Cornerstone Consulting – Helping Businesses Leverage: ERP Systems, On Demand-Software as a Service, Cloud Computing, Online Marketing, Social Media Networking, e-Commerce Web Stores, Mobile Commerce & Optimal SEO Website Design
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) SHOULD BUILD LONG TERM VALUE
From an article recently published in MIT Sloan Management Review:
“Companies seeking to improve the overall value of their customer relationships cannot rely on the standardized solutions and off-the-shelf analytics that have defined the practice of CRM to date. For most companies, the transition to a relationship-based approach will require a significant shift in mindset and practice. Managers will need to expand the type of data collected by their CRM systems, customize CRM solutions to the specific types of relationships the company is managing and retrain customer-facing employees to be sensitive to the relational clues they receive and send. Maintaining the status quo is not a viable option. Companies need to stop managing for the immediate economic return and start focusing on how they can build the long-term value of their relationships. Companies that ignore the challenges of relationship building risk losing valuable customers to more relationship-savvy competitors.”
The intriguing article is quite a thought provoker and provides excellent suggestions about improving CRM results.
See: MIT Sloan Management Article – Putting the Relationship Back Into CRM
For Expert CRM Advice Call Cornerstone Consulting at (813) 321-1300
LIVE CHAT CAN INCREASE SALES
“A year or two ago, it looked like instant messaging and other forms of online chat had reached their full potential as a business tool. Millions of people were using IM to interact with corporate colleagues. Live chat had also become a fixture on websites, giving customers a way to inquire about products and receive answers in real time.
But as it has since the Web’s earliest days, IM continues to evolve. Now some savvy website operators are finding that, when used tactfully, it can be a powerful way to boost sales – not just as a passive customer-service tool but as a way to engage customers, in the manner of a showroom salesperson. For all the advantages that come with selling on the Web, one disadvantage has constrained online merchants: They haven’t been able to approach customers as they’re shopping and pitch them on the spot. But live chat programs are beginning to change that, augmenting the IM functions with new surveillance capabilities that allow retailers to track, in real time, what pages you’re visiting and what links you’ve clicked.”
See: Money.CNN.com Article – Live Chat
For Expert Website Enhancement Advice Call Cornerstone Consulting at (813) 321-1300
SEARCH MARKETING GROWTH
A very interesting prediction: “The North American search marketing industry will grow by 16% this year, with paid search expenditures increasing from $16.6 billion in 2010 to $19.3 billion this year, according to a new study from the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization. The study, based on an online survey conducted in February and March of more than 900 companies and agencies, also determined that 47% of North American companies are using Facebook for pay-per-click search campaigns, which the company said represented a “˜significant challenge’ to Google’s dominance of this sphere.
Mobile search continues to attract attention, with 40% saying that the growth of the mobile internet was “˜highly significant’, an increase from 26% last year.”
Will your search marketing tactics stay abreast of those employed by your competitors?
