get No Satisfaction
3/13/06Window of Opportunity
3/10/06CRM and the World of Ski
3/9/06Do Customers Always Know Best
3/8/06Move Over, Baby Boomers
3/7/06Snapshot Survey Results
3/6/06You Cannot Hide
3/3/06Snapshot Survey - Marketing Automation
3/2/06Marketing Automation - Pockets of Excellence
3/1/06Here Come the Millennials

 
February 2006		  
2/28/06Where Do Blogs Fit in Your CRM Strategy?
2/27/06Modeling Self-Service After Conversations
2/24/06Use It or Lose It
2/23/06Getting to Know You Too Well - The Next Generation
2/22/06Getting to Know You Too Well
2/21/06Getting to Know You Too Well
2/20/06Advisory Firm Transparency
2/17/06A Need for Transparency
2/16/06Credibility of Analysts
2/15/06Straight to the Heart
2/14/06Are You Loved?
2/13/06Courtesy Calls
2/10/06CRM Isn't Easy
2/9/06You Can Check In, But You Can't Check Out
2/8/06CRM and Uptime - A Few More Thoughts
2/7/06Making the Switch
2/6/06Not All Will Stay, Not All Will Leave
2/3/06Beauty (and Availability) - In the Eye of the Beholder
2/2/06Is Salesforce Scared?
2/1/06SLAs for Hosted Systems

 
January 2006		  
1/31/06Measuring Availability
1/30/06Can You Handle the "Truth?"
1/27/06Investing in CRM Uptime
1/26/06Uptime and Outages
1/25/06CRM Uptime - Even More Thoughts
1/24/06CRM Uptime - A Question to the Vendors
1/23/06CRM Uptime - More Thoughts
1/20/06CRM and Uptime
1/19/06Boys Scouts and CRM
1/18/06New Kids on the Block
1/17/06The Last Mile in CRM Analytics
1/16/06My Latest IVR Experience
1/13/06Financial Stability and Software Escrow
1/12/06Financial Viability of CRM Vendors
1/11/06Bigger is Not Always Better
1/10/06Market Share - Not Interested
1/9/06Anyone Out There?
1/6/06Another Gartner Prediction
1/5/06What Matter More Than Market Share
1/4/06Another Gartner Prediction
1/3/06Happy New Year

 
December 2005		  
12/23/05Six Steps to Losing Your Customers - Step Six
12/22/05Six Steps to Losing Your Customers - Step Five
12/21/05Six Steps to Losing Your Customers - Step Four
12/20/05Six Steps to Losing Your Customers - Step Three
12/19/05Six Steps to Losing Your Customers - Step 2
12/16/05Six Steps to Losing Your Customers - Step 1
12/15/05CRM For Chargebacks - II
12/14/05CRM For Chargebacks
12/13/05More on "Buy Versus Build"
12/9/05Net Promoter - Clarification
12/8/05Buy Versus Build
12/7/05Crystal Ball - V.2006 - Roll Your Own
12/6/05Crystal Ball - V.2006 - MegaCRM?
12/5/05CRM For ChargeBacks
12/2/05How Many Companies Use NP?
12/1/05Customer Satisfaction v Net Promoter Scores

 
November 2005		  
11/30/05Net Promoter - Necessary, But Not Sufficient
11/29/05The Acid Test
11/23/05A Time of Thanksgiving
11/22/05Microsoft CRM Update - Part 3
11/21/05Microsoft CRM Update - Part 2
11/18/05Microsoft CRM Update
11/17/05Our Most Popular Question
11/16/05Enough, Already
11/15/05Falling Into the Trap
11/14/05Last Chance to Vote For Your Favorite CRM Blog
11/11/05The Science of Customer Happiness
11/10/05Point, Counterpoint - Part III
11/9/05Another Perspective on Benchmarking
11/8/05An Innumeracy Crisis - Part III
11/7/05An Innumeracy Crisis - Part II
11/4/05Benchmarking - An Innumeracy Crisis
11/3/05How Good is Good Enough?
11/2/05So Much Confusion
11/1/05Value in Benchmarking

