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Aberdeen research conducted for "B2B TeleServices: The 2009 Buyer's Guide" has shown the end-user value of deploying external, customer-facing teams to source, nurture and convert the most highly qualified leads on behalf of an internal, B2B-focused field sales organization. Additional findings in ...

The facts about today's customers are well established: They know more about your business than ever before, they're talking to their peers and to the wider public about you, they want to be communicated with through the channels of their choosing, and they desire to have a more partner-like relatio...

They say we have big brains because we have all needed to work better together over the past 150,000 years. The more people work together, the more tools they need to make collaboration a productive art, rather than a befuddled mess. Rather than wait for human evolution to keep up the pace, Salesfor...

Salesforce.com has filed a countersuit against Microsoft, alleging that the software giant infringed on five of its patents in such products as Windows Server, the .Net platform and Microsoft's Windows Live authentication system. Salesforce.com is seeking unspecified damages in the suit, which was f...

CRM and marketing systems are all geared toward getting people to buy. After all, the whole point of investing in these tools is to increase top-line revenue. At least, that's the argument we make to our bosses when we seek to implement them. Those tools are getting better all the time, and one area...

Tell them what you are going to say, say it, and then tell them what you told them. The rule of three, that's the Salesforce.com approach to its market outreach, and it has served them well over the last decade. Tuesday was part three of the Chatter cycle, in which the company culminated nearly a ...

The revolutionary changes in the buying process mean that the sales process seems to be shrinking while the marketing cycle is growing. How do we then stay engaged and determine when the time is right to strike? We need to get involved early -- when the buying process begins -- by providing educat...

More than ever before, project managers are looking to technology help mitigate the risk of project failure. According to a recent list of Top 10 Project Management Trends, "the implementation of new PPM solutions [in 2010] will soar. Program and project managers, under pressure from senior manage...

As a marketer, you need a control panel to make decisions. The world is moving faster and faster every day, enabling literally billions of interactions about your company and products around the globe. What you need is real-time intelligence. The term "real-time" used to only apply to Wall Street an...

Enterprise 2.0 came to Boston this week, and that made me happy because it is one of a very small number of events that I don't fly to. Being a native, it's nice to take the train into the city and to be able to sleep at home. Despite this convenience, I was only able to attend on Tuesday, and I c...

The last two years have been rough for many sales and marketing departments: Head counts have been cut, goals have increased, and the emergence of technology has boosted expectations. Those are recent issues, but the issue that persists is that sales and marketing are still too often working at cros...

In May and June of 2010, Aberdeen surveyed more than 260 executives regarding their plans for the second half of 2010 and the first half of calendar 2011. The results were clear and compelling -- marketing's ability to access and understand customer experience data means success or failure for compa...

Most technology buyers understand that system capabilities represent only one part of the buying decision. Service after the sale, ease of doing business, and a commitment to meeting customer needs are also critical in selecting the right technology partner. Most vendors talk a good game when it com...

As businesses worldwide increasingly focus on e-commerce as a vehicle for driving new revenue streams, most e-commerce sites still struggle to leverage the growing wealth of customer data to which they have access. This failure to integrate customer relationship management activities with online vis...

Do you want to close more sales? Do you want to sell more to existing customers? Do you want to get closer to your users online so you can know what they are thinking? A virtual agent could be an effective way for you to do all of the above. What is a virtual agent? Technically, a virtual agent ...