FEATURE EVENT
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Join us for
Services Industry Summit
eServices Strategies and Challenges
April 21-23, 2008 -
Charleston, South Carolina
Industry luminaries from leading organizations will share insights into the hottest topic around - eService Strategies and Challenges!
The summit, which includes a pre-conference executive roundtable and workshop sessions,
will feature presentations from industry leaders such as IBM Information Management Software,
Nokia Enterprise Solutions, Vignette Corporation, Novell, Inc., McAfee, Inc.,
Consortium for Service Innovation, and more.
Learn more about this unique eServices event.
Produced by:
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3/7/08 - Keep Asking
As we discuss the one thing companies can do to improve the customer experience, we have explored what one question is most effective to ask customers. We've also pondered whether it is the question, the feeling of empowerment, or simply giving the customer a sense that their opinions matter. Today, I'll share one reader that captures the essence of passion in learning. Think about this:
"I find it quite humorous to say there are right or wrong questions with regard to the one idea. There are a multitude of questions that you need to ask to get the full picture of most situations. A cursory read of the literature shows that the best diagnosticians, doctors, and sales professionals typically ask the most amount of questions. Not to say to that it's a pure quantity game, as they can also be of high quality, but any complex phenomena has numerous angles that you want to attack. There's often a parsimonious signature, but it's usually 3-5 variables, which each have their own drivers. Like most portfolios, it only take a few high return ideas to eclipse all the rest. Keep asking."
Keep an open mind. Keep asking. It's just that simple. Isn't it?
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
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TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK (more)
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Salesboom.com announced the implementation of their Salesforce.com Enticement Program which is designed for displeased Salesforce.com customers who are looking to migrate to another CRM provider. Businesses who migrate to Salesboom.com On-Demand CRM Solutions receive a $5,000 check and a guaranteed lower annual rate than that of Salesforce.com.
eLoyalty Corporation has recently signed an extension to an existing Behavioral Analytics(TM) contract to capture and analyze a significant percentage of one of its large Health Care Customer's IVR interactions.
CMP’s HDI, a membership association for IT service and support professionals, announced that more than 90 companies will exhibit, and many will launch new products and services at the HDI Annual Conference & Expo,a large industry event for IT help desk and service and support professionals. HDI 2008 will be held at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Dallas, Tex., March 9 – 12, 2008.
CDC Software, announced that Vectors Innovation Group (VIG), an Asian enterprise solutions provider, has selected Pivotal CRM for Financial Services as the platform for its CRM, direct marketing and telemarketing solution designed for the insurance industry in Greater China.
Olan Mills Inc has selected the Noble® Solution from Noble Systems Corporation for blended inbound and outbound contact management in its appointment setting center. Olan Mills is one of the nation’s leading portrait photography companies, with hundreds of studios located throughout the U.S. and a state-of-the-art production facility at its corporate headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Building on its success in the healthcare market, Pegasystems announced new versions of its Customer Process Manager™ Solutions for Healthcare (CPM-HC). These are built on Pegasystems’ SmartBPM® platform and provide a set of customer processing capabilities that automate all service requests that are handled through a healthcare organizations’ contact center.
Salesforce.com delivered a total Q4 revenue of $216.9 million, an increase of 50% on a year-over-year basis and an increase of 13% on a quarter-over-quarter basis. Subscription and support revenues were $196.5 million, an increase of 49% on a year-over-year basis and an increase of 11% on a quarter-over-quarter basis. For the full fiscal year 2008, the company reported revenue of approximately $748.7 million, an increase of 51% from the prior year. Subscription and support revenues were $680.6 million for the year, an increase of 51%, while professional services revenue rose 50% to finish at $68.1 million.
Following its December launch of the next-generation Impact 360® Workforce Optimization (WFO) software, Verint® Systems Inc. announced that the company experienced a 45 percent growth rate in WFO customer sites sold during the 2007 fiscal year.
The Customer Relationship Management Association (CRMA) will host its Second Annual Return2Customer National Conference in Atlanta, GA, April 1-2, 2008, at Villa Christina in Perimeter Summit.
Convergys Corporation announced that a large U.S. wireless operator with millions of subscribers has gone live with a Convergys Relationship Management Solution that enables centralized policy creation and management as well as automated, real time, and proactive policy enforcement across all channels.
