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Interactive Intelligence
Launches Major Upgrade to IP Business Communications Software Platform
Interactive Intelligence Inc. is releasing a major upgrade to its
contact center automation and enterprise IP telephony software platform.
Version 3.0 of the company's Customer Interaction Center (CIC) and
Vonexus Enterprise Interaction Center (Vonexus EIC) software offers
increased security, broader integration, simplified deployment and
enhanced mobility features. CIC and Vonexus EIC version 3.0 also
include new integration to Microsoft Office Communications Server
and Microsoft Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging, designed to increase
user productivity by embedding call control features into the Microsoft
applications.
Silverpop Makes Targeting Easy with Coremetrics LIVEmail 2.0 Integration
Silverpop announced it now enables customers using Coremetrics LIVEmail 2.0 to seamlessly move targeted segment data from the behavioral Web analytics platform to its email marketing solution. The offering enables email marketers to automatically target individuals with the right offer at the right time. As a result of the integration, Silverpop and Coremetrics customers can simply click a button to exchange unique visitor behavioral data in a well-defined, fully integrated format. Marketers can then trigger automated emails when site visitors take specific actions such as abandoning shopping carts, conducting site searches or making product purchases.
Epicor CRS RetailCRM Delivers Enhanced Tools for Creating Loyal Customer Relationships
Epicor CRS, the Retail Solutions Division of Epicor Software Corp., has unveiled CRS RetailCRM 2.0. The enhanced CRM solution gives specialty retailers advanced tools to drive sales, increase loyalty and support the business processes necessary for success in today’s competitive marketplace. With a Microsoft .NET-based service-oriented architecture (SOA) as its foundation, RetailCRM provides integrated capabilities for customer analysis, customer segmentation, campaign management and loyalty program management.
iEnterprises' Releases iExtensions CRM 6.5 for Domino Lotus Notes
iEnterprises, a global desktop and wireless CRM solutions provider,
has announced a major automation upgrade to its iExtensions CRM
Domino/Lotus Notes software, enabling small and medium sized businesses
to save both time and effort while performing their day-to-day tasks.
With iExtensions CRM 6.5 new automated functionality, users can
quickly bypass mundane steps to complete their goals. Given the
automation runs through the entire CRM solution, users can automatically
pre-populate, trigger, or issue notifications by allowing macros
to run when opening, editing or saving any data in the solution.
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| When and Why do Hosted CRM Implementations Fail?
CRM implementations have suffered through a spotty history since the mid 1990s. Everyone has heard the countless stories of CRM implementation failures — and the unfortunate people that were removed from their organizations as part of the downfall. This most recent survey conducted by CRM Landmark attempted to discover the frequency and causes of this long-standing issue with regard to the SaaS CRM market.
The CRM implementation failure survey conclusions are as follows:
- Presumably due to smaller and/or more phased and piecemeal implementations, the frequency and effects of hosted CRM failures are somewhat less than their client/server CRM predecessors.
- A key factor in historical CRM failures - user adoption - seems to be less of a factor with hosted CRM implementations. Nonetheless, change management plays a critical role during any implementation.
- Primary factors related to hosted CRM implementation failures included a lack of project management during the implementation, lack of executive sponsorship, resistance to change (including hidden agendas), immature product solutions and a failure to clearly define the project objectives, business requirements and critical success factors.
Possibly the most notable project failure factor and one that represents a change from the prior era of CRM applications is the decreased citing of user adoption as a key challenge during the implementation process. While an initial inference would suggest that the hosted CRM applications have de-emphasized user adoption challenges as they are simpler or easier to use than their client/server predecessors, further analysis also reminds us that the scope and depth of hosted CRM applications often does not yet match that of prior periods. The media attention surrounding user adoption has also brought this issue to the mainstream which has undoubtedly resulted in better implementation planning and execution.
