economic environment (61%) and will spend an average of 9% more when they believe a company provides excellent service. However, in a challenging economy where growth is harder to achieve, many businesses are missing out on this opportunity. Although only a little more than a third of Americans (37%) believe that companies have increased their focus on providing quality service:
-- 27% feel businesses have not changed their attitude toward customer service.
-- 28% say that companies are now paying less attention to good service.
These findings were released in the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer, a survey conducted in the U.S. and eleven other countries exploring attitudes and preferences toward customer service.
Not surprisingly, nine in ten Americans (91%) consider the level of customer service important when deciding to do business with a company. But only one-quarter (24%) believe companies value their business and will go the extra mile to keep it. Most feel businesses can do more to retain their loyalty:
-- 48% feel companies are helpful but don't do anything extra to keep their business.
-- Worse, 21% believe that companies take their business for granted.
Importantly, customers are spreading the word willingly and widely when they experience good service. In fact, contrary to conventional wisdom, customers are more inclined to talk about a positive experience than complain about a negative one. Three-quarters (75%) are very likely to speak positively about a company after a good service experience in contrast with 59% who are very likely to speak negatively about a company after poor service.
Good service experiences also carry more weight than bad ones when Americans make future spending decisions. Consumers are far more likely to give a company repeat business after a good service experience (81%) than they are to never do business with a company again after a poor experience (52%).
In fact, consumers say the three most influential factors when deciding which companies they do business with include personal experience (98%), a company's reputation or brand (92%), and recommendations from friends and family (88%).
Nearly half (48%) of consumers report always or often using an online posting or blog to get others' opinions about a company's customer service reputation. But when consumers go online they're looking for "watch outs," saying they put greater credence in negative reviews on blogs and social networking sites than on positive ones (57% and 48%, respectively).
A negative service experience is an important factor for most Americans: 81% have decided never to do business with a company again because of poor customer service in the past. When asked how many poor experiences they allow, half of all Americans (50%) reported it takes two poor service experiences before they stop doing business with a company.
Importantly, consumers are far more forgiving if a company has earned their trust over time. Almost nine-in-ten consumers (86%) report they're willing to give a company a second chance after a bad experience if they've historically experienced great customer service with that company.
But companies who get it wrong should realize it's at a cost.
-- Half of consumers (52%) expect something in return after a poor customer service experience, beyond resolving the problem.
-- Most consumers (70%) want an apology or some form of reimbursement.
In most countries where the highest percentage of consumers feel that service is more important today, there is a corresponding belief that companies have increased their focus on providing good customer service:
-- 65% of Indian, 49% of Japanese and 47% of Mexican consumers agree with this statement.
However, some consumers are not feeling the love. In Australia (71%), Germany (66%), and Canada and Italy (65% each), consumers say they feel companies haven't increased their focus on service or are paying less attention to it.
More information on customer service can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Three-Quarters Of Online Retailers Are Dialing Up Mobile Strategies
Consumers' increasing appetite for mobile applications is driving online retailers to speed up their mobile marketing initiatives. According to a Forrester Research, Inc. study produced in partnership with Shop.org, nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of online retailers either already have or are developing a mobile strategy. One in five boasts having a fully implemented mobile strategy in place already. The survey of 109 companies is part of The State of Retailing Online research series, which provides eBusiness professionals with an annual industry benchmark for marketing and business investment and activities.
Earlier this year, Forrester forecast US online retail sales to total $173 billion in 2010. According to "The State Of Retailing Online: Marketing, Social Commerce and Mobile Report," Web retailers with mobile strategies:
--Are investing in features that support the cross-channel experience. Product and price information, store information, and coupons to support the in-store experience are among the most popular features that retailers are offering consumers.
--Have varied levels of investment. On average, respondents anticipated spending $170,000 on their mobile sites this year, large multichannel retailers are spending several times that amount, while smaller online pure plays on average are investing much less.
-- Are experiencing modest gains. Retailers reported that their mobile browsers at this juncture are generating a little less than 3 percent of overall site traffic and just 2 percent of revenue.
Tried and true marketing tactics such as paid search, email, and affiliate marketing command the biggest percentage of an online retailers' marketing budget. According to the report, retailers are spending nearly 40 percent of their marketing budget on paid search.
