21 May, 2007.- Two best practice suggestions for preventing --permanently-- user-adoption disappearance.

By Barton Goldberg, CRM Magazine
[more…]

Adoption of on-demand solutions by SMBs continues to increase, but many smaller companies are still wary of the concept of software-as-a-service, according to a new study.

By Jessica Sebor DestinationCRM.com [more…]

March 15th, 2007.- Vendors can offer all kinds of suggestions on how to plan your deployment. Consultants can help with time lines and schedules. But if you're looking for some serious advice on how to kick-start your project--and see it through--who better to ask than those who've done it before?

By Brian P. Watson, Baseline [more…]

March 15th, 2007.- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solutions can do great things for a company, when they are selected and implemented correctly. This is easier said than done, however, and many decision makers are left scratching their heads trying to determine exactly what the company’s needs are and how to select a solution that actually meets those needs.
By Susan Campbell, TMCNet [more…]

Feb 5th, 2007.- One of the biggest advances in recent years, in the way organizations interact with their customers and prospects is through web self-service. This around the- clock method of answering questions, solving problems, and serving customers has been a boon to both organizations and the individuals they serve.

By RightNow Technologies

Feb 1st, 2007.- Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions can enable an organization to fully tap into the needs of their customers in order to deliver better customer service in an effort to protect the base. The benefits of a robust CRM solution are evident, making the decision to implement such a solution an easy one. The challenge that organizations now face is whether to implement an on-demand solution or a traditional premise-based system.
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet [more…]

Feb 1st, 2007.- Small and medium businesses (1-999 employees) worldwide are on track to spend $2.44 bln on hosted/SaaS CRM and ERP/SCM in 2007, up some 17% over 2006 levels. Fueling these investments will be strong demand for CRM (customer-relationship management) solutions from Britain, France, the US and Germany, according to AMI Partners. ZDNet [more…]

Jan 1st, 2007.- What kind of savings can a small business expect from moving to an open source CRM model? Our licensing fees are really adding up and we are trying to get an idea of how much we can save. TechTarget [more…]

Jan 9, 2007.- Separate the wheat from the chaff by automating key sales processes for maximum return on SFA dollars. By Marshall Lager, DestinationCRM.com [more…]

Jan 9, 2007.- The attitude of a company’s sales managers towards the CRM system plays a crucial role in the success of any implementation. Most reps are experts at reading their sales manager and figuring out what he or she really wants. If the reps sense that their manager’s commitment to CRM is corporate lip service, they won’t use the system, regardless of how great it might be. SellingPower.com [more…]

Dec 15, 2006.- Sales enablement-based solutions to common sales and marketing issues are driving a dramatic shift within the CRM industry. Through the years, management has seen that frontline user adoption is the most reliable indicator for predicting ROI, and sales applications have finally followed suit. By By John Aiello, CRMNews [more…]

December 12th, 2006.- It sounds simplistic, and in many ways, it is: create a digital version of a scrap of paper and have those notes feed right into the CRM system. "You're looking for ways to streamline functionality and increase productivity," says Gartner analyst Michael Maoz. It's particularly important to save time and ensure that the right information is captured. By Elizabeth Millard, CRM Daily [more…]

November 27th, 2006.- How accurately do you think you forecast business? A whopping 75 percent of chief sales officers rate themselves as average (43 percent), poor (28 percent) or dismal (4 percent), according to CSO Insights 2006 Sales Performance Optimization Study.

Selling Power [more…]

November 27th, 2006.- SaaS and mobile options continue to grow while buyers can choose from best-of-breed or suite vendors, according to Gartner; SFA will grow more than 13 percent annually through 2010.

By Phillip Brit, DestinationCRM.com
[more…]

November 21, 2006.- "Data is the center of sales performance management," says Karen Steele, vice president of marketing at Xactly, an SaaS sales compensation software developer. "The only way to calculate commissions is by integrating data from throughout the corporation."

