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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Oracle: The financial services' do or die - networked consumer relevancy
The internet has changed the way consumers conduct business. Prior to making a purchase, consumers use social networking groups on the internet to obtain vendor recommendations, product reviews, and tips on good deals. They also use a variety of Web 2.0 technologies and tools — from blogs to chat rooms and social networking sites — to tell others about their experiences with companies. Such prevalent peer-to-peer consumer interaction has changed the way companies can attract new customers and retain existing ones.
Companies can no longer employ traditional marketing techniques to lure new customers.
Instead, they need to gain an understanding of how consumers use the internet as a purchasing tool, pay attention to how companies are perceived on the internet, and leverage today's social networking tools to find innovative ways to engage the consumer.
This is particularly true for the financial sector, which was hit hardest by the globally depressed economy and has seen customer trust and satisfaction decline to new lows.
To persevere today and be successful tomorrow, the financial sector must embrace the new social networking paradigm to find new ways to go to market.
Contents:
- Financial institutions face a historic turning of the tide
- Consumer in control
- Why do consumers want control?
- What does this mean for financial institutions?
- Does this new world represent opportunity or risk for financial institutions?
- Succeeding in the social marketplace
Companies can no longer employ traditional marketing techniques to lure new customers.
Instead, they need to gain an understanding of how consumers use the internet as a purchasing tool, pay attention to how companies are perceived on the internet, and leverage today's social networking tools to find innovative ways to engage the consumer.
This is particularly true for the financial sector, which was hit hardest by the globally depressed economy and has seen customer trust and satisfaction decline to new lows.
To persevere today and be successful tomorrow, the financial sector must embrace the new social networking paradigm to find new ways to go to market.
Contents:
- Financial institutions face a historic turning of the tide
- Consumer in control
- Why do consumers want control?
- What does this mean for financial institutions?
- Does this new world represent opportunity or risk for financial institutions?
- Succeeding in the social marketplace
Siebel: CRM Faces Challenges Adapting to New Market Dynamic - Company Business and Marketing
Even as the customer relationship management (CRM) market crests, these solutions are not providing an answer to the biggest problem facing corporations today, an industry luminary says.
Thomas Siebel, chairman and CEO of front-office software giant Siebel Systems Inc. (www.siebel.com), says the hypothesis that automated self-service and product ordering via the Internet would cut costs of sales, service and support has proved wrong.
Instead the Internet has empowered consumers to expect businesses to conduct transactions in the manner the consumer chooses, at any time the consumer likes -- including a midnight call from the kitchen. Essentially, businesses are losing control of the choice of the distribution channel for their product
Siebel's remarks came during a keynote address at DCI'S CRM and Data Warehouse World show in New York earlier this month. CRM is a hot term for the products that grew out of sales force automation and customer service software. The umbrella of CRM covers everything that helps give sales and service employees as much information about a customer as possible during an interaction with that customer.
The solutions tend to be more consumer-oriented than knowledge management dashboards and business intelligence portals, which are designed to put relevant business information about corporate customers in front of analysts and executives. Most CRM solutions are data intensive, and CRM is increasingly becoming an important application for data warehouses.
According to Siebel, no one knows the right way to integrate existing distribution channels with the Web from a business standpoint.
"The problem here is [that] the idea of destroying your distribution method is scary. We do not even have a methodology for thinking about this problem," Siebel contends.
Siebel predicts even great businesses that are unwilling to acknowledge the new reality will go belly up.
"If you're a bank and your means for reaching customers was branch offices open from 10:00 to 3:00, you're chance of surviving is zero," Siebel says. "We're no longer saying, 'You're going to do business through this channel.' In the future, we [will be] doing business with a customer anyplace, anywhere."
The thorny business issues involved have escalated the CRM purchasing decision from the sales manager, who made the call in the early 1990s on sales force automation products, beyond the CIO to the board of directors, Siebel says.
