We Blog CRM

Research firms Forrester and Gartner agree, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is ahead of the pack in customer relationship management for medium to large sized businesses. Although recent reports have shown that Salesforce CRM is a cult favorite among SMBs, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has won the popularity contest amongst the bigger enterprises. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is praised for its ability to seamlessly integrate with other Microsoft products; Dynamics CRM is also structured to allow users to create customized solutions with the xRM framework.

Forrester’s report investigated 15 of the leading CRM systems including Dynamics competitors Salesforce.com, Oracle Siebel and SAP. The research agency conducted their CRM evaluation based on operations, sales execution, cost, customer satisfaction, deployment options, business model, and innovation. To further reinforce Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s leading position in the CRM world, Gartner produced a report naming Dynamics as the best option for large enterprises as well.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a leader in the CRM industry that is helping customers seize new opportunities and grow their businesses,” says New Zealand Dynamics Manager, Stewart Gibbs. “We deliver innovation and value to companies in New Zealand around the world by focusing on end-user productivity, business process flexibility and agility, and the ability of our customers to leverage cloud deployment models.”

What makes Microsoft Dynamics CRM so wonderful? The CRM suite is comprised of a comprehensive set of tools and capabilities that allow users to optimize their business relationships throughout the sales pipeline. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is also fully customizable and scalable, making itself a perfect fit for businesses of any size.

“Our customers have reported a number of benefits from Dynamics CRM, such as having the ability to identify and retain their most profitable customers, and being able to better target and manage their growing customer and sales disciplines around sales, service and marketing, while benefiting from a custom line of business applications built on the CRM platform,” explains Stewart.

With all the functions and features Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers its users, it comes as no surprise that both Gartner and Forrester have recognized the software as the one to beat.

“CRM is one of the fastest growing areas of our business. Customers are really starting to see how a CRM solution, both in its pure form but also in a tailored form, can help their businesses manage relationships of all types. The diverse application of Dynamics CRM is exciting to see- from organizations using the application to manage typical customer sales relationships through to managing training programs for apprentices, and even managing the heritage and location of guide dogs. Things have certainly matured since the days of failed large scale CRM implementations. Now customers are seeing fast ROI and benefits realization from a more agile platform. It’s great to see what can be achieved,” says Simon Bright a Dynamics customer and COO at Intergen.

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.

Yesterday, Sage India announced that Reuters Market Light (RML) deployed a Sage CRM and a Sage ERP solution to automate business processes. RML, a commodity pricing information provider in India, needed help with voucher management, complaint management, customer interaction and financial operations. Sage Software, a business management software provider, was able to help RML successfully implement a 100 user pack of Sage CRM and a 5 user pack of Sage Accpac ERP.

Before Sage’s software, RML was using a discrete system that was neither efficient nor easy to use. Now, with Sage, vouchers are quickly generated and dispatched to distributors. Customer information is automatically reflected in the customer relationship management (CRM) system. RML employees can see all relevant customer information, such as escalation history, calls received, interactions and support cases. This enhances customer satisfaction because the RML employees are more knowledgeable about the customers and their needs.

The Sage CRM system is also instantly synchronized with the profile management system, which then automatically activates an SMS service on the customers’ mobile phones. There is also a case management feature in Sage CRM. This tracks all complaints and issues to ensure that each one is assigned, managed and closed.

RML’s Vice President of Operations, Ranjeet Pawar, commented on RML’s decision to implement Sage’s CRM and ERP software. He said, “Today over 200,000 farmers rely on our service to get information which is critical to the way they work therefore it was important for us to automate critical processes which could ensure the information reaches the farmer at the right time and grievances are seamlessly addressed. We were looking for an integrated solution which could give us a single platform for serve our customers.”

Sage India is also excited to be working with RML. The Managing Director at Sage India, Thomas Abraham, said, “We are pleased to partner with Reuters Market Light in their initiative to empower Indian farmers using state of the art technology to provide timely information that enhances overall farmer productivity.”

RML’s business processes were automated and became a lot easier with the Sage CRM and ERP software. Now, RML will be able to grow and increase customer satisfaction.

Everyone wants a piece of the iPad CRM pie and Alauras Software is no exception. Alauras has just unveiled the latest version of its iPad CRM software: Yellow Page CRM+. This move is meant to boost sales force automation capabilities and Alauras will be adding full online compatibility with the iPad. Althought Yellow Page CRM+ was initially focused on specific solutions for Yellow Page publishers, it now supports a variety of other print and online media.

On their seventh attempt (aka Version 7.0), the iPad Yellow Page CRM+ offers improved reporting and eContract automation, new customer service functionality and support for the iPad. Regular Version 7.0 will not see any price increase but its iPad CRM counterpart will be offered at a slight premium.

Why did they decide to move onto iPad pastures? Imagine the silent groan of prospects when they view yet another presentation on a clunky laptop. The iPad not only gives a wow factor but also allows the user to make use of the touch screen device to complete presentations, monitor customer service requests and execute contracts. Video presentations for clients can be managed and signatures can be done on the touch screen by using your fingertip or a Mac-based stylus with this convenient iPad CRM solution.

