We Blog CRM

Cloud computing giant, Salesforce.com, has been recognized as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for sales force automation. Gartner, the research firm, explains: “Leaders demonstrate a market-defining vision of how technology can help the top sales executives achieve business objectives. Leaders have the ability to execute against that vision through products, services and demonstrated solid business results in the form of revenue and earnings. Leaders have significant successful customer deployments in North America, EMEA and Asia/Pacific in a wide variety of vertical industries with multiple proof points above 500 users.”

Salesforce has been the recipient of a slew of awards and accolades, according to Forrester and Gartner. Salesforce was recognized as the ‘CRM Site for Mid-Sized Organizations’ and ‘CRM Suite for Large Organizations’ in June of 2010. Salesforce was also dubbed ‘CRM Suite Customer Service Solution’ a month later.

Much to Benioff’s excitement, Salesforce also swept the competition at the 2010 CRM Market awards and took home the gold in ‘Enterprise Suite CRM’, ‘Midmarket Suite CRM’, and ‘Small-Business Suite CRM’.

Alex Dayton, EVP of CRM at Salesforce explains: “We believe salesforce.com’s Magic Quadrant position reflects our continued leadership in the industry. And as we continue to innovate, delivering additional functionality like Chatter to customers at no additional cost, we are driving even higher levels of customer success with the Sales Cloud.”

Cars.com is the most comprehensive destination for those looking to buy or sell a new or used car. Today, the site lists more than 1.8 million vehicles from 12,000 dealer customers, classified advertisers and private parties. That is a lot of inventory to keep.

It hasn’t always been easy for Cars.com to manage the highly dispersed workforce or learning how to efficiently process hundreds of thousands of transactions each year while still managing to gracefully revamp existing business processes to accommodate differences between B2B and B2C interactions. So they decided to find a better way to manage it all – with a cloud (of course) CRM solution.

Cars.com deployed Salesforce CRM Enterprise Edition and Salesforce CRM Service to more than 180 employees across the U.S and took about three months to complete with the assistance of Model Metrics – a CRM consulting firm and salesforce.com partner specializing in on-demand solutions. A painless implementation was one of the big bonuses for this big move.

Since implementing Salesforce CRM Service, Cars.com has changed the way it does business. The company is more efficient, with agent productivity climbing and shaving off case-handling time by 3.5 minutes per request. Additionally, they’re getting more bang for the buck since their peak agent capacity has jumped dramatically.

Thanks to their newfound team effectiveness in recent months, Cars.com has also been able to enjoy a new level of flexibility in its case management processes. With Salesforce CRM Service allows all case details to be captured and stored in a consistent way – hurray for standardization!

Cars.com is looking forward to evaluating additional ways to use CRM software to automate their growing business to simplify call handling and improve responsiveness to customer requests.

In the past month, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has been noted as an industry leader by two independent analyst consultancies. Forrester Research named Microsoft Dynamics CRM a Leader in the Forrester Wave CRM Suites Customer Service Solutions for the third quarter of 2010, while Gartner named Dynamics a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation, July 2010 report.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM was also acknowledged as an industry leader in June as part of the Forrester Wave CRM Suites for Midsized Organizations, The Forrester Wave CRM Suites for Large Organizations, and the Gartner 2010 Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers.

Gartner’s patented Magic Quadrant rates companies on the basis of two criteria: completeness of vision and ability to execute. Gartner says they weigh qualities such as product/service, overall viability, sales execution/pricing, customer experience and operations, product strategy, business model, innovation, etc. Based on their magic conversion of company’s completeness of vision into centimeters (“I think they have this much ability to execute”), the company may fit in one of four quadrants defined as Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries, and Niche Players.

Figure 1. Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation

Courtesy of Gartner (July 2010)

Microsoft, along with Salesforce.com and Oracle products, ranked thusly as a Leader, excelling in both completeness of vision and ability to execute. However, Salesforce.com leads all the CRM products, Microsoft Dynamics included, as most vision completable and executabilitable.

Gartner noted Microsoft Dynamics CRM as strong in its integration with other Microsoft products, future cloud computing functionality, and large partner network for custom solutions. The analyst group cautioned against Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s lack of certain sales effectiveness and performance management functionalities, limited dashboards for reporting, cumbersome multi-window approach, and lack of mobile access without third parties.

