Customer relationship management (CRM)
Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms remain the foundation of sales and service for most businesses. See how this mature technology is adapting to the era of customer experience management.
Top Stories
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Conference Coverage
01 Jun 2023
SAP Sapphire 2023 news, trends and analysis
The conference bolsters SAP's case to customers that the future lies in the cloud by showcasing cloud products, services and testimonials from companies that have made the move. Continue Reading
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Answer
15 Feb 2023
What does a customer success manager do?
The customer success manager is an essential CX role that takes a proactive approach to ensuring customer loyalty and retention when the sales process is complete. Continue Reading
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News
24 Feb 2022
OwnBackup SaaS data protection expansion includes ServiceNow
Following major funding rounds and acquisitions, SaaS data protection vendor OwnBackup has made its move into new territory. Further SaaS support is on the horizon. Continue Reading
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News
16 Feb 2022
Salesforce, Tableau unveil trio of new integrations
As part of its Spring '22 Release, the CRM giant added three new tools powered by the analytics vendor's augmented intelligence capabilities. Continue Reading
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News
29 Dec 2021
AI is the game-changer needed in customer service
The holiday season is a busy time for call center agents. However, problems in the CX industry are leading organizations to turn to machine learning for optimization. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Nov 2021
6 ways to build customer loyalty for your business
Creating and implementing an effective customer loyalty strategy involves communicating and understanding customers' needs. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Nov 2021
8 customer service challenges and how to resolve them
The most important skill for a customer service agent to learn is empathy. That, plus a well-crafted customer service plan, can solve nearly any problem that arises. Continue Reading
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News
04 Nov 2021
Salesforce expands consumer packaged goods cloud
Salesforce to add features next year that help consumer goods manufacturers plan, track and analyze effectiveness of promotional spending with retailers. Continue Reading
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News
12 Oct 2021
HubSpot CRM adds B2B online payments processing
HubSpot CRM adds no-code Stripe online payments as well as data governance and enhancements to Operations Hub such as analytics and a Snowflake integration. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Sep 2021
How to choose the right CRM software for your organization
Choosing the right CRM software can be daunting for organizations. Follow these five steps and best practices to ensure the search, adoption and deployment processes go smoothly. Continue Reading
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Answer
13 Aug 2021
CRM vs. CDP vs. DMP: What's the difference?
Sales and marketing terms are like alphabet soup, and the different acronyms can get confusing. Find out the difference between three major platforms: CRM, CDP and DMP. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Aug 2021
How relationship marketing works, its pros, cons and levels
An effective relationship marketing strategy can be a key component in acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Jul 2021
Inside 5 big-name relationship marketing strategy examples
How does Nike form an emotional bond with sneakerheads? How does Starbucks know what latte flavors customers want? The answer lies in their relationship marketing strategies. Continue Reading
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News
14 Jul 2021
Salesforce Industries' Media Cloud adds ad management
Salesforce Media Cloud adds a multimedia ad sales platform for media companies to manage their customers' ad spend. Also: AppExchange partner marketplace adds chat, user reviews. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Jun 2021
What to ask in a voice of the customer questionnaire
An effective voice of the customer questionnaire guides an organization to understand its customers better and improve its products or services. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 May 2021
WalkMe digital adoption platform eases application overload
As companies invest in more enterprise applications, digital adoption platforms like WalkMe can both help employees manage the overload and companies drive usage. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Mar 2021
4 tips for creating a personalized marketing strategy
Companies must deliver relevant content and personalize their marketing strategies if they want to see an increase in revenue and brand loyalty. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Feb 2021
10 lead scoring best practices to improve sales efficiency
