Customer experience (CX) management
Customer experience management fosters inbound marketing, sales automation, service and repeat business. Read the latest technology news, information and best practices to shape your customer experience strategy.
Top Stories
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Feature
28 Feb 2023
Customer success vs. customer support: What's the difference?
Customer support and customer success sound similar, but they're distinct business practices. Differences include approach, metrics, maturity and skills. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Feb 2023
15 customer service email templates and tips
Email remains an important channel for companies to communicate with customers. Here are some email templates for customer service teams to use in common scenarios. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Oct 2018
Loyalty rewards program fuels convenience store's CX
Since launching a loyalty rewards program last year, convenience store and gas station Yesway has driven 45.2% of loyalty members from the pump to the store. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Oct 2018
How artificial intelligence in customer service improves CX
AI in customer service enables products and services companies to respond to consumers before the customer experience breaks down and negatively affects retention. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2018
Salesforce Einstein Voice, Customer 360 data sharing on deck
Salesforce users to benefit from new and extended partnerships with Apple, AWS and IBM, the upcoming Customer 360 integration tool and Einstein Voice. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2018
Salesforce Health Cloud roadmap boasts payer tools, CX, AI
Salesforce users in healthcare get tools that bring membership and benefits data and insurance utilization and claims data analysis tools into Health Cloud. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2018
Clicks-and-bricks one-up online companies with behavioral data
Physical stores and banks are closing, losing ground to more agile online competitors. Technology and data can help them fight back. Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2018
Salesforce AI users reveal pros and cons
Salesforce Einstein users shared their experiences with the AI tools, including the challenges of getting the C-suite to buy in. Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2018
Open data, customer experience AI the focus for retail automation
AI is infusing the customer experience not only online, but in stores. At Ignite, SAP, Adobe and Microsoft joined forces for the common goal of sharing data to push AI even further. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Sep 2018
4 tips on getting up to speed with GDPR for U.S. companies
When GDPR went into effect four months ago, some U.S. companies just shut down communications with EU customers, but compliance can benefit organizations and marketers. Continue Reading
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Podcast
20 Sep 2018
New HubSpot products strategy, CMS updates from Inbound
At Inbound 2018, HubSpot unveiled a new enterprise product line. It also introduced the flywheel, a circular metaphor for the customer relationship with sales, marketing and service. Continue Reading
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News
19 Sep 2018
Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI going hard after Salesforce
Microsoft hammers Salesforce by launching low-code, AI-based virtual agents for customer service. Also: New tools for sales and marketing add automated insights to Dynamics 365. Continue Reading
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Conference Coverage
18 Sep 2018
Dreamforce 2018 conference highlights and key takeaways
Salesforce will reveal new features, tools and platform updates at Dreamforce 2018 in San Francisco Sept. 25-28. Use this guide to stay up to date. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2018
Dreamforce brings Salesforce products upgrades
More than 150,000 attendees are expected at Dreamforce in San Francisco, where Salesforce will show how recent acquisitions fit into its product platform. Continue Reading
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News
14 Sep 2018
Adobe acquisition of Marketo could shake up industry
Adobe looking to acquire Marketo could also be a ploy to incite a bidding war for Marketo from its holding company, Vista Equity, according to an analyst. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Sep 2018
Salesforce implementation offers window into partner management
Implementing Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Community Cloud has enabled a national window treatment company to streamline its operations. Continue Reading
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Podcast
07 Sep 2018
HubSpot products expand reach into enterprise
HubSpot's VP of products details the newest HubSpot enterprise-level offerings, as well as HubSpot's new video tool. Also: A glimpse of what's on the future roadmap. Continue Reading
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News
06 Sep 2018
HubSpot enterprise edition unveiled
In addition to releasing enterprise-level systems, HubSpot unveiled a CMS tool for companies to build and customize websites, and a video tool to help create content. Continue Reading
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News
29 Aug 2018
Add web content personalization to your marketing strategy
Josh Mueller, global head of marketing at Dun & Bradstreet, talks about how quality data drives innovative marketing solutions such as web content personalization and AI chatbots. Continue Reading
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News
21 Aug 2018
HubSpot Conversations adds chatbots, collaborative inbox
HubSpot sales, marketing and service hubs get new features with Conversations, previewed last year and going live this month. Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2018
LinkedIn Sales Navigator refresh adds deals pipeline
LinkedIn overhauls Sales Navigator with deals management, Adobe Sign and Office 365 integrations, new search tools and mobile deal pages and direct connection to product team. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Aug 2018
Sales planning tools sport a B2B customer experience focus
Sporting goods giant uses sales performance and planning tools to upend traditional product-centric approach, tackle engagement issues and pitch a better story to customers. Continue Reading
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Podcast
