DestinationCRM on 10 CRM technology evolutions

Many of today's most effective CRM processes and strategies are so successful because of the underlying technologies that enable and support them. In our dynamic, evolving industry new technologies continue to allow us to interact with customers in ways we never imagined. This is not to say that technology is the end-all in CRM--we still need engaged people, relevant processes, and quality data. But when properly implemented, technology can take that powerful threesome even farther. Consider the already heady impact and potential of the following 10 technologies...

1. VoIP
   
2. Web Services and Services Oriented Architecture
   
3. Speech Applications
   
4. Outsourced Application Delivery
   
5. Social Networking
   
6. Wireless Connectivity and Applications
   
7. Presence Technologies (RFID, POS)
   
8. Open Source CRM
   
9. Embedded Analytics and Business Intelligence
   
10. Queue Management
    

Steve Pavlina, CEO, Dexterity Software writes a concise treatise on how he uses his system to get more done with less time. Worth a read.

[via the XPLANE bBlog]

The folks at the Brain Brew Radio program are preparing a special series for next year on Brainstorming. The good, the bad and the ugly. Look for this series coming soon! For my contribution, I submit that of all the brainstorming sessions I've attended and tried to run, nothing beats a strong facilitator and a couple of quick brainstorming/problem solving tools. You can have a lot of mediocrity in the group, the cause, the tools, and the like, but the facilitator is the glue that holds it all together and has the power to bring out the best in the group

Are You a Workaholic? Today's CareerJournal has a quick quiz for you!
A commitment to your job that borders on obsession may not help your career. Learn whether your dedication to work is healthy or harmful.

I have been searching the Internet for months trying to find a distance marketing PhD. So far University of Phoenix (online) is
the only available option, but I have not heard a great deal of positives about their courses at that level, and was wondering if anyone knew of any other 'distance' PhD programs in marketing?

I understand that there may be times where you need to live/study at the actual university, but moving away 'full-time' to a specific school is not an option right now.

Thanks for any help you can offer. Email me at dana[at]danavan.net, or leave a comment. Thanks!

I don't know if Nick Wreden is writing from a recent experience, or is just posting this cautionary note, but there is a distinct danger in not minding the company you keep online as your personal brand morphs into the 'Brand Called We.'

Seems like I'm not the only one to suffer a bit of blogger's block recently. There's an article in Entrepreneur about it this month.

Seriously folks - there's been a lot of prep going into the AMA Hot Topic Series - Blogs: Marketing Beyond the Website. Look for good things to come out of that event.

Seriously, I had no idea that Coyote Ugly was a real place. Hmmm. "Advice" from today's StartupJournal.

Buying a run-down dive bar in New York's East Village - $195,000

Medical bills from bar fights in an environment of controlled chaos - $2500

$40 million in free national and international advertising when Disney makes a movie about your business - Priceless!

Seriously. This story makes a strong case for building a business on what you believe in (whatever that may be!) and going for it!

Today's WSJ (sub) highlights, once again, the plight of publishers (this time, it's everyone who does print, not just books) and their fight to maintain relevance in an increasingly digital, entertainment driven world. Having just finished a healthy discussion on why aren't student's reading more from their tablet PCs in the form of e-books, I submit that the growing e-book trend will do something to stem the tide of people turning away from reading. Especially if Microsoft and Toshiba have their way and the mobile, tablet based computing medium becomes a ubiquitous phenomenon, reading e-books, or even 'consuming containers of digital media' (imagine if all of the process flow diagrams you read in college were interactive and animated! Would that have made you want to learn?? :)

I'm at the Decision Sciences Institute conference in Boston today presenting on building brand community using weblogs. [download presentation] I've also had the great fortune to visit with thought leaders from a number of universities around the country, and just got an in-depth review of the power of the tablet PC in education, sales, and the executive ranks. Amazing technology.

More learnings from the conference later.

Ten little things that, once you read the article, you'll say "why the hell don't we do that?" Via the [non]billable hour, courtesy of the GlobeandMail.