Lead scoring helps sales and marketing teams identify which customers to pursue based on a points system. Lead scoring aims to develop sales-ready leads. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 Feb 2021
The top real estate CRM software
Today's competitive real estate market highlights the importance of CRM systems that provide listings management and property tracking, as well as typical CRM system features. Continue Reading
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Infographic
30 Dec 2020
The history and evolution of CRM
Customer relationship management had simple beginnings, which evolved into a sophisticated system that helps businesses improve the overall customer experience. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Dec 2020
How the Salesforce-Zoom integration benefits sales
Video conferencing is now the primary form of communication for sales and marketing teams that rely heavily on meetings. The Salesforce Zoom integration increases efficiency. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Dec 2020
Customer data platforms dominate CX technology headlines
As the tech titans release their CDPs, it raises a question: Can this technology save itself from becoming another data silo in the marketing stack? Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Dec 2020
10 Dreamforce to You 2020 sessions for sales managers
DreamTX -- part of the Dreamforce to You 2020 lineup -- will offer a variety of relevant sessions for attending sales managers. Here's a peek at 10 of those sessions. Continue Reading
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News
02 Dec 2020
Salesforce workflow automation tools, Hyperforce debut
Salesforce delivers new Einstein workflow automation tools and unveils what it calls the most significant tech advancement in the company's 21-year history. Continue Reading
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News
30 Sep 2020
Salesforce Vlocity acquisition gives rise to new industry clouds
Four new vertical-specific clouds debut from Salesforce -- for media, telcos, government and utilities -- as fruits of its Vlocity acquisition earlier this year. Continue Reading
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News
22 Sep 2020
HubSpot CRM gets enterprise makeover
HubSpot might not yet frighten Salesforce with its competing platform, which now includes enterprise CRM, but the company definitely pushes upmarket with its latest offering. Continue Reading
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News
22 Sep 2020
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service to add voice channel
Leading a host of CX releases, Microsoft plans to add native voice telephony and voice-channel hooks for chatbots and transcription into its contact center platform. Continue Reading
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Answer
18 Sep 2020
What's the difference between CRM and database marketing?
Database marketing is a component of customer relationship management. CRM includes all processes, strategies and tools to support sales, marketing and customer service initiatives. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Sep 2020
Supply chain-customer service partnership is vital
A company's success depends on a supply chain that can meet customers' expectations. To do that well, supply chain leaders must partner with their customer service counterparts. Continue Reading
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News
01 Sep 2020
Gender bias in tech an issue at conferences
Tech conferences may seem like welcoming environments, but a study from IT services vendor Ensono reveals their structure can make women feel like outsiders. Continue Reading
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News
26 Aug 2020
Salesforce confirms around 1,000 layoffs after monster quarter
Salesforce says COVID-19 did not precipitate the layoff of about 1,000 employees, but the pandemic did show the company where customer needs are headed. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Aug 2020
How customer transparency helps companies maintain loyalty
In an age when customers have more options than ever before, it's essential that businesses gain and maintain customer trust -- and that happens through customer transparency. Continue Reading
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News
25 Aug 2020
Zendesk Support, Sunshine CRM expand data sharing, analytics
New Zendesk Explore Enterprise analytics and data visualization tools enable small and midsize users to create dashboards to share across organizations. Continue Reading
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News
19 Aug 2020
Salesforce pulls plug on Einstein Voice Assistant
Salesforce's voice assistant made a big splash at Dreamforce last year, but the AI tool -- personified with the Einstein brand -- didn't survive the pandemic. Continue Reading
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News
30 Jul 2020
Salesforce's AI-powered Einstein Call Coaching now available
Salesforce's Einstein Call Coaching has moved out of pilot testing, during which a steel building manufacturer saw a 60% reduction in time spent manually analyzing customer calls. Continue Reading
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Answer
06 Jul 2020
CEM vs. CRM: Which platform is best for your business?
