We Blog CRM

Must be a case of opposites attracting … upper-capped LEIFHEIT, a manufacturer of non-electrical household appliances, bathroom accessories and textiles, a business intelligence platform humbly bedecked arcplan. arcplan Enterprise will underpin LEIFHEIT decision support and sales analysis via CIM-OLAP, an arcplan Enterprise-based analytical application developed by the German arcplan partner Antares Informations-Systeme GmbH.

The complete management information system implement represents a changeover from the LEIFHEIT’s German field sales staff use of a CRM system for sales and revenue analysis. The combination of central repository and local databases on each salesperson’s laptop was found slightly inefficient in the long-term planning sphere; the LEIFHEIT brain trust ultimately selected the OLAP module of the Corporate Information Mall solution developed by Antares. LEIFHEIT’s MIS is based on arcplan Enterprise and includes OLAP technology and predefined data models and input forms for analyses and reports.

The data are updated automatically on a daily basis and centrally stored in a SQL Server database. LEIFHEIT AG supplies non-electrical household appliances, bathroom accessories and textiles in Europe under brand names such as Dr. Oetker Bakeware, Kleine Wolke, LEIFHEIT, Meusch, Soehnle, spirella, and Dr. Oetker Bakeware.

Headquartered in Nassau, LEIFHEIT employs 1,600 and boasted turnover of €296 million (approximately US $381.5 million) in 2005. Founded in 1993, arcplan is a provider of process-centric business intelligence software. Arcplan has headquarters in Dusseldorf, Germany and Philadelphia, Penna. Arcplan’s clientele of 2,500 customers and 300,000 users worldwide includes Bayer, DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank, Schering and Office Depot.

Aegis Group representatives today announced plans to acquire Netherlands-based digital and direct marketing agency Bookmark as part of the Isobar network. Bookmark, which was founded in 1997, is one of the Netherlands’ top digital agencies, and specializes in eCRM, interactive media and customer loyalty maintenance.

Bookmark claims assets of €1.4 million (approximately £950,000 / US $1.77 million) as of December 2005. Founded in 1997, Aegis began as a networking and infrastructure services company with an emphasis on Microsoft technologies.

In 2004, Aegis extended their services to include professional consulting focused on Microsoft’s Business Solutions. Aegis’s professional consulting services and products include Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and industry verticals utilizing Microsoft platforms and business solutions software.

Orange Business Services and Trading Solutions (née Etrali), a provider of unified communications solutions for the trading community, has announced the opening of their system for CTI, in the hopes of delivering a range of benefits including more efficient communication and enhanced CRM and STP.

Opening Orange Business Services Trading Solutions systems to integration with customers’ in-house and third-party applications is part of the firm’s greater core strategy, explained Orange head of global products Marie Anguera in the announcement. This openness facilitates Orange’s computer telephony integration, straight-through processing and integration with customer relationship management solutions.

“Customers are becoming more sophisticated and demanding, necessitating a joined-up, enterprise-wide approach to technology,” said Anguera. Much of the recent business development at Orange Business Services Trading Solutions is credit to the firm’s focused on delivering an open system integration environment, giving customers the choice of using proprietary tools for system supervision and accounting, or integrating them with in-house or third-party tools.

To assist, Orange also announced the release of a software development kit that seeks to allow exportation of raw data from the voice trading system in a format that third-party software can process.

New developments to Orange include automated interaction between Orange Business Systems Trading Solutions systems, Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes; integration with front-office and front-to-back office applications; the ability to import information from portfolio management, risk management and CRM systems; and newfound ability to provide a full overview of customer activity.

Everything really is bigger in Texas: It even says so in this press release. Proving it at the Richardson, Texas-based Texans Credit Union, said NCR representatives, was the financial institution’s recent order of twelve image-enabled automated teller machines from NCR Corporation. Adding this dozen will give Texans the most image-enabled ATMs in North Texas.

The recent TCU purchase included hardware, APTRA and ImageMark Passport software, professional services, an NCR ImageMark Passport consolidation server, and the “No Envelope” Deposit technology. This latter feature seeks to enable Texans Credit Union members to make ATM deposits without an envelope (What will they think of next…?), with an image-based receipt serving as proof of deposit.

Tom Conroy, area vice president for NCR’s financial solutions division Americas region claims that the new image-based receipt system is “not only the hottest banking technology in Texas, but it also is quickly becoming the hot new topic in banking circles nationwide.” Texans Credit Union is a Texas-based, member-owned, nonprofit financial cooperative with branches throughout North Texas, Austin and Houston.

Texans provides financial products and services to 156,000 members and has assets of US $1.7 billion. Yee haw! NCR Corporation is a leading global technology company providing Teradata data warehouses, ATMs, retail systems, self-service solutions and IT services. Based in Dayton, Ohio, NCR employs approximately 28,400 worldwide.

