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8/4/06 - Branding is About Confidence - Continued
Creating customer confidence is a blend of providing an exceptional experience on a consistent basis. The secret is the combination. An exceptional experience that happens on occasion is futile if customers can't count on it. But mistakes happen.
One reader wrote, "We must also recognize "to err is human". Everyone makes mistakes, including the best organizations. It's what happens after the mistakes are made that truly builds confidence in a brand. Being upfront, honest and proactive to your customers will have tremendous gains. When Tylenol had the contamination scare, they instantly pulled all bottles and went public, even though only a few packages had been tampered with. That move cost them money, but built tremendous respect, which I'm sure has paid off well."
So let me modify the first statement I made today: "Creating customer confidence is a blend of providing an exceptional experience on a consistent basis and when mistakes happen, you have the opportunity to create an even higher level of customer confidence." Do you agree?
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
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TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK (more)
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FrontRange Solutions announced the general availability of the latest version of HEAT Service & Support, a customizable Help Desk and external customer support tool that logs and tracks issues through completion. The newest feature to HEAT is the Call Logging Dashboard, which provides a one-stop location for common views and metrics. The new dashboard allows individual users to add hyperlinks to personal call groups, allowing for quick access to incident records based upon commonly used search criteria.
UncommonGoods, an online retailer that sells creative, high-quality merchandise, has selected UniPress' FootPrints. The retailer is using the web-based system to centrally manage multi-channel support, enabling customers to submit requests via phone, email, and the Internet. The company is on pace to log more than 48,000 customer service requests in 2006.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS) has selected Verint's ULTRA solution to enhance the customer experience it provides through its two contact centers. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves more than 1.6 million people through its underwritten and government lines of business, processing more than 36 million claims each year.
Onyx announced that approximately 76% of outstanding Onyx shares were voted at today's special shareholder meeting in favor of M2M's offer to acquire the company.
RightNow announced that it has delivered its two billionth customer interaction since 2003. This milestone underscores the widespread embrace of self service solutions. These interactions span a full range of service, marketing and sales "touch-points" and the communication channels companies use with their customers-including phone, email, web, chat, in-store, postal mail and fax.
Salesforce.com marked a milestone in on-demand computing, announcing that on July 31, 2006 the company's service handled more than 50 million transactions in a single day. During July the company handled more than one billion transactions (page views or API calls through Salesforce or AppExchange applications).
Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, announced that its Genesys Express Outbound solution has enabled Betfair, an online betting exchange, to increase the productivity of its outbound customer care centre by fifty per cent. The solution, deployed by Genesys partner BT, uses preview dialing to reduce the time agents spend dialing customers - increasing the number of calls that they can make per day.
Eloqua announced the Summer 2006 release of Eloqua Conversion Suite, an integrated demand generation platform. The new release optimizes sales lead creation, conversion and management with interactive and direct marketing tactics, behavioral analytics and marketing automation. The Summer 2006 release of Eloqua Conversion Suite will be available on July 31, 2006.
Kintera announced the launch of a new national Web site for existing client Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and several pilot sites for local Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies -- all leveraging Kintera's social CRM system on the Kintera Sphere technology platform. Using a virtual account structure within Kintera Sphere, the new Web sites help capture online donations, recruit volunteers to become Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and enroll children in the mentoring program.
FIRM announced that it has signed an agreement to provide its Confirmit survey, community panel and report platform to Intrawest, destination resorts and adventure travel company. Intrawest will license the software as an on-demand solution. Intrawest will deploy the Confirmit platform for surveying and on-line customer panels to provide valuable input in support of the company's marketing and customer loyalty initiatives.
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 Research Notes (more)
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Evaluating Maturing in Contact Centers: A Performance Management Research Study - Ventana Research undertook this research study to evaluate the maturity of contact centers worldwide, assessed by region, industry and size. We determined maturity by communications channels and services supported, how performance is measured and what technologies are deployed. In the analysis, we applied the Ventana Research Maturity Model, placing centers at one of four levels for increasing maturty: Tactical, Advanced, Strategic and Innovative.(Ventana Research)
|  | | Get a Starbucks Card loaded with $5 and qualify to win an iPod nano when you participate in a survey! - Performance Scorecards and Dashboards - A Ventana Research survey - Do scorecards, dashboards and performance alerts really bring about strategic alignment? Do they facilitate the best use of a company's resources and coordinate the efforts of every member of the organization? Ventana Research, our trusted research partner, is conducting a short survey on the topic of Performance Scorecards and Dashboards. Get a Starbucks Card loaded with $5 and qualify to win an iPod nano when you participate in our survey!(Ventana Research)
| | | Why Microsoft CRM Is the 3rd Choice - In this document, Microsoft CRM is given a comprehensive review including "Global Perspective" by CRM expert, Mr. Paul Greenberg, auther of "CRM at the Speed of Light" and Executive VP of CRM Association US.(GCCRM)