Businesses must be familiar with CEM and CRM if they want to improve customer experience. While these acronyms sound similar, they are different. Continue Reading
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Answer
01 Jul 2020
The role and responsibilities of a customer relationship manager
The customer relationship manager has a challenging and ever-evolving role to play when it comes to optimizing the customer experience. Continue Reading
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News
30 Jun 2020
Zendesk CRM adds email automation features
The Zendesk Sell CRM platform adds email automation features for customer engagement as the pandemic cuts off sales rep users' access to in-person customer meetings. Continue Reading
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News
25 Jun 2020
Salesforce pushes forward with DNS security standard
A Salesforce-backed DNS security model to prevent downtime could become standard for multi-tenant cloud providers. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Jun 2020
10 ways to improve the customer experience today
Many organizations struggle with where and how to improve CX, as the focus shifts from CRM to customer experience. Here are 10 strategies to use for a successful journey. Continue Reading
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News
28 May 2020
Pega Academy goes free with Trailhead-like badges
On the eve of his company's user conference, Pegasystems CEO Alan Trefler discussed COVID-19, RPA tech, free Pega skills training and a new appreciation for old rival Salesforce. Continue Reading
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News
12 May 2020
Salesforce coronavirus contact tracing platform goes national
Salesforce gets involved in state and local health authorities' coronavirus contact tracing efforts in New York City, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, California and Louisiana. Continue Reading
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Feature
01 May 2020
3 key training areas for remote sales success
Remote work is easy for some departments, but sales teams may struggle without in-person interactions. Businesses should train sales reps to be successful while working from home. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Mar 2020
9 steps for negotiating deals with Salesforce
Understanding the Salesforce fiscal calendar, motivations of sales agents and what your businesses needs from a deal are key steps in negotiating contracts with the CRM giant. Continue Reading
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News
24 Mar 2020
Zendesk Relater primes customers for remote call center work
Zendesk focuses on fledgling Sunshine and Sell CRM platforms, as well as helping its well-established customer service base switch to remote call center work. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Mar 2020
Salesforce adds new features to Trailhead Live and Go mobile app
Trailhead Live now features a live chat option and is available on Trailhead Go. While the mobile app fills a need, users still gravitate toward the desktop version. Continue Reading
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News
04 Mar 2020
Zendesk Sunshine CRM, social media upgrades released
Zendesk upgraded Sunshine CRM and Support platforms to manage digital customer conversations, and added e-commerce tools that enable agents to work through order and payment issues. Continue Reading
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News
19 Feb 2020
Salesforce Sydney event moves online amid coronavirus concerns
As coronavirus spreads, Salesforce changed its March 4 live World Tour Sydney conference to a livestream event, citing safety concerns for employees, customers and Trailblazers. Continue Reading
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News
06 Feb 2020
Salesforce layoffs hit Customer Success at end of fiscal year
Salesforce, a pioneer in customer success, has laid off what is rumored to be more than 1,000 Customer Success employees. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Jan 2020
Software CDP features don't equate to CDP branding
While many tech companies have software with customer data platform attributes, some vendors, such as Salesforce and Oracle, don't put the CDP label on them. Continue Reading
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Answer
07 Jan 2020
What are some useful Salesforce CPQ features?