Fincentric Corporation announced today that FNB Southeast has selected Fincentric and inBusiness Services to deliver an integrated lead presentment and customer relationship management tracking system to its 17 retail branches and 120 frontline staff. Under terms of the contract, Fincentric’s Leadbuilder and inBusiness’ 360 View CRM solution will be deployed in the hopes of allowing qualified leads to be communicated instantly to FNB Southeast sales staff to maximize effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

inBusiness Services’ 360 View is a CRM solution designed especially for financial institutions and seeks to enable a complete view of customer relationships. The announcement marked Fincentric Corporation’s second move of note in recent days. Approximately two weeks ago, Fincentric and Interprise Solutions Inc. announced a joint marketing alliance to provide Canadian credit unions with electronic delivery and cheque-image statements through MemberDirect Services, an internet banking solution used by more than 300 Canadian credit unions. The Interprise DOXIM document management solution contains automated forms and document archiving, theoretically allowing credit union staff to auto-populate forms with extant or new data, and view, print, send and archive documents through a browser-based DOXIM document management solution.

Fincentric Wealthview Banking is a customer-centric, core retail banking system. Interprise DOXIM helps automate business processes through a secure web framework, enabling rules-based archival, retrieval and e-delivery of business- and member-critical documents. Headquartered in Markham Ontario, the company sells its solutions throughout North America. Fincentric Corporation is a leading provider of core retail banking and customer value management software to the global financial services industry. Fincentric’s Wealthview family of integrated products seeks to enable financial institutions to leverage customer knowledge to deliver personalized service and product offers. Fincentric has strategic alliances with TELUS, Microsoft and Intel, and today supports financial institutions in over 20 countries.

Convergent billing specialist Cerillion Technologies yesterday announced the successful implementation of the Cerillion CRM and billing solution for Bulldog Communications Ltd. Bulldog, a subsidiary of Cable and Wireless, had Cerillion Revenue Manager, CRM Plus, Mediator and Information Manager products implemented, in hopes of supporting VoIP and metered broadband services business.

Migration of the extant customer base to the new system was also performed. Cerillion Technologies provides CRM, billing, interconnect and mediation solutions to fixed, mobile, IP and convergent telecom operators. Established in 1999, Cerillion Technologies bills itself as “one of the fastest-growing business support systems vendors in the industry.” The Cerillion system is a bundled component solution suite supporting deployment models of pre-integrated business support systems, mixed deployment or a pure solution.

Aquarium operator Deep Sea Leisure announced new customer relationship management software to improve sales intelligence and boost attendance. Chosen for the project was hospitality point-of-sale and head office software Venpos from VcsTimeless, who implemented the system overnight to ensure zero down time. Tills were also installed with chip-and-PIN. Designed specifically for the firm, the system seeks to manage sales histories and contact details to assist in planning targeted promotions. “We operate in a largely cash orientated business,” said Deep Sea finance director Sue Elaiho, an unusual situation these days and difficult to deal with in times of expansion.

Also, because all the new systems are touchscreen, said Elaiho, “lengthy training is no longer necessary, which is important in an industry with a very high turnover of seasonal staff.” The installation follows the recent replacement of the aquarium’s outdated Epos systems. Deep Sea Leisure operates Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire, U.K. and Deep Sea World in Fife, Scotland and attracts about 700,000 visitors a year.

It’s good to be named Hanks these days. If you’re in the news and your first name is Tom, well, congratulations, you’re starring in the biggest American grosser of the year. If your first name is Harte, well, you’ve got lots to be proud of, too. Yesterday, marketing company Harte Hanks Inc. was able to announce its delivery of services to GNC Corporation, the largest specialty retailer of nutritional supplements.

GNC, meanwhile, took the time to directly credit the Harte Hanks Allink database marketing solution for some on their recent increased store traffic and sales. And o boy, were there a lot of sales. GNC’s net income in the first quarter of 2006 increased by more than 300%. In working with Harte Hanks CRM solutions, the GNC has sought to segment customers effectively and efficiently, associate offers with target segments, and carefully plan and measure its dialogue-driven multichannel campaigns. Due to this recent success and presented alongside the announcement came the news that GNC would be engaging Harte Hanks in future to develop a customer segmentation strategy and to provide ongoing campaign management and reporting.

GNC’s “weighty” goal (Clever press material here, eh?) for its 5,800 retail locations is to move from SKU-focused marketing to segmented consumer-centric marketing. The Pittsburg, Pa.-based GNC is the world’s largest specialty retailer of nutritional supplements. GNC has more than 5,000 retail locations in the United States and 46 other countries. Last week, Harte Hanks announced its acquisition of Böblingen, Germany-based StepDot Software GmbH. StepDot had been a value-added reseller specializing in data quality and integration solutions for Harte Hanks since 2002.

