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Unica's On-Demand Web Analytics Solution Enhanced
Unica Corporation, a global provider of enterprise marketing management (EMM) solutions, has announced enhanced features and new customer wins for its web analytics solution, Affinium NetInsight. Unica released its latest version of Affinium NetInsight, featuring an advanced user interface intuitive enough for enterprise-wide self-service deployments, yet able to deliver powerful analytics and segmentation capabilities. Internet marketers seek more flexibility in analyzing both off-line and online customer behavior, organizations across a variety of industries are turning to scalable on-demand solutions for their web analytics needs.
CDC Software’s CRM Solution Selected by Canadian Automobile Association Club
CDC Software, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation and a provider of industry-specific enterprise software and services, announced that the Canadian Automobile Association, South Central Ontario (CAASCO), which is the largest of nine clubs in the CAA Federation, has selected CDC Software’s Pivotal CRM to provide exceptional customer service based on their individual needs.
SPSS Survey Software Increases Marketing Response Rates
SPSS Inc., a worldwide provider of predictive analytics software, has unveiled a new version of its software suite, Dimensions 5.0. The new features, including Question Wizard, a web-deployed Reporter, and Remote Manager, ensure higher survey response rates, better access to respondents, easy creation of powerful and visually appealing surveys, and faster delivery of interactive results to decision-makers across the organization.
Maximizer Software Launches Maximizer CRM 10 Entrepreneur Edition
To address small businesses' increasing need for ROI-driven technology solutions, Maximizer Software Inc., a provider of simple, accessible CRM solutions, has announced the availability of its Entrepreneur Edition - completing the suite of Maximizer CRM 10 solutions. Maximizer CRM 10 Entrepreneur Edition, the next-generation of Maximizer contact management software, gives start-ups and individual professionals an out-of-box, full-featured contact management solution that is simple, accessible and provides the best value to help them grow their business.
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Research Results: 2008 Trends in Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The majority of respondents (81%) in CRMindustry.com's "2008 Trends in Customer Relationship Management (CRM)" survey are happy with the overall performance of their CRM technology vendor. The research, conducted in November - December 2007, surveyed high-level CRM executives representing a range of industries. The data gathered provides valuable insight into the issues and challenges important to those responsible for CRM in their organization.
Click Here t o get a complimentary copy of the executive summary, as well as view the graphs...
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| Enterprise Software Industry to Grow 8 Percent in 2008 Despite Economic Slowdown
Despite the current economic downturn, the software industry is poised for growth in 2008, with worldwide enterprise software revenue totaling $190.7 billion in 2008, an 8.2 percent increase from 2007 revenue of $176.3 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. While the software market is forecast to grow, it will face challenges this year.
Software vendors that have a balanced mix in channel, new license, and maintenance revenue streams and flexibility in contractual terms such as software as a service, open source and outsourcing, have the strongest options for continued growth and to even out their risk.
Shrinking discretionary spending budgets will heighten competition for new maintenance and license revenue streams and place a renewed emphasis on vendor performance and viability. Market consolidations and restructurings may accelerate as mergers and acquisitions among smaller and larger vendors increase, says Gartner.
The software industry experienced unprecedented growth in the late 1990s, leading to an exaggerated, through short-lived, downturn in 2001. Since many of the factors in place during that period do not exist now, Gartner analysts do not expect an economic slowdown in the U.S. or other markets worldwide to have a strong negative effect on software spending.
Garter expects the second quarter of 2008 to be the first quarter in which some decline in revenues for software vendors is noticeable. Companies will need some time to get control of IT operations budgets and slow down discretionary budgets. In the short term, only a few types of software spending will be affected which in turn will compress the vendors in the vulnerable markets.
More...
Spending on e-mail marketing to top $2 billion by 2012, study forecasts
Overall spending on marketing e-mail in the U.S. is expected to grow from $1.2 billion last year to $2.1 billion by 2012, with b2c e-mail continuing to represent the largest share of that total, according to findings from JupiterResearch. B2c marketers, who accounted for $1.1 billion of total e-mail marketing spending in 2007, are expected to increase spending to $1.8 billion by 2012, for a compounded annual growth rate of 12%.
Jupiter’s report, “U.S. E-mail Marketing Forecast, 2007 to 2012,” attributes the large growth in the b2c sector in part to ever-larger lists and to the failure of many marketers to refine lists with targeting and reactivation tactics. According to Jupiter, 73% of b2c marketers, for example, don’t use e-mail click-through behavior to segment lists for subsequent mailings, and most marketers don’t use reactivation tactics—special offers, for instance—when subscribers remain unresponsive.
While b2c marketers include some publishing sites whose revenue is tied to list size, the failure to refine lists “is detrimental to delivery and will aid in the increased spending," Jupiter notes.
As the result of greater e-mail spending and activity and the resulting “marketing clutter," even subscribed e-mail will increasingly fight for attention in consumers’ in-boxes, says Jupiter. As a result, marketers will have to embrace tactics that boost e-mail relevance, such as dynamic content and multivariate testing of offers and messaging.
Jupiter notes that its figures do not include spending on services from interactive agencies that may include e-mail marketing, which could as much as double the research company’s forecast for overall spending on e-mail marketing.
More...
