Users First: the greatest “Duh!” moment in CRM history - Story From: CRMOutsiders
At last week’s SugarCon conference in San Francisco, SugarCRM’s executives outlined a three-item set of ideals that their business would be built around. Two of them had to do with the idea of “openness” – an open ecosystem and an open cloud strategy. Those two items capitalize on the cultural and technical underpinnings of the … Continue reading »
Categories: CRM, SugarCRM Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
If a Tweet falls during SugarCon, does EVERYONE hear it? - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz I know the Outsiders has been a little quiet this week. That’s because I’m up to my elbows in SugarCon – which is a really great show, and I’d be saying that even if I wasn’t the show chair. If you want a great stream-of-exceptionally-elevated-CRM-consciousness peek inside the show, check out Twitter … Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
InsideView’s Koka Sexton: How a few shifts in your sales process can have a huge impact on sales revenue - Story From: CRMOutsiders
(Editor’s note: With SugarCon right around the corner, I was more than pleased to receive this guest entry from InsideView’s Koka Sexton. InsideView’s been a terrific addition to SugarCRM for users of that particular CRM application, and for a lot of savvy users of other applications as well. They’re also a sponsor of SugarCon – … Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM, Uncategorized, lead generation Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
Aligning support and marketing: an idea so obvious no one thinks of it - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes. I admit that. Every time I step on the cat’s food bowl and scatter kibble everywhere, and every time I smack my shin into the glass-topped coffee table I am reminded of my intellectual limitations. (I do hate that coffee table.) … Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
“Do You Know Who I Am?”: What a Jerk Says, but What a Customer Thinks - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz What’s the epitome of an obnoxious person? You might think that’s a tough and very subjective question. I don’t think it is. There’s one way in which the truly obnoxious self-identify, and I bet you’ve actually seen it in action. It’s the person, who when they are confronted by something that befuddles … Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
What should CRM shows be about: CRM users or CRM vendors? (Hint: it’s the users) - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz Vendor-organized shows and conferences have two ways to go: they can be educational, or they can be commercial. I think we’ve all been to the latter: the orgy of self-promotion in which attendees are bludgeoned by a barrage of logos, up-selling pitches and executive glad-handing. At a certain point, even the people … Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
Crowdsessioning: letting the attendees of SugarCon 2012 choose the content - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz
One of the unexpected pleasures of my job is to act as the session chairman for SugarCon 2012. I get to solicit, pick and otherwise decide what will be in the breakout sessions and the keynotes for the event (which is coming up April 23-25). As a social media aficionado (not an expert!), I’m trying to throw some social aspects into the show; that’s led to the unconventional process we’re using to generate ideas for the sessions.
A lot of vendor-sponsored shows are done for the benefit of the vendor. That flies in the face of the whole idea of CRM and being customer-centric, and SugarCon’s been perhaps the least guilty of this in the past. Taking it to the next level, we’re making sure the content of the show is what the attendees want by allowing the attendees to program the show.
Here’s how it works: if you go to the show page, and click on sessions, you won’t see a formal agenda yet – you’ll see the list of submitted sessions. If you click on the session you’re interested in, you can vote on it if it sounds like something that will float your boat. We’ll give those greater scrutiny than others when making the final cut. And if there’s a session you’d like to present, or one you’d like to see, throw it up there. Voting goes through Feb. 15, so you still have time to make your voice heard and influence what SugarCon 12 looks like.
To be honest, we’re not letting them program the entire show – only because you need some lead time to get on the calendar of people like Guy Kawasaki, Paul Greenberg, Paul Gillin, Michael Fauscette, Brent Leary, Jesus Hoyos, Esteban Kolsky, Chuck Schaeffer, Dr. Natalie Petouhoff and Michael Wu. I went out and pleaded, cajoled and wheedled ahead of time to get them on board – well, to be honest, it was easy. All these folks are proof of my theory that anyone who succeeds in CRM must be at heart a good, friendly person, and they were happy to throw their hats in to our three-ring circus.
But SugarCon 2012 is not about my theories – it’s about you, the CRM user. Take a peek at the site, make a contribution to our session ideas, and get your spot reserved today. We’re looking forward to seeing all of you in San Francisco in April!
Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
Can you get the CRM you want without customizing, getting a vertical solution or going DIY? - Story From: CRMOutsiders
Lauren Carlson used her Software Advice blog to ask an interesting question: when picking a CRM application, should you go vertical, customize or integrate? I think she’s hit upon something important here: if you plan on gaining a competitive advantage from CRM, you can’t use only the functionality that comes standard in the box (or … Continue reading »
Categories: CRM, SugarCRM Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
The customer’s role in CRM: speak up - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz When you work with CRM all day, you start to look at your interactions through CRM-tinted glasses. Sadly, much of what you see encapsulates the way CRM is either misused or ignored. For instance: Dear business that sends me too much junk: I appreciate that your email marketing system is integrated with … Continue reading »
Choice: in CRM, it should be a top-to-bottom concept - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz I have long advocated the idea of CRM vendors behaving like CRM users – in other words, using the ideas that the discipline that CRM represents to run the business of selling CRM applications. A lot of vendors fall short of this; their internal needs trump the needs of their customers, and … Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
The Top 20 CRM Blogs of 2011 - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz This is the fifth year that I’ve compiled a list of the best CRM blogs, and the trend is clear: more and better blogs on the topic of CRM are out there than ever before. In 2008, it was a struggle to find 20 good blogs on CRM; now, there are so … Continue reading »
Categories: CRM, Social CRM, SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
Airlines and their baggage: when it comes to Customer Experience, it goes beyond the overhead bin - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz If stand-up comedy and CRM punditry have one thing in common, it’s the fact that talking about airline travel is a hack move. Cheesy. Low-effort. Played out. Not as easy as shooting fish in a barrel – it’s as easy as looking at fish in a barrel (to steal a joke from … Continue reading »
Categories: Customer Experience, SugarCRM Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
Where should SCRM Thought Leaders focus: on big ideas, or the nuts and bolts? - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz There’s a term that has been stuck to me at times that makes me cringe, although it probably also helps me get paid better. The term is “thought leader.” That sounds as if people reading my stuff have thoughts that can be led, like I’m some kind of intellectual and metaphorical dog … Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
Tweeters Behaving Badly: Why You Need To Think About Personas as Part of Your Social Media Strategy - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz One of the things social media allows us to see clearly and instantly is that some people don’t get social media. I see this every day in the CRM Outsiders Twitter feed (we’re @CRMOutsiders, by the way). Many of the people following us and being followed by us pre-date my arrival, including … Continue reading »
Categories: CRM, Social CRM, SugarCRM, Uncategorized, social media, twitter Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
Confusion in the Cloud – and a Small Thing You can do to Fight It - Story From: CRMOutsiders
By Chris Bucholtz Let’s face it – most people have but a passing notion about the cloud. That’s thanks to marketing people, mostly, and their nearly pathological need to take today’s hot buzzword and attach it to whatever it is they’re selling. This is not exclusive to technology; five years ago, the real-world analog was … Continue reading »
Categories: SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM, CRM Software, SugarCRM
The Secret Lesson Hiding in Nucleus Research’s ROI Study - Story From: CRM Outsiders
By Chris Bucholtz Yesterday, Nucleus Research issued a paper (read it for yourself here) that made a fairly encouraging claim: for every dollar spent on CRM, companies were seeing a return of $5.60 in benefits. That’s a very interesting number, although it’s a number in an area of research that can be very hard to [...]
Categories: On-Demand CRM, Social CRM, SugarCRM Tags: CRM Reviews, SugarCRM
Switching Gears: Transforming Transmission Repair by Building Processes Around the Customer Experience - Story From: CRM Outsiders
By Chris Bucholtz The auto repair industry can’t boast a history of great customer relationships. Part of it is customer-based – no one’s really in a great mood when their car breaks, and it’s hard to deliver a great customer experience when the customer’s in the midst of a bad experience. But a lot of [...]
Categories: On-Demand CRM, Social CRM, SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM Reviews, SugarCRM
The data helps the relationship, but the relationship drives the sale - Story From: CRM Outsiders
By Chris Bucholtz A few years ago, I did a webinar with some respected thought leaders in the area of sales about the impact data was having on selling. No one was willing to use the term “data-driven selling” – that was too much for sales people’s sensibilities. But the guests were willing and able [...]
Categories: CRM, On-Demand CRM, Social Business, Social CRM, SugarCRM, sales Tags: CRM Reviews, SugarCRM
What Sugar 6.3 teaches us about customer co-creation - Story From: CRM Outsiders
By Chris Bucholtz Social media and social CRM are the kinds of things that offer multiple points of value. People who have their throwback CRM hats screwed on too tightly tend to see the formula as data+SCRM=sales dollars as the only metric, which isn’t exactly right. There are other benefits to engaging in SCRM – [...]
Categories: On-Demand CRM, Social Business, Social CRM, SugarCRM Tags: CRM Reviews, SugarCRM
Klout: the Popularity Contest that Misrepresents Itself as a Metric - Story From: CRM Outsiders
By Chris Bucholtz Over the last few weeks, I’ve been seeing a bunch of stuff about Klout come across my desk. For those of you who are unaware of what Klout is, you can visit the website try to figure it out on your own, or you can go with this brief synopsis: It’s a [...]
Categories: On-Demand CRM, Social CRM, SugarCRM, Uncategorized Tags: CRM Reviews, SugarCRM