While user adoption may be improving with SaaS solutions, make no mistake that this issue has derailed many CRM implementations. A well cited study by AMR Research found that even among top CRM vendors, 47 percent of companies reported serious challenges with end-user adoption that often put projects in jeopardy. Analysis shows that CRM implementations that do not make daily tasks more productive for individuals will not see corporate benefits. The most-regularly reported inhibitor occurs when end-users can continue to perform their job and still meet their goals without ever touching the system. From an end-user's perspective, providing knowledge into the system makes them less valuable to the company and augments their fear of being easily replaced in the future. Lack of executive-level commitment and failure to secure end-user buy-in were also key inhibitors to a CRM implementation's success, the AMR report says. AMR Research's study results claim that companies that do not implement CRM strategies by making day-to-day tasks more productive for each individual user are constructing an expensive house of cards that will likely topple.
It seems almost impractical to conclude an implementation research exercise without referring to the Standish Group - an analyst group which exists solely to track IT successes and failures. In reviewing a prior year Chaos Report, The Standish Group surveyed 13,522 projects and reported that unqualified project successes are well under 50 percent - 34 percent to be exact. Complete project failures, defined as projects abandoned midstream, were at 15 percent. Falling in between the two categories are completed but 'challenged' projects which represent 51 percent of all IT projects and are defined as projects with cost overruns, time overruns and projects not delivered with the right functionality to support the business. The report goes on to say that the level of success can be tied to user involvement, executive management support and having an experienced project manager — in that order.
More...
Contact Center ‘Empathy and Advocacy' Standards are Falling
Aspect Software Inc. and Leo J. Shapiro and Associates, a market research company, have announced the results of the 2007 Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index-Europe, an independent survey of consumer experience versus expectations of contact center interactions in Europe.
The European study reveals that customer satisfaction with contact center-delivered service fell between 2006 and 2007. European consumers rated satisfaction with their last contact center interaction as an E grade (64 percent). This compares with 67 percent, a D grade in 2006.
Among the countries surveyed, British, Italian, French and Spanish consumers all awarded contact centers an overall satisfaction grade of E (scores fell between 61 and 62 percent). Dutch consumer ratings were slightly higher at 65 percent (D grade). German consumers were the happiest in Europe, rating their last interaction 72 percent out of 100, a C grade.
European consumers were particularly critical of contact center ‘empathy and advocacy’ skills, rating their last interaction with a 65 percent score, 5 percent lower than in 2006. In three key empathy and advocacy areas highlighted previously as being important to European consumers, “Knowledgeable and Informed,’ “Professional” and “Patient,” European consumers rated contact center performance 5 to 6 percent lower in 2007 than in 2006. In addition:
- 28 percent of consumers in Europe said that their last contact center interaction fell short of their expectations compared with 22 percent in 2006.
- Consumers in the Netherlands have the highest expectations of contact center-delivered service at 6.9 out of 9 in 2007, and French consumers the lowest at only 5.9 out of 9.
- On average, 2.7 interactions are required with a European contact center in order to resolve a consumer query. Additionally, European consumers wait an average of 4.5 minutes when trying to reach a person within the contact center.
- 44 percent of interactions with communications companies fell short of European consumer expectations compared to only 20 percent of retail company interactions and 21 percent of financial company interactions (35 percent, 17 percent and 16 percent respectively in 2006).
The study examined the impact of good and bad customer experiences on future business, finding that one third of European consumers who were ‘satisfied’ with their last interaction would conduct more business with that company; with 8 percent of these saying they will do much more business. Conversely, nearly half of consumers who were ‘unsatisfied’ claimed they will conduct less business; half of these saying they will do much less business.
Two-fifths of European consumers that were asked to repeat information after being transferred from an automated system to a live agent said they will conduct less business with a company, and, overall, 20 percent European consumers said they were “likely to switch companies based on their latest (actual) interaction.”
The study also measured some new data this year including identifying the criteria that distinguish an exceptional customer experience allowing contact centers to better understand what consumers are looking for in their interactions with companies. And, for companies that deliver an exceptional contact center experience to their consumers, the outlook is much brighter. European consumers stating they had an ‘exceptional experience’ gave a much higher 86 percent satisfaction rating, an ‘A’ grade on the Aspect Index, with 55 percent of these consumers stating they would do more business with the company they had the contact with.