Retailers are finding value in social media marketing, but the ROI for driving online sales remains murky. Listening to customers is the most significant objective for social tools according to respondents, with 80 percent of retailers reporting that they are pursuing social strategies to experiment and learn. And while 28 percent noted that social marketing has helped grow their business, direct sales from social tactics are not widely measured.
More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Earlier this year, Forrester forecast US online retail sales to total $173 billion in 2010. According to "The State Of Retailing Online: Marketing, Social Commerce and Mobile Report," Web retailers with mobile strategies:
--Are investing in features that support the cross-channel experience. Product and price information, store information, and coupons to support the in-store experience are among the most popular features that retailers are offering consumers.
--Have varied levels of investment. On average, respondents anticipated spending $170,000 on their mobile sites this year, large multichannel retailers are spending several times that amount, while smaller online pure plays on average are investing much less.
-- Are experiencing modest gains. Retailers reported that their mobile browsers at this juncture are generating a little less than 3 percent of overall site traffic and just 2 percent of revenue.
Tried and true marketing tactics such as paid search, email, and affiliate marketing command the biggest percentage of an online retailers' marketing budget. According to the report, retailers are spending nearly 40 percent of their marketing budget on paid search.
Retailers are finding value in social media marketing, but the ROI for driving online sales remains murky. Listening to customers is the most significant objective for social tools according to respondents, with 80 percent of retailers reporting that they are pursuing social strategies to experiment and learn. And while 28 percent noted that social marketing has helped grow their business, direct sales from social tactics are not widely measured.
More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Worldwide Cloud Services Market to Surpass $68 Billion in 2010
Worldwide cloud services revenue is forecast to reach $68.3 billion in 2010, a 16.6 percent increase from 2009 revenue of $58.6 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. The industry is poised for strong growth through 2014, when worldwide cloud services revenue is projected to reach $148.8 billion.
Gartner estimates that, over the course of the next five years, enterprises will spend $112 billion cumulatively on software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS), combined.
More fundamentally, cloud computing has become more material, because the challenges inherent in managing technology based on the principles of previous eras -- complex, custom, expensive solutions managed by large in-house IT teams -- have become greater, and the benefits of cloud computing in addressing these challenges have matured to become more appropriate and attractive to all types of enterprises.
Gartner is seeing an acceleration of adoption of cloud computing and cloud services among enterprises and an explosion of supply-side activity as technology providers maneuver to exploit the growing commercial opportunity. North American and European markets represent the largest markets from a geographic perspective, and while other geographies around the world will experience growth, this growth will not notably alter the overall weighting away from the larger, more-mature regions over the course of the next five years.
The U.S. share of the worldwide cloud services market was 60 percent in 2009 and will be 58 percent in 2010, but by 2014, this will be diluted to 50 percent as other countries and regions begin to adopt cloud services in more-significant volumes. Western Europe is expected to account for 23.8 percent of the cloud services market in 2010, and Japan will represent 10 percent. In 2014, the U.K. is forecast to account for 29 percent of the market, while Japan will represent 12 percent of cloud services revenue.
In industry terms, the financial services and manufacturing industries are the largest early adopters of cloud services. Communications and high-tech industries are also leveraging the cloud in significant volume, while the public sector is also clearly interested in the potential of cloud services and its share of the overall market.
More information can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Gartner estimates that, over the course of the next five years, enterprises will spend $112 billion cumulatively on software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS), combined.
More fundamentally, cloud computing has become more material, because the challenges inherent in managing technology based on the principles of previous eras -- complex, custom, expensive solutions managed by large in-house IT teams -- have become greater, and the benefits of cloud computing in addressing these challenges have matured to become more appropriate and attractive to all types of enterprises.
Gartner is seeing an acceleration of adoption of cloud computing and cloud services among enterprises and an explosion of supply-side activity as technology providers maneuver to exploit the growing commercial opportunity. North American and European markets represent the largest markets from a geographic perspective, and while other geographies around the world will experience growth, this growth will not notably alter the overall weighting away from the larger, more-mature regions over the course of the next five years.
