The “New Normal” and Data Driven Experiences
As a consequence of an organizational stuff up we had a CRMKonvo that was even better than could be expected in our wildest dreams. Our guests Sheryl Kingstone of 451 Research and Laurie McCabe of the SMB Group have a lot of data and insight to share about data driven experiences and what the digital maturity of companies small and large actually is. Do we talk digital transformation or just digitalization – even only digitization? Will, whatever changes towards digital communication and collaboration stay? Will it change back to what it was? Something in between? Sheryl and Laurie have some very interesting data points and observations on these topics. Two strong and renowned analysts – leading experts in their field – with different company focus and different approaches offer significant insight for us. Great stuff....
We all want to be recognized
Abraham Lincoln reportedly said “Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” I am wondering how this applies to the companies we interact with. I would worry if I was not recognizing my customers, and I work to be recognized by them. Recognition is a concept that goes both ways. And as a customer, I worry when I am not recognized, or no longer recognized. Technology has enabled amazing one-to-one marketing for businesses selling to consumers (B2C). But how effective is this marketing in reality? I am always shocked that I can walk into a car dealership and not be recognized. When I am shopping for a car I always point out what I have leased in the past. I am trying to help the car salesman recognize me. Another example might be Nordstrom. You could expect a shopping experience where you only see clothes in your size or even style. “Hey Rich – we know you – here is what we suggest.” Shoppers want to be recognized but it just hasn’t happened yet.Companies selling to business customers (B2B) will find these in many different sizes, from small businesses to the Fortune 500. Very large customers are easy to recognize.There is complexity in selling to the company and its many divisions or departments, but you know they are large and important, because the deals tend to be bigger than deals with SMBs. Ford, General Electric, Starbucks – when selling to a big account the seller certainly recognizes the opportunity and treats the account accordingly by offering solutions to their needs. Selling to small businesses is...
How to make Salesforce AppExchange meet its potential
For a few months now I have the pleasure of frequently interacting with Richard Rosen of Fastcall, a company that exclusively focuses on extending Salesforce with CTI software. Rich is a firm advocate of focusing on one ecosystem and to not serving multiple ones. As such he is a friend of Salesforce. Still, he makes some astute critical and important observations about the market place and the customer experience that it offers. He also has some suggestions. Here is what he has to say. It’s been a few months since I walked into Nordstrom but I do remember the experience. The store is nicely curated with classic brands I recognize and a few emerging brands. Nordstrom keeps their stores fresh and well designed. While our experience has moved more and more online the idea of merchandising has not changed. Amazon on the other hand does a very bad job merchandising fashion. E.g. tThe search “shirts for men” results in “more than 30,000” results. When shopping I may be looking for one or two new shirts. Nordstrom does a great job suggesting a few ideas. I do not want to see or look at “more than 30,000” shirts. Amazon offers a few options to narrow down my search. There is a definite benefit in curation. How does consumer software deal with curation? There are approximately 2.87 million apps in the Play Store (Android) and 1.96 million in the Apple App Store. The strategy in the consumer app marketplace is “more is more.” They give top lists in many categories. These consumer apps’ Top n lists are not well curated; the...