1. Cellphones
By any standard you can think of -- coverage, price, ubiquity -- China's cellphone practices beat ours. You can use them in elevators, subways and parking garages. They work in Tibet, at the Great Wall, in remotest rural China, which is more than you can say for Ontario cottage country. Patients, doctors, nurses and visitors use them in hospitals, too, with no apparent ill effects.

2. Informative stop lights
In Tianjin, a city of 13 million people, traffic lights display red or green signals in a rectangle that rhythmically shrinks down as the time remaining evaporates. In Beijing, some traffic lights offer a countdown clock for both green and red signals.

During a red light, you know whether you have time to check that map; on a green light, you know whether to start braking a block away -- or to stomp on the accelerator, as though you were a Toronto or Montreal driver. (That's probably why Montreal has a few lights with countdown seconds for pedestrians.)

3. Transit debit cards
Wouldn't it be great to have a single debit card for buses, subways -- and taxis? That's how it works in Shanghai. Passengers don't have to fumble for exact change on buses and subways, or line up to buy tokens or tickets. Taxi drivers don't have to make change, or get ripped off by counterfeit bills, a real plague in China. And they aren't loaded down with cash, which would make them tempting targets for robbery.

4. Adult playgrounds
Adult playgrounds get everyone out in the fresh air, especially seniors who might stay shut in at home. Teens like to hang out there, too. And it sends a not-so-subtle propaganda message about the benefits of healthy living.

5. Anti-theft slipcovers
What do you do with a purse in a restaurant? It can slide off your lap, and looping the handle over the back of your chair is an invitation to a thief. In China, when you sling your purse or laptop or coat over your chair back, a waiter hurries to toss a tasteful slipcover over it. It foils thieves, and also protects coats from food spills. Some restaurants provide hooks under the table for purses.

Damn cool!

More on learning to Plone. You can try out Plone by joining a site such as CloudCityCoffee.com (www.cloudcitycoffee.com) or signing up at Objectis.org (www.objectis.org)

Fast Company has their list of 100 innovations and concepts that you can look forward to in 2005!

Paul at SquareSpace talks about the hype that numbers provide. Whether or not your a hardcore business numbers addict. Numbers matter. Words matter. Combine the two for a great blog entry, and great news about your company.

Walt Mossberg gave the MSN search beta a ho-hum BUT future-positive review (meaning: Watch out - they're going to get better, and who knows what happens when they get there!). Go see for yourself.

You don't have to be an MSN member to use the new search service. Anyone can try it, free of charge, at beta.search.msn.com.

CMO Magazine has a quick one-pager in this month's issue on the subject of blogging. Unlike Bob Bly's decidedly negative comments to the direct marketing community, Christopher Caggiano delivers a positive, albeit brief, review of blog technology and their potential merits.

Oddly enough, they also cover the topic of RSS in the same issue. James Robertson immediately highlights the marketing angle on RSS

If you haven't already signed up for your free issue of CMO, I highly recommend it. It's all meat and no crap. Really!

Jane Friedman of HarperCollins was interviewed in the Wall St. Journal today on where she sees the future of book heading.

While the article doesn't make an express mention of weblogs, she raves on about how the Internet is the author's best friend and how publishing companies are leveraging the internet to supplement what used to be the 'round the country author tour.' Things like Todd's Business Blog Book tour may become more commonplace as authors segment and target their book audience and then apply the most surgical and strategic tools to reach their audience.

On another positive note, there wasn't even a trace of bitching about sellers like Amazon diluting the new book market with links to used books for sale. Nice to see that the publishing industry isn't waving their "woe is us" flag around like they used to.

Martina Z. at Adverblog is writing her thesis on "a sociological analysis of the mobile phone usage, with a focus on its marketing implications." Anyone having knowledge on or interest in this topic is encouraged to contact Martina!

I can honestly say that I've fallen into the trap of 'hourly rate' vs. 'results able to produce' too many times. The Guerrilla Marketing guys have an interesting take on this phenomenon, and call for the end of hourly rate quoting by consultants all together. Not to make a huge case out of this whole thing, but I think of this from the client perspective (as if I were the client) and try to put a monetary value on what it is that I'm seeking (knowledge, an improved system or process, whatever...). Helping your clients come up with a business case for their project can be an integral part of your pitch, thereby supporting your involvement and the value you bring.