Local Government Contact Center Service-Level Targets are Inconsistent
The anecdotal evidence is that commercial call centers are continually enhancing their services — for example, telephone calls will be answered in seconds, emails will be responded to in hours — but public sector organizations are lagging behind. To gain an understanding of the reality behind the anecdotal evidence, Rostrvm Solutions conducted a benchmarking survey into the current and future measurement of 'success' in Local Authority call centers.
The survey showed that in many ways Local Government customer service centers are leading the way in providing open multimedia access to service, with over 90% of surveyed centers offering at least one medium in addition to ‘traditional’ telephone access.
Whilst service-level standards are commonly in place and set levels for the most basic target — answering inbound telephone calls — less than half (43%) of survey respondents have a target for returning calls. The question must arise: What will happen if an inquiry necessitates a return call and the caller does not have an expectation of when a response will be received? The risk is that the inquiry would be repeated, leading to an avoidable contact.
It was particularly noteworthy to observe that, while 78% of responding authorities operate in conjunction with an associated, interactive web site, only a quarter have a target for responding to web inquiries.
Results showed that local government call centers are more focused on day-to-day operational issues than establishing consistent service levels. Key challenges include meeting the increasing customer demand, managing seasonal overload and training new staff.
More...
New Study Analyzes the Positive Effect of Online Reviews on E-Commerce
PowerReviews, a developer of customer-review solutions for retailers
and their shoppers, released a whitepaper entitled “Merchant
and Customer Perspectives On Customer Reviews and User-Generated
Content.” The whitepaper surveyed dozens of online retailers
for their insights on how online reviews have been implemented and
used, as well as analyzed the measurable business results.
Findings of
note include:
- 59% of merchants
interviewed cited the customer experience as the most important
factor in the addition of customer reviews to their site.
- 79% said
the product page is very successful as a product review hub. In
contrast, the home page had varying degrees of success with 37
percent reporting strong successes.
- Merchants
indicate that there is less reliance on customer service as the
reviews answer some of the questions that otherwise must be handled
on a one-off basis.
- The unbiased
nature of reviews (where they are more transparent and trustworthy)
engenders customer trust and that trust translates into loyal,
lifelong shoppers.
- Merchants
were generally surprised by the number of positive reviews, another
hidden truth. Initial fears of heavily negative reviews never
materialized for any of the merchants interviewed.
More...
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| Putting Customers First
Customers first." It's the mantra of businesses everywhere. Yet the average company still loses 10% to 15% of customers each year. Most of them leave due to poor service or a disappointing product experience, yet only 4% of them will tell you about it. And once they've left, it's difficult (not to mention expensive) to get them back.
Fostering true loyalty and engagement with customers starts at a basic level, but here are nine techniques you can employ to make customer loyalty a powerful competitive advantage for your company.
Full Article...
CRM + BPM: A Match Made in Heaven?
There was, once, a simple choice in CRM software — buy off the shelf, or build. Today, however, there is a third option, BPM engine-driven CRM. Sounds impressive, all those acronyms. Acronyms aside, this third new option is impressive as it boasts the advantages of both previous options, with none of their drawbacks.
Full Article...
IT Will Embrace Web 2.0 in 2008
Corporate IT managers who have long resisted implementing Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis, blogs and social networks will likely start adding them to their priority lists this year. Many of those firms had long called Web 2.0 technology "frivolous” they will "take their heads out of the sand" this year.
Full Article...
CRM's Integration Blues
Software as a service (SaaS) has gone beyond the realm of rogue deployments, and CRM software, most notably Salesforce.com, has led the way through the enterprise front door. IT pros have learned plenty about the pros and cons of on-demand CRM. Among the lingering concerns: Can you make on-demand CRM apps play nicely with your ERP and other core systems? How much work and what arrangements will this integration require? Results still vary.
Full Article...
Gauging Customer Satisfaction: The Importance of the Online Survey
What do your customers think about the products or services you sell? How satisfied are they with a recent event you hosted or the interaction they had with one of your employees? You may have gotten the answers to some of these questions from a phone conversation, an occasional e-mail, or speaking to a customer in person. But in these cases, you're only hearing from the most "vocal" customers. The best way to get balanced feedback quickly from a group of your customers — vocal or not — is to ask through an online survey.
Full Article...
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|  Go Google: 20 Ways to Reach More Customers and Build Revenue with Google Business Tools
by Greg Holden
Google is not only the search engine of choice for millions of users, it is an immensely powerful tool for savvy businesspeople who know how to use its advanced features. Go Google is a comprehensive guide to everything readers need to know about Google’s myriad applications, including Google Apps, Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Google SMS, Google Base, and other services that will help businesses get organized -- and get noticed. Companies will learn how to get their message heard and take their marketing to a new level by:
- Creating and strengthening their business websites with Google Page Creator, Google Analytics, and Google Checkout.
- Improving communication with clients and co-workers using Google Talk, Google SMS, and Google Groups.
- Marketing themselves to prospective customers using Google AdWords, AdSense, and Google directory placement.
- Improving their visibility by creating business blogs with Blogger.
For
more information, or to order your copy...
You can find
more industry sepcific books at our web site:
http://www.crmindustry.com/
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| Visit the CRM Solution Center
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The CRM Solution Center provides you unlimited access to white papers, case studies, detailed product information and more. Registration is quick and easy -- in 30 seconds or less, you will be on your way to accessing this valuable resource
Click here to start searching!
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