Author: CRM Guru

Most managers think CRM is a great solution for their company for selfish reasons like being able to share and manage their customer data, pipeline, leads, etc. Those are all good reasons but little do they realize CRM is also important for their customers.

Providing customer service is very important if you want to keep your customers. How many times have you called your bank and been greeted by an automated voice asking you to key in your bank account number? You’re thinking “Great, now I’ll quickly be able to speak with a customer service rep”. Wrong. Usually after the automated voice you’ll have the customer service rep ask you to repeat it. Situations like this frustrate us since the automation process is supposed to save both sides time.

Here’s another example: When I call my cell phone provider I only have to answer a simple question like “what is my mothers maiden name” and bingo, we’re ready to chat about my account. That is how CRM is meant to work — help automate manual processes, allow the rep to know who I am, and speed up the BS.

So my message to call center and sales managers is — Don’t forget, CRM is also important for your customers.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with a very talented ex-salesforce.com director yesterday and spoke to him about his experiences at salesforce and what he’s been doing since.

Aaron Ross was a four year veteran at salesforce.com and saw the company grow from 300 to over 2,000 employees. While he was there, he built a $20 million tele-prospecting sales team from the ground up and spent a year in the corporate development (acquisitions and investments) team, helping acquire and launch the AppExchange Mobile and Salesforce for Google AdWords products. Continue reading “Ex-Salesforce.com Director Launches Sales Machine Blog”

I’d like to officially announce that CRMblogger.com has partnered with TradePub.com to offer you complimentary one-year subscriptions to dozens of leading Sales & Marketing publications. Browse through the extensive list of free Sales & Marketing magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts to find the titles that best match your skills and interests; topics include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), call center management, advertising and public relations. No purchase is necessary and all publications are entirely free to those who qualify!

For example, check out great industry rags such as CRM Magazine, B2B Magazine, eWeek, and more. All of them offer a free subscription for a full year! I used to subscribe to many of these and just send them directly to my work address. They are thin magazines with great information to keep you on top of industry news and technology. Perfect reading when you have to “work through lunch” at your desk.

Be sure to check back often, as new titles are continually added to the site. No coupons, credit cards, or special codes are necessary.

Ever wonder what your previous CRM co-workers are up to? With sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, it’s becoming more and more easy to keep in touch with your past co-workers. These sites are great but there’s something they don’t have — ex-employee groups which allow you to network with just your previous co-workers.

The good news is there are companies like Yahoo and Google who have created the ability for anyone to setup groups. In this case, for ex-CRM employees that have worked at places like Siebel, Oracle, Netsuite, and Salesforce.com. It’s also good source for finding new jobs or connecting with others to hire at your new company. Continue reading “Connect With Old Co-Workers – CRM Alumni Groups”