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Restoration
Hardware Utilizes iPhrase
IPhrase
Technologies, Inc., a provider of self-service search and navigation
software, has announced that its One Step natural language self-service
search and navigation platform is powering all of the product search
functions across Restoration Hardware's online retail site, www.restorationhardware.com.
iPhrase's One Step was chosen to make it easier for customers to
help themselves to Restoration Hardware's extensive selection of
merchandise through the most user-friendly, accurate and intuitive
search interface available, ultimately boosting online revenue.
Restoration Hardware is using iPhrase's One Step platform to enrich
its e-commerce Web site and provide a superior self-service user
experience. Restoration Hardware chose iPhrase for its ability to
offer an online shopping experience similar to shopping in one of
its retail stores by helping customers find the products that meet
their needs quickly and easily.
Siebel
Adds Support Module to OnDemand Suite
Siebel Systems Inc., a provider of multichannel business applications
software, has announced the addition of a customer support module
to Siebel CRM OnDemand-UpShot Edition. The launch of additional
features for tracking service and support interactions provides
users with a comprehensive, 360-degree view of the customer, beginning
with marketing and sales interactions and continuing through the
service and support cycle. In addition to established sales technology,
Siebel CRM OnDemand-UpShot Edition now offers functionality to support
customer requests, issue resolution, and other post-sales activities.
Available at no additional cost, the product enhancements enable
companies to manage all aspects of the customer life cycle. With
insight into post-sale customer service interactions and access
to comprehensive case management capabilities, users will be able
to measure customer satisfaction and identify opportunities for
additional revenue.
Artisoft
and Cynergy Partner for CRM Solution
Artisoft Inc. and Cynergy Software have announced the availability
of a cost-effective CRM solution. The integration of Artisoft's
PBX, TeleVantage 5.0, with Cynergy Software provides exceptional
desktop application usage for service desks, help desks, and remote
technicians. This strategic relationship, formed under Artisoft's
Open Communication Alliance, empowers both companies to promote
the solution to their respective channels. The joint solution enables
TeleVantage customers who are connected to Cynergy's web-based help
desk application to have screen pops for inbound customer service
calls, Integrated Voice Response (IVR) connectivity for call routing,
and outbound desktop dialing for customer service call backs and
CRM flexibility. In addition, Cynergy delivers web-based support
for the remote technician onsite, as well as a vehicle to track
issues and inform customers of up to date changes in the issue or
ticket.
ACCPAC Announces Major Upgrade to CRM App
ACCPAC International Inc., a subsidiary of Computer Associates International,
has announced the launch of a major upgrade to the company's CRM
application for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs), ACCPAC CRM
version 5.6. The new version includes major enhancements that improve
integration with other business management applications, make the
product even faster and easier to use, and provide greater freedom
of choice for businesses so they are not limited by the lock-in
strategies of other technology vendors. The many new features of
ACCPAC CRM 5.6 include: comprehensive integration with Microsoft
Outlook and IBM Lotus Notes; new support for the IBM DB2 database;
advanced customization capabilities; TAPI support for expanded CTI
options; and additional reports and enhanced reporting flexibility.
BCG
Introduces Customer Care Version 5.0
Boston Communications Group Inc., a provider of transaction processing
solutions for real-time wireless subscriber management, payment
services, billing and customer care, has announced the general availability
of bcgi Voyager version 5.0, its wireless billing and customer care
solution. Designed for the complex requirements of wireless carriers,
Voyager 5.0 streamlines billing and customer care, offers pre-integrated
data mediation services, delivers comprehensive reporting, and improves
inventory and retail operations to help wireless carriers maximize
their investments in next-generation networks. These capabilities
allow wireless carriers to enhance their voice and data offerings,
create new services, enter new market segments, and retain subscribers.
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Procurement
Outsourcing Poised to Double
Nearly half of companies in Europe and the United States are considering
outsourcing part of their procurement operations within three years,
more than double the 22 percent of respondents who said they currently
outsource aspects of procurement, according to a survey released
by Accenture.
Results
of the survey indicated that companies in France are most likely
to outsource their procurement in the near future, with 64 percent
of respondents there saying they would do so by 2006. Companies
in the United Kingdom and United States were the next most likely
to outsource procurement functions by 2006 (58 percent each), followed
by companies in Italy (42 percent). Thirty nine percent of all companies
from Germany, Austria and Switzerland said they anticipate outsourcing
procurement processes in the next three years.
Additionally,
non-strategic processes - such as application hosting and requisitioning-to-pay
- and indirect spend categories are the areas most often outsourced.
Referring to these activities, 43 percent of respondents said they
were attracted by the combined opportunities for cost reduction
and the ability to focus more time on the management of the categories
that they retained in-house. However, 22 percent of respondents
said they were prepared to consider outsourcing part of their direct
materials by 2006, compared to 9 percent that do so today.
Company
size - in terms of sales revenues - is the clearest indicator of
both present and anticipated use of procurement service providers.