Forrester Research selected vendors on four criteria: offers customer service solutions as part of a multifunctional CRM suite, provides functionality that spans multiple functional areas for customer service, has a strong presence in the customer service market, and has at least one product that our clients are thinking about.

As quoted from the report: “Microsoft gets high marks for flexible customer service solutions. Microsoft Dynamics CRM shines by offering customer service flexibility for large and midsized organizations. It supports flexible options in deployment (on-premises, on-demand and partner-hosted deployments); how to pay (license, subscribe, finance); and how to use (Outlook client, browser, SharePoint site, other interfaces). Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides strong support for: phone agents; call center infrastructure; agent collaboration tools; knowledge base; customer data management; analytics; email response management; architecture and platform; business process and workflow tools; integration; security; and Web 2.0 tools.”

But, as the report continues, things are not all perfectly peachy for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, as Microsoft press releases would have you believe: “However, Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides weak support for: self-service tools; self-service to live-service transition; customer forums; core field service capabilities; spare parts management; and depot repair. It does not provide industry-specific solution sets. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is best suited for organizations that are looking to buy a relatively full-featured customer service solution and that have made a commitment to a Microsoft infrastructure to lower their TCO in buying and managing business technologies.”

Courtesy of Forrester Research (July 2010)

Indeed, as shown above, Microsoft CRM is foiled once again by Salesforce; Microsoft strategy is just this much too weak.

Perhaps food for thought as Microsoft Dynamics CRM will soon finally be updated from its 2007 version to CRM 2011.

Now, as customer relationship management (CRM) vendors are making their products more affordable and usable, even for the smallest companies, every company should have a CRM system. Almost all companies already do and they might not even know it! Any way of tracking customers, whether it is simply recording their email addresses or names, is technically a form of a customer relationship management system. It makes a big difference to take a CRM system from a simple spreadsheet to a complex managing system.

A CRM system is useful for many reasons. It helps companies keep track of shopping trends, maintain positive relationships with their customer base and track support issues. Also, sales personnel can send deals or sales information by email to customers to draw them back to their store. Knowing what type of customers a company has is also important because it can help vendors close sales in the future.

Keeping the system continuously updated is key. Also, taking the CRM system from the manual to the managed stage is key. Taking the customer information to the managed level involves analyzing the information users have to bring the sales process to the next level. It also involves investing more, automating business processes, measuring data closely and consistently interacting with customers.

There are two types of CRM systems- upstart CRM and cloud based CRM. Upstart CRM, such as BatchBlue, is ideal for growing businesses, although it does not scale as easily. Cloud based systems, including Zoho or Salesforce.com, are better for larger companies. SugarCRM is another cloud based option which offers an on-demand CRM system.

Choosing and using a CRM system is very important for companies who want to maximize their number of customers. Take your company’s simple spreadsheet to another level and start using a more complex customer relationship management system to get the most out of your customers.

In recent years, businesses have been seeking out ways to reach out to their customers and build relationships with them. Several companies, including Salesforce.com and Zoho, have been developing customer relationship management (CRM) applications so that companies can connect to their customers in a productive manner. Google’s App Marketplace offers a wide range of CRM applications and recently called attention to the top installed apps on its Enterprise Blog.

Businesses have different needs and different ways they want to approach their customers, so Google broke up the CRM applications into three different categories- CRM, Social CRM, and Project-Based CRM.

Their CRM app list include apps that focus on selling and serving customers. The list includes Zoho CRM, an app to manage leads and contacts, Applane CRM, one that manages the sales cycle, and Capsule CRM, a way to keep track of customers and follow-ups. The CRM list also includes TimetoNote, a way to collaborate and share contacts, and Tactile CRM, a way to track the companies you do business with and how to grasp opportunities.

The Social CRM list included those apps that focused on collaborative customer conversations via social network sites, like Facebook. The list includes Batchbook, an app that monitors social network leads, Bantam Live, which has a social workspace for collaboration, and Gist, which provides a full view of your contacts. The list also has Rapportive, which searches the social web for leads, and Etacts, which manages leads and contacts.

The project-based CRM list is for apps that focus on project collaboration pre and post sale. Insightly is a proposal and project management application on the list. Also on the list are Solve 360 CRM, which manages client projects for small teams, and Smartsheet pipeline, which has sales and service templates.