CPQ tools help speed up the quote process while providing accurate pricing, along with other features. Here's how this technology can help your organization. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Dec 2019
AppExchange, acquisitions key to the future of Salesforce
In the first 20 years of Salesforce's history, acquisitions and products drove rapid growth. In the next 20, AppExchange partners will play a crucial role in the company's growth. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Dec 2019
Salesforce Trailblazer community must keep pace to fuel growth
Salesforce Trailhead's mission is to provide current and prospective customers with admins and developers. Growing that talent pool is crucial to Salesforce's health. Continue Reading
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Conference Coverage
21 Nov 2019
Salesforce Dreamforce 2019 news, events and highlights
Dreamforce 2019, Nov. 19 to 22 in San Francisco, promises a variety of announcements and events. Follow this guide for all the happenings during the conference. Continue Reading
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News
14 Nov 2019
Salesforce.org Education Cloud updates enhance student engagement
New Salesforce.org Education Cloud features assist with degree planning, setting up adviser appointments and getting a more well-rounded view of students. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Nov 2019
Salesforce customers supplement CRM with AppExchange tools
Salesforce customers are turning to the AppExchange to supplement their CRM function. Many find AppExchange tools to be more cost-effective and to integrate better with the CRM. Continue Reading
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News
03 Oct 2019
Zendesk Sell apps marketplace extends Sunshine CRM platform
Zendesk's Sunshine CRM gets an apps marketplace built on its Sell sales force automation platform, adapted from the 2018 acquisition of FutureSimple's Base. Continue Reading
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News
11 Sep 2019
Security, management updates made to LogMeIn Bold360
LogMeIn has updated the search optimizer, monitor view and workload organization features in its live agent and chat bot customer engagement and AI software platform Bold360. Continue Reading
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Answer
28 Aug 2019
Learn how to build a Salesforce app in 4 steps
Salesforce users can follow these steps to create sophisticated codeless apps that integrate the Next Best Action feature using the Lightning App Builder. Continue Reading
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News
25 Jul 2019
Increases expected from new Microsoft Dynamics 365 pricing
Microsoft's move to a la carte pricing for Dynamics 365 could lead to higher costs for some customers. The new pricing plan takes effect Oct. 1. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Jul 2019
Businesses use AR/VR in CRM to boost customer experience
Businesses are using augmented reality -- and its cousin virtual reality -- in applications across many industries. Where CRM is concerned, AR/VR may represent a big leap forward. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2019
Salesforce teases new CDP features ahead of fall release
Salesforce gives details about the makeup of its Customer 360 integration platform and features of the customer data platform that it plans to release this fall. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2019
$15.7B Salesforce-Tableau acquisition a direct shot at Microsoft
By acquiring Tableau, Salesforce dramatically strengthened its BI and data visualization capabilities. The move boosts Salesforce's ability to compete with Microsoft. Continue Reading
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Answer
10 Jun 2019
Why use third-party marketing automation instead of native CRM tools?
Though many CRM platforms offer native marketing automation tools, many organizations find it beneficial to use a third-party application, such as Eloqua or Marketo. Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2019
SurveyAdvantage launches new customer management service
LoyaltyLoop is SurveyAdvantage's newest service. It provides businesses with a platform to collect and manage customer feedback and reviews through surveys and reviews. Continue Reading
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News
03 Jun 2019
Pega Customer Service adds digital messaging capabilities
Pegasystems users can now offer their customers support through text messaging and will be able to develop apps more easily with a new low-code platform. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 May 2019
Pega Cloud is Pegasystems' preferred platform
In a Q&A, Alan Trefler, Pegasystems CEO and chess master, ruminates about the cloud, the symbiotic relationship between chess and AI, AI inflation, and the pivot to CX. Continue Reading
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News
02 May 2019
Impartner PRM integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for sales
Impartner's collaboration with Microsoft delivers Impartner PRM for Microsoft Dynamics 365, a PRM sales software that gives users immediate access to direct and indirect sales data. Continue Reading
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News
01 May 2019
Infor launches new CRM mobile app for CloudSuite
Meeting mobile needs is key for Infor, which just released its Infor CloudSuite CRM Mobile application for iOS users. The app will provide access to important information on the go. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Apr 2019
Online scheduling platforms open new channel for customers
New customer-centric tools book demos in Salesforce at a customer's bidding, automating processes that took multiple email messages and forms -- sometimes losing leads in the process. Continue Reading
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News
25 Apr 2019
Upgraded Salesforce Sales Cloud features boost productivity
With AI enhancements, the new cohort of Sales Cloud features will minimize busywork and increase productivity of sales reps, according to Salesforce. Continue Reading