Thirty-one percent of the largest companies surveyed said they presently
outsource some aspect of procurement, while another 36 percent said
they plan to do so in the future. Conversely, only 15 percent of
smaller companies said they outsource procurement functions today,
while another 34 percent said they intend to do so in the future.
More...
Email Perils Beyond Spam
Spam, which continues to grow and drain user productivity at an
average of $1,400.00 per user per year, remains top-of-mind but
is not the only enterprise messaging concern of IT professionals.
Osterman Research and BorderWare Technologies have released results
of a survey conducted about email security that identifies multiple
threats and the desire by 63% of IT professionals to reassess their
entire messaging defense infrastructure over the next 12 months.
Spam
is cited as a "serious" or "very serious" problem
among two-thirds of the respondents, with 64% of the study group
claiming to provide some kind of anti-spam defense. Surprisingly,
the survey identifies that in addition to spam, 49% of IT professionals
still regard viruses, Trojans and worms as "serious" or
"very serious", despite the fact that all respondents
(100%) indicated that they already deploy some kind of anti-virus
protection within the enterprise. In addition, with a mean of 25%
of employees accessing email from remote locations, more than one
third expressed concern about securing remote email access.
Spam
has accelerated the need to act, but the great majority of IT professionals
realize that point solutions to deal with spam alone, as has been
done with anti-virus defenses, is not a good long term solution.
According to the survey, 73% indicated they would prefer a more
comprehensive solution that can deal with all aspects of email security
rather than a standalone point solution.
More...
Men and Women Reveal Similarities in Holiday Spending
When it comes to holiday shopping, men and women are surprisingly
similar in their budgeting, spending and shopping strategies. According
to a nationwide survey conducted by The Mills Corp., about the same
percentage of men and women are:
- Early
savers: Two out of three men (66.7 percent) and women (65.2 percent)
say they start saving for holiday shopping in the fall (September
- November).
- Procrastinators:
While 28.5 percent of women say they procrastinate holiday shopping,
37.9 percent of men make the same claim.
- Budget-minded:
59.5 percent of men and 55.3 percent of women say they're able
to stay within their holiday budgets.
- Black
Friday shoppers: 46.1 percent of men and 42.5 percent of women
say they not only shop on Black Friday-the day after Thanksgiving
and the busiest shopping day of the year-but that it's a "tradition."
- Buyers
of gifts for pets: About four out of 10 men (39.5 percent) and
women (41.7 percent) say they buy holiday gifts for pets.
Of
course, holiday shopping strategies differ widely within the sexes.
Here's a sampling of the diversity of approaches women take toward
gift buying:
- The
procrastinator vs. the sales stalker: More than four out of every
10 women (42.1 percent) are sales stalkers, in search of bargains
at every turn, while about three out of 10 men (28.5 percent)
describe themselves as procrastinators.
- The
scrimper vs. the scrounger: Only 13.8 percent of women start to
save for their holiday shopping as early as the spring, while
a whopping 65.2 percent wait until as late as November to start
saving.
- The
trend giver vs. the bargain hound: More than a third of the women
(37.7 percent) say they shop for trendy items to give to loved
ones for the holidays, while 62.3 percent of women pass up the
trends and search out bargain gifts instead.
More...
Services Automation Apps to Hit $820M in 2008
Today's services automation apps market is intensely competitive,
peppered with failures, and under pressure to consolidate. In a
new report, "Sizing Services Automation Apps," Forrester
Research asserts that the global services automation app market
will grow from $470 million in 2003 to $820 million in 2008. Forrester
advises vendors to grab market share before market maturity hits
in 2008.
Services
automation applications improve the ability of an internal services
organization, such as the IT department, or an external services
organization to profitably manage projects and people, says Forrester.
The software comprises modules to manage resources and projects,
prioritize investments, and charge users.
Forrester
forecasts three phases of growth: rapid growth from 2003 to 2005;
slower growth from 2006; and market maturity in 2008. The number
of users will increase from 1.6 million in 2003 to more than 2 million
in 2004 -- a growth rate of 25 percent -- and will hit 2.5 million
in 2005. New license revenues will grow by 14 percent from $270
million in 2003 to $309 million in 2004, due to the anticipated
5 percent price attrition.
Professional
services organizations (PSOs) like Boston Consulting Group or McKinsey
& Company will be the dominant segment in this rapid growth
phase; their new license revenues will grow by 32 percent from $124
million in 2003 to $164 million in 2005. In the same period, initial
license revenues from captive services organizations (CSOs), such
as the services organization within large firms like BT or Cisco,
will grow by 22 percent. Revenues from internal IT departments will
grow by nearly 20 percent and from R&D organizations by 33 percent.
But in 2005, new license revenues from PSOs will still be more than
seven times the value of those from R&D.
More...
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E-Shoppers
Are Now E-Spenders
Eggnog
chugging and mistletoe kisses are among the few rewards for holiday
shoppers after weeks spent fighting punishing crowds and long lines.
