Microsoft launched its first on-demand enterprise application on Tuesday — just days behind the announcement of a Salesforce/Google partnership and the release of Zoho's own enterprise-level SaaS.
Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS) has officially terminated its $6.4 billion dollar acquisition agreement with The Blackstone Group and is suing the private equity firm for a $170 million break-up fee.
In a competitive move against Salesforce.com and other SaaS providers, Advent Net Inc.'s Zoho has released its first enterprise-level CRM program. Zoho CRM — Enterprise Edition offers role-based security administration, customization, multi-language support and integration with Zoho Sheet. It is an on-demand application.
Marketers worldwide are under-utilizing data and analytics, particularly when it comes to customer retention, according to a recent study released by the Chief Marketing Officer Council. Only half of marketers have a strategy in place for growing key account relationships, and 45% believe CRM systems are not effective enough.
Those traveling on any major airline in the past month have done so with trepidation. American Airlines recently cancelled about 3,000 flights, and British Airways lost more than 20,000 bags last month.
Identifying influencers — people who are passionate about your brand — is a key element of word-of-mouth marketing. Four experts discuss this growing and highly measurable sector.
Direct marketing agency Harte-Hanks Inc. has laid off just under 1% of its 7,100 employees and will close an East Coast fulfillment center by the end of the year, according to CFO Doug Shepard. Harte-Hanks is seeking to "realign its operations to better serve customer needs," Shepard said.
Angie Hirata, worldwide director of marketing and business development, Maximizer Software. April 23, 2008
The lead conversion black hole has long been cause for dispute between marketing and sales teams. Marketing will argue it has generated leads and given them to sales. Sales will complain that leads aren't qualified. The challenge is to achieve what everyone wants: improved sales revenues through qualified leads.
DMNews' Essential Guide to Lists, Database Marketing & Data Services
Craig Simpson, freelance direct mail consultant April 23, 2008
If a campaign is not tracked properly, you could end up wasting thousands on your next mailing. As an individual in direct mail, you spend a great deal of money to send out your sales material. You want to learn as much as possible from each campaign so that you can maximize the effectiveness of each mailing. Careful tracking will show you exactly what works and what doesn't.