Plans for StepDot include its integration into Trillium Software operations, and its doing business as Harte Hanks Trillium Software Germany GmbH. Financial terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed. As a result of the acquisition, Klaus Webersinke, chief executive officer of StepDot, was named vice president of Central Europe for Harte Hanks Trillium Software. With the acquisition, Harte Hanks seeks to continue the goal stated by Harte Hanks president / chief executive officer Richard Hochhauser: “expanding our company’s presence globally.”

StepDot’s client catalogue features corporations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, representing sectors including those of financial services, automotive and pharmaceuticals. “Acquiring StepDot provides Harte Hanks a more strategic presence in Central Europe and in Germany, its largest and most dynamic economy,” Harte Hanks corporate officer / senior vice president Gary Skidmore said of the deal. The day before the StepDot deals was a joint announcement between application and data integration technology producer Sunopsis and Harte Hanks’ Trillian Software. Under terms of the agreement, Sunopsis will integrate and resell Harte-Hanks Trillium Software’s data quality solution TS Quality, as part of the Sunopsis Data Conductor and Sunopsis Active Integration platforms.

Integration work between the two companies is reportedly nearly complete and general release is scheduled for July 2006. TS Quality also will be available as an upgrade for existing Sunopsis customers. Organizations already using Harte-Hanks Trillium Software products can acquire the Sunopsis Open Connector for TS Quality in order to use the products in simulation of an integrated fashion. TS Quality is designed to support data quality requirements within applications across an entire enterprise and to provide users with a trusted foundation on which to build a long-term strategy for data quality.

Sunopsis has headquarters in France, the United States, and Singapore, and boasts more than five hundred customers worldwide. The firm produces data integration and application integration products in seeking to assist organizations in efficiently managing and sharing data from disparate sources. San Antonio, Texas-based Harte Hanks, Inc. is an international marketing company that provides direct marketing services and shopper advertising opportunities to marketers.

Harte Hanks Shoppers is North America’s largest owner, operator and distributor of shopper publications, with 1,000 separate editions with circulation in excess of 12 million weekly in California and Florida. Harte Hanks Trillium Software seeks to enable organizations to achieve “Total Data Quality” by providing technologies and services featuring global data profiling, data cleansing, enhancement, and data linking for e-business, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, data warehouse, and other enterprise applications.

CoreTrac, provider of CRM / sales force automation solution ResourceOne, today announced that Grand Rapids, Mich.-based United Bank of Michigan has chosen ResourceOne to manage contacts and pipelines and recommend cross-sells. Under terms of the contract, ResourceOne will consolidate all customer information and accounts including integrating insurance and brokerage systems to one view.

ResourceOne promises to provide a more efficient way to track leads and referrals, manage pipelines and contacts, and will create custom marketing campaigns. United Bank of Michigan senior vice president Lisa Wenzel stated expectations with “We expect ResourceOne to help our organization excel by gaining greater market share and fulfilling the financial demands of our customers.”

Meanwhile, Coretrac sales and marketing vice president Alan Buhler virtually guaranteed results: “CoreTrac’s ResourceOne will provide United Bank of Michigan the capability to more easily adapt to customer expectations in the community banking industry…” United Bank of Michigan today claims assets of almost $450 million, and is a leading small business lender in the American Midwest. Austin, Texas-headquartered CoreTrac, Inc. is dedicated exclusively to providing the CRM / SFA solution ResourceOne to community financial institutions.

Talk about your money machines. NCR Corporation representatives were as pleased as a salmon with two roe sacs to announce that Russian Standard Bank has placed an order for 1,100 NCR Intelligent Deposit Personas automated teller machines, 150 cash-dispensing ATMs, APTRA Advance NDC software, maintenance services and installation services. The bank is the single largest private lending bank in Russia with a forty percent share of the retail loan market. NCR press material stated that, for Russian Standard, the advantage of Intelligent Deposit Personas ATM is the possibility of allowing customers to make monthly loan repayments in cash at an ATM; as in many Eastern European countries, cash is by far the most common method of repaying loans in Russia.

“While the Russian consumer lending market is still in the early stages of development, this is a highly innovative application for our deposit technology,” said Ruth Fornell, vice president for NCR’s Financial Solutions Division in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. And certainly the NCR braintrust sees many more rubles, euros and dollars in their Russian future, thanks to comments by Russian Standard Back senior vice president and marketing director George V. Gorshkov: “NCR … is the only ATM supplier with the service infrastructure to provide maintenance and staff training across the whole of Russia.” And Russia is a big country.

Russian Standard has already successfully installed NCR Intelligent Deposit ATMs in Moscow and other major cities, and the current purchase represents plans to roll out the network to 120 smaller towns and cities.