Customer relationship management (CRM)
Find Customer Relationship Management (CRM) resources here: news, analysis and case studies on CRM software choices and implementing CRM. Find out how UK companies and organisations are harnessing CRM to drive forward customer-centric business strategies. Understand CRM market trends, and how organisations are managing the customer experience for competitive advantage.
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Feature
15 Nov 2024
9 sustainable event ideas
From hosting virtual conferences to repurposing exhibition stands as cow shelters, brands can find ways to make their events more sustainable. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Nov 2024
7 benefits of event marketing
From large conferences to small webinars, events can help brands improve lead generation and content creation. Continue Reading
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Definition
07 Nov 2024
What is mindshare (share of mind)?
Mindshare, also known as share of mind, is an approach to marketing that involves attempting to make a company, brand or product the first one that comes to mind when a customer thinks of a particular market. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Nov 2024
7 benefits of event marketing
From large conferences to small webinars, events can help brands improve lead generation and content creation. Continue Reading
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Video
06 Nov 2024
An explanation of customer relationship management (CRM)
CRM software enhances customer relationships and drives sales growth by consolidating customer data into a single database, enabling effective marketing and improved service. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Nov 2024
What is martech (marketing technology)?
Martech (marketing technology) refers to the integration of software tools, platforms and applications designed to streamline and enhance digital marketing. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Nov 2024
What is customer insight (consumer insight)?
Customer insight, or consumer insight, is the understanding and interpretation of customer data, behaviors and feedback into conclusions that can be used to drive actions that improve product development and customer support. Continue Reading
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News
28 Oct 2024
How Manulife is empowering sales and call centre agents with AI
Canadian insurance giant is leveraging generative AI to personalise customer experiences, transform contact centre workflows and automate underwriting processes Continue Reading
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Tip
22 Oct 2024
10 multitouch attribution software and tools
MTA tools can help marketers understand the customer journey and track which touchpoints lead to the most conversions. Top tools include Adobe Analytics, Branch and Triple Whale. Continue Reading
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News
21 Oct 2024
Techcombank’s tech investments set to fuel record profit
The Vietnam bank is targeting $1bn in profit in 2024 while maintaining a flat headcount and reducing physical branches, thanks to its investments in artificial intelligence and a data engine Continue Reading
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Definition
21 Oct 2024
What is Salesforce Wave Analytics (Salesforce CRM Analytics)?
Salesforce Wave Analytics, now known as CRM Analytics, is a business intelligence (BI) and analytics platform from Salesforce that provides native analytics, visual insights and predictions powered by artificial intelligence (AI) for Salesforce CRM to help businesses make better, data-driven decisions. Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Oct 2024
7 benefits of video marketing
Video marketing can help organizations engage audiences on an emotional level. Key benefits include building trust, enhancing SEO and improving the sales process. Continue Reading
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News
18 Oct 2024
How Philippine Airlines is transforming customer experience
The flag carrier of the Philippines discusses how its digital transformation journey has improved customer experience and streamlined internal processes Continue Reading
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Definition
16 Oct 2024
What is Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a customer relationship management (CRM) and digital marketing platform that enables marketers to generate better marketing outcomes and ROI. Continue Reading
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Definition
15 Oct 2024
What is Salesforce Service Cloud?
Salesforce Service Cloud is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform for Salesforce clients to provide service and support to their business customers. Continue Reading
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Definition
15 Oct 2024
What is IoT Cloud (Salesforce IoT Cloud)?
IoT Cloud is a Salesforce platform designed to store and process internet of things (IoT) data. Continue Reading
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News
15 Oct 2024
Gitex Global: Avaya augments CX role with AI-based Virtual Operations Manager
Virtual Operations Manager concept looks to highlight ‘art of the possible’, showing how human and AI collaboration can fundamentally alter the way customer experience is managed at the contact centre level Continue Reading
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E-Zine
15 Oct 2024
A future of virtual collaboration
In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine how immersive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality are set to transform workplace collaboration. We look at how AI is helping to deliver improvements in customer experience. And we analyse the problems in the Post Office project to replace its troubled Horizon IT system. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
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Definition
11 Oct 2024
What is Salesforce Customer Success Platform?
The Salesforce Customer Success Platform (CSP) is the official name of the Salesforce portfolio of products. Continue Reading
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Definition
11 Oct 2024
What is Salesforce Work.com?
