Recently, the sales landscape has changed and one of the biggest changes has been the growth of the group of sales decision makers. The decision making process has become a group activity. So, meeting the challenges of the new group-oriented environment requires a change in everything from tactics to philosophy on the part of the sales team also. This is where the knowledge of CRM is important. The 360-degree view of the customer provided by CRM lets you understand the customer at a deeper level and this information can then be used to provide better customer experience. Read more at - http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/crm-and-selling-to-the-group-70527

In future, maximizing customer experience, or CX, should be the main business strategy for any company. CX will also overtake price points and product details as a key selling point for organizations. Buyers will use more online portals, knowledge management tools, social media and email to communicate with brands. The brands who invest in making automated-service interactions will gain a more competitive advantage in the future.  Research shows that speed of resolution and accuracy are top priorities for modern consumers. But, what constitutes good CX? To know more, follow: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/why-cx-the-importance-of-customer-experience-and-why-crm-still-matters-70094

The e-commerce market is always changing. It is making an impact on customer experience or cx. In a survey, it was found that, 56% of the shoppers surveyed said they're less likely to purchase an item online if they can't pick it up in store, while 62% reported that they're more likely to buy from an online shop if they know they can return their item in the store. Social media channels will help to drive sales and increase ROI. To know more about future of e-commerce, follow: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/technology-data/peteschauer/2015-10-04/what-future-holds-ecommerce-infographic

2015 is the year of e-commerce. The landscape of e-commerce is always changing. In e-commerce industry, we are seeing not only new technologies but also the improvement of existing technologies. We will also see that e-commerce will play a huge role in customer experience in future. Read more about the future of e-commerce at:  http://www.business2community.com/infographics/future-ecommerce-infographic-01340604

Customers are most important for any business. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Small Business Administration, nearly 70% of customers leave a brand because they were unsatisfied with the overall service they received. This dissatisfaction leads to lower revenue and brand’s negative publicity. It’s important to maintain a good relationship with customers. To know more about how you can increase customer satisfaction, while boosting both sales and your bottom line, follow: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/utilizing-customer-relationships-to-build-on-small-business-profit-69960

In today’s business world, customers are the most important. If you are not providing good customer service, they will tell the negative experience they had with your company. Hence, customer experience has become the most important part of business initiatives. So, in order for a customer experience initiative to be executed properly, it requires an investment in time and resources. Jeanne Landau (Director of Marketing, 800response), writes in his article about four things companies need to do to satisfy their customers and earn repeat business. Read more at: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/1020/Default.aspx

Earlier, switch operators would talk to customers and connect them to the most appropriate extension within a company. Nowadays, an IVR automates this process and according to a report, 27 % of your customer's calling experience consists of interacting with the IVR. IVR is playing an important part in customer experience, and hence, it should be optimized to keep your customers happy while saving time and money on your support costs.  Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/voip-news/your-ivr-should-be-saving-you-time-and-money-69941

Delivery plays an important role in customer experience. Customer-centricity is the buzzword in today’s business. Couriers are just an extension of your service and a smooth reliable delivery is key to secure customer loyalty and repeat business.  So, every aspect of a customer transaction needs to be perfect, including delivery. Online shoppers expect delivery when & where it was promised. Customers expect brilliant service, and price will always be an important factor when choosing delivery methods for multi-channel distribution.  Companies must think in terms of CBA i.e. customer oriented, brilliant delivery and affordable prices if they want to succeed in multi-channel distribution. Ian Newcombe (MD of Multi-Channel Solutions) writes in his article about ABC of courier management. Read more at:  http://www.business2community.com/product-management/abc-courier-management-01330361

Nowadays, for holding conferences and meetings, business is utilizing apps and software that enable web conferencing. Organizations have discovered that VoIP service helps other than phone calls and improve communication. Businesses are taking full advantage of web conferencing through VoIP. It is saving time and cost for businesses. You can improve customer experience by connecting with them via web conferencing. Most VoIP web conferencing services allow you to record web meetings for later review and this in turn will help you to review questions asked by clients and customers, or to improve a presentation.  Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/voip-news/5-benefits-of-using-voip-for-web-conferencing-69847

According to a research, it was found that 75% of your customers think phone support is convenient. Customers always want a quick response, and waiting for hours for a social media response or 24 hours for an email reply adds to a poor customer experience. Voice over IP technology is the answer to eliminate waiting for a response, and improves customer experience in several ways. Nowadays, cloud-based VoIP solutions are well suited for mobile and remote environments, which allows businesses to expand support hours. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/voip-news/the-impact-of-voip-on-your-customer-experience-69770

CRM can be powerful if we understand its features & functionality correctly.  This article link will tell us about some tips for success that have nothing to do with the platform you choose, but it depends on how you use CRM in your organization. They are: Understand your customer experience from the customer's point of view; be prepared to be flexible; and training. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/winning-with-a-crm-69708

Customers or clients are important in today’s world. If a customer doesn’t have a good experience, they will not only leave your company, but also tell about their negative experience. That is why customer experience has become important for any competition. Jeanne Landau (Director of Marketing, 800response), in her article writes about four things companies need to do to satisfy their customers and earn repeat business. They are: Engage in a dialogue with customers; properly train your employees; provide a seamless cross-channel experience; and invest in the right tools. Read more at: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/1020/Default.aspx