But millions of consumers have found an alternative. Shopping online
is a way around the season's stressed-out, tantrum-throwing children
(and adults) and indifferent sales help. Compared to last year,
Internet retail sales this holiday season are expected to jump 21%,
to $16.8 billion, according to Jupiter Research, while overall retail
sales are forecast to rise closer to 5%.
That
discrepancy largely reflects the fact that it's easier to grow faster
from a much smaller base. Yet something deeper is at work. Online
shopping's lure isn't just dirt-cheap prices, flashy Web graphics,
or even free shipping. In a perverse way, the coolest, techie tricks
can hinder Internet retailing by clunking up and slowing down a
site. It seems that the virtual world's top retailers are succeeding
because they've learned the simple and time-honored tradition of
keeping their customers satisfied. The idea is straightforward -
at least in concept: Provide a good experience consistently, and
buyers will keep coming back.
Full
Article....
Complying with Change
The
ruling from the court of public opinion to call centers is: "You
have no right to bother us and leave us dangling. And if we do business
with you, your word isn't good enough. You have to prove it."
There are new federal regulations that restrict call abandonment
rates, ban caller ID blocking, and require inbound upselling agents
to ask consumers for their account IDs and to record those calls.
There may be a national Do-Not-Call (DNC) registry: with overwhelming
Congressional and public backing, the Bush Administration has been
working to tweak the laws creating and implementing it.
In
any case, marketers may switch to methods such as direct mail, direct
response and inserts in publications to prompt inbound calls, e-mails
and chat sessions. And with offshore labor costs so low, much of
those outbound American job losses will likely occur even without
the legislation. Barring a Supreme Court decision overturning federal
and state laws, call centers will have to find ways to comply with
them. This includes modifying predictive dialers or buying new ones,
beefing up or buying new call recording equipment, and changing
how agents sell through outbound and inbound, which could make phone
sales more effective.
Full
Article....
How to Play to Your Audience
When
it comes to web site look, feel and functionality, many companies
have let technology, development tools and hunches do the driving
rather than data about customers' needs. But with e-commerce maturing,
some B2C (and B2B) sites have become overloaded with information
leading to confused navigation, grandfathered dead ends and, ultimately,
frustrated end users. Worse, the site might be playing to the wrong
audience, especially if your business model has changed or your
audience has matured. If it's time to update your web site, "persona-based
design" can put customers-rather than servers, GIFs or programming
languages-at the center of discussions on designing user interfaces.
With
persona-based design, ethnographic researchers study the behavior
of current and potential customers by conducting interviews with
them and by observing not only their use of the website but their
daily routines. Based on these findings, research, design and development
teams draw up anywhere from two to five different character sketches-known
as personas-which represent basic types of customers.
Full
Article....
The Customer Peers Back
For
years, intelligent enterprises have had a window on their operations,
customers, and other stakeholders. They've used BI, CRM, data mining,
and other techniques to get this view. Now those who interact with
corporations are doing the same thing: gaining unprecedented access
to all sorts of information about corporate behavior, products,
and performance.
Armed
with new tools to find out, inform others, and even organize, stakeholders
now scrutinize the firm like never before. Every corporation is
becoming naked as various outsiders gain intelligence about it.
This reversal of fortune has profound implications: Enlightened
self-interest will lead companies to embrace transparency and become
open enterprises.
Full
Article....
How We Confuse Our Customers
It's
soft but audible. And it's kind of familiar. About four seconds
and one millisecond later, you hear doors being slammed. Excited,
shrill voices fill the air. The quiet of the afternoon is suddenly
punctuated with kids enthusiastically scanning the horizon in anticipation
of something. That something is the ice cream truck. Within bare
minutes, the ice cream man's customers line up on the sidewalk,
jostling for space and extremely eager to buy.
If
you could figure out what the ice cream man knows, your Web site
window shoppers would become instant evangelists. Your phone would
demand "overtime" as soon as your brochures hit a client's
desk. Your presentations would get your potential clients pumping
your hand so excitedly, you'd be afraid they'd fracture it. This
article discusses what most businesses tend to miss with their Web
sites.
Full
Article....
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 The
Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth
by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor
The
Innovator's Solutions analyzes the strategies that allow corporations
to successfully grow new businesses and outpace the other players
in the marketplace. Christensen's earlier book examined how focusing
on profits can destroy even well-run corporations, while this book
focuses on companies expanding by being "disruptors" who
are able to outpace their entrenched competition. The authors examine
the nine business decisions integral to growth, including product
development, organizational structure, financing and key customer
base. They cite such companies as IBM, AT&T, Sony, Microsoft
and others to illustrate their points. Similar important strategies
give readers insights that they can use in their own workplaces.
People looking for quick fixes may find the charts, diagrams and
extensive footnotes daunting, but readers familiar with more technical
business management tomes will find this one both stimulating and
beneficial.
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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with the capabilities in new CRM apps, you better convince your
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