CRM Update – Apr 06 : 1:53 pm

It’s come to this: Even marketers of trash bags have a social media marketing strategy.
One of the top players in the category, Glad, launched a Facebook- and YouTube-based campaign for its Black Bag line on Thursday. The brand, which is owned by Clorox, has typically had a TV-heavy media strategy, but is “exploring the impact of a social campaign,” a rep says.
Reasoning that not many people will talk about trash bags per se, the brand has instead veered the conversation into the craziness of domestic life…

Three steps to driving repeat business.

Systems are the building blocks on which success is built, but case studies on the subject can be yawn-inducing. Apple, however, has changed all that.Four days, 11 countries, 3 million devices–amazing. That’s the only word to describe the launch of the latest Apple tablet.The new iPad drew the type of fanfare we’ve all come to expect with an Apple launch. Being in the consumer electronics industry, all of us at OtterBox were also buzzing with excitement. As expected, each iteration of iDevice comes with new bells and whistles; but can consumers truly fathom what “a million more pixels than an HDTV” actually means? I can’t, but it sure sounds impressive…

At a time when it seemed that online retailers and sites offering discounted deals were ruling the ecommerce niche, some seriously disturbing details from the underbelly of the daily deals industry have surfaced.
There has been an erosion of faith in daily deals offered by various websites. The deals themselves are becoming a bit bizarre, from zombie parties to hosting entire weddings. Everything seems to be peddled in the name of a “packaged” deal.
The leading, daily deals provider across the world and in the UK, Groupon, is facing consumerist and regulatory wrath for its exaggerated offers…

Encyclopedia Britannica’s announcement that this year’s run of books will be its last has jolted demand back to life, helping the company sell all but 800 of its 4,000-set run.

A company spokesman explains the hotcakes-like sales to USA Today as a sign that some see the final edition of Britannica’s encyclopedias as keepsakes and possible investment opportunities:

“When people thought they were going to be around forever there was no rush to buy one and then suddenly, boom, and now there is a scarcity and it’s a collector’s item…

Clothing6PM [Apparel] [Sale: Up to 70% off Patagonia for Men, Women, and Kids April 2012]Macys [Apparel] [coupon: Extra 15% Off during the Easter Sale]Kohl’s: [Apparel] 20% Off your Entire order w/ Coupon SPRING2SAVEJ.Jill: [Apparel] 25% Off Select ‘Outlet’ Items, no code neededBanana Republic: [Clothing & Accesories] Save 25% Off Full Price Styles use coupon code BRSAVE25.

Computers and Electronics

Cameta: [Electronics] Olympus 12.3MP Micro 4/3 Digital Camera – Factory Demo $199…

Here are eight of the best photos that readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or just plain neatness.

(#2 – photographynatalia)

(#3 – ashi)

(#4 – kenfagerdotcom)

(#5 – Carl Polgar)

(#6 – Great Beyond)

(#7 – photographynatalia)

(#8 – krossbow)

Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right, and start hitting “send to group” on your individual photos you want to add to the pool…

In this video I interview Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor Company.Scott shares how to connect and engage  your customers with social media. He also explains how Ford uses Google+ and blogging to engage customers and what this means for their business.Be sure to check out the takeaways below after you watch the video.Here are some of the things you’ll learn in this video:Ford’s experience with Google+ and its potential for brandsHow the conversation on Google+ is different How their blogging impacts salesWhat Ford is doing to stimulate fan engagementHow Ford wants to bring social media inside carsHow to make humor work in your social media marketingWhy you need to focus on creating a storyThe upcoming trends in social mediaConnect with Scott on Twitter @scottmonty and check out Ford Social and Scott’s Social Media Marketing blog…

The wrong focus can actually make it trickier to build a solid customer relationship. Make sure you’re getting these right.Sales goals help you sell, right? Well, not really. In fact, sales goals can get in the way of a successful sale, if you spend too much time thinking about them.Before I explain further, here’s an analogy that comes from Jeffrey Seeley, CEO of the sales training firm Carew International:”A weekend basketball player, playing at the local park, thinks about shooting the ball into the basket, the last 10 misses he made, the last three shots he made, the current score, and maybe how stupid he’ll look if he misses another easy shot…

You’ve already spent time perfecting your questioning and listening skills. But how good is your storytelling?There are three key skills that define a great salesperson: the ability to ask great questions, the ability to listen actively, and the ability to tell great stories. You’ve probably spent a lot of time thinking about the first two–but what do you know about storytelling?Stories have become increasingly important in the world of selling. They can be a powerful tool for getting the attention of prospective clients, because they’re memorable and allow you to easily differentiate yourself, and they help people to understand and connect with what you do…

Survey results should be relevant to both you and your customer.

Your Friday may not be so good if you eat a bad egg. If you’ve dug up some old eggs in the refrigerator and no longer have the expiration date handy, you’ll face the decision of whether to throw out your eggs or try your luck by cooking them.

But before you do that, there’s a simple trick you can try to test your egg, courtesy of an About.com Frugal Living post.

You place the egg in a bowl of cold water, then see whether it sinks to the bottom, stands on its point or floats…

Health insurer Aetna has raised its rates for California small business clients considerably, making for an average increase of 8 percent, with some businesses seeing increases of as much as 21 percent. The California State Insurance Commissioner called the hikes “excessive.”

Aetna justified the rate hike, which took effect April 1, to the L.A. Times, saying its rates “are based on actuarially sound data and reasonable projection of future cost.”

In a statement, Aetna pulled out the old “taking it seriously…

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg recently revealed that she leaves work every day at 5:30 p.m. and is home for dinner at 6 with her kids.
Sandberg said that she’s only been “brave enough” to talk about her work habits in the last two years. If you also leave work early, Sandberg’s stance may assuage some of your guilt. If you regularly work later, but feel you’re doing it out of duty rather than actual need, maybe you’ll think twice — after all, Sandberg is doing OK…

Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. Today, we’re looking at three particularly interesting stories.
Twitter Sues Five Major Spammers
Twitter has filed a suit against five web tools and providers that allegedly make it easier to spam people on Twitter. Facebook, Google and Yahoo have filed similar lawsuits in the past, and Twitter claims the lawsuits send “a clear message to all would-be spammers that there are serious and costly consequences” to violating Twitter’s rules…

Here, kitty, kitty. In today’s funding environment there’s a good chance you’ll be seeking angel investment. Here’s how to do it right.With today’s robust funding environment and the impending passage of the JOBS Act and its new crowdfunding rules, there’s a strong chance that your start-up will be raising money from angel investors—quite possibly a very large group of them. Working with numerous investors, all with different interests and demands, can be a strain not just on you, but also on your business…

Here are some additional recommendations about how to make peer reviews of your requirements documents as effective as possible.
Don’t Overwhelm the Reviewers
Many BAs wait until their requirements specification is complete before they present it to some reviewers. Busy developers, testers, project managers, and users have difficulty finding the time to scrutinize a large document on short notice. It’s far more effective to review an evolving document incrementally. Give reviewers just a few pages at a time, preferably soon after an elicitation activity…