13 Aug 2018
Revenue ops main theme at Ramp by InsightSquared conference
Beyond recapping the Ramp by InsightSquared conference and some of the keynote speakers, the Pipeline podcast looks back at other favorite guest speakers at conferences. Continue Reading
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News
10 Aug 2018
Microsoft Dynamics 365 updates add AI features to CRM
Microsoft has introduced new updates to its Dynamics 365 CRM platform, including AI-driven business intelligence tools for sales, marketing and service. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2018
Sales enablement tool uses AI to hone pitches
Sales enablement AI goes beyond Einstein lead scoring as Brainshark applies sentiment and other analyses to practice videos that salespeople create before meeting customers. Continue Reading
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News
07 Aug 2018
InsightSquared unveils marketing analytics tools
At Ramp 2018, marketing technology vendor InsightSquared unveiled new software modules for gauging the effectiveness of marketing and sales efforts. Continue Reading
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News
03 Aug 2018
Google Contact Center AI makes early inroads in industry
Prospective users are already interested in Google's recently unveiled Contact Center AI system, and Google partners are avidly trying to sell it. But some in industry urge caution Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Aug 2018
Customer service chatbots gain ground
As chatbots begin to replace email as the go-to customer service channel, more and more companies are using AI and natural language processing to improve their chat services. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 Aug 2018
Salesforce marketing automation tools close the data divide
Marketing automation CEO offers tips on bringing together siloed data, spotting sales trends, analyzing sales funnels and allocating marketing campaign spending. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Jul 2018
Salesforce Health Cloud for Payers brings CRM to insurance
With its CRM system for payers, Salesforce is targeting a competitive market in which health insurers are fighting for members seeking lower costs and better health outcomes. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jul 2018
OpenText-Salesforce integration gaining momentum
An Australian life insurance company, given an opportunity to start anew with IT, chooses Salesforce as interface to deep OpenText content repository. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jul 2018
Tea Forte steeps value from new B2C CRM
B2B CRM vendors like Marketo and Salesforce have tailored their wares for consumer-facing businesses, but B2C CRM vendor Zaius proved to be the right cup of tea for one company. Continue Reading
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News
20 Jul 2018
Salesforce Datorama acquisition to bolster Marketing Cloud
Salesforce continues piecing together its Marketing Cloud -- this time with the $800 million acquisition of Datorama, an AI marketing software company. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jul 2018
Salesforce's Marc Benioff calls for a national privacy law
After Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's call for a national data privacy law, Salesforce's chief privacy officer responds to questions about the Salesforce privacy stance. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Jul 2018
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
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Tip
10 Jul 2018
Assessing GDPR's data protection officer requirements
The GDPR's data protection officer mandate gives the EU a point person for compliance complaints, but not all companies need one. See when DPOs are required and what they do. Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Jul 2018
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
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Feature
27 Jun 2018
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
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Podcast
26 Jun 2018
SAP C/4HANA, Pega Infinity ramp up the CRM market
The Pipeline podcast duo discusses the CRM market after the unveiling of Pega Infinity and SAP C/4HANA, as well as technology news from Uber about detecting drunk passengers. Continue Reading
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Feature
22 Jun 2018
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
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Podcast
21 Jun 2018
Banking blockchain part of Pega Infinity platform reboot
This Pipeline podcast features a not-so-serious Q&A with Pegasystems CMO Tom Libretto covering Journey albums, blockchain hype and what happens at a user conference. Continue Reading
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News
20 Jun 2018
Adobe-Microsoft partnership adds key integrations
Adobe brings its Document Cloud to Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics 365, making it easier for licensees of both to quickly convert files into PDFs and into Acrobat. Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Jun 2018
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
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Opinion
19 Jun 2018
Separating customer service chatbot hype from reality
Vendors claim consumers want self-service chatbots. Turns out they'd rather scrub toilets or go to the dentist than converse with customer service in general, bots included. Continue Reading
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News
13 Jun 2018
Salesforce Interaction Studio unveiled at Connections 2018
At Salesforce Connections, Salesforce builds off its Google partnership announced at Dreamforce by releasing new integrations between Marketing Cloud and Google Analytics 360. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jun 2018
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
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News
07 Jun 2018
SAP e-commerce extends to Azure, other new features added
Artificial Christmas tree manufacturer Balsam Brands uses Hybris to expand internationally, allowing for dynamic pricing and product catalogs, depending on the country. Continue Reading
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News
06 Jun 2018
SAP C/4HANA hopes to tie together front and back office
At Sapphire Now in Orlando, SAP unveiled its customer experience suite with the aim to better compete in the CRM market and provide a modern, 360-degree view of the customer. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Jun 2018
