Call Centers Invest in Magical Thinking

Companies place a high value on call center service, but as yet have not invested in the technology and training to support it, according to a new study.

by Jessica Sebor

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The how-can-I-help-you’s are largely falling short of the implied promise of the inquiry, according to a new report from the Aberdeen group. “Shoring Up the Front Lines of Product Service: The Call Center,” found that although 79 percent of companies believe that the call center plays a very or extremely important role in customer problem diagnosis or resolution, more than half (51 percent) are less than satisfied with their companies’ call centers’ abilities to deal with these problems. Only 12 percent reported that they were very or extremely satisfied with their call centers’ capabilities. The report indicates that providing back up, better staff training, and investing in appropriate call center technologies are key steps in answering this need for better service.

(more…)

Customers Are Sick of Service, Literally

Consumers can get ill over bad service experiences, but there is a silver lining: Most of them buy more from a company because of a good service experience.

(more…)

More Than A Third Of Telecom And Networking Budgets Are Spent On Mobility, According To Forrester Research

Tuesday, 07 November 2006

European firms now spend 32% of their telecom and networking budgets on mobility, according to Forrester Research. In its report “The State Of European Enterprise Mobility In 2006”, Forrester sets out how the opportunity for greater productivity, cost savings, and boosted employee morale has put mobility at the core of strategic agendas.

(more…)

Kate Leggett, Director of Product Management & Knowledge Management , KANA

My nieces, ranging in age from 10 to 22, continue to teach me about how we choose to communicate. I receive the periodic email from my oldest niece. The middle niece snubs email as too slow – she uses instant messaging to exchange homework answers and to organize her social life. I hardly ever catch my youngest without her mobile phone – not to call, but to SMS cryptic messages to her friends. And me, when I want something from each one of them, I do it the old fashioned way – I pick up the phone and call them.

(more…)

David Perona, Director of Product Management, Austin Logistics

When we drive up to stop signs, we stop. When the “buckle up” sign is on, we stay in our plane seat. When our car’s gas light comes on, we get gas. While we heed the warning signs in our daily lives, in business we often either don’t see the warning signs, we misinterpret them, or we don’t know how best to respond.

(more…)

New Adapter for ACT! in Newest Release of Scribe Insight

Monday, 06 November 2006

Scribe Software Corporation, a provider of data migration and integration software technology for leading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, today announced the release of Scribe Insight, version 6.0.8.

(more…)

Microsoft delivers powerful new user experience for better sales, marketing and service and introduces new licensing options for Microsoft CRM

Tuesday, 07 November 2006

At Convergence 2006 EMEA, Microsoft Corp. announced it will release a new version of Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM for the 2007 Microsoft® Office system and Windows Vista™ that enriches the user experience through enhanced productivity; data visualization; and communications, collaboration, and security features. Microsoft also announced that, in addition to being offered through Microsoft’s standard Volume Licensing program, Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be offered through the licensing model that is used with Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning (ERP) products, making it simpler and more convenient for customers and partners to buy and deploy a full Microsoft Dynamics suite solution that spans customer relationship management (CRM), financial management and supply chain management.

(more…)

This article is dead on right. I always believe that you can’t manage it if you can’t measure it…. Everyone talks about how great their CRM is, but is anyone doing anything with it? Read on to see how Customer Centricity, Inc. is using CRM. Written by their CEO and Founder, Craig Bailey, you can see how valuable CRM data can be when used properly.

(more…)

Open Text Corporation, the largest independent provider of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software, has been awarded salesforce.com’s 2006 Top Integrator Appy Award for integrating salesforce.com with its SAP and other systems. The Salesforce.com Appy Awards recognize customers, partners and developers who drive innovation and customer success on the Business Internet through the use of Salesforce applications. Open Text completed the complex integration project in days using Cast Iron Systems’ iA3000-SF integration appliance, which enables bi-directional data synchronization through the use of drag-and-drop configuration tools, instead of coding. (more…)

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the market and technology leader in on-demand business services, has recently announced that Marc Benioff, salesforce.com chairman and CEO, will keynote the 2006 Goldman, Sachs & Co. Software & IT Services Retreat on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 in New York, NY. Mr. Benioff will participate in a keynote fireside chat at 12:00PM (EST) / 9:00AM (PST). A live audio webcast will be available on salesforce.com’s Investor Relations website at www.salesforce.com/investor. (more…)