Salesforce Work.com is a set of solutions from Salesforce that enable organizations to simplify return-to-work processes, maintain safe workplace operations, assess and promote employee health, safety and well-being, and communicate with customers in an open, honest, trustworthy manner. Continue Reading
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Definition
11 Oct 2024
What is the Salesforce Service Console?
The Salesforce Service Console is the centralized interface in Salesforce Service Cloud, an application devoted to customer service, support and customer experience. Continue Reading
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Definition
10 Oct 2024
What is Salesforce Journey Builder?
Salesforce Journey Builder is a campaign planning tool in Salesforce Marketing Cloud to build personalized customer journeys and deliver unique campaigns and content that enhance customer experiences and secure their loyalty. Continue Reading
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Definition
10 Oct 2024
What is search engine optimization (SEO)?
Search engine optimization is the science of improving a website to increase its visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs) when people search for products or services. Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Oct 2024
What is customer intelligence (CI) and how does it help business?
Customer intelligence (CI) is the process of collecting and analyzing detailed customer data from internal and external sources to gain insights about customer needs, motivations and behaviors. Continue Reading
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Opinion
01 Oct 2024
How to make the CMO your best friend
Chief marketing officers are more reliant than ever on their CIO colleagues - but it's a relationship that can, and should, work to their mutual benefit Continue Reading
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News
27 Sep 2024
Digital customer experience critical for manufacturing, construction
Study finds desire to improve operational efficiency, digital transformation, changing customer expectations and competitive pressures driving a shift towards an enhanced digital customer experience in key industrial sectors Continue Reading
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News
27 Sep 2024
How UEM Sunrise is driving transformation with Salesforce and AI
Malaysian property developer UEM Sunrise is leveraging Salesforce and AI to boost sales and enhance customer experience while prioritising data sovereignty and a diversified cloud strategy Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Sep 2024
Does influencer marketing work?
The quick answer is yes. Influencer marketing can help brands increase engagement and sales. Yet, it only works if marketers give influencers creative control. Continue Reading
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Definition
24 Sep 2024
What is a customer effort score (CES)?
Customer effort score (CES) is a system for evaluating how much effort is required on the part of a customer to achieve satisfaction in their experience with a company. Continue Reading
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Definition
23 Sep 2024
What is a sales funnel? Everything you need to know
A sales funnel, also called a 'purchase funnel,' is the visual representation of the customer journey, depicting the sales process from awareness to action. Continue Reading
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Opinion
23 Sep 2024
Gartner: Mitigating security threats in AI agents
Agents represent a step-change in the use of artificial intelligence in the enterprise - as attendees at Salesforce's annual conference saw first hand this month - but do not come without their risks Continue Reading
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Opinion
23 Sep 2024
Benioff’s Agentforce gambit might just work
At Dreamforce 2024 in San Francisco, Salesforce announced the potential for its customers to embed virtual agents on its platform, so avoiding what the supplier dubs DIY GenAI. Will it work? Continue Reading
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News
23 Sep 2024
Metro Bank outsources IT to Infosys to cut costs and digitally transform
Indian IT services giant taken on to support Metro Bank’s digital transformation in multi-year deal Continue Reading
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News
22 Sep 2024
Zendesk debuts outcome-based pricing for AI agents
Zendesk customers only pay for successful AI query resolutions, easing the transition to AI-powered customer support and improving scalability during peak periods Continue Reading
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Definition
19 Sep 2024
What is Salesforce Einstein 1?
Salesforce Einstein 1 refers to an integrated set of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies developed for the Salesforce platform. Continue Reading
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Definition
19 Sep 2024
What is Salesforce Sales Cloud?
Salesforce Sales Cloud is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform designed to support sales, marketing and customer support in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer contexts. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2024
M1 ditches 70% of legacy systems in cloud transformation drive
Singapore telco M1 is switching off 70% of its legacy systems by the end of 2024 and leveraging Salesforce to offer more personalised services Continue Reading
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Definition
18 Sep 2024
What is a sales pipeline?
A sales pipeline is a visual representation of sales prospects and where they are in the purchasing process. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2024
Dreamforce 24: Salesforce taps Nvidia to power Agentforce
At Dreamforce in San Francisco, Salesforce and Nvidia detail some of the tech that will power the software giant's newly launched Agentforce service Continue Reading
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Definition
18 Sep 2024
What is transactional marketing?
