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Can SAP Really Get Social This Time?
Before digging into the analysis of where Salesforce is and where it is going, and how the message at DreamForce was — what’s the word I am looking for… no, I won’t give it away yet (got a good analogy to introduce you to it, trust me).Anyways,...
Engagement != Experience != Relationship — You Know That, Right?
Oracle announced the acquisition of Vitrue this morning. Did they need that? Let me put it this way… if I say “Databases” you probably think Oracle… If I say “Marketing” there may be a lot of companies that come to mind before Oracle,...
The New Way to Segment For a 6x Greater Return
I have been thinking about this for some time (BTW, this is a short post – hope to ignite some discussion with this), would love to get your thoughts.Traditionally (as in most everybody I know in this world) we use financial metrics for customer...
Social for Customer Service: it’s About the Customers
How can organizations embrace social channels and technologies to improve customer service?I must’ve heard this question every day in the past 6-9 months.The intent was not how to do twitter, how to leverage Facebook, or should we use Klout scores...
CRM Idol 2012 – And So It Begins…
Starting today at 7 AM US-EDT CRM Idol 2012 (the second season) began.The experience last year for all participants, in their words, was incredible.They learned amazing new things about their companies and products. The discovered new ways to...
Getting to Business Value Through Gamification
Everyone wants in.Organizations want to do something with it and they think it can change the world; if you go by their word every organization in the planet is doing something with it.I am talking, of course, about Social’s latest craze tool:...
The Unbearable Lightness of Multitenancy in the Cloud
If y’all are not in the mood to listen to a (well reasoned, researched, educated and well-timed) rant, move along. This is me ranting about vendors trying to confuse users when it comes to cloud topics. If you are interested in why...
The Best is Yet to Come in Social
Trust me, it sounds better if you sing it with Tony Bennett’s voice and to the melody of “The Best Is Yet To Come” (here is a video of him and Diana Krall singing it — Merry Christmas and Happy New Year present from me to you). The truth is that I...
It Works, It Actually Works! Holy Framework, Batman…
Who would’ve thunk, huh? Back in 2002-2003, while I was at Gartner, I introduced a vision for Customer Service for the next 15-20 years. There were three stages to this vision, all seemed unrelated and although slightly possible at the time,...
Zen And The Art Of Social Customer Service
Before you all jump on defining Zen and what it has to do with anything. let me enroll my millions of friends at Wikipedia to explain Zen. According to Wikipedia: Zen emphasizes experiential wisdom in the attainment of enlightenment I am...
Fly Fishing in Facebook
When I was 19 I took a fly-fishing trip with my brother and a couple of friends. It was a fantastic experience; Argentina is one of the top places in the world for fly fishing. They don’t stock fish, all wild, and they monitor very closely to...
First Take: HP Acquires Autonomy
On August 18, 2011 HP announced some changes to their business – including the acquisition of Autonomy. I was curious as to how this could affect the CRM and Customer Service markets, where a number of vendors have deals with either Autonomy or...
Is Facebook a Bubble? 5 Signs Pointing to a Burst
Guest post by Anthony Nemelka. The best, most easily actionable investment advice I ever received was from my economics professor at college. He told his students that his investment strategy has always been to bet against the cover of Time...
The Confusing World of Social Business
I have the privilege of working with two gentlemen that put most “thought leaders” to shame. I am referring, of course, to Emanuele Quintarelli and Sameer Patel. They are not only very bright in their perceptions of Social Business, but very active...
EFM? Far From Dead, Thanks for Asking…
In 2001 I wrote a paper for Gartner introducing Customer Feedback Systems (it is available from Gartner if you are a client, it is under Archive, but easy to find – ping me if you want more details). In that paper I made the point that asking...
SAP and The Hoover Dam
First, I did not go to SAPPhire Now 2011. Had to get that out of the way quickly (and to confess I am late in filing my report, I was busy – sorry). I relied on the superb job that SAP did with the remote coverage (there were 7-10 sessions...
A Little Help with Voice of the Customer Research, If You Please…
I am asking for your help. Yes, I know I am always asking – but this could actually be interesting for you as well. I am working with Attensity on a research report on Voice of the Customer. We are trying to find out what is the...
NetSuite? For The Enterprise? Really?
Bear with me for a second here, this is not about CRM, or about NetSuite for that matter even. This is about enterprise computing models. I attended NetSuite’s SuiteWorld 2011 yesterday (it goes for 3 days, I could not make all three...
“Intentionalizing” Customer Service
I was listening to NPR in the car while driving the kids to school (part of my contribution to their culture, don’t say I am not a good parent) and there was a discussion about Charter Schools versus Public Schools. I just happen to hear an...
Mixing Social Media and Customer Service? Skate to Where the Puck Is…
I was listening to a pretty darn good (if you remove the “look at what we do” part of the presentations) webinar from CRM Magazine talking about how to do social media and customer service well. There were some interesting discussions of different...
