OUR TAKE -  Guitar Man Meets Biker Mom     Lasting Impressions: An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. - Freidrich Engels I gave the protagonist of last week's story a nickname - mom biker for a reason. And many of you wrote in to say you recognized the trick. Well, not really a trick . . .an association.   Does the story of mom biker and guitar man strike a chord? (Sorry for the corny pun.) Both used the power of Internet to voice their frustrations with service gone badly. But there are some important differences worth noting too.   Guitar man, the musician asking for compensation from the airline for damaging his instrument, diligently tried to find satisfaction. It was only after months of trying in vain did he write his famous songs that are now performed on YouTube for an audience of millions (8+ million and growing, thank you). On the other hand, biker mom wrote her blog within hours apparently without reaching out to restaurant management for satisfaction.   And so let's also contrast the corporate responses. One was begged and remained deaf. The other company was never asked but changed its stripes to become better not only for mom biker but all other cyclists. That's the power of corporate limberness that has to be part of a business' DNA rather than words. What's your take?   Gary Lemke, Publisher          Action Center         Free Subscription         Submit Content         Industry Events         Webcasts         Archive     Cool CRM                     NEW IN CRM   News:    Auto-Tester Improves Virtual Agent Solution by 50 Percent noHold announced a new feature, the Auto-Tester, that enables administrators to improve a Virtual Agent's performance in a matter of minutes. The Auto-Tester has driven solution score improvement by more than 50 percent. The Auto-Tester takes only a few minutes to run. It mimics user interactions and records the Virtual Agent's responses. The responses are given a score based on the solution's relevance and whether it was a direct hit or required a confirming question. By comparing scores from previous tests, administrators are able to measure improvement.(noHold )   Article:    CRM: Then and Now Over the last 15 years, CRM projects and plans may have changed dramatically, introducing new angles and complex combinations, but the overarching goal of improving the customer relationship has remained a straight shot. Balls. Pool, billiards, snooker—no matter what game you’re playing, there’s an undeniable beauty in the chaos of brightly colored ceramic spheres suddenly set in motion. The geometry may be convoluted, with collisions and caroms reorienting direction and destination, but the goal of the players—clearing the table, partly or in full—is fairly clear. Intricate in its implementation and elegant in its ideal, CRM can be said to share many of the same traits. Beyond the abstract spectacle, however, there are some very concrete realities—and some hard-number expenditures. (DestinationCRM )   Article:    Are Consumers More Responsive to Male or Female Voices? In crafting a TV, radio, or Web advertising campaign, probably the most important decision every marketing executive must make is whether to use a male or female voice. It’s not a decision that’s answered easily. Almost half of Americans (48 percent) believe a male voice is more forceful, while 46 percent believe a female voice is more soothing, according to a recent poll of nearly 2,200 U.S. adults by Adweek and Harris Interactive. However, almost half of U.S. adults also say it makes no difference to them—that neither voice is more forceful (49 percent) or more soothing (46 percent). Common practice has been to use a female voice, though that might not always be the best choice, according to Phil Shinn, a speech application developer and voice user interface designer at the IVR Design Group, a professional services company that does interactive voice response (IVR) design and development, project management, and human factors assessment. (Speech Technology )   News:    Linvio Launches New App on Salesforce's ChatterExchange Linvio has launched its new app - Linvio Mini-Store - on salesforce.com's ChatterExchange. Linvio Mini-Store leverages the company’s current payment management framework, PaymentConnect, to provide users with click-to-configure store fronts using Force.com Sites. The solution takes advantage of the new Chatter social capabilities, allowing companies to monitor and collaborate on customer acquisition and e-commerce transactions. Products and services can be sold directly with payment processing, order management and transaction-based workflow all managed on Force.com. (Linvio )   Didn't read the last edition of CRMAdvocate? Click here to see what you missed.

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