October 2010

Magazine Features

Proactive: Take the Initiative

Proactive CRM enables organizations to cut costs, minimize risk, protect their brand, and improve customer experiences.

How Can I Help You?

Proactive businesses that utilize chat technology to engage Web visitors are seeing higher conversion rates. So why aren't you?

Anybody's Bot

Virtual agents, deemed the new "concierge" of the Internet, help customers navigate through ever-increasing Web site complexities.

Front Office

Act or Be Acted Upon

Being more proactive is not merely a nice thought, it's essential.

Reality Check

A Quarter-Century in CRM

An industry veteran looks back at the lessons learned over the course of 25 years.

Customer Centricity

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz

Enough with the buzzwords and hype. Let's start doing.

The Tipping Point

Intimacy Issues

You can enhance customer intimacy in ways that didn't exist until very recently.

Pint of View

(Proactive) Service with a (Secret) Smile

If you feel like somebody's watching you, it just might be CRM in action

Insight

A Succession of Failures

Industry analysts explain how vendors and customers can avoid the communication errors that occur during CRM implementations.

A CRM Showdown in Times Square

Executives from four of the industry's top vendors share the same stage—but not the same views.

The Crash of Google Wave

The search-engine giant beaches its innovative collaboration engine.

Market Focus: Healthcare—A Healthy Dose of Social Media

One provider shows how to join consumers in social networks without compromising a secure relationship.

Required Reading: Slowing Down Your Social CRM

Relationship-building takes more than a tweet

CRM on Twitter: October 2010

REAL ROI

A Catalog of Contacts

With Unica's marketing software, Sears Holdings gains some newfound customer intelligence.

To Predict and Serve

Predictive analytics helps a police department make better use of limited resources.

A Healthy Dose of User Adoption

UnitedHealthcare overhauls its CRM program to embrace an on-demand solution that users will actually use.

Secret of My Success

Something Borrowed, Something Blogged

Marrying a variety of voice-of-the-customer approaches, David's Bridal tries measuring sentiment among social media-savvy brides.