Transactional marketing is a business strategy that focuses on single, point-of-sale transactions. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2024
Dreamforce 2024: Salesforce calls on customers to flesh out AI vision
A stream of customers helped Salesforce make the case for its Agentforce artificial intelligence offering on the opening day of the annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco Continue Reading
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News
17 Sep 2024
Salesforce’s agentic AI platform to transform business automation
CRM giant’s Agentforce lets organisations build and deploy autonomous agents to automate business processes through advanced learning and data integration Continue Reading
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Definition
12 Sep 2024
What is Salesforce Platform (formerly Force.com)?
Salesforce Platform (formerly known as Force.com) is a platform as a service (PaaS) product that simplifies the development and deployment of cloud-based applications and websites. Continue Reading
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Definition
12 Sep 2024
What is Salesforce Developer Experience (Salesforce DX)?
Salesforce Developer Experience (Salesforce DX) is a set of software development tools that lets developers build, test and ship many kinds of applications on Salesforce Platform (formerly called Force.com). Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Sep 2024
The role of machine learning in multitouch attribution
As customer journeys have become more complex, marketers often struggle to determine which touchpoints lead to sales. Explore how machine learning can help. Continue Reading
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Definition
10 Sep 2024
What is Salesforce Commerce Cloud?
Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based suite of products that enable e-commerce businesses to set up e-commerce sites, drive more automation and provide customers with seamless shopping experiences. Continue Reading
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News
09 Sep 2024
Forrester: IT budget growth pushed towards cross-functional teams
Analyst firm Forrester has forecast a slight increase in IT budgets for 2025, but technical debt is one of the areas likely to feel the squeeze Continue Reading
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Feature
06 Sep 2024
Benefits and challenges of contact center benchmarking
Contact center benchmarking can help organizations allocate spending and improve CX. Yet, common pitfalls, such as a lack of qualitative data, can negatively affect efforts. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Sep 2024
What is digital experience (DX)?
Digital experience (DX), also known as 'digital user experience' (UX), is the take-away feeling an end user has after an experience in a digital environment or with a digital technology or device. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Sep 2024
What is a contact center?
A contact center is a central point from which organizations manage all customer interactions across various channels. Continue Reading
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Feature
03 Sep 2024
MTA vs. MMM: What's the difference?
MTA and MMM help marketers improve their strategies, but MTA has a narrower focus. Key differences between these techniques include focus and data requirements. Continue Reading
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Definition
28 Aug 2024
What is sentiment analysis?
Sentiment analysis, also referred to as 'opinion mining,' is an approach to natural language processing (NLP) that identifies the emotional tone behind a body of text. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 Aug 2024
10 strategies to improve contact center agent performance
Call monitoring, skills-based routing, positive reinforcement, training resources and coaching can help contact center agents improve their performance and customer interactions. Continue Reading
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Definition
20 Aug 2024
What is customer segmentation?
Customer segmentation is the practice of dividing a customer base into groups of individuals that have similar characteristics relevant to marketing, such as age, gender, interests and spending habits. Continue Reading
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Definition
19 Aug 2024
What is customer experience (CX) and why is it important?
Customer experience (CX) is the sum total of customers' perceptions and feelings resulting from interactions with a brand's products and services. Continue Reading
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Definition
16 Aug 2024
What are buyer personas?
A buyer persona is a composite representation of a specific type of customer in a market segment. Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Aug 2024
The top 7 video marketing trends
Video marketing trends, such as user-generated content, influencer marketing and virtual and hybrid events, can help brands expand their reach and engage more customers. Continue Reading
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Definition
14 Aug 2024
What is sales motion?
A sales motion is the particular sales method an organization uses to sell and deliver a product or a service to its customers. Continue Reading
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Blog Post
14 Aug 2024
Accessibility and digital exclusion
Imagine if one day in your job, you have to ask someone to find the radio button on a Windows PC or a Mac that you are supposed to click, because your screen reader is unable to tell you where it ... Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Aug 2024
10 tips to improve customer retention
Organizations that properly gather consumer feedback, get to know their customers and offer rewards to loyal shoppers can improve their customer retention rates. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Aug 2024
CX+EX=BG, with added AI: A winning formula for customer experience
Guaranteeing customer experiences of the highest level possible is one of the cornerstones of the modern business. Is there a magic formula? It could well be a combination of artificial intelligence and pixie dust Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Aug 2024
What is a 360-degree customer view?