 
October 2005		  
10/31/05Hoping to Educate
10/28/05Point, Counterpoint - Part I
10/27/05Benchmarking on the Cheap
10/26/05Benchmarking - What Really Matters
10/25/05Take a Deep Breath
10/24/05Benchmarking by the Dashboard Lights
10/21/05Benchmarking - Our Readers Speak Out
10/20/05Benchmarking - A Consultant's Perspective
10/18/05Don't Pick on the Benchmark Firms
10/17/05Benchmarking Delusions
10/14/05Benchmarking - Readers Speak Out - Part III
10/13/05Vote For Your Favorite CRM Blog
10/12/05Benchmarking to the Best
10/11/05Benchmarking - Our Readers Speak Out - Part II
10/10/05Benchmarking - An Issue of Definitions?
10/7/05Stand Up for Benchmarking
10/6/05Why We Benchmark - Part II
10/5/05Why We Benchmark
10/3/05Benchmarking is Out - Part II

 
September 2005		  
9/30/05Observation: Benchmarking is Out
9/29/05What's Hot in Call Centers?
9/28/05Who's Number One?
9/27/05Are You in Play?
9/26/05Punctuated Equilibrium
9/23/05At Least They Use First Names
9/22/05Lessons Learned
9/21/05The End of Siebel OnDemand?
9/20/05Winners and Losers
9/19/05Oracle/Siebel - A Customer Driven Event?
9/16/05Does Bigger Mean Better?
9/15/05Single Vendor Doesn't Mean Single Solution
9/14/05Siebel/Oracle - More Than Market Share
9/13/05Siebel - Chapter 4
9/12/05More on Customer Retention
9/9/05Good Intentions Without Retention
9/8/05Bad IVR Trees Create More Calls
9/7/05IVRs - Don't Force It
9/6/05Forcing Customer to Use Self Service
9/2/05CRM Functionality - What Percent do You Use?
9/1/05Customer Retention Gone Wrong
8/31/05In Conclusion . . . Hunters and Farmers

 
August 2005		  
8/30/05Bring Back the Farmers
8/29/05The Value of a Hunter
8/26/05The People Have Voted
8/25/05Stalking Farmers
8/24/05Nurturing Hunters
8/23/05Do Farmers Add Value?
8/22/05An Era of Organic Growth
8/19/05Are Hunters an Indicator of Customer Churn
8/18/05Hunters and Farmers and Relative Worth
8/17/05Hunters and Farmers Revisited
8/16/05CRM as a Box
8/15/05The Mystigue of Outsourcing
8/12/05Outsourcing and SLAs
8/11/05Outsourcing Best Practices - IV
8/10/05Outsourcing Best Practices - III
8/9/05Outsourcing Source is Irrelevant
8/8/05Outsourcing Best Practices II
8/5/05Outsourcing by the Numbers
8/4/05Outsourcing Strategies - Best Practices
8/3/05Finding Fault With Your Outsourcer
8/2/05Did You Just Get Served by an Outsourcer?
8/1/05What to Outsource?

 
July 2005		  
7/29/05Does Outsourcing Ever Work?
7/28/05Outsourcing - Absolutely!
7/27/05Just Another Caller With An Issue
7/26/05Outsourcing in the Back Yard
7/25/05Outsourcing - OK, Offshore - Not OK?
7/22/05Microsoft CRM - Part II
7/21/05Microsoft CRM
7/20/05Outsourcing Done Right - Part II
7/15/05Call Center Metrics
7/14/05Customer Profiling
7/13/05Can Small Companies Afford Both?
7/12/05Low Hanging Fruit
7/11/05Hunting and Farming for Marketing
7/8/05Thank You
7/7/05Hunters and Farmers - Part III
7/6/05Hunters and Farmers in the Call Center
7/1/05Hunters and Farmers - Part II