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News
16 Apr 2019
Infor launches Infor CloudSuite for customer management
Infor has released the Infor CloudSuite CRM cloud-based application, a program for companies to track customer lifecycles, sales and marketing analytics. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Apr 2019
5 unusual ways to use AI in content management
AI offers great opportunity for enhancing enterprise content management. Here are some more unusual use cases for AI that businesses should also consider. Continue Reading
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News
05 Apr 2019
Salesforce Classic nearing end of life, but not dead yet
Salesforce's Lightning UI debuted three years ago, and the vendor stopped adding features to its predecessor, Classic. Customers cling to Classic, despite a big push for Lightning. Continue Reading
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Infographic
26 Mar 2019
Choosing between single- vs. multivendor strategy for CRM
There are two ways to set up a CX tech stack -- either an integrated CRM suite or best-of-breed approach. There are benefits to each model, and the two are compared here. Continue Reading
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News
07 Jan 2019
HubSpot Ventures to strategically fund friendly startups
HubSpot remembers the financial backing it received as a new company and creates its own $30 million venture fund to invest in startups that align with the HubSpot mission. Continue Reading
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Podcast
24 Dec 2018
2018 in review: CRM morphs into CX software
Acquisitions and new products marked a busy 2018, with vendors like Salesforce, Adobe and SAP making splashy acquisitions while refocusing on customer experience. Continue Reading
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News
19 Nov 2018
Zendesk CRM moves beyond customer service into CX
Zendesk moves on from focusing solely on customer service by adding analytics, sales force automation and CRM capabilities, while also providing third-party integrations on AWS. Continue Reading
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Podcast
24 Oct 2018
How enterprises use dynamic pricing algorithms with AI, CRM
Born out of the '80s era of airline deregulation, dynamic pricing finds new life and popularity when mixed with AI. In this Pipeline podcast, we talk with Ulrich von Beck of Pros. 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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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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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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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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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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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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Podcast
06 Oct 2017
AI among new Dynamics 365 features, Microsoft Teams top news from Ignite
Discussing the top news stories coming out of the newly combined Microsoft Ignite and Envision conferences on the latest Pipeline podcast episode. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jan 2017
Software creation is not for every startup
While it may be beneficial in the long run, creating AI software requires patience, investment and the right cast of employees. For one company, the investment paid off. Continue Reading
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Podcast
12 Jan 2017
New e-commerce technologies set to change customer experience
With the recent emergence of e-commerce technologies like Amazon Go and Commerce Cloud, customer experience has greater potential, but it also poses security issues. Continue Reading
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News
25 May 2016
Maximize growth through sales collaboration
OHL, a global supply chain management company, grew sales with successful collaboration between sales teams and marketers. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Apr 2016
Mobile marketing strategy isn't a bolt-on to existing strategy
Too often, companies falter in their marketing strategies by tacking mobility onto what they already do. Instead, you should create 'mobile moments.' Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Oct 2015
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
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Tip
01 Sep 2015
Wearable technologies still need to hit their enterprise stride
Wearable technologies represent a $7 billion industry, but they haven’t yet made their stake in the ground for knowledge workers. Continue Reading
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Podcast
23 Jul 2015
Location-based service apps yield trove of information
When customers come into a store with offers from location-based service apps, like mobile wallets, it indicates a new level of buying intention greater than just window shopping. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 May 2015
Enhancing customer engagement strategy through a mobile experience
Consumers use mobile devices constantly. Marketers can capitalize on this by developing a rich, engaging mobile experience to drive sales. Continue Reading
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News
30 Apr 2015
Could Oracle, Microsoft, or IBM buy Salesforce?
Only a few companies could afford to buy Salesforce.com. Is a buyout on the horizon, though? Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Nov 2008
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 (KPIs) for customer retention programs. Continue Reading
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Answer
24 Jul 2007
Calculating the call center agent seat utilization ratio
Lori Bocklund explains how to calculate the seat utilization ratio for a call center with a formula using call center agents and number of call center seats. Continue Reading