The U.S. share of the worldwide cloud services market was 60 percent in 2009 and will be 58 percent in 2010, but by 2014, this will be diluted to 50 percent as other countries and regions begin to adopt cloud services in more-significant volumes. Western Europe is expected to account for 23.8 percent of the cloud services market in 2010, and Japan will represent 10 percent. In 2014, the U.K. is forecast to account for 29 percent of the market, while Japan will represent 12 percent of cloud services revenue.
In industry terms, the financial services and manufacturing industries are the largest early adopters of cloud services. Communications and high-tech industries are also leveraging the cloud in significant volume, while the public sector is also clearly interested in the potential of cloud services and its share of the overall market.
More information can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Study Reveals 47% Of Sales Reps Did Not Meet Their Quota Last Year
CSO Insights announces the release of their annual Telemarketing/Insides Sales Report, showing the top Telemarketing/Inside Sales metrics selected based upon size of change over the past two years, a significant discrepancy between field and inside sales, or a change in trend direction.
The study surveyed nearly 250 firms worldwide across 97 metrics. Participants identified themselves as responsible for Telemarketing/Inside Sales. CSO Insights found many key findings, including:
-- Account research continues to lead all other Internet uses.
-- On-line collaboration is taking on new meaning and importance for telemarketing/inside sales.
-- Customer self-service moves up again this year.
-- Sales cycles have lengthened for inside sales over the past two years.
Three of the top 10 metrics driven by sales research are:
1. Quota attainment is down: 53% of telemarketing/inside sales reps met or exceeded their quota last year; this is up one point from two years ago, but down four full points from one year ago.
2. Number of calls to close deals is up: 63% of sales close with 3-9 calls, down from 72% a year earlier; only 1% went to 1-2 calls to close, the other 8% went to >9 calls to close.
3. Adoption of CRM is at a record high: Telemarketing/inside sales are well ahead of field sales in consistent use (>90%) of CRM. Benefits of implementing CRM are similarly led by improved forecast accuracy.
More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
The study surveyed nearly 250 firms worldwide across 97 metrics. Participants identified themselves as responsible for Telemarketing/Inside Sales. CSO Insights found many key findings, including:
-- Account research continues to lead all other Internet uses.
-- On-line collaboration is taking on new meaning and importance for telemarketing/inside sales.
-- Customer self-service moves up again this year.
-- Sales cycles have lengthened for inside sales over the past two years.
Three of the top 10 metrics driven by sales research are:
1. Quota attainment is down: 53% of telemarketing/inside sales reps met or exceeded their quota last year; this is up one point from two years ago, but down four full points from one year ago.
2. Number of calls to close deals is up: 63% of sales close with 3-9 calls, down from 72% a year earlier; only 1% went to 1-2 calls to close, the other 8% went to >9 calls to close.
3. Adoption of CRM is at a record high: Telemarketing/inside sales are well ahead of field sales in consistent use (>90%) of CRM. Benefits of implementing CRM are similarly led by improved forecast accuracy.
More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Monday, June 14, 2010
Organizations Need to Re-Evaluate the Rationale for SaaS
Software as a service (SaaS) will have a role in the future of IT, but not the dominant future that was first thought, according to Gartner, Inc. Organizations should carefully assess their software needs in light of the current promises delivered on by SaaS.
In 2009, within enterprise applications, SaaS represented 3.4 percent of total enterprise spending, slightly up from 2008 at 2.8 percent. Gartner predicts that the global enterprise applications software market will reach $8.8 billion in 2010.
From a market perspective, most of the spending for SaaS is occurring in content, collaboration and communication and the customer relationship management markets. Collectively, they represented 65 percent of the global enterprise applications software market in 2009.
SaaS may not have delivered on its early grand promises - of the current SaaS deployments we estimate that a total of 90 percent of SaaS deployments are not pay-per-use -, but it has re-energized the software market and added choice. SaaS does not solve all the challenges of software delivery, but can provide advantages based on the specific circumstances of a deployment as it is quicker to implement and configure for less-complex problems.
Gartner said that SaaS will likely penetrate every company at one level or another and recommends that organizations consider four steps when evaluating SaaS:
Determine Value
SaaS is not a panacea, and companies need to evaluate and understand the trade-offs that SaaS presents. While it limits infrastructure overheads and management, and lowers short- to medium-term total cost of ownership, third-party application tools are limited and SaaS applications cannot be counted as assets on a balance sheet.
