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This Little SMB Went to Market Small and midsize businesses, driven by the allure of e-commerce and online marketing, are increasingly turning to Web-based professional services and solutions for help, according to a new study by Yankee Group. Overall, market revenue is expected to increase from $4.4 billion in 2005 to $5.4 billion by 2010. This is due to most SMBs lacking the time, technical expertise, and Internet marketing skills to establish and maintain a professional-looking Web site, according to the report.

For CRM, ERP, and SCM, SAP Leads the Way SAP is the market share leader in the CRM, ERP, and SCM spaces, according to three reports from Gartner Dataquest. Gartner, which has traditionally measured market share in terms of new license revenue, has tweaked its approach to reflect changes in the software industry. Now, Gartner takes total software revenue as revenue generated from new licenses, updates, subscriptions and hosting, technical support, and maintenance, but excludes professional services and hardware revenue.

When It Comes to Search, Three's a Crowd E-commerce sites need to take a page from pizza delivery services, according to a new study from the Patricia Seybold Group. "Search Experience Metrics: Key Indicators You Should Be Tracking for Customer Search Experience" asserts that a quick delivery time is crucial for online customers to keep them coming back. To ensure a great search experience on the customers' end and high conversion rates for their traffic, customers must be able to connect with the information they are looking for within five minutes, and with no more than two searches. Although this small window might seem narrow, developing best practices for quick delivery is possible if proper attention is paid to search metrics. These efforts pay for themselves multifold in customer response and retention.

The TAS Group Forms as Oracle Sheds OnTarget Oracle has unloaded the OnTarget sales methodology business it inherited from its Siebel Systems megadeal, selling it to sales methodology and training provider Select Selling for an undisclosed amount. The combined company now operates as The TAS (Target Account Selling) Group. Select Selling acquired most of the global assets of the OnTarget sales methodology division on June 30, but the deal excludes France and Italy, allowing the OnTarget businesses in those countries to operate as usual.

Customer Recommendations Drive Business Success Apple, Google, and Symantec have something in common: They each work the hardest at maximizing the customer experience in their respective industries and have reaped the rewards of customer loyalty, according to three studies by Satmetrix Systems. The customer experience management firm's Net Promoter Score of leading businesses in online services, computers, and consumer software details an intuitive but rarely quantified fact: Loyal customers breed success.

ATG Seasons Its E-Commerce and Service Functionality ATG has added several new capabilities to its e-Commerce Platform and Customer Care Offering. Many of the e-commerce enhancements center on "searchandising," while offerings within the company's customer care suite like ATG Live Chat, ATG Response Management, and ATG Customer Intelligence are aimed at delivering an integrated and relevant multichannel experience. (For the full stories and more news, visit destinationCRM.com)

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