Let customer acquisition costs steer marketing, service plans
Customer acquisition and customer retention strategies start with people and marketing automation tools. How much you should invest in either area depends on a number of factors. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Jun 2018
Designing chatbots with personality-plus and gift of gab
Planning, patience, trial and error and a business-minded team approach are the keystones to developing chatbots with human-like qualities that seamlessly assist customers. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Jun 2018
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
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Feature
05 Jun 2018
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
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Feature
05 Jun 2018
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
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Feature
05 Jun 2018
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
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Opinion
05 Jun 2018
AI for customer service at the peril of personal relations
AI tools in CRM help companies deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences but prevent customers from actually having personal interactions with service agents. Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2018
Pega Infinity upgrades include marketing AI tools, blockchain support
Pega Infinity adds new digital transformation tools for low-code app development, bot libraries and AI that can optimize apps and assist with marketing campaigns. Continue Reading
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Podcast
01 Jun 2018
Call center artificial intelligence trends drive chat, decision-making
ICMI's Brad Cleveland has seen call centers integrate email, chat, IVR -- automated FAQ answering -- and social media. None reduced call volume. Chatbot tech may bring similar results. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 May 2018
Sales Cloud implementation transforms sales tracking, analysis
Salesforce Sales Cloud has made Thompson Pump's once manual, paper-backed tracking, analyzing and crediting processes fast and tidy, reducing order-processing time by about 20%. Continue Reading
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News
29 May 2018
Call center chatbots draw skepticism from leaders
Call centers must live up to demanding quality and performance standards. Until artificial intelligence chatbots can meet those expectations, they don't stand a chance. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 May 2018
Premium pay for technical CRM skills must reflect volatility
Premium pay for skilled IT jobs remained largely unchanged heading into 2018, but workers will still be rewarded for CRM certification, according to Foote Partners' latest research. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 May 2018
Ten tips for honing social media customer service skills
Navy Federal Credit Union ingrains customer service in social engagement, sometimes the only channel where sailors at sea can get critical questions answered. Here's how they do it. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 May 2018
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
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Feature
23 May 2018
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
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News
23 May 2018
Adobe acquisition of Magento puts Salesforce in its sights
Adobe looks to challenge Salesforce by adding e-commerce capabilities into its CX suite of products, just months after Salesforce doubled down on e-commerce with CloudCraze purchase. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 May 2018
GDPR call center compliance can be a sticky wicket
GDPR compliance for call centers can be complex and require the collaboration of business execs, call center managers and outside lawyers to establish data protection policies. Continue Reading
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News
18 May 2018
Customer behavior analytics brings marketing, analytics together
If you want better, more timely access to customers, consider customer behavior analytics, which is driven by the combination of marketing and data analytics. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 May 2018
Check off those GDPR call center requirements
With GDPR about to go into full force, there are last-minute details and loose ends to tie up to ensure that your call center complies with the necessary regulations. Continue Reading
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News
15 May 2018
HubSpot customer service tool Service Hub aims to transform SMBs
HubSpot's Service Hub, the new customer service product, aims at helping small and medium businesses complete the view of the customer, combined with the company's sales and marketing products. Continue Reading
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Tip
15 May 2018
Don't forget agent training in your GDPR call center plan
The General Data Protection Regulation will affect call center agents. A GDPR plan for call center agent training should cover the expanded definition of PII and more. Continue Reading
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Podcast
14 May 2018
Recapping Oracle Modern CX: CX execs share challenges
What's on the minds of customer experience execs right now? This Pipeline podcast breaks down grumblings and rumblings from Oracle's Modern CX show. Continue Reading
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Podcast
11 May 2018
Don't let customer service automation override customer experience
CRM expert Jay Baer, author of NYT bestseller 'Hug Your Haters,' joins the Pipeline podcast and answers host Don Fluckinger's litany of personal experience CRM complaints. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 May 2018
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
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Tip
09 May 2018
GDPR customer data compliance for service and support teams
Getting your Salesforce-powered customer service and support staff ready for GDPR involves more than just the free Trailhead training module. But it's a start. Continue Reading
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Tip
07 May 2018
Ten tips to help Salesforce teams prepare for GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation implementation date is closing in. Salesforce experts have some advice for companies tasked with complying with the EU guideline. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 May 2018