Evaluate the apps further with the detailed overview on Google’s Enterprise Blog. They can be very useful for managing and connecting with prospective or current customers. Improve sales and customer satisfaction with CRM applications. Google’s marketplace is continuously updated and adding new CRM applications, so check back frequently to see if there are any that are right for your company.

Bank of America today announced that Merrill Lynch has received a CRM Excellence Award from Gartner and 1to1 Media for its enterprise-wide use of customer relationship solutions and superior client satisfaction. Well, that has to be an improvement; I can recall some very dissatisfied Merrill Lynch customers from a short while ago.

“Our business revolves around the quality and consistency of client experiences, be they online, in banking centers, through ATMs or mobile banking, or via call centers, email or direct mail,” said Dean Athanasia, head of Bank of America Global Wealth & Investment Management Banking and Merrill Edge. “We’ve gone beyond traditional customer relationship management strategies to deliver added value at each and every touch point, creating a more personalized experience for our clients.”

Last month, Merrill Lynch introduced Merrill Edge, which provides clients with an integrated view of their bank accounts and Merrill Lynch financial advice. Customers can make investment choices on their own through a self-service portal, or they can receive financial advice from the Merrill Edge Advisory Center, which is a call center of investment advisors.

Additionally, Merrill Lynch made improvements to its Merrill Lynch Retirement Contact Center, through which it has provided more information and accessibility to retirees for their financial needs.

Gartner and 1to1 stated that they gave the CRM Excellence Award to Merrill Lynch for these measures, as well as for general advancements in customer communication management and analysis. Companies were judged by a panel of judges that included Gartner analysts, 1to1 Media staff, and other experts from business and academia. This has been the third year of CRM Excellence Award.

Salesforce.com is proud to produce another happy customer. Pro-Bel Enterprises, a provider of suspended access and fail protection equipment, successfully used Force.com to build customized business applications that simplify project lifecycle building, increase productivity, and reduce project turnaround times. Pro-Bel representatives say that the cloud computing platform, as opposed to on-premise application development, has enabled the company to cut costs and speed up the development process.

Pro-Bel had previously implemented Salesforce CRM to manage its customer relationships. Then, the company selected Salesforce.com’s application platform as they said it was the only platform quick enough for the business’s 3-4 week project turnaround times. The company also liked the fact that Force.com requires minimal IT infrastructure, among other benefits of the platform.

So today, Pro-Bel deployed a fully fledged cloud solution that covers engineering, project management, manufacturing, installation, and other functions for its global offices and departments.

“There is no comparison to the cost savings and time to market we’ve achieved with Force.com,” said Jason Fung, CIO at Pro-Bel. “We were able to build custom applications that can keep up with the nature of our business and deliver for our customers in weeks as opposed to months.”

Speaking of Salesforce.com customers, the cloud computing corporation has also recently signed a large sales deal with Facebook.com.

CRM consultancy Beagle Research Group recently delivered its inaugural 2010 ThinkForward Awards for laudable CRM software-producers. In particular, as Denis Pombriant, founder of Beagle Research says, the award recognizes software companies for three criteria: sustainability in business processes, cost containment, and building stronger customer relationships. The award name “ThinkForward” originated from Thomas Watson, Sr.’s “think” motto, and Apple’s “Think Different” advertising campaign.

In this set of inaugural awardees, three of the eight received all three distinctions:

Communispace is credit for pioneering a community-based approach that allows customers themselves to discuss, find solutions, and give the company feedback on consumer needs.

iCentera provides a sales solution that significantly cuts down on sales travel costs. The software also allows marketing and sales departments to work in conjunction to share the right information to the right clients.

Not unexpectedly, Salesforce.com makes its way onto this list as one of the best examples of CRM enterprise software development that benefits business users.

The other five CRM solution providers were recognized for two of the three qualities: business process sustainability and cost containment.

Brainshark offers multimedia and voice capabilities to better internal and external company communications at low costs.

Cloud9 Analytics provides accurate business analytics that allow businesses to make better investments and company judgments.

Kadient software complies sales data and provides analysis to show company sales trends.

Unisfair offers a virtual convention and events platform that allows companies to market, sell, recruit, and train without heavy organization or travel.

Zuora’s solution helps with provisioning and change management and reduces billing-related overhead costs.