The 360-degree customer view is a comprehensive approach to understanding customers by compiling their individual data from various touchpoints into a single view. Continue Reading
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News
01 Aug 2024
Businesses fail to deliver consistently positive customer experience
Research from a leading global business school’s publishing arm finds that even though 94% of business leaders think good customer experience is important for business success, just 38% believe they can deliver it Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Aug 2024
What is the bullwhip effect?
The bullwhip effect is a supply chain phenomenon describing how small fluctuations in demand at the retail level can cause progressively larger fluctuations in demand at the wholesale, distributor, manufacturer and raw material supplier levels. Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2024
Court overturns Appian’s $2bn trade secrets award against Pegasystems
Business process management software suppliers Pegasystems and Appian head for retrial after a judge finds flaws in trade secrets trial Continue Reading
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News
29 Jul 2024
AI ‘changing everything’ about customer experience
Study from customer experience technology provider reveals the profound effect AI is having in its industry, taking it beyond traditional, manual services to more advanced, technological-driven experiences Continue Reading
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Definition
26 Jul 2024
What are virtual agents and how are they being used?
A virtual agent -- sometimes called an intelligent virtual agent (IVA) -- is a software program or cloud service that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to provide automated services or guidance to humans. Continue Reading
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Definition
24 Jul 2024
What is first call resolution (FCR)?
First call resolution (FCR) is when contact center agents properly address a customer's needs the first time they call so there is no need for the customer to follow up with a second call. Continue Reading
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News
24 Jul 2024
Qualtrics CEO: AI can make businesses more human
Qualtrics CEO Zig Serafin believes AI can democratise experience management and help businesses better understand what matters to both customers and employees Continue Reading
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News
23 Jul 2024
Innovations to power secure-by-design development
Secure Code Warrior unveils technology designed to help CISOs and AppSec teams ensure their projects remain safe and free of coding errors and vulnerabilities – a big issue following the CrowdStrike incident Continue Reading
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Definition
22 Jul 2024
What is an abandoned call?
An abandoned call is a call or other type of contact initiated to a call center or contact center that is ended before any conversation occurs. Continue Reading
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Definition
19 Jul 2024
What is an inbound call?
An inbound call is typically initiated by a customer to a call center or contact center. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Jul 2024
6 generative AI tools to consider for marketing and sales
Generative AI tools can write marketing content, score leads and personalize sales emails. Explore six generative AI tools for marketing and sales, such as Jasper and Flick. Continue Reading
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Opinion
08 Jul 2024
Enterprises must stop GenAI experiments and start long-term strategies
Steven Webb, chief technology & innovation officer, Capgemini UK argues for enterprise organisations to put aside GenAI experimentation and build long-term strategies with it Continue Reading
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News
04 Jul 2024
How Qualtrics is driving experience management with AI
During the Sydney leg of its X4 conference, Qualtrics’ top executives dived deeper into its efforts to help organisations improve customer and employee experiences with AI Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Jun 2024
How AI can improve customer loyalty
AI plays a central role in customer loyalty. Yet, organizations can have a greater ROI if they focus their AI strategies more on improving CX and less on cutting costs. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jun 2024
Police Scotland did not consult ICO about high-risk cloud system
Police Scotland chose not to formally consult with the data regulator about the risks identified with a cloud-based digital evidence sharing system, while the regulator itself did not follow up for nearly three months Continue Reading
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News
20 Jun 2024
Bupa turns to data to provide personalised health services
Private healthcare provider Bupa says a project to deploy business process automation is bringing it closer to APAC customers Continue Reading
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Definition
14 Jun 2024
contact center schedule adherence
Contact center schedule adherence is a standard metric used in business contact centers to determine whether contact center agents are working the amount of time they are scheduled to work. Continue Reading
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Definition
13 Jun 2024
feedback loop
A feedback loop is the part of a system in which some portion (or all) of the system's output is used as input for future operations. Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2024
Tableau CEO on AI moves to ease analytics adoption
Tableau’s head honcho Ryan Aytay talks up Tableau’s efforts to bring more consumerisation and personalisation capabilities to data analytics through the use of AI Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2024
CDO interview: Sophie Gallay, global data and client IT director, Etam
