Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

Few things can be as jarring for marketers as losing trust in your metrics. By analyzing data from six sources—the web, postpurchase surveys, its customer relationship management (CRM) system, call center, email, and live chat—Lenovo ascertained why customers were phoning the call center and what actions they took before calling.

Metrics 11

Metrics Marketing Call Center CRM 11

Harvard Business Review

JULY 14, 2015

However, too many executives rely on metrics that look good in a report, but in reality don’t affect the organization’s goals. Metrics, or key performance indicators (KPIs), should be set upfront, so that the marketing team knows what goals they are striving to reach. Metrics should be easily replicated.

Metrics 8

Metrics Marketing Real Estate CRM 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 24, 2015

But if you look under the hood of what really drives a video strategy, it becomes clear that view count is primarily a vanity metric. Looking at metrics like these can help determine whether you chose the wrong topic, used the wrong delivery, or simply put the video in the wrong place. Video Metrics that Actually Tell You Something.

Metrics 8

Metrics Video Marketing Audience 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 15, 2015

In our experience, the best companies are building up their social media capabilities to capture value by focusing on doing two things well: building a social media CRM to increase relevance and focusing on complete customer care. To scale that connectivity requires integrating social media data into your CRM system.

CRM 8

CRM Company Airlines Guidelines 8

Eric Jacobson

MARCH 18, 2013

Develop meaningful metrics. And until organizations tie experience and CRM and empower and align teams to the dynamic customer journey, businesses will continually miss important opportunities to engage and direct customers in every moment of truth. Identify the gap. Define the strategy.

B2B 56

B2B B2C Technology CRM 56

Ask Atma

MAY 5, 2012

3) Key Metrics – how will you get and measure continuous customer feedback? CRM options (sales force, pipeliner, google apps…). Marketing partners. 2) Development – what tech or other resources will you need to build your business? Open source, SaaS, existing platforms. User generated content, crowd sourcing. A/B testing.

Business Model 93

Business Model Ries Agility Entrepreneur 93

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 16, 2015

If we use an automobile analogy, sales efficiency (SE) initiatives — like CRM, training, and KPI dashboards — improve the engine’s horsepower. Companies will spend about $30 billion on CRM alone by the end of 2015, according to Gartner. A confusion between efficiency and optimization plagues many sales efforts.

Productivity 8

Productivity Products CRM Efficiency 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 7, 2017

Perhaps it was a CRM solution, a consulting engagement, or new infrastructure. If, as often happens, the CIO believes the company’s CRM solution already does adequate marketing automation, they may block the purchase. See More Videos > See More Videos > Surely B2B purchasing hasn’t become that bad.

B2B 9

B2B Travel CIO Benchmarking 9

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

Some will remember or hear stories of failed projects – big investments to give salespeople tablet computers, to develop data warehouses, and implement CRM systems that ended up racking up huge costs, while generating little value for customers and salespeople. While some jump in, many are reluctant to move forward.

Incentives 11

Incentives CRM Metrics Benchmarking 11

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2016

A SaaS platform service such as CRM or MAS (Marketing Automation Service), on the other hand, requires sophisticated integration to install annual or multi-year contracts. Reps selling CRM services have vastly different tasks than reps selling communication tools. Opportunity Costs : extrapolations across multiple metrics.

CRM 8

CRM B2B Price Budgeting 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Looking at one metric for gauging customer advocacy, the Net Promoter Score, promoters are worth nearly three to seven times more in lifetime value than detractors, depending on the market. Turn around the situation so that these detractors become at worst neutral, and ideally real promoters. Consider the math behind this logic.

Team 8

Team CRM Supply Chain Insurance 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 31, 2015

It also had a template letter with relevant data that prospective attendees could send with the data to their supervisors, justifying the expense, and, in the process, establishing accountable metrics for follow-up evaluation. At the event, new technologies provide cost-reduction and revenue opportunities for all stakeholders.

CRM 8

CRM ROI Budgeting Public Relations 8

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

Is the platform compatible with your CRM/database? These are just a handful of the essential metrics you should be paying attention to. (Single sign-on, as part of an app the person is already familiar with, and so on.). Is it simple to share material and communicate with other members of the community on the platform? Active members.

Tips 87

Tips Succession Brand CRM 87

Strategy Driven

MAY 24, 2019

Knowing what all these metrics mean for your business and what action should be taken is the only thing which makes data collection worthwhile. Setting good metrics for your business is absolutely key to the success you’ll get. Seeing meanings, patterns and stories is the important part, not the raw data itself.

