Every week, we recount some of the best buzz around CRM and data integration. We’ll review our favorite articles and share the most pressing findings or key takeaways from each.
Gartner: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends For 2013
By: Eric Savitz (@savitz)
Gartner’s new top 10 list for 2012 technology trends centers largely around mobile, cloud, and data. Of particular importance for the world of CRM is their prediction of the continued shift towards hybrid and cloud computing, which will affect how our CRM systems integrate and function with the rest of business software.
3 Secrets Of Data-Driven CMOs
By: Lou Guercia (@LouGuercia)
According to Lenskold, only a small subsegment of CMO’s –11 percent– are highly effective and efficient marketers outgrowing competition, adopting integrated marketing automation solutions, and using ROI metrics to measure their performance. I cover 3 data-driven practices followed by the best CMO’s to ensure close alignment between marketing and sales, which include measuring qualified lead confirmation, lead-to-sales conversion, and sales growth.
Engage or die: Five lessons from a CIO innovation workshop
By: Michael Krigsman (@mkrigsman)
Michael delves into key lessons for CIOs who need to both cut organizational costs and come up with brilliant IT innovations. Some of the lessons include taking “invisible IT commitments” into account through transparent IT operations, as well as anticipating and delivering what other executives need. Central to success as a CIO is understanding and taking advantage of the dynamics of strategic influence in your organization.
CRM Lands In Jail: Meet Illinois Offender-360
By: Patience Wait
The Illinois Department of Corrections has adopted Microsoft Dynamics CRM to manage their state-wide system, which includes 49,000 inmates and 28,000 parolees. This shift to CRM will eventually replace the legacy mainframe and 41 “offender management” applications, saving money and improving management of offenders. Of note, the Illinois DOC is using Scribe Software to supply their data integration needs.
Integrating Your Marketing and Sales Funnel
By: Denis Pombriant (@DenisPombriant)
With the buyer’s cycle growing increasingly complicated, the sales and marketing funnels have begun to converge. In order to ensure effectiveness of both channels, companies must integrate sales and marketing using what Denis calls Marketing Performance Management (MPM). At its most basic level, marketing needs to adopt performance management strategies used by sales, such as standards for lead development and velocity through the funnel.
CRM Watchlist 2013: Marketing Puts Itself Out There
By: Paul Greenberg (@pgreenbe)
Paul continues his rapid-fire CRM Watchlist posts with an analysis of the six hottest companies offering customer facing technologies such as CRM, along with what they need to do to improve. With marketing, advertising, and PR agencies beginning to offer more customer-facing services, all of the vendors should seek mutually beneficial partnerships with these agencies, but each vendor also has individual strengths and weaknesses Paul addresses. Of the providers listed, Marketo represents a best-in-breed solution marketing automation as well as exceptional CRM integration with other software.
We hope you had a great week! We’ll see you again soon with a roundup of all the movers and shakers in CRM and data integration news.