Although Siebel says the problem is the primary constraint on CRM, the industry appeared robust at the DCI show. Siebel Systems had the biggest display on the show floor, which was bigger than the show floor for its sister show, Data Warehouse World.
CRM software was a $100 million market in 1993, but today it is a $2.2 billion market with a compound annual growth rate of 54 percent, Siebel says. Figures from Lucent Technologies (www.lucent.com), size the combined hardware, software and services of the CRM market at $11 billion in 1998, which is projected to grow to $29 billion by 2002.
Companies are addressing the technological challenges CRM poses. One is continuing a dialogue thread with a consumer across different distribution channels. In the case of a car shopper, the history of a customers' Web interactions with an automaker would be available to a call center agent if the customer calls for more information or to a salesman if the customer walks through the dealership doors.
Lucent introduced a Windows NT-based product suite at the DCI show called CRM Central 2000. The product provides the infrastructure to unify front- and back-office systems, call center applications and other customer interaction systems to provide a complete view of customers for those who interact with them. The solution includes a repository for customer information built on Microsoft's SQL Server 7.0.
According to Siebel, technology is not the problem. "Technology used to be the issue. Data synchronization and replication is a difficult problem, but compared to the [business] problems going forward, it's trivial," he says.
For now, systems integrators such as Pricewaterhouse Coopers L.L.P. bring as many disciplines into a business situation as they can when figuring out how to integrate the Web presence into the sales channel.
"We ask what's going to be the downside if you do that," says Chris Leibfreid, national director for Pricewaterhouse Coopers' CRM practice. "You need to take a look at all your sales avenues. You've got to make sure that you don't damage an existing distribution channel."
CRM Market Growth
1993 $100 million
1999 $2.2 million
2000 $3.4 million
(projection based on 54 percent CAGR)
Thomas Siebel, chairman and CEO of Siebel Systems, says the CRM market is consolidating rapidly as its revenue balloons. In 1993, he says, there were 400 companies. That number is down to 40 companies today. He expects the market to fall to 10 companies by 2002.
Thomas Siebel, chairman and CEO of front-office software giant Siebel Systems Inc. (www.siebel.com), says the hypothesis that automated self-service and product ordering via the Internet would cut costs of sales, service and support has proved wrong.
Instead the Internet has empowered consumers to expect businesses to conduct transactions in the manner the consumer chooses, at any time the consumer likes -- including a midnight call from the kitchen. Essentially, businesses are losing control of the choice of the distribution channel for their product
Siebel's remarks came during a keynote address at DCI'S CRM and Data Warehouse World show in New York earlier this month. CRM is a hot term for the products that grew out of sales force automation and customer service software. The umbrella of CRM covers everything that helps give sales and service employees as much information about a customer as possible during an interaction with that customer.
The solutions tend to be more consumer-oriented than knowledge management dashboards and business intelligence portals, which are designed to put relevant business information about corporate customers in front of analysts and executives. Most CRM solutions are data intensive, and CRM is increasingly becoming an important application for data warehouses.
According to Siebel, no one knows the right way to integrate existing distribution channels with the Web from a business standpoint.
"The problem here is [that] the idea of destroying your distribution method is scary. We do not even have a methodology for thinking about this problem," Siebel contends.
Siebel predicts even great businesses that are unwilling to acknowledge the new reality will go belly up.
"If you're a bank and your means for reaching customers was branch offices open from 10:00 to 3:00, you're chance of surviving is zero," Siebel says. "We're no longer saying, 'You're going to do business through this channel.' In the future, we [will be] doing business with a customer anyplace, anywhere."
The thorny business issues involved have escalated the CRM purchasing decision from the sales manager, who made the call in the early 1990s on sales force automation products, beyond the CIO to the board of directors, Siebel says.