According to a research by Gartner, it was found that marketing executives are three times more likely to lead strategic growth initiatives in 2016 than they were in 2012. Corporate managers are now focusing on customer experience and they think mobile is best to know about this. But, mobile should not be looked as a channel and it requires a different approach. “Mobile eliminates the notion of channels by blurring the distinction between the physical and digital worlds. E-business professionals who treat mobile as just a channel will fail,” Forrester analyst Julie Ask says in a report. Mobile apps deliver utility and valuable experiences that bind people to brands. Columnist Brent Hieggelke in his article link writes how to bridge mobile engagement gap between high and medium performing apps. Read more at:  http://marketingland.com/getting-grip-mobile-engagement-gap-133357

Customers are delighted to get gifts for companies. But, some companies fail to do so in a consistent manner. Companies might begin with good intentions, but sometimes they lose their way. Jake Sorofman (a former CMO), writes in his blog how companies sometimes fail to keep consistency. For more information, visit: http://blogs.gartner.com/jake-sorofman/in-customer-experience-consistency-is-the-new-delight/

Restaurant businesses have become very difficult to handle recently due to decreased margins, rising costs and ever growing competition. Effectively controlling these variables using modern tools can help the business grow in the right direction. The new tools used in this industry are solving the problems vastly in a cheaper method. Using the tools to their highest potential can give amazing results. • Obtaining customers: the primary goal is to obtain maximum customers so that the restaurant business can flourish and can reap more benefits as well.
• Prioritizing the customer: the customer should always be the first priority for any industry so that the business can maintain its reputation by making sure none of the customers have to wait for their preferences.
• Seamless transactions: a smooth and positive customer experience can be enhanced only by accurately ensuring that no customer has to wait longer for the bill or food and time is not wasted in any way.
• Smart supply: supply should meet demand and the customers should consume all that is ordered to make sure benefits derived are maximum.
• Efficient workforce management: employees define the business and managing them efficiently can help the business maintain its functional peaks.
Customers are why the business exists and hence keeping them happy should be the sole purpose. Such tools can help solve all the problems and acquire maximum gains from it.
Read more at: http://www.smartdatacollective.com/peterdavidson/330482/5-best-management-tools-help-your-restaurant-business

There is always some problem of coordination and mismatch between the sales, marketing and service sector. The customer is often dissatisfied with the various approaches of all the sectors which don’t get aligned to some particular information. So to deliver the best experience there is a need of smooth mechanism between the sectors for better communication and to share the same goal with others. The key to achieve the desired goal lies in cooperating and collaborating with each other. The natural workflow must go on in order to run the organization. But there is a need of collaboration for making out decisions, to manage the system and to solve the project with the collaborative tools. The team members should know the metrics and the prime indicators for the organization which will ultimately lead to the desired objective. There is always a need for a hand to hand practice or a parallel system which will lead to proper customer experience and mutual benefit.

Read more at – http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/aligning-sales-marketing-service-for-a-seamless-customer-experience-01278273

The Internet Of Things (IOT) ) affects the way in which the enterprises interact with their customers. With the sole motive of customer satisfaction, it is crucial to note how the future would appear for the customers and the best ways of satisfying them and they are as follows:

• It is recommended to go for smooth transformation of customer experience and provide the customer with maximum profit. Focus groups and customer feedback helps to maintain it.
• Usually customers take time to embrace new technology and hence provision of information would facilitate easy usage.
• The platform is also important because a big platform can destroy a customer experience and relationship.
• It is necessary to get initials and continuous stakeholders as they will generate speed into the project.                                                                   

Read more at: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/7667-planning-for-a-future-state

It's technology on the rocks for whisky lovers. Diageo using new technology to improve its customer experience. They have created a label (read sensor) that will create smart bottles for their whisky. Laura Denham, International Events Director at Innovation enterprise, enlightens us with the smartness of smart bottles. 

• Well, it gives specific information about the whisky helping the customer to select their best fit.

• It helps detect any kind of tampering with the bottle. Fake products will be a history.

• These sensors can’t be cloned. 

• Help track the journey of the bottles and reduce supply chain wastage. 

For more, follow the link http://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/whiskey-the-internet-of-things

In order to achieve accuracy of understanding customer’s experience the company executives have to come up with varied surveys and several tricky questions. We can gain a more empathetic experience of customers experience with the appropriate amalgamation of observations, sensors, data and designs. Being aware of the users experience is very critical for the technology design.
There are certain emotions which cannot be explained by words. Sensors can pick up these stress signals, combine them with the available textual data and thus identify the emotional triggers of a customer’s experience.
The comprehensive data on the experience of the user can be gathered by observing the way user interacts with the product or application. It exactly determines how the design is performing and whether it needs improvement or not.
Read more at: http://www.informationweek.com/it-life/can-data-teach-us-empathy/a/d-id/1321022?

In modern world, analytics plays a significant role and therefore various organizations develop cohesive analytics for customer satisfaction and thereby leading to enhancement of sales. According to some retailers, customer experience drives revenue while analytics focuses on an organization's commitment in terms of value to the customers.

 Audi representative Aaron Cohen (the company's general manager of strategy and analytics) explained the process of optimizing customer experience and hence the importance of data blending. Companies are shifting their focus to freemium services, open source platforms for valuable insights. In this context, Monobina Saha (senior data engineer at Sears) highlighted the significance of R-programming among data scientists.

Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/analytics/how-are-you-capitalizing-on-customer-analytics/