Develop Governance
The next step is to develop a SaaS policy and governance document. This document should be a collaborative effort between the business and IT to create internal and external SaaS governance model.
Evaluate Vendors
Organizations need to evaluate SaaS vendors for specific application needs as applicable. A vendor’s commitment to SaaS is not just measured in business performance, but in technical considerations, such as operations management capabilities.
Develop an Integration Road Map
This step will be a continuous process of developing an integration road map on how SaaS applications will integrate with on-premises applications and other SaaS solutions deployed.
More information on SaaS can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
In 2009, within enterprise applications, SaaS represented 3.4 percent of total enterprise spending, slightly up from 2008 at 2.8 percent. Gartner predicts that the global enterprise applications software market will reach $8.8 billion in 2010.
From a market perspective, most of the spending for SaaS is occurring in content, collaboration and communication and the customer relationship management markets. Collectively, they represented 65 percent of the global enterprise applications software market in 2009.
SaaS may not have delivered on its early grand promises - of the current SaaS deployments we estimate that a total of 90 percent of SaaS deployments are not pay-per-use -, but it has re-energized the software market and added choice. SaaS does not solve all the challenges of software delivery, but can provide advantages based on the specific circumstances of a deployment as it is quicker to implement and configure for less-complex problems.
Gartner said that SaaS will likely penetrate every company at one level or another and recommends that organizations consider four steps when evaluating SaaS:
Determine Value
SaaS is not a panacea, and companies need to evaluate and understand the trade-offs that SaaS presents. While it limits infrastructure overheads and management, and lowers short- to medium-term total cost of ownership, third-party application tools are limited and SaaS applications cannot be counted as assets on a balance sheet.
Develop Governance
The next step is to develop a SaaS policy and governance document. This document should be a collaborative effort between the business and IT to create internal and external SaaS governance model.
Evaluate Vendors
Organizations need to evaluate SaaS vendors for specific application needs as applicable. A vendor’s commitment to SaaS is not just measured in business performance, but in technical considerations, such as operations management capabilities.
Develop an Integration Road Map
This step will be a continuous process of developing an integration road map on how SaaS applications will integrate with on-premises applications and other SaaS solutions deployed.
More information on SaaS can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Friday, June 11, 2010
Despite Economic Conditions, Application Deployment Software Market Still Showed Gains
A recent International Data Corporation (IDC) study shows that the worldwide application deployment software market grew 2.2% to $14.9 billion in 2009. The decline in the growth rate was steep compared with 9.7% growth in 2008 and 16.5% growth in 2007. However, with the severe impact on IT spending caused by the economic crisis through 2009, the fact that this market grew at all was counter-cyclical.
Additional findings from this study include:
-- The top three vendors in 2009 accounted for 52.5% of market revenue. IBM was the largest middleware vendor, while Oracle and Microsoft were the next two largest vendors.
-- The fastest-growing larger vendor (over $100 million in revenue) was business process management software provider Pegasystems. Appian and Lombardi Software, which was acquired by IBM in January 2009, also grew in the middle double digits.
-- At 8.2% growth, Asia/Pacific was the fastest-growing region. It accounted for 14.5% share of the market. The largest region was the Americas, at $7.7 billion in revenue and 3.9% growth.
More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Additional findings from this study include:
-- The top three vendors in 2009 accounted for 52.5% of market revenue. IBM was the largest middleware vendor, while Oracle and Microsoft were the next two largest vendors.
-- The fastest-growing larger vendor (over $100 million in revenue) was business process management software provider Pegasystems. Appian and Lombardi Software, which was acquired by IBM in January 2009, also grew in the middle double digits.
-- At 8.2% growth, Asia/Pacific was the fastest-growing region. It accounted for 14.5% share of the market. The largest region was the Americas, at $7.7 billion in revenue and 3.9% growth.
More information on CRM can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Nearly Two-Thirds of IT Infrastructure Expected to be Outsourced by 2020
An annual study commissioned by Savvis, Inc., a provider of cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises, predicts the number of companies that outsource their IT infrastructure will increase globally from 17 percent today to 64 percent in 2020.
In April, independent research firm Vanson Bourne surveyed more than 600 IT and business decision makers from mid to large enterprises and public sector organizations based in