By Sharla Sikes Jigsaw, a data provider, just announced it would be offering free company contact data. Call the Open Data Initiative, Jigsaw’s free data is available in file formats compatible with Salesforce, SugarCRM, Oracle CRM On Demand, Entellium, Maximizer, Sage’s ACT, Landslide and NetSuite.

By Sharla Sikes It’s pretty tough to jump right into customer relationship management software and see immediate results, but there are things you can do to make sure you’re set up for the best possible results. Merrell Ligons shares a few tips to get your system going in the right direction from the start.

By Sharla Sikes We’ve established that customer relationship management has become if not a necessity, then at least a powerful tool in today’s sales world. So let’s say you’ve got your CRM system set up, and you want to make sure you’re getting the most function out of your investment.

By Sharla Sikes If you are a business owner or executive—regardless of the size of the company—customer relationship management systems are a good bet to help you maximize your sales. CRM systems become even more valuable in today’s uncertain economy. Your customers are the reason your business exists, yet many companies forget to place the [...]

By Sharla Sikes Just like the United States, the United Kingdom is already facing a depressed economy. Despite current trends, the customer relationship management sector, however, is predicted to grow.  AMI-Partners Research predicts a 13 percent rate of annual growth worldwide, and the industry may reach $3.7 billion by 2012. What’s behind the growth?

By Sharla Sikes Microsoft has been a household name for a while now. It makes sense, of course, that it would position itself as a major player in the Customer Relationship Management field as it has in home and business computing, and elsewhere (too many markets to list!). So, Microsoft’s entry into the CRM world [...]

By Sharla Sikes Customer relationship management is an always-evolving industry, and today’s surge of CRM software options is driving growth in staffing needs, too. In a tightening economy, customer relations have become ever more important—hence the increase of careers based around building, protecting and cultivating relationships with customers for businesses in nearly every sector.