Although Siebel says the problem is the primary constraint on CRM, the industry appeared robust at the DCI show. Siebel Systems had the biggest display on the show floor, which was bigger than the show floor for its sister show, Data Warehouse World.
CRM software was a $100 million market in 1993, but today it is a $2.2 billion market with a compound annual growth rate of 54 percent, Siebel says. Figures from Lucent Technologies (www.lucent.com), size the combined hardware, software and services of the CRM market at $11 billion in 1998, which is projected to grow to $29 billion by 2002.
Companies are addressing the technological challenges CRM poses. One is continuing a dialogue thread with a consumer across different distribution channels. In the case of a car shopper, the history of a customers' Web interactions with an automaker would be available to a call center agent if the customer calls for more information or to a salesman if the customer walks through the dealership doors.
Lucent introduced a Windows NT-based product suite at the DCI show called CRM Central 2000. The product provides the infrastructure to unify front- and back-office systems, call center applications and other customer interaction systems to provide a complete view of customers for those who interact with them. The solution includes a repository for customer information built on Microsoft's SQL Server 7.0.
According to Siebel, technology is not the problem. "Technology used to be the issue. Data synchronization and replication is a difficult problem, but compared to the [business] problems going forward, it's trivial," he says.
For now, systems integrators such as Pricewaterhouse Coopers L.L.P. bring as many disciplines into a business situation as they can when figuring out how to integrate the Web presence into the sales channel.
"We ask what's going to be the downside if you do that," says Chris Leibfreid, national director for Pricewaterhouse Coopers' CRM practice. "You need to take a look at all your sales avenues. You've got to make sure that you don't damage an existing distribution channel."
CRM Market Growth
1993 $100 million
1999 $2.2 million
2000 $3.4 million
(projection based on 54 percent CAGR)
Thomas Siebel, chairman and CEO of Siebel Systems, says the CRM market is consolidating rapidly as its revenue balloons. In 1993, he says, there were 400 companies. That number is down to 40 companies today. He expects the market to fall to 10 companies by 2002.
Connect and empower mobile salespeople
A few years ago, a salesperson heading into a meeting with a new prospect in a distant city could not count on much help from her mobile Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application. The problem was that the application was usually a replica of the corporate CRM application, meant to be used on a desktop, not on a handheld device.
That same salesperson is meeting yet another unknown prospect. She takes a quick look at her smartphone, which displays cached information from the CRM system at a glance.
The salesperson's schedule of sales calls is available with a single click. With another click, she can see the name of the person she'll be meeting within 10 minutes, and a summary of the prospect's previous interactions with her colleagues.
Welcome to CRM in the era of mobility. It is an evolution that is just getting started, but which, its advocates say, stands finally to extend the value of CRM from the management suite down to the field salespeople to whom it was previously an
annoyance.
That same salesperson is meeting yet another unknown prospect. She takes a quick look at her smartphone, which displays cached information from the CRM system at a glance.
The salesperson's schedule of sales calls is available with a single click. With another click, she can see the name of the person she'll be meeting within 10 minutes, and a summary of the prospect's previous interactions with her colleagues.
Welcome to CRM in the era of mobility. It is an evolution that is just getting started, but which, its advocates say, stands finally to extend the value of CRM from the management suite down to the field salespeople to whom it was previously an
annoyance.
Seven tips for profiting from lean times with CRM
Long before recessionary pressures gripped economies, businesses were struggling with the challenges of an increasingly competitive sales environment. As more companies vie for the attention of demanding and information-empowered customers, the ability of sales, marketing and service organizations to improve the efficiency of their customer-facing teams becomes a competitive essential.
Smart business executives have learned that investing in customer relationships and overall effectiveness pays big dividends when the rebound invariably occurs.
A tight economy is a good time to try new tactics, educate your sales force and adopt metrics that yield insights about the effectiveness of your sales and marketing programs. Now is the time to embrace new ideas so that when business improves, you will have the edge on your competition.
