CRM Update – May 01 : 1:07 pm

A toilet plunger isn’t a terrifying weapon to anyone but germaphobes, or maybe a child with nightmares of being chased by Daleks. Yet a man in Utica, NY thought that it made a terrifying enough weapon that he attempted to rob three different banks while threatening tellers with the plunger. None of the robberies were successful.

Police recovered the plunger from the last bank he visited, so the residents of the Mohawk Valley can rest easy, knowing this weapon won’t fall into the wrong hands…

With their direct access to customers, service departments can offer valuable strategy insights.

A surge in cloud-based and multichannel customer interaction contributes to the uptick, but obstacles remain.

Three in four companies plan to use social media as an enablement tool within a year.

A 2012 buyers’ guide.

Want a promotion? Make friends at work. [CNN Money] “If you’re not reaching out to make and nurture friendships at work, you’re probably hurting your career.”Perfect Prom on a Budget: 13 Ways to Spend Less, Still Shine [Daily Finance] “According to USA Today, spending on the spring formal is set to rise this year to an average of $1,078.”21 Tasty and Cost-Effective Breakfast for Dinner Ideas [Wise Bread] “Here are 21 ways to enjoy breakfast for dinner that balance flavor, frugality and fun…

If business tasks are not as natural as breathing, your business will suffocate.

Customers not only appreciate simplicity; they’ll pay more for it too.

A natural language-based IVR connects US Airways passengers to better service.

A specialty insurer drives brand awareness through its Web series.

Don’t give customers a reason to jump ship.

The bar has been raised for technologies that not only hear, but understand too.

Ashlee’s house was robbed last Thanksgiving, and the culprits were never caught. They replaced the stolen items, and life went on. Until her Xbox Live account signed on using another console. The same console that had been stolen, whereabouts now unknown. Maybe the identity or location of the person now using Ashlee’s Xbox could provide valuable insights into who robbed their house five months ago. Microsoft wasn’t interested in helping, and determined that the new owner’s use of her account and attempt to use it to buy points weren’t fraudulent…

John Ragsdale, TSIA’s VP of technology research and former analyst, tells all.

Proposed legislation is a first step in the process to strengthen online consumer protections.

Traditional sales organizations tend to think of email marketing in terms of nurturing client relationships, newsletters, etc.
Especially for B2B sales pros, emails seem to be superfluous and run the risk of annoying valued prospects and customers.
Of course, there are plenty of good reasons to succumb to these fears but, in a world where customers’ attention is their scarcest resource, wise sales teams take advantage of all the communication mediums they can.
What makes and email campaign effective? There can be plenty of answers but, there should be two core goals of any campaign…

Motivate the right prospects or customers to take the desired action
Build a relationship of trust with prospects and customers

No email campaign will yield 100% success in motivating the desired behavior (request a quote, schedule a demo, talk to an account manager or make a purchase) but, even those that choose not to act should be left with a feeling they were treated with respect, their needs were understood and a respect for the expertise of you and your company…

New technologies mean new challenges.

There are no shortcuts to customer strategy.

Do you want to tap into LinkedIn’s 150 million–member worldwide network?It’s important to focus on the right kinds of activities that will yield the best results.In this article, I’ll reveal five key strategies and activities you can focus on to build and grow your network.#1: Update Your Status Frequently and ConsistentlyOnly one-third of LinkedIn members visit the site every day, and another one-third of members visit the network several times a week, according to a survey conducted by Lab42…

Service providers respond to changing market conditions with greater CRM deployments.

Third-party partners are broadening their roles. What to consider for the perfect pairing.

The things that make games so compelling “can equally make employees, partners, [and] customers addicted to your B2B or B2C offering.”

Social Life helps state harness the power of social media.

Disciplined software organizations collect a focused set of metrics about each of their projects. These metrics provide insight into the size of the product; the effort, time, and money that the project or individual tasks consumed; the project status; and the product’s quality. Because requirements are an essential project component, you should measure several aspects of your requirements engineering activities. This two-part series, adapted from my book More about Software Requirements, describes several meaningful metrics related to requirements activities on your projects…

Can Your FInd Me Now? How To Optimize for Mobile Search
Mobile search is an integral part of any mobile marketing strategy given the steady growth of smartphones and tablets. Use mobile search to ensure that prospects and customers can find you when they actively look for you on-the-go.  (Here’s some more mobile shopping data you need now!]
According to Performics, mobile searches account for about one out eight Google searches and tablets account for about two out of every five searches…