Being the one tasked to evaluate and select a CRM System can be a lot to ask. This post is to help you ease the pain and understand your options before making such a large investment. Here’s an excerpt from a highly recommended book called “Just Enough CRM” by Francoise Tourniaire. It’s listed on my […]

In 1999, the idea of renting software over the Internet was dismissed by many in techdom as little more than a marketing ploy cooked up by Salesforce.com about Salesforce.com Chief Executive Marc Benioff. At the time, the outspoken exec was operating in the shadow of software giants Oracle about Oracle and Microsoft about Microsoft and […]

With the CRM vendor landscape going through so
many changes today, it’s an excellent time to check up and see what
your vendor’s viability is, what their future prospects look like, and
especially for the best-of-breed vendors, what their exit strategy is,
if they have one.
I have compiled some quick tips for completing a viability
assessment and discerning the truth […]

A 2005 study by AMR Research found 91 percent of companies increased or maintained their customer relationship management budgets for 2006. With so many companies shopping for new CRM solutions or reviewing upgrade opportunities, businesses need help finding the right solution to meet their current business needs and long-term support requirements.
While most businesses recognize the […]

Small businesses often believe the benefits of CRM are beyond their reach. Although these companies have a lower turnover and a smaller workforce than large enterprises, they often have the same business processes, some times the same disparate back-office systems and even the same complexity as large companies.
As a result, they face the same challenge: […]

Smart salespeople leverage their strengths and get help with their weaknesses. For many of us, organization isn’t one of our strong points. Keeping track of which customers to follow up with when, how, and, most importantly, why usually requires some support. Hence, a few decades ago a new industry was born — CRM, customer relationship […]

As companies battle to win new customers and keep current ones where customer loyalty is fleeting at best, the demand for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions is at an all-time high. With all of the available solutions, companies wanting to leverage their sales and marketing strategies, strengthen their workforce, and utilize the best tools available […]

The world is full of technologies that have promised to change the complexion of business as CIOs and I.T. personnel know it. Sometimes innovation sticks and sometimes it does not. On-demand software not only has proven its staying power but also has been gaining traction year after year among enterprises of every size.

While developing a CRM system in-house is not realistic for most community banks, there are a wide variety of options available in the marketplace, ranging from the simple to the intricate. Forming a strong partnership with the right outside vendor is essential to success with CRM, bankers and experts say.
Roy Balkus, vice president of […]

A CRM purchase should always be preceded by a needs-assessment analysis. These are complex endeavors that map out a company’s pain points in its customer-service operations to determine what application or series of applications can address these problems.
After a few years of declining sales, companies are beginning to step up purchases of customer relationship […]