| | | Siebel + Oracle > SAP? - Oracle just announced to acquire Siebel. Technically speaking, this will make Oracle the number one CRM vendor in the world, even though the official legitimation has to wait until early 2006. There is however, another saying that SAP is catching up fast that she will likely replace Siebel as the CRM leader one day or the other. Would Siebel + Oracle > SAP in CRM in the coming years? We don't know yet. But it makes sense to have an individual review on each of them to see how they are doing so far and listen to what 443 survey respondents have talked about their image and product.(GCCRM)
| | | Why Oracle CRM Is Only the 4th Choice - An Independent Survey and Perspectives from Global / China Experts on Oracle(GCCRM)
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 White Papers (more)
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What Do You Do With All That Customer Data? - Smart CIOs are experimenting with new Web-based technologies to integrate their customer data applications without having to rip out their legacy systems. But before they plunge into the implementation, they need to craft a data management strategy.(CIO Magazine)
| | | Poor Customer Service Skills Dog Businesses - According to the National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in the UK, customer service skills are in short supply across a huge range of business areas. The survey, which involved interviews with 74,500 bosses across the country, found that a quarter of vacancies are caused by employers not being able to find staff with right people skills. (CRMToday)
| | | Call Center? That's So 2004 - Americans, it seems, hate calling a help desk or customer service number to find an Indian on the line. Well, guess what, America? India doesn't particularly want to talk to you, either. As India's top companies get more sophisticated at taking over outsourced work from U.S. and European multinationals, they're finding that the lowest end of the business -- call centers -- just doesn't pay anymore. (BusinessWeek)
| | | Concern Mounts Over Data Fraud at Indian Call Centers - Within the Indian outsourcing industry, the unfolding data-fraud saga has been observed with a mixture of alarm and frustration: Alarm because such security breaches are extremely damaging to the industry's reputation, and frustration because of a widely-held belief that these incidents grab far more attention when they happen in India than they might elsewhere. (CIO Magazine)
| | | Loyalty and Customer Value Intersect in the Boardroom - This article in 1to1's Return on Customer monthly e-newsletter captures the truth about earning a seat at the table with your company's leaders. It's common knowledge customer loyalty extends much further than the reputation of a brand, or simply brand loyalty. Creating Loyalty has routinely covered the ROI of customer loyalty in recent years, and this article continues to validate why it's so important for companies to zero-in on high-value customers and analyze the financial impact of key customer-focused initiatives. (1to1)
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 Case Studies (more)
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DoubleClick Increases Customer Satisfaction with Service Strategies - DoubleClick needed a way to quantify their stance as the industry leader with hard facts. DoubleClick's key vision is to differentiate from their competition through world class service. By adapting their organization to industry best practices they insure that they can leverage their unparalleled global support infrastructure to deliver customer driven, one-on-one service.(Service Strategies Corporation)
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September 25th-27th, 2006: The 8th Annual Conference for Help Desk Professionals - Would you like to learn how to transform your Help Desk into a Service Desk, gain skills that will contribute to both your personal and professional development, and hear proven case studies that put theory in practice, AND do all this at a fabulous hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio? The 8th Annual Conference for Help Desk Professionals September 25-27 is where you can do all that and more. For more information, please visit our website at www.helpdeskconference.com or call us at 425-398-9292.
| | | August 14-16, 2006: ICCM 2006 - Find the customer contact management solutions and strategies to align your service center and business objectives to drive performance at ICCM 2006! Successful contact center professionals share two common traits: they drive performance excellence and they strive to be the 'best they've ever been'. Top performers constantly look for ways to meet and exceed the expectations of their customers, their staff, and their management. And they constantly look for new professional development opportunities.
| | | September 11th-13th, 2006: Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit 2006 - Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit 2006 - September 11-13 - Announcing the 7th Annual Gartner CRM Excellence Awards
| | | September 11th-13th, 2006: Annual Call Center Exhibition (ACCE) featuring the ICMI Knowledge Exchange - Annual Call Center Exhibition - The Global Gathering Place - Sept. 11-13, 2006 - Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, WA - $200 Early Bird savings through July 28, 2006 - For event details, or to register visit: http://www.ACCEicmi.com
| | | September 17-20: AFSM International's 2006 World Conference - AFSM International's World Conference brings together top-level corporate leaders in the technology services management industry. For over 30 years, this event has remained the largest gathering of technology services professionals from around the world. This is the only global event where you will find vast opportunities for learning, sharing and advancing your career as well as progressing your organization's ultimate goals and successes. For more information or to register, please visit www.afsmi.org or call 239 275-7887, ext 35.
| | September 25th-27th, 2006: The 8th Annual Conference for Help Desk Professionals - Would you like to learn how to transform your Help Desk into a Service Desk, gain skills that will contribute to both your personal and professional development, and hear proven case studies that put theory in practice, AND do all this at a fabulous hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio? The 8th Annual Conference for Help Desk Professionals September 25-27 is where you can do all that and more. For more information, please visit our website at www.helpdeskconference.com or call us at 425-398-9292.
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| CRMAdvocate Stock Index |
| CRMSI | 46.34 |  | 2.15% |
| Dow Jones | 11,242.59 | | 0.38% |
| Nasdaq | 2,092.34 | | 0.65% |
| S&P 500 | 1,280.27 | | 0.13% |
| Top Gainers |
| salesforce.com | 26.5 | | 1.17 |
| ICT Group | 26.53 | | 0.72 |
| Vignette | 13.01 | | 0.71 |
| Top Losers |
| eLoyalty | 13.61 |  | -0.80 |
| Tekelec | 10.24 | | -0.48 |
| NICE | 26.29 | | -0.46 |
| Complete Stock Index |
| As of close 08/03/06 | |
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