Features

Features

• Augmented reality in retail transforms customer experiences

  Retailers like Hershey's are experimenting with augmented reality to take the customers' experience beyond a smartphone screen and drop it into their living rooms.  Continue Reading

• Cannabis CRM replicates dealer-customer relationship

  When a big-city medical marijuana business wanted to better serve clients, it opted for cannabis CRM software that tries to replicate the traditional dealer-customer relationship.  Continue Reading

• AppExchange in Salesforce a slam-dunk for Detroit Pistons' workflow

  The Detroit Pistons needed help getting the most out of Salesforce, so they turned to AppExchange -- although the abundance of choices is sometimes a challenge.  Continue Reading

• Activists get organized with new Salesforce CRM for nonprofits

  Salesforce has adapted its CRM for nonprofits, giving activists a lower-cost way to track fundraising, organize activities and keep their communities engaged.  Continue Reading

• Data migration software coming for SAP CRM

  At Sapphire Now, SAP unveiled C/4HANA, a suite of applications that brings together ERP and CRM. To make it easier to switch, migration tools can be added to the suite.  Continue Reading

• Keys to customer engagement on social media CRM

  Responding to positive and negative customer inquiries on social media is important, industry experts say, and that can go far in retaining customers and promoting your brand.  Continue Reading

• Selecting a CRM cloud to host sales, service and marketing

  Azure, AWS and Google are popular public clouds. But not all CRM systems are interchangeable with each of them. Experts break down the decision-making process.  Continue Reading

• Marketers face stiff challenges improving CRM capabilities

  Amid the proliferation of AI and cloud-based apps, marketers acknowledge and take partial blame for problems encountered along the way to improving their CRM capabilities.  Continue Reading

• AI strategy comes first, then AI tools second

  If your organization plans to implement AI into its workflow, be sure to develop a sound strategy and provide the necessary training to get the most out of the software.  Continue Reading

• AI for the enterprise transmitted directly from Mars

  For marketing intelligence to explore new frontiers and achieve its ultimate goal, chief marketing officers may find their CRM applications were once developed by NASA and tested in space.  Continue Reading

• Albuquerque Amazon Alexa skill takes heat off call center

  Tens of thousands of Alexa skills -- voice-activated apps -- exist, with more to come. Learn how a city government's call center created one to help residents.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce's GDPR DPO preps partners, customers for compliance

  Salesforce's data protection officer discusses GDPR compliance challenges and strategies for customers and partners, along with the company's own GDPR readiness.  Continue Reading

• Clari AI for sales helps to enhance Salesforce

  One company found that when using a variety of different vendors, a third-party AI product was more beneficial than a core vendor's AI offering.  Continue Reading

• Comparing the top marketing automation software vendors

  Don't be afraid of software migration if there's another technology that better fits your company's needs and if long-term benefits outweigh short-term costs, experts say.  Continue Reading

• Digital sales transformation may require shadow IT dark ops

  Sales tech initiatives culminating with flipping the AI switch require operational and IT prep involving data aggregation, training salespeople and, possibly, shadow IT experiments.  Continue Reading

• 'Digitize or Die': Embrace IoT digital transformation or perish

  In his book, Schneider Electric's EcoXpert program global vice president decodes how IoT digital transformation strategies differentiate winners and losers.  Continue Reading

• Customer service chatbots help reduce product returns

  In previous years, Azumi Mobile was overwhelmed with customer calls after the holiday season as users attempted to return smartphones. This year, chatbots helped address that issue.  Continue Reading

• Colorado modernizes with Salesforce for government projects

  Colorado licenses Service Cloud and other Salesforce technologies to improve its citizens benefit program.  Continue Reading

• Blockchain loyalty programs building future of customer experience

  While blockchain platforms are still under construction and use cases are still being written, Hooters invests in its own. Others -- including employee rewards -- are to come.  Continue Reading

• Salesforce gets a blockchain distributed ledger tool

  Blockchain technology is the ultimate connectivity layer, and it can be used to help solve thorny customer service issues when paired with Salesforce, according to one vendor.  Continue Reading

• Meet your friendly service agent -- The sales chatbot

  AI chatbots enable companies to automate some sales and service tasks, but the combination of people and smart machines creates better outcomes than either one alone.  Continue Reading

• Smart contracts on blockchain the next wave of CRM automation

  Sales and service contracts get automation from blockchain platforms as applications become more user-friendly and infrastructure evolves to support them.  Continue Reading

• AI chatbots augment humans working in contact centers

  It might seem like contact centers are all being automated by AI chatbots, but for now, the jobs of human agents are still safe while all the kinks are worked out.  Continue Reading

• Marketing reporting software is dying, says InsightSquared CMO

  InsightSquared CMO discusses the importance of vendor-agnostic reporting and why marketing-only reporting software is dying.  Continue Reading

• Artificial intelligence technologies a boon for customer insights

  AI can help companies shrink the gap between customer data and actionable insight by feeding intelligence into CRM, marketing automation and other operational tools. Here's how.  Continue Reading

• What key features do today's leading social CRM tools offer?

  Before purchasing social CRM software, learn the important tools and services you should be looking for and which of today's leading vendors offer them.  Continue Reading

• Taking on a virtual agent helps mint new wine connoisseurs

  Having trouble selecting the wine that goes best with a special meal? And what if your preferred shop doesn't have it? Vivino helps you choose -- and, if needed, find -- the right wine.  Continue Reading

• Retail AI predicts consumer behavior for targeted marketing

  Not all of travel club Secret Escapes' members want to see all 140 last-minute sales it runs every week. AI marketing personalization tool Jetlore helps prevent over-messaging.  Continue Reading

• Future of artificial intelligence in CRM rests with the bots

  Chatbots may seem basic or rudimentary now, but just wait: AI advancements will take virtual agents to new levels of competency to engage customers.  Continue Reading

• Looking ahead at trends in CRM in 2018

  More AI capabilities, intelligent security and augmented reality should gain prominence for CRM users in 2018.  Continue Reading

• Do customer service chatbots need to pass the Turing test?