By Erika Morphy crmBuyer.com [more…]

November 13th, 2006.- Achieving the long-term value of customer relationship management (CRM) requires a strategy involving the whole business and should be approached at an enterprise level. Only a small, but growing, number of enterprises are tackling CRM at this level, with most CRM initiatives consisting of departmental projects or attempts to integrate the work of multiple projects.

By CRM Advisor & Tay Kheng Tiong, SMBedge
[more…]

Nov 3, 2006.- It’s a common problem. The marketing group claims to have generated a bucketful of leads that (according to the marketing folk) the sales team ignored. At the same time, the sales team complains that the leads they get from marketing are basically worthless. Rather than letting the two groups argue about it, why not use your CRM system to help these groups work together? Here’s how it’s done.

SellingPower [more…]

Nov. 3rd, 2006.- If you’re going to get the full benefit of CRM, you’ll need to manage how the technology is introduced and integrated into the sales organization and process, according to Dale Hagemeyer and Joe Galvin, the CRM gurus at Gartner. They recommend that organizations managing the CRM change process should follow the following 16 rules:

SellingPower [more…]

Nov. 3rd, 2006.- The purpose of CRM is to increase sales while reducing costs and, when done correctly, create a Return On Investment (ROI) as high as 1,000 percent within a year, according to Henry Morris, a vice president at the leading market research firm IDC. To achieve this kind of large and rapid ROI, though, you’ll need to focus on the following key issues.

SellingPower
[more…]

Oct 31, 2006.-  Scenarios provide something specific to look at during product demonstrations, forcing vendors to show a complete process rather than just the portions of their system that they prefer to highlight. Since scenarios typically relate to tasks that users are already performing today, it is much easier for users to judge how hard or easy it will be to do those tasks with the new system.

By David Raab and Kathy Campbell
ABA Bank Marketing
[more…]

Oct. 12th, 2006.- Last year, software as a service (SaaS) represented approximately 5 percent of business software revenue. However, by 2011, 25 percent of new business software will be delivered as SaaS, according to Gartner, Inc.

CRMToday [more…]

Oct 4th, 2006.- Salespeople watched in frustration as rigid data entry routines were imposed on them and number crunching became the norm. It is no surprise that traditional selling solutions that force salespeople to report on their progress rather than engage prospects continue to suffer from low user adoption rates.

By Razi Imam, CRM Buyer [more…]

Oct 4th, 2006.- When vendors such as Salesforce.com and RightNow emerged on the enterprise application scene, offering CRM via the Software as a Service model, traditional software vendors argued that the model made little sense for large enterprises.

By Barney Beal, SearchCRM.com [more…]

Oct 4th, 2006.- At implementation, too many organizations depend on CRM software vendors to supply needed business processes.

by Barton Goldenberg, CRM Magazine
[more…]

As well as the typical barriers to successful CRM implementations, such as customisation or integration of new systems, IT directors need to address change in overall workforce behaviour, says Mike Cotton, Head of EMEA Alliances at OnDemand Software.

By Mike Cotton, CRM2Day.com

[more…]

Sept 1st, 2006.- The decision to implement one or the other CRM-solution model is a complicated one--here, a rundown of significant financial aspects to consider.

by Karen Bannan, DestionationCRM
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August 28th, 2006.- SaaS is headed toward (ultimately) integrating all business applications, from accounting to financial apps to supply-chain management to marketing campaigns. Users from different departments in an enterprise will be able to access each other's data. Authorized users, suppliers, and customers will be able to collaborate in using the software and even in designing upgrades.

By CRM Daiy
[more…]

August 28, 2006.- Here, the results of a nationwide survey of customer support professionals. By Duke Chung, DestinationCRM [more…]

August 3rd, 2006.- Keep software from hijacking your sales.

By Geary Broadnax, DestinationCRM.com [more…]

July, 2006.- Continued success translates to a continued journey.

By Stan Bunn, DestinationCRM.com [more…]