July 2006

Magazine Features

A Nearshore Niche in Nicaragua

Two new call centers offer bilingual agents, lower operating costs, and closer-to-home comfort to U.S. companies.

Wireless: Hot or Not?

Devices and platforms and applications abound--here's what you need to pay attention to

Practical Presto!

Customer clarity is an analytical wand's wave away with new marketing automation apps.

Front Office

Why Nicaragua?

The Nicaraguan government is betting that U.S. companies will opt for educated, bilingual agents for an average wage of $2.35 per hour, which is even lower than India's average agent hourly wage.

Reality Check

Demystifying CRM Adoption Rates

CSO Insights' Sales Performance Optimization '06: Four essential facts about end-user performance and buy-in.

Customer Centricity

Embrace Complexity

Avoid paying the price of oversimplified customer interactions.

The Tipping Point

Customer Segments Matter

Define and manage them in the organization so that their value is specifically differentiated.

Pint of View

My Pet Project

Making business relationships warm and fuzzy.

Insight

The ABCs of SLAs

Many vendors require customers to perform their own due diligence.

Microsoft Talks Pretty One Day

The software giant hopes to end the struggle with the development, management, and TCO of speech-enabled apps.

A Thousand Words Will Betray Consumer Trust

Overcommunication and spin can have the opposite of a marketer's intended effect.

Market Focus: Healthcare: CRM Says ''Ahhh...''

As healthcare providers turn to electronic records, CRM finds its way into the practice.

Required Reading: To Lead, Know Where to Go

CRM's Colin Beasty spoke with Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones about Why Should Anyone Want to Be Led by You? and how it relates to good CRM.

REAL ROI

IT Paradise: Integrating CRM with ERP

"We were like, my God, that's the nirvana."

Rescued at Sea

Microsoft partner IBIS wades in to help a financial services company with unmanageable sales leads.

Easy-on-the-Pocket QA for Seasonality

Deploying a hosted solution helps a retailer with a diverse inventory monitor and train its seasonal staff.

Overcoming a Bear of a Communications Gap

Contact Networks teaches a VC to get in touch with its inner address book.

Secret of My Success: Pay Dirt

A credit union looks to incentive management to help cut back on all the paper.

Re:Tooling

Tech Solution: Marketing Campaign Optimization Tools

Business Problem: Marketers are failing to drive revenue and market penetration from their current campaigns.