At the moment, there are two publishers participating in a closed test of the iPad CRM software. One company was quoted as saying “The Alauras iPad CRM offers the efficiency we need, and is proving it creates a speedy and extremely compelling sales experience.”

Alauras is striving for innovation for the yellow page industry with its leap into iPad CRM. With a flexible cross-platform publishing systems, we’re sure the industry will thank them.

Yesterday, Jacada Ltd., a provider of CRM and other customer service solutions, began its inaugural series “Customer Service 2.0: Access the Experts,” an online customer service blogging and training seminar program on Jacada.com.

Evidently, slapping “2.0” onto the end of everything is trendy nowadays.

The CRM education program provides, free of charge, a forum of current IT issues and developments in customer service. “Access the Experts” features online resources such as expert blogs, webinars, and articles led by experienced professionals from call center operations, CRM solutions, social media, and other customer service fields.

Richard Stern, senior vice president of marketing and products at Jacada, hopes that through this project, businesses will be able to understand the cutting edge of CRM.

“’Access The Experts’ is an opportunity to move beyond the hype and bring some of the most respected experts in the industry together for a thoughtful discussion,” he says. “By leveraging our website, blog, Twitter feed and a series of online webinars, we’re opening up a dialogue that will be educational and thought-provoking for our customers and the industry-at-large.”

As listed on their website, expert analysts for the educational series will include:

Penny Reynolds is the Founding Partner of The Call Center School, a Nashville, Tennessee-based consulting and education firm, where she develops and teaches courses on a wide variety of call center topics and speaks at many industry conferences and association meetings. She has spent over 20 years in the call center and telecommunications industry and is the author of several call center management books.

Bruce Temkin is the Managing Partner of the Temkin Group, a customer experience research and consulting firm helping large organizations improve business results by changing how they deal with customers. During his 12 years with Forrester Research, Bruce led the company’s B2B, financial services, and customer experience practices. As a Vice President & Principal Analyst, he was the most-read analyst for 13 consecutive quarters and was one of the most highly demanded consultants and speakers in the industry. He is the author of the popular Customer Experience Matters blog, a noted speaker and a frequent advisor to Fortune 500 firms.

Esteban Kolsky is the Principal and Founder of ThinkJar, an advisory and research think-tank focused on customer experience, CRM and feedback management. He has over 22 years of experience in customer service and CRM consulting, research, and advisory services. At Gartner, he focused on Customer Service and CRM research. While there he coined the terms for EFM (enterprise feedback management) and CIH (customer interaction hub). In addition, he wrote on the social networking topics that led to today’s revolution and assisted Fortune 500 and Global 2,000 organizations in all aspects of their CRM deployments.

Brent Leary is a CRM industry analyst, advisor, author, speaker and award winning blogger. He is co-founder and Partner of CRM Essentials LLC, an Atlanta based CRM advisory firm covering tools and strategies for improving business relationships. Recognized by InsideCRM as one of the 25 most influential industry leaders, Leary also is a past recipient of CRM Magazine’s Most Influential Leader Award. He serves on the national board of the CRM Association, and on the advisory board of the University of Toronto’s newly created CRM Center of Excellence. He’s been quoted in several national business publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Entrepreneur magazine. He writes the Social CRM column for Inc.com’s technology site, and serves as Blogger-in-Residence for TheSocialCustomer.com.

Additionally, Jacada executives and consultants will toss in their two cents with company research and case studies.

The CRM discussions will continue on until the end of October. More information can be found at their website at www.jacada.com.

Salesforce.com has moved beyond providing customer relationship management software as a service and wants to be simply the provider of enterprise software as a service. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, recently posted an image of two mockups for Salesforce.com ads and asked for feedback. For the first time, it is a refreshing change to see a billion-dollar software company reach out to the community like this – but beyond social media this shows how Salesforce.com is moving from being a customer relationship management focused player, to being a true multi-disciplined technology company. The question asked by Benioff offers a real insight into where Salesforce.com is.

Clearly it is seen as the quintessential SaaS company — but out of necessity for continued growth, it has moved beyond this — Chatter, the AppExchange, Force.com, VMforce are all examples of Salesforce.com wanting to be much more than a simple (or even complex) sales tool. Initially Force.com created a programming platform to allow Salesforce.com customers to significantly broaden the functionality of their applications while the AppExchange created a marketplace for developers to sell those applications. More recently Chatter has sought to broaden the impact of Salesforce.com by creating a social feature set while VMforce moves decidedly down the stack in an effort to offer a platform as a service.

Which is why the simple question posted on Facebook is pretty telling — the cutlines under the ads tell of two fundamentally different propositions –- one limited and focused on sales, the other offering a broader enterprise toolset. I expect the messaging from inside Salesforce.com to becomes less sales-centric going forward as the product and the target market becomes broader.