  Experts say organizations should focus on enhancing the customer experience with chatbots -- not so much on passing the legendary Turing test for artificial intelligence.  Continue Reading

• Automation features help settle CRM migration quandary for one office

  Insightly CRM for G Suite or Salesforce? One of a manufacturing company's 72 offices takes the road less traveled.  Continue Reading

• Customer data governance policies: Stop stalking, start selling

  Customer data governance policies differ from traditional data governance in several ways. Finding that line between building trust among customers and stalking them is a start.  Continue Reading

• Top five benefits of speech analytics tools for contact centers

  Learn the top benefits of speech analytics technology for contact centers, and how speech analytics tools can lead to a better customer experience.  Continue Reading

• Are businesses ready for AI applications?

  As the amount of data grows exponentially and computing power strengthens, now is the time for business applications to get a boost from artificial intelligence.  Continue Reading

• Which track on the Salesforce certifications list is right for you?

  The Salesforce certification list seems long and complicated. But it's not -- if you break it down into tracks and look at salary data for ROI on training.  Continue Reading

• How to get the most out of social CRM software

  Social CRM software requires a commitment of time and money. Consider the pros and cons and ask these important questions before choosing a social CRM platform.  Continue Reading

• Horizontal CRM vs. vertical CRM: What do you really need?

  Cloud-based computing is making it easier to customize CRM applications for vertical industries -- but would a horizontal CRM app work just as well for you?  Continue Reading

• Salesforce Einstein still on its way to personalization perfection

  The artificial intelligence platform Einstein can help organizations mine data for leads and direct targeted marketing at customers. But there are some things it can't do yet.  Continue Reading

• Accenture serves up data for all via Salesforce Wave analytics

  Accenture rolled out Wave analytics along with other Salesforce tools to 25,000 users within five months. Though the project moved quickly, it's also being done carefully.  Continue Reading

• Mobile location-based services teeter on ethical line

  Mobile location-based services can yield information about customers, but companies need to travel a careful line with the information they gather.  Continue Reading

• Is user adoption of Salesforce Analytics Cloud the next wave?

  Salesforce Wave filled an analytics void when it was released -- but there are caveats. Learn more about the benefits and challenges of moving to Salesforce Analytics Cloud.  Continue Reading

• How marketers are reining in the sales funnel process

  The sales process, captured by the sales funnel, is no longer as linear as it once was. How can marketing teams use sales funnel management to gain control of the customer journey?  Continue Reading

• Customer communities aren't credible without legwork

  Customer communities can't be credible sources of customer support if companies don't do the up-front work to make the information authoritative.  Continue Reading

• What to expect from the Salesforce Sales Cloud platform

  Salesforce Sales Cloud is a CRM platform featuring a number of sales and CRM tools, which help businesses of all sizes manage their B2B and B2C engagement and sales strategies.  Continue Reading

• LBS powers personalized intranet design

  Frustrated by its needle-in-a-haystack approach to locating pertinent corporate info, Citrix geared its intranet to specific employee needs worldwide.  Continue Reading

• Cloud-based CRM enters new territory for Salesforce partners

  Channel partners are pursuing increasingly sophisticated Salesforce implementation projects, helping customers integrate and optimize complex systems.  Continue Reading

• Zoho CRM platform overview

  Zoho's cloud-based CRM platform helps businesses manage the key aspects of their customer engagement strategies.  Continue Reading

• Cloud-based marketing tools need integration to work

  When companies don't integrate their cloud-based marketing tools, customer data can easily become out-of-date and out-of-sync among various systems.  Continue Reading

• Improving customer engagement strategies with CRM tools

  There are several different types of CRM tools that can be used to improve your customer engagement strategies.  Continue Reading

• A 360-degree view of customers requires better data analytics

  Companies want to use better data analytics to get a more comprehensive understanding of their customers. But today's reality suggests that is in the distant future.  Continue Reading

• Oracle Siebel vs. Salesforce faceoff: Siebel is more versatile

  In this Oracle Siebel vs. Salesforce faceoff, one consultant says Siebel users have more options without paying much more than Salesforce customers.  Continue Reading

• Desktop analytics: A game changer for contact centers, back offices

  Expert Donna Fluss says companies should consider a new type of analytics -- desktop analytics -- to accurately provide feedback on the contact center and the back office.  Continue Reading

• Creating positive customer retention strategies

  Is your organization deploying positive customer retention strategies or negative ones? In this chapter excerpt, learn about a number of positive customer retention strategies, including how to add customer-perceived value, create social and ...  Continue Reading

• Understanding customer commitment

  Research shows that there are three forms of customer commitment: relational commitment, instrumental commitment and value-based commitment. In this chapter, learn about all three types of customer commitments and get key performance indicators (...  Continue Reading

• SIP in the call center: Top 10 buzzwords

  In many of today's call centers, session initiation protocol (SIP) allows customers and call center agents to connect through various forms of multimedia communications. We've gathered these terms and definitions to help you better understand SIP ...  Continue Reading

• Salesforce.com for dummies: Creating daily reports

  Use this step-by-step guide to create daily reports from scratch in Salesforce.com.  Continue Reading

• The top five sources of increased customer power

  Learn how to advocate for customers and earn their trust in this chapter download. MIT professor Glen Urban will show you why you should do this, how you can do this, and what other leading edge companies are doing in this arena.  Continue Reading