The French retailer has some catching up to do on its data strategy and digital transformation – and its new data chief has an ambitious roadmap to deliver on data science, business intelligence and artificial intelligence Continue Reading
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Definition
10 Jun 2024
customer retention
Customer retention is a metric that measures customer loyalty, or an organization's ability to retain customers over time. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2024
Driving customer experience through cloud and AI
Autodesk’s global CIO Prakash Kota explains how the company is modernising its IT infrastructure and adopting cloud and AI to drive customer experience Continue Reading
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Definition
07 Jun 2024
Eloqua
Eloqua is a marketing automation platform that follows a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. Continue Reading
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Definition
31 May 2024
Pardot
Pardot is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) marketing automation platform by Salesforce that offers email automation, targeted email campaigns, and lead management for business-to-business (B2B) sales and marketing organizations. Continue Reading
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Definition
23 May 2024
AIDA marketing model
The AIDA marketing model is a framework that describes a buyer's journey through four key stages: Attention, Interest, Decision and Action. Continue Reading
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Feature
01 May 2024
Why your -- and everyone else's -- customer service stinks
Frustration with customer service teams isn't new. But there are some reasons why it is seemingly getting worse. Continue Reading
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Definition
29 Apr 2024
Marketo
Marketo is a comprehensive marketing software-as-a-service platform designed to automate and streamline marketing tasks across multiple digital channels. Continue Reading
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News
25 Apr 2024
Executive interview: Salesforce AI head discusses dynamic flowcharts
Business workflows can usually be mapped onto flowcharts which depict the set of actions an IT system takes, but large language models can make this dynamic, according to Jayesh Govindarajan, senior vice-president of AI at Salesforce Continue Reading
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Opinion
24 Apr 2024
SuiteConnect London 2024: GenAI everywhere the refrain
Oracle NetSuite’s Evan Goldberg and Oracle’s business applications head Steve Miranda shared thoughts on the GenAI state of play Brian McKenna on recent customer conferences visits to London Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Apr 2024
An overview of Microsoft Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365 unites various CRM and ERP tools into one platform. CRM apps include Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Service, and ERP tools include Finance and Commerce. Continue Reading
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News
16 Apr 2024
Why Salesforce needs a data management platform
There are reports that Salesforce is looking to acquire Informatica, but such a move needs to fit with its AI and GenAI strategy Continue Reading
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News
11 Apr 2024
AI skills gap blocking public sector take-up
A Salesforce report claims that a lack of skills in artificial intelligence is preventing effective take-up of generative AI to enhance frontline citizen services across the public sector Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Apr 2024
How to create an omnichannel marketing strategy
Marketers often struggle with the complexities of omnichannel implementation. To get started, they can set their business goals and invest in the right technologies. Continue Reading
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News
10 Apr 2024
Salesforce helps customers establish bug bounty programmes
Salesforce has added new learning content to its Trailhead platform designed to help customers develop their own bug bounty programmes Continue Reading
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Definition
29 Mar 2024
RFM analysis (recency, frequency, monetary)
RFM analysis is a marketing technique used to quantitatively rank and group customers based on the recency, frequency and monetary total of their recent transactions to identify the best customers and perform targeted marketing campaigns. Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2024
How SAP is infusing AI into its business applications
SAP’s chief artificial intelligence officer, Philipp Herzig, outlines the company’s approach towards AI and how it is making the technology more accessible to customers Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Mar 2024
6 real-life examples of effective diversity marketing
Inclusive marketing can take many forms but always requires authenticity. Explore these real-life examples from companies like Breezit, LLYC and Stallion Express. Continue Reading
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19 Mar 2024
What went wrong with Birmingham City Council’s Oracle Cloud implementation?
The council swapped out a heavily customised SAP ERP system for Oracle Cloud, but since going live in 2022, it has encountered numerous technical challenges, leading to spiralling costs. Continue Reading
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News
11 Mar 2024
Birmingham City Council’s Oracle implementation explained: What went wrong?
The council swapped out a heavily customised SAP ERP system for Oracle Cloud, but since it went live, it has had numerous technical challenges Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Mar 2024
6 benefits of omnichannel marketing
Omnichannel marketing shares data between interaction channels, like email and live chat, to improve CX. Key benefits include enhanced personalization and customer loyalty. Continue Reading