More...
Outbound and Call-Blending Activities of U.S. Contact Centers
Altitude Software, an independent contact center solutions vendor, and ContactBabel, contact center industry analysts, have announced findings on the outbound and call-blending activities of U.S. Contact Centers from the “U.S. Contact Center Operational Review 2007,” based on a study of the performance, operations, technology and HR aspects of 204 contact centers.
The research found that the “Do Not Call Registry” legislation is having a dramatic impact, with over 40% of respondents acknowledging a reduction of their outbound calling and more than half of this number reporting big reductions in outbound activities.
The same report shines a new light on Outbound’s CRM “lost opportunity”, with only 26% of contact centers surveyed engaged in proactive customer service, and a mere 11% actively cross-selling or up-selling to existing customers. Feeding into this state of affairs is a clear “technology gap” in contact centers, with 45% using only basic (or preview) dialers and 55% using predictive and progressive dialers, better suited for legislative compliance and for sensitive “CRM calls.”
More...
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| Knowledge Management: 5 Big Companies That Got It Right
American companies will spend $73 billion on knowledge management software this year and spending on content, search, portal, and collaboration technologies is expected to increase 16% in 2008, according to a recently released report from AMR Research. Knowledge management systems, which facilitate the aggregation and dissemination of a company's collective intelligence, provide numerous benefits, including enabling innovation and improving process efficiency. But successfully implementing these systems can be a challenge. This article details companies that did things right.
Full Article...
Who Really Owns Customer Data?
Managers need to rethink their policies based on the changing environment. Basic company and contact data no longer represent a competitive advantage. Anyone can have a "Big Gun" Rolodex in his or her holster. The Web 2.0 sales and marketing herd can easily access this data now. The market is moving toward the concept of "co-ownership."
Full Article...
CRM Meets Content Management
For the past 10 years or so, CRM and content management (CM) have traveled along parallel paths inside the enterprise. While they have a lot in common — both are, after all, databases for collecting and organizing crucial enterprise information — CRM collects structured data about customers and sales, while CM, for the most part, organizes unstructured documents. Even though the two systems have a great deal in common, they have rarely interacted unless someone built a communication bridge specifically designed for the task. Yet it seems counterproductive for CRM and CM to remain database islands when they have so much information to share with one another to help users make meaningful connections among different content types.
Full Article...
Turn Self-Service Inside Out to Cultivate Customer Relationships
In this evolving world of the Web (and of Web 2.0), companies have the potential to increase customer loyalty, boost sales volumes, diminish risks, lessen order errors, and reduce administrative overhead. But to harness the power of the Net in order to attain competitive advantages, companies must focus on e-business -- the key areas of their business that are digitally accessible to customers. What separates the winners from the losers in e-business is theoretically simple -- but difficult to achieve without a game plan. Companies that are succeeding in e-business today have learned to cultivate and extend their relationships with customers who demand quick and easy access to the right products and services, at the right time, in the right place -- all while receiving personalized interactions and direct access to their accounts.
Full Article...
Customer Intelligence: Would the Best Data Please Stand Up?
If you ask a marketer or a salesperson what is the difference between a bad campaign and a good campaign, they will tell you it is all in the list. It seems that marketers have been buying lists for generations. Through a never-ending supply of list brokers and service bureaus, you can buy names for virtually every household in the country. And to varying degrees, you can buy demographics and other information about people, such as their ethnicity, if they enjoy science magazines or if they are cost-conscious. But is this a commodity service or still something of value?
Full Article...
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|  Master Data Management and Customer Data Integration for a Global Enterprise
by Alex Berson and Larry Dubov
Gain a complete and timely understanding of your customers using MDM-CDI and the real-world information contained in this comprehensive volume. Master Data Management and Customer Data Integration for a Global Enterprise explains how to grow revenue, reduce administrative costs, and improve client retention by adopting a customer-focused business framework. Learn to build and use customer hubs and associated technologies, secure and protect confidential corporate and customer information, provide personalized services, and set up an effective data governance team.
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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