This is more than just Salesforce.com grappling with its market perception however. Others in enterprise software consider it a threat as well. For example, Microsoft’s patent infringement lawsuit and IBM’s product related reactions to Salesforce’s move to the cloud give an indication of just how seriously the rest of the industry regards the company. While it was a CRM company only, the threat vector was only directed in one specific area, but its moves of late to become a player at every level of the stack has made the industry sit up and take notice.

Coca Cola Enterprises, the largest distributor of Coca-Cola in the world deploys SugarCRM to combine e-commerce, CRM and logistics into one streamlined package.

Coca-Cola Enterprise required a cost-effective software solution that could be customized to fit as part of a larger e-commerce and logistics platform. They needed a CRM solution to give sales managers and distributors greater visibility into sales and distribution channels to identify new opportunities and potential sales.

The main goal was to get a global solution that combined e-commerce, CRM, and logistics into one package that everybody could standardize on. With SugarCRM and Synolia, they were able to accomplish that and more.

Synolia customized and deployed Sugar Professional On-Demand to 40 users in three months for the Coca Cola Enterprise. Coca Cola Enterprise now has an integrated on-demand CRM solution with its e-commerce engine and logistics platform.

With the convenient data accessibility, sales managers and distributors now have real-time access to reports for different markets and customer bases via Sugar Professional’s report engine. Additionally, Sugar Professional has given Coca-Cola the ability to drive and optimize new distribution channels and has lead to increased orders and reorders.

The collaboration was one sweet deal.

Social CRM is a way of bringing companies back to a customer’s level. The ease of online social networking brings individuals together while isolating businesses that are not up to date. Social CRM is a tool to regain control and a voice in the conversation.

Modern social CRM is a new development in that it involves contemporary media and networking. Past CRM has been about restructuring data for efficient customer relations. That isn’t enough in the contemporary business world.

Confusion over social CRM’s value and definition is expected as it is an expansion into a new social space. That does not mean it is to be neglected. Using social CRM is a necessity. Companies well-versed in social CRM are able to connect to their consumers sooner and more closely.

As it is, social CRM can be broken down into three components, as defined by social CRM consultant Esteban Kolsky. Social media is short-term changes. Social CRM is making strategic, long-term goals. Social business is the long-term process of company reorganization to improve customer relations.

Access starts with CRM software. The spike in social media monitoring tools demonstrates its necessity. CRM  allows for efficient management of stored customer data. Beyond this application, it brings connectivity to cloud computing, the social network around the customers. This brings critical information customized for each client that would not come up otherwise or would be presented inefficiently from various collections of spreadsheets. As a SaaS (software as a service), CRM saves time from within the cloud.

This is a benefit on the customer’s end as well. Through efficient business portals, customers are allowed 24/7 access to product services and information. They can also post their own ideas, comments, and votes in a forum similar to the online social networking scene.

Companies that begin today with social CRM will be better off in the future in the ever-expanding market of social networking.

On May 20th, RightNow Technologies announced the release of RightNow Mobile, a new on-the-go way for companies to engage with consumers via any mobile device. RightNow Mobile allows customers to receive interactive support through smartphones, tablets, GPS systems, and game consoles using three different techniques: web self-service, web chat, and guided assistance.

Web self-service allows consumers to search for answers for any inquiry, review related answers, and send emails from their mobile device while web chat provides live assistance, in which the consumer engages with an agent over a simple, easy to navigate chat interface. Guided assistance differs in that the consumer is provided a series of question branches which helps solve problems in a more question and answer format.

There is a pressing need for companies to go mobile which is addressed in this new product offering for the mobile experience. Current users of the new RightNow Mobile include Aircell, Ovum, CBS Interactive, Match.com, and MySpace. Michele Watson, VP of Global Customer Care at Match.com, noted that, as Match.com reaches its 15th anniversary, customers are seeking additional methods to interact with singles.

RightNow provides a solution that helps highly engaged mobile customers get support directly from their device to enhance their experience. This is critical since mobile devices are one of the fastest growing channels and Match.com has developed mobile applications for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Palm Pre/Pixi smartphones. With more than 20,000 singles registering on Match.com every day, delivering an exceptional customer experience no matter how a customer chooses to contact us is very important.

Daniel Hong, Lead Analyst for Customer Interactions at Ovum, predicts smartphones to be the next frontier in customer service interaction. Hong attests that unlike other communications, RightNow Mobile is “up front and center” and envisions the smartphone as critical in customer service, whether in the medium of email, chat, text, or video. Inbound call volume for call centers is only increasing, and RightNow estimates that the majority of incoming calls will be from smartphones; RightNow predicts three in five cell phones will be smartphones by 2014.

Hong asserts that customers are much more connected than they used to be, which ultimately means there is a lot more transactions with customers. Although RightNow Mobile seeks to broaden customer communication, Hong maintains that the same level of customer service must be maintained in all communication routes for RightNow Mobile to be effective.

A demographic for RightNow Mobile has yet to be determined as Hong says mobile strategies will differ per company. But the objective will be to bring awareness to the mobile customer experience.