Planning 68

Planning Six Sigma Metrics CRM 68

Strategy Driven

JULY 22, 2018

While there are many tools associated with SharePoint, the following generally feature the most easy to understand applications for business operations: CRM Tools. The CRM tools provided by SharePoint can help with marketing efforts, customer service and even technical challenges.

Technology 51

Technology CRM Document Project 51

Harvard Business Review

JULY 3, 2015

Example: Carol owns a small business and needs a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Example: Jim’s firm has used the same CRM software for ten years. Example: Ann just switched to a new CRM platform and has heard from the sales team that it saves time and increases conversion. Experiment and iterate rapidly.

CRM 8

CRM Brand Business Model Intangible Assets 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 29, 2013

The teachers' union argues the metrics are an unfair and pseudo-scientific tool to justify firings. Analytics' champions insist that the transparency and insight these metrics provide are essential for determining classroom quality and outcomes. The arguments over numbers are really fights over accountability and its consequences.

Resistance 8

Resistance Organization Supply Chain CRM 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 9, 2014

Its structure, skills, metrics, and rewards have mostly remained the same. The key difference is the degree to which reps have taken advantage of new technology (largely built into their CRM system) to share and learn from one another. How can we signal to our reps that network performance is not only desirable but expected?

Team 10

Team Metrics Compliance Attrition 10

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 10, 2017

Yet much of the data from sources such as CRM reporting tools and time studies is self-reported, and thus inherently flawed. Sales executives with even moderately large, distributed sales forces rely on data to help them understand which activities and behaviors lead to the best outcomes.

Software 10

Software Metrics CRM B2B 10

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 27, 2015

So then we explain the metrics away rather than using them to learn what’s working and improve the things that aren’t. The operation was the epitome of transparency — via Salesforce CRM integration, leaderboards displayed the top reps’ progress. How do we fix that?

Sports 8

Sports Metrics Retail CRM 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 21, 2011

Capturing account information using a CRM or other system: That way, people throughout the company, not just one salesperson, can learn the needs and history of each customer. All are sources of customer value. The sales and fulfillment process itself becomes something the customer relies upon.

Company 14

Company Market Penetration Long-term Short-term 14

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 29, 2015

Certainly CRM and automated marketing software systems are evolving in a way that can help us begin to discover these quiet voices, but there are a lot of conditions. Gray social media exists inversely proportional to the capabilities of your monitoring and metrics systems. How do we measure the relative importance of gray?

Loyalty 8

Loyalty Content Audience CRM 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

The CoE has worked with IT and purchasing to procure a global set of tools for social media management, which are also integrated with our CRM systems. Since 2013, the team has reduced the number of publishing, listening, monitoring, and metrics tools used by our social media teams globally from more than 125 to fewer than six.

Media 8

Media Automotive Globalization Active Listening 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 12, 2012

Instead, I relied on my background as an MIT-trained engineer to create a system of hiring and development that relies on metrics and quantitative analysis. These patterns are programmed into our CRM, Salesforce.com. Five years later, my team is now 200 employees strong.

Team 14

Team Analysis CRM Quality 14

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 13, 2014

By forcing organizations to clearly articulate their goals and then to rigorously judge their decisions by those metrics, experimental tests can help managers avoid costly mistakes and can open up the consideration of other possible solutions. That’s where experimental testing comes in. The change is a success, right? Maybe or maybe not.

Flextime 11

Flextime Call Center Human Resources CRM 11

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 15, 2013

Innovative digital marketing approaches in social media, CRM, and other areas dominate the discussion. They have the humility to admit what they don''t know, the courage to toss out the old playbook, and the confidence to allow digital metrics to illuminate the results. How could this be?, They partner with great agencies.

CIO 8

CIO Marketing CRM Information Technology 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2015

It’s an inside-out process and CRM systems are there to provide data about progression (or not) through that company’s funnel steps — the famous “pipeline” metrics that dominate so much talk about sales. But Gartner research (see here and here ) indicates a very different contemporary buying reality.

B2B 8

B2B AIDA AIDAS Disintermediation 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 16, 2018

ConnectMe leverages the world’s leading CRM cloud solution, Salesforce, to help organizations navigate the changing workplace and deliver an exceptional employee experience. Measurement and metrics challenge every company, so how do you measure efforts to build a great experience for employees? Angelia Herrin, HBR.

Technology 10

Technology Consultative Content Human Capital 10

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 13, 2017

Defining and tracking success metrics. If the company is building a SaaS CRM, there may be more requirements around experience with go-to-market and customer lifecycles than how the product itself is built. The art of resource allocation (it is not a science!). Performing market assessments. Pricing and revenue modeling.

Productivity 8

Productivity Products Core Competence Management 8