 
June 2005		  
6/30/05Hunters and Farmers
6/29/05Can the Sales Team be the Voice of the Customer?
6/28/05CCO at the Board Table - Revisited
6/27/05Is "Customer" in the CEO's DNA?
6/24/05CCO - Vision and Culture
6/23/05The Customer Information Imperative
6/22/05Contact Center Agent - The New CCO?
6/21/05Retention and the CCO
6/20/05CCO - Lessons Learned
6/17/05Origin of the CCO Term
6/16/05The CEO is not the CCO
6/15/05A Seat at the Board - Part II
6/14/05CCO - A Seat at the Board Table?
6/13/05The CCO - Long Overdue
6/10/05The Chief Customer Officer
6/9/05The Chief Customer Officer (CCO)
6/8/05Degrees of Loyalty
6/7/05Retention - Customer Just Fade Away . . .
6/6/05Retention - Peppers and Rogers Style
6/3/05Firing Your Customers
6/2/05Is There a CRM IPO on the Horizon?
6/1/05Retention Tricks

 
May 2005		  
5/31/05Is Retention a Subjective Metric?
5/27/05Sane Business Metrics
5/26/05New Weathervane - Part II
5/25/05Taking Customers For Granted
5/24/05Customers for Life
5/23/05Lip Service
5/20/05Rules of War
5/19/05The Quiet Giant
5/16/05Siebel Consultants - Where Did They All Go?
5/13/05Broken Weathervane
5/12/05Stop Chasing Competitors
5/11/05No New Features, Better Training
5/10/05No New Features, No Short Answer
5/9/05Siebel Partners Speak Up
5/6/05Am I Anti-Siebel?
5/5/05Are you a Service Tycoon?
5/4/05No New Features - Part II
5/3/05No New Features
5/2/05Listen Up George (and Everyone)

 
April 2005		  
4/29/05Did He Really Say That?
4/28/05The CRM Ecosystem - Partners
4/27/05The CRM Ecosystem
4/26/05Listen up George - Part II
4/25/05Listen Up George
4/22/05Are Other CRM Vendors Piling ON?
4/21/05Is the Door Open?
4/20/05Siebel Is Making Him Crazy
4/19/05From a "Best of Show" Judge
4/18/05CRM Data - It's a Lot of Work
4/15/05New Siebel Leadership - Chapter 3 or Transitional Leadership?
4/14/05What Does Siebel's Troubles Mean to the Rest of CRM?
4/13/05My Own Think (Not) Week
4/12/05Here is a recent comment about "Data Cleansing"
4/11/05Your Own Think Week
4/8/05Drawing the Line Between CRM and Content Management
4/7/05What about CRM Data?
4/6/05What Others Say about Industry Awards
4/5/05Next Big Thing in CRM - There's More!
4/4/05Next Big Thing in CRM Revisited
4/1/05BSM - Another View

 
March 2005		  
3/31/05BSM Redux
3/30/05Musical Chairs - Part II
3/29/05CRM Awards - Part III
3/28/05CRM Awards - Part II
3/25/05CRM Awards
3/24/05The Next Big Thing in CRM
3/23/05The Last Big Thing in CRM
3/22/05Business Service Management
3/21/05Musical Chairs
3/18/05Seven Habits to Retain More Customers
3/17/05The Next Big Thing in CRM
3/16/05Moments of Truth and Customer Loyalty
3/15/05The Business Case for Customer Retention
3/14/05Keeping Customers You Work So Hard to Win
3/11/05Merger Mania Revisited
3/10/05Benchmarking and Industry Averages - Part II
3/9/05Benchmarking and Industry Averages
3/8/05Who Has the Best CRM Product? - Part III
3/4/05Merger Mania?
3/3/05Who Has the Best CRM Product? - Part II
3/2/05Who Has the Best CRM Product?
3/1/05Pillow Talk - Revisited

 
February 2005		  
2/28/05A Case Study in Progress?
2/25/05Your Privacy
2/24/05Turn Your Seats Around
2/23/05A Quick Dunk in the Shark Tank
2/22/05Place Your Bets
2/18/05A History of Firsts
2/17/05The Editorial Calendar
2/16/05Know More. Read Less.
2/15/05Frequently Asked Questions
2/14/05Day 1 - First Impressions
2/11/05Welcome (Back) to CRMAdvocate