Granted, Pombriant states that he is 100% sure that the consultancy did not identify every business IT solution company that provides business sustainability. “But what we were trying to do,” saya Pombriant, “is identify major categories of companies that were doing things in the three major areas that we see as important to sustainability.”

In his own opinion, Pombriant believes that such CRM solutions should focus on solving travel expenses by using mobile devices or other communication media that don’t require personal meetings. Additionally, as baby boomers retire and start spending less, businesses will have to work harder to understand consumer trends and to perhaps resort to social technologies.

Another important development, as Pombriant remarks, is that the once-rampant technology bubble is slowing down. Market spaces have been filled, and businesses will have to be more creative and customer-savvy to provide valued products. Businesses can’t simply cash in on the technology boom anymore, but instead need to learn about what the market demands.

Yesterday, Consona Corporation, a CRM business solutions provider, announced the general release of Consona Customer Management (CM) Version 7.0, formerly known as Onyx CRM.

The new CM version was designed based on client requests. The Consona CRM product is focused on reducing the system’s ownership cost and increasing productivity for all users.

“The economy is beginning to pick back up, but its impact on all of us has been deep,” says Tom Millay, general manager of Consona’s CRM products. “For one, we’ve all faced a stark reminder about the value of productivity during tough times and measuring returns on investment. Our customers have echoed this sentiment in their enhancement requests and as a result, Version 7.0 is a serious release with serious returns, which range from reducing the infrastructure footprint, need for customizations, and proprietary skill-set required to support the application, to increasing the amount of the overall solution covered by maintenance and delivering features that are going to give anywhere from minutes to hours of productive time back to system users.”

Specific features of the CRM solution version 7.0 include: data search across multiple fields with the new Consona Navigator, improved interface, better forecasting and quoting functionality, a new Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)-based business intelligence integration and data model, latest Microsoft compatibility, support for a cloud option, and social CRM additions.

We’re very pleased to deliver this kind of return to our customers,” said Tim Hines, vice president of product management for Consona CRM. Consona has always been a proponent of customer-driven development, founded on the sole idea that the ‘next new thing’ is not always the most practical. And while this release sets our customers up for the future, via cloud-readiness and progress on our long-term architectural vision, it also remains packed full of the features our customers have been asking for – the ones that will help them work smarter and faster today.”

Earlier this week, Charles Schwab, as a provider of operational, custodial and trading support to more than 6,000 independent investment advisory firms, announced details on its Schwab Intelligent Integration, the integrated technology platform. Schwab is developing this platform, formerly known as project C, to help assimilate the different workflow systems used by the independent firms. The plan would hopefully improve CRM by giving a more streamlined system solution.

The central idea for Schwab Intelligent Integration is that it is built around the advisor’s CRM system, which gives the best overview of the advisor’s relationship with his clients. A CRM system focus allows for an open architecture, multi-custodial solution because the platform can then include data from third parties.

Schwab is carefully considering best integration strategies to match the needs of independent advisory firms. (One would indeed hope that a product named “Intelligent Integration” was not moronically crafted.) The company will be working closely with third party IT service providers that produce applications advisors require. Schwab will be looking for partners to be part of the platform, as well as feedback from the service providers. The company has set up a website through which advisory firms can vote for technology providers and learn more about the Intelligent Integration solution.

Schwab is attempting to provide both ease and customization for its CRM-centric platform. The company will offer both a modular and a turnkey design of Intelligent Integration, so firms can choose between making their own modifications or having an already packaged deal. Schwab OpenView Gateway, the modular solution, will allow for integration with leading third party and Schwab technologies for functions including CRM, portfolio management, and financial planning. Schwab OneView Office, the turnkey solution, is a packaged CRM application, the Schwab Advisor Services custody platform and portfolio management.

Says Neesha Hathi, vice president of technology solutions for Charles Schwab Advisor Services: “Schwab Intelligent Integration is designed to help advisors increase efficiency by enabling different systems to ‘talk’ with each other more effectively. Equally important will be our ability to share best practices on workflows, which will help firms reap the full benefits of the technology integration.

“Most advisors have at least four or five different technology solutions in their office, often requiring them to re-enter client data into several applications and to access multiple systems in order to answer a client’s question,” continues Hathi. “We believe that there are better ways for advisors and their staff to spend their time, and we want to help them get that time back.”