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 FEATURE WEBCAST (more) |
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"Secrets of On-Demand Reporting"
Travis Huch, Vice President, DreamFactory
On-demand reporting and analytics is changing the way companies execute and manage their business due to flexibility in customization and configurability, cost and standardization of data. Making sure that your CRM investment is providing you with reporting visibility and real-time accuracy is essential to helping you grow your market and customer base. Join DreamFactory, a pioneer in providing the next generation business applications on SaaS platforms with customer, Salesforce.com on this informative webinar.
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 Research Notes (more)
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Customer Experience Management Technologies - Customers are increasing intolerant of bad service. Time and cost contraints are pushing companies harder to improve that experience. However, the potential to improve either situation is improving as vendors come to market with products that can help analyze different forms of data. As better analytic information becomes available, companies can begin to assess the effectiveness of their interaction-handling processand figure out how to improve them.(Ventana Research )
|  | | Improve Customer Interaction Using Speech Self-Service - Companies’ Integrated Voice Recognition (IVR) applications are being stretched thin. Forty-three percent (43%) of companies surveyed in the Contact Center Analytics benchmark report are either seeing poorer performance in call abandonment rates or don’t measure this Key Performance Indicator (KPI) at all. By adding speech self-service to the current IVR stack, companies provide a more robust and complete customer experience.(Aberdeen)
| | | CRM Implementation Checklist - Please Take this Survey - Please take part in this survey which will form part of an MBA thesis at Imperial College London.(Imperial College)
| | | Customer Satisfaction Growth Slows, Many Companies Struggle to Keep Up - ACSI Report Shows Utilities and Cell Phone Industries Rising; Restaurants, Cable and Airlines Tumbling(ACSI)
| | | JupiterResearch Finds Limited Consumer Interest in Mobile Banking - JupiterResearch, a leading authority on the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on business, has found that despite renewed efforts on the part of financial institutions, overall interest in mobile banking services is limited.(Jupiter Research)
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 White Papers (more)
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Profitable Strategies for Optimizing Help Desk Operations: A Business Impact Analysis for Managers - Discover a quantum leap in help desk thinking. In this insightful free white paper, you'll learn how managers can improve profitability, increase end-user productivity, and speed problem resolution by thinking strategically, rather than tactically.(SupportSoft, Inc.)
| | | 6 Steps To ERP Implementation Success - Implementing an enterprise application like an enterprise resources planning (ERP), contact relationship management (CRM), or enterprise asset management (EAM) is almost as complex as undertaking a civil engineering or major construction project. Here are six simple steps to take in order to manage that complexity and achieve your corporate goals.(IFS)
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Why Do Companies Fear Customer-Alignment Screening? - Have you ever had a cancer screening? If so, you know how scary it can be. You really don't want to find out you have cancer—but if you have it and don't do anything about it, your life is at risk. As with people and cancer, business executives fear customer-alignment screening of their companies. (customerthink)
| | | Customer metrics: What should you measure? - The influx of customer data at many firms has grown from a trickle to a flood, and now it's a case of information overload. So what customer metrics should you focus on?(MyCustomer)
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 Case Studies (more)
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Prophet 2004, a Sales Opportunity Management Solution - After looking at sales management software including Prophet 2004, ACT! and custom development, Brandrud selected Prophet to help their sales organization establish a sales process for the first time in company history.(Avidian Technologies)
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March 9 - 12, 2008: HDI 2008 - The HDI Annual Conference & Expo is a launch pad for new products, services and innovative technologies within the IT service and support industry. Nearly 3,000 technical support professionals will attend technology-focused and business-process sessions, as well as product showcase sessions from the leading service and support vendors.
| | | March 26-28, 2008: Celebrating Customer Service Excellence - Celebrating Customer Service Excellence, March 26-28, 2008 at the Disney Yacht and Beach Club Resort in Orlando, FL. This is our premier customer service conference and will focus on the seamless collaboration between the back end of operations, adjacent departments and the front end customer experience.
| | | March 30 - April 3, 2008: The 12th Annual Shared Services Week - IQPC’s 12th Annual Shared Services Week is an annual gathering of Shared Services professionals. This can’t-miss multi-tracked event is designed to provide executives from start-ups, intermediate and mature shared services with everything they need to know to bring shared services to the next level.
