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Am I kidding me? Forecasting the year ahead? Sheesh! One of the reasons the task I set for myself is so daunting this year is that I believe we are in a massive transition state that affects the whole economy, CRM included. I think Tom Friedman got it right in version 2.0 of his Hot, Flat and Cro...

U.S. airlines may not keep passengers waiting in an airplane on a tarmac -- whether for take-off clearance or stalled because of bad weather or just about any other reason -- for more than three hours, according to new rules issued by the Department of Transporation. After two hours, airlines are re...

It's no mistake. This credit card's interest rate is 79.9 percent. The bloated APR is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. It's a strategy other subprime card issuers could start adopting to get around ...

In a bittersweet twist of irony, a CRM technology solution can save a company or kill it. If wielded effectively, obstacles disappear and profits materialize. Used wrongly, your investment and customers are lost -- often permanently. It's crucial to know your company's CRM strengths and, more import...

It's important to keep the story of eService in mind when thinking about social media's role over the past few years in reshaping the ways customers interact with brands. Undoubtedly, the influence of social channels has been at least as profound -- and perhaps even more profound -- than that of eSe...

Every year-end I write two columns. One looks back on the prior year's forecast; the other looks ahead. This is the first of the two, and it's time to compare my projections for the year with what actually happened. Last year I took an optimistic approach by saying that it was a great time for inn...

CRM systems are on a steep evolutionary slope, but marketing automation is evolving even more rapidly, spurred by a rash of innovative thinking and the SaaS delivery model. With the technology offering so much potential, integrating a crackerjack CRM system and an effective marketing automation solu...

Companies are gearing up for a strong finish to 2009, and consumers are gearing up to acquire more high-tech gadgets from big box stores and online retailers at highly competitive prices. This is a great time to consider how companies can ensure customers are satisfied and successful with their purc...

From early origins of cold-calling into purchased contact lists, to contemporary methodologies incorporating Web 2.0 enablers, companies seeking to steer highly qualified leads to their "closers" are faced today with a combination of competitive threats, information overload and hesitant buyer behav...

Finally, Paul Greenberg's new edition of CRM at the Speed of Light hit the streets last week, and with it, my description of him as our Walt Whitman remains intact. To promote the continuing franchise, the fourth edition's cover has the same design as the third edition but with a different color sc...

As anyone familiar with CRM knows, adoption is the key to whether you live or die by your CRM solution. You can make detailed plans, do arduous research, negotiate great deals, execute a deployment plan flawlessly -- and then see it all go for naught when your users fail to use the system. The reaso...

Retail pharmacies in the U.S. filled 3.65 billion prescriptions in 2008, and another 238 million prescriptions were filled by direct mail. Each Rx was issued by a physician -- which explains why the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. spends heavily on marketing efforts aimed at doctors, including c...

The economy is finally recovering. This should mean that projects that were sidelined for the past year or two can come off the bench, and there might be more money to go around. As a project manager, are you confident that you will be able to put the right people on these projects? Not only that,...

Most marketers will accept that some portion of marketing will always be an art that is tricky to measure. However, it's difficult to deny the overwhelming need for marketers who can "crunch the numbers." Aberdeen research from the past five years suggest marketers are getting more savvy, more tech...

This just in: Females outnumber males on social networking sites. The site Pingdom did a survey and concluded that 16 out of 19 of the most popular social sites have more women populating them than men. The super geek sites Digg, Reddit and Slashdot have more men on them, but the more popular site...