There's another lesson at stake here. It comes down to the point of working smarter vs. working harder. You can put all the grunt effort into a project that you can muster, but it still may never be the most expedient and intelligent way to get the job done. Step back, think "results", and plan your work better accordingly.

Best Buy, the subject of a recent book, has an article in the WSJ today (sub, but free this week) on how they're taking a very aggressive approach to segmenting and targeting their most profitable consumers. The tactic has been around for a while, and has been put in play by a cadre of B2B companies, but we're almost never seen this level of assertive analysis done by a major retailer.

[UPDATE] Art Jahnke post his take on this '20% solution' on the CMO magazine blog.

Fascinating stuff for all of your market research and market segmentation fans.

"Politicians are like diapers," someone once said.
"They both need changing regularly. And for the same reasons."

or...

Maybe Nikita Khrushchev said it better, "Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge where there is no river.

Rob Levinson, and independent marketing consultant, wrote an interesting article in Startup Journal on just how much is at stake when you pitch as an independent, and how to make the most of your pitch by doing some self reflection beforehand.

1. Who am I?
Companies hire consultants for their insights, business intelligence and experience or to gain resources they don't have in-house. To meet those needs, I always present myself as a seasoned expert who has "been there and done that" -- whatever the issue may be.

2. What am I selling?
As a consultant, and not, for instance, a toy manufacturer, my ideas are my product. They're what I sell, so I need to be judicious about what I charge for and what I give away.

3. Why buy my service?
Prospects believe I have something to offer or they wouldn't invite me to make presentations. However, they often need prodding as to why my services are required. To pre-emptively answer this, I do extensive research on a client's industry, competitors, company culture and infrastructure -- noting in particular its vulnerabilities or "pain points."

4. Why buy my service today?
I can't tell you how many times I've brought the dang horse to water -- but I couldn't make it drink. That is, until I started instilling the "fear factor," or the suggestion that waiting could have dire consequences to a company's health. No company wants to be behind the eight ball, so suggesting that tomorrow is too late is always an effective approach.

The sale of political ads on Web logs boomed during the election campaign, but how will the blog ad business fare now that the election is over? Henry Copeland, the head of BlogAds.com, a firm that sells ads for more than 500 blogs, acknowledges that the blog ad business will slump for a while, but he thinks it will surge early next year.

[via BusinessWeek (11/4)]

Nick Duffill, one of the developers of ResultManager, has a great post on his blog, Beyond Crayons, about the reason why mind maps are so much more effective than text in conveying information. The spatial relationships and connections that mind maps create carry an incredible amount of information, even when the text (as in his example) is meaningless. A great read.

If the election process folks could learn a little from the Red Cross and their blood drives, I think that my voting experience would have been a lot more interesting!

So, my voting experience is less than amusing. Wait outside 40 minutes, they can't find my name on the damn list because of an extra space in my last name, and I had to drive 1/2 hour just to get to be able to vote.

Here's a neat site for you to keep track of who's ahead...

How to Use It: Select one of 3 starting "views". Then click any state to change its outcome. This becomes "My View" -- your projection of the results. As you change each state, the total Electoral Vote counter will update. You'll also see historical election info for that state.

http://www.270towin.com/

ABC TV has a very nice Real-Time Vote Results Flash...
http://snipurl.com/ABC_Realtime

One of the most actionable manifestos yet to come out of the ChangeThis project is this latest one by Oliva&Toscani. Whether you agree or disagree with the One-Minute Site Manifesto, there is some compelling advice here. Find out more at http://www.oneminutesite.com.

This manifesto fits squarely into the way bloggers have treated their home pages for some time now. The home page is meant to 'engage your visitors personally - something that a blog is born to do! So many sites have brochure-ware remnants on their sites that are no longer applicable in today's web environment.

Read, enjoy!

The future of knowledge management is embodied by the blog.

Full Story: http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=4495 &TopicID=9