| | | April 1-2, 2008: 2008 CRMA National Conference: "Deepening The Customer Experience" - Stronger Metrics. World-Class Programs. Leading Insight. The Customer Relationship Management Association (CRMA) presents its annual, award-winning conference for CRM practitioners, Return To Customer. Last year we showed you how to improve your customer experience in multiple ways, including strategy, process, people and technology and this year we go deeper. Two days of packed content on how companies are achieving incredible results with broader and deeper customer experience management.
| | | April 13-16, 2008: 4th Annual Customer Contact 2008, East - This year's Customer Contact East Event is the place to be to learn about the people, technology and processes you need to have in place in order to deliver truly superior customer care in the contact center. It brings you five tracks and 24 interactive sessions hitting on the red hot issues on top of everyone's minds.
| | | April 21-23, 2008: Services Industry Summit - eService Strategies and Challenges - Join us in Charleston, South Carolina April 21-23, 2008, for the Services Industry Summit. Industry luminaries from leading organizations will share insights into the hottest topic around - eService Strategies and Challenges! The summit, which includes a pre-conference executive roundtable and workshop sessions, will feature presentations from industry leaders such as IBM Information Management Software, Nokia Enterprise Solutions, Vignette Corporation, Novell, Inc., McAfee, Inc., Consortium for Service Innovation, and more.
| | | April 28-30, 2008: Government Customer Support Conference - Leaders of help desks, call centers, web service portals, and other touch points for Government's internal and external customers come together yearly at the Annual Government Customer Support Conference and Expo (GCSC) to learn, share, and synergize as a community of practice.
| | | May 1, 2008: Call Center Optimization Forum - You're invited to uncover the secrets of the best call centers, and find out how to apply them in your organization! You'll learn breakthrough strategies and techniques you can use to exceed customer expectations, raise performance standards, and achieve your career goals. CRMAdvocate subscribers receive a Complimentary Registration (a $299 value).
| | | May 1, 2008: Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty with Every Channel - Join this by-invitation-only event to examine both the opportunities and risks for retail banks created by the changing nature of customer management.
| | | May 1, 2008: Delivering Customer Satisfaction in Member Management - This by-invitation-only event examines both the risks and opportunities created over the next few years by the changing dynamics of providing member management.
| | | May 4-6, 2008: SSPA Best Practices 2008 Conference - The Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) Best Practices 2008 Conference is the premier event for technical service and support. It delivers practical solutions, tested methods and new ideas on the Essential Elements of Support in more than 70 sessions. Tracks include Web 2.0, Knowledge Management, Talent Management, Benchmarking and Metrics, Support Operations, Consumer Support, Management Excellence, Best Practices for Small and Medium Businesses and Innovative Support Technology. Keynote speakers include Denise Rundle, General Manager, Global Consumer Support, Microsoft; Andreas Graesser, Vice President, Active Global Support, SAP America; Mary Cay Kosten, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Services, Sun Microsystems; John Ragsdale, VP Research, SSPA; and Eric Chester, Generation Why. Learn more and register online at www.thesspa.com/santaclara.]
| | May 13-15, 2008: SCORE 2008 - Besides exploring best practices in customer and loyalty, SCORE examines how advances in call center, database, Internet and other technologies can help manage customer operations more effectively. These are the critical touch points that greatly influence customer satisfaction and loyalty. The SCORE Conference is the only event that addresses both loyalty management strategy and customer operations.
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| CRMAdvocate Stock Index |
| CRMSI | 54.50 |  | -3.22% |
| Dow Jones | 12,254.99 |  | 0.34% |
| Nasdaq | 2,220.50 | | -1.79% |
| S&P 500 | 1,304.34 | | -1.72% |
| Top Gainers |
| SAP | 47.94 | | 57.90 |
| HP | 47.78 | | 49.78 |
| NCR | 23.06 | | 47.99 |
| Top Losers |
| eOn | 0.3501 | | 0.78 |
| Selectica | 1.41 | | 1.75 |
| Broadvision | 1.12 | | 2.20 |
| Complete Stock Index |
| As of close 03/06/08 | |
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"OUR TAKE"
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