Start by investing in technology to support and drive these new ideas throughout your organisation.
This Oracle white paper lists seven tips for leveraging customer relationship management (CRM) processes to turbocharge your sales operation during lean economic times.
Contents:
* - Overhaul your sales methodology
* - Turbo-charge your sales teams by embedding best practices into the selling process
* - Optimise forecasting accuracy
* - Improve prospecting effectiveness
* - Link marketing to sales results
* - Scrutinise customer service levels
* - Mobilise your sales team
Smart business executives have learned that investing in customer relationships and overall effectiveness pays big dividends when the rebound invariably occurs.
A tight economy is a good time to try new tactics, educate your sales force and adopt metrics that yield insights about the effectiveness of your sales and marketing programs. Now is the time to embrace new ideas so that when business improves, you will have the edge on your competition.
Start by investing in technology to support and drive these new ideas throughout your organisation.
This Oracle white paper lists seven tips for leveraging customer relationship management (CRM) processes to turbocharge your sales operation during lean economic times.
Contents:
* - Overhaul your sales methodology
* - Turbo-charge your sales teams by embedding best practices into the selling process
* - Optimise forecasting accuracy
* - Improve prospecting effectiveness
* - Link marketing to sales results
* - Scrutinise customer service levels
* - Mobilise your sales team
Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand named a leader in midmarket CRM Suites according to independent research firm
Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand achieved status as a leader based on its strong functionality and ease of use for a midmarket CRM suite. Status as a leader was contingent on Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand performance across approximately 490 criteria in the three areas of current offering, strategy and market presence. According to the report, "Oracle's acquisition of Siebel adds one of the strongest software-as-a-service (SaaS) customer relationship management (CRM) products on the market to Oracle's On Demand portfolio. The Oracle Siebel CRM On Demand product has strong functionality for sales, service, marketing, and analytics and an intuitive, easy- to-use interface."
As interest in SaaS is gaining momentum, organizations are increasingly seeking software such as Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand. No longer just a tactical solution for managing contacts and accounts, on demand CRM has blossomed into an entire suite of integrated sales, marketing, and service capabilities to support end-to-end customer-facing business processes. Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand provides the comprehensive, strategic CRM capabilities customers require to be successful, including built-in analytics, a built in-virtual call center, and vertical editions featuring industry-specific out-of-the-box functionality. Additionally, Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand is developed on a world-class, standards-based hosting infrastructure, providing leading security, reliability, availability and accountability at a low cost.
"Customers clearly see the benefit of strategic on demand CRM exemplified by Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand that provides comprehensive sales, marketing, and service functionality, accelerates time to value by its ease of deployment, and offers the choice to migrate to on premise CRM as business needs evolve," said Robert Reid, Oracle Group Vice President, CRM On Demand. "We are honored to be recognized as a leader and will continue to provide our customers with the most complete on demand CRM solution to drive measurable business results."
As interest in SaaS is gaining momentum, organizations are increasingly seeking software such as Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand. No longer just a tactical solution for managing contacts and accounts, on demand CRM has blossomed into an entire suite of integrated sales, marketing, and service capabilities to support end-to-end customer-facing business processes. Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand provides the comprehensive, strategic CRM capabilities customers require to be successful, including built-in analytics, a built in-virtual call center, and vertical editions featuring industry-specific out-of-the-box functionality. Additionally, Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand is developed on a world-class, standards-based hosting infrastructure, providing leading security, reliability, availability and accountability at a low cost.
"Customers clearly see the benefit of strategic on demand CRM exemplified by Oracle's Siebel CRM On Demand that provides comprehensive sales, marketing, and service functionality, accelerates time to value by its ease of deployment, and offers the choice to migrate to on premise CRM as business needs evolve," said Robert Reid, Oracle Group Vice President, CRM On Demand. "We are honored to be recognized as a leader and will continue to provide our customers with the most complete on demand CRM solution to drive measurable business results."
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