Cohesive AI in CRM strategies requires a singular 360 view
Implementing and upgrading AI CRM marketing and sales capabilities requires a holistic, multipronged strategy that encompasses all departments and customer engagement channels. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 May 2018
How Conversational Queries aims to ease using Einstein Analytics data
A new AI conversational feature from Salesforce lets users enter sales, service and marketing questions about timely customer data and build charts on their own in less time. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 May 2018
How Salesforce teams will feel the impact of GDPR
With less than a month until GDPR has to be implemented, both B2B and B2C sales teams must be prepared to properly protect or even dispense of customer data, according to experts. Continue Reading
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Guide
30 Apr 2018
CRM case studies: Customer relationship management in action
CRM for today's businesses means AI chatbots, data mining, marketing personalization and equipping call centers to handle the many channels available to customers. Continue Reading
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News
23 Apr 2018
What Salesforce's CloudCraze acquisition means for customers
CloudCraze president calls the acquisition by Salesforce 'a huge win' for its customers and for Commerce Cloud customers, with the capability of selling B2C and B2B on one platform. Continue Reading
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News
19 Apr 2018
Salesforce Field Service Lightning gets appointment, scheduling upgrades
While the new Field Service Lightning features will help Salesforce users connect customers to their service needs, it lacks any of that Einstein touch of other Salesforce products. Continue Reading
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News
13 Apr 2018
Measure your digital marketing ROI, keep your job
Oracle customers weigh in on executive's hypothesis that analytics can now prove ROI of the martech stack -- or soon will -- and make marketing a revenue center just like sales. Continue Reading
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Podcast
12 Apr 2018
Salesforce World Tour Boston talks Integration Cloud, Social Studio
Salesforce World Tour sessions included dives into Philanthropy Cloud, integrated surveys and Salesforce's new Integration Cloud. Continue Reading
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News
10 Apr 2018
Oracle CX Cloud adds AI tools for B2C, B2B customers
Oracle announces infusion of its Adaptive Intelligent apps into several CX Cloud products and promises more to come, with sales, marketing and service all getting upgrades. Continue Reading
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News
10 Apr 2018
Salesforce Boston World Tour show highlights customers, philanthropy
From the dais and halls at Salesforce World Tour's Boston stop, talk focused on automating employee volunteerism, marketing best practices and developer reaction to MuleSoft deal. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Apr 2018
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
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Podcast
09 Apr 2018
Importance of customer experience highlighted at Adobe Summit
The Pipeline podcast looks back at the Adobe Summit and the conference's main themes. Listen in as our team discusses how the NFL uses Adobe to better personalize customer campaigns. Continue Reading
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News
06 Apr 2018
Using Salesforce Social Studio, Harvard saw power of social media
By looking at its social media data with Salesforce, Harvard Graduate School of Education saw more than 65% of article traffic generated through social media. Continue Reading
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Podcast
06 Apr 2018
Adobe DMP a touchdown for NFL's data-driven marketing strategy
Heading into the 2017 season, the NFL made a concentrated effort to better understand its data and its audience. It turned to data governance and Adobe Audience Manager. Continue Reading
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News
30 Mar 2018
Customer personalization takes center stage for 24 Hour Fitness
When it came time to engage more effectively with customers, 24 Hour Fitness looked to industry leaders in customer personalization for inspiration. Continue Reading
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News
28 Mar 2018
Adobe Experience Cloud to aid company digital transformation
Products are no longer the focus, according to Adobe. The customer experience is where it's at -- and Coca-Cola agrees, as the company executes its digital transformation process. Continue Reading
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Podcast
23 Mar 2018
Salesforce acquisitions reach new heights with MuleSoft purchase
The intrepid Pipeline podcasters break down the MuleSoft acquisition, which enables hybrid cloud/on-premises CRM. Also: Salesforce Essentials replaces Desk.com and SalesforceIQ. Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2018
Salesforce-MuleSoft deal focuses on data integration
Beyond producing a hybrid cloud product with its new Integration Cloud, Salesforce now has capabilities for customers to build microservices with MuleSoft's technology. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Mar 2018
MindTickle, Salesforce speed sales learning in merger
Last year's Blue Coat-Symantec merger posed a dilemma: getting salespeople up to speed on the reshaped product line. MindTickle with Salesforce paid dividends in sales learning. Continue Reading
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Podcast
19 Mar 2018
Social media customer care important to brands, experts say
In this Pipeline podcast, we discuss what was a primary topic at Social Media Marketing World: how companies should interact with customers through social media. Continue Reading
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Podcast
16 Mar 2018
Inside sales strategy, millennials highlight Accelerate 2018
Learn what happens when a SearchCRM editor joins a panel as the paid skeptic to discuss whether AI technologies provide real value for helping businesses increase revenue. Continue Reading
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News
16 Mar 2018
Salesforce small business tools get major refresh
Emphasizing the 'S' in 'SMB,' Salesforce goes after companies with 20 employees or less with Salesforce Essentials -- with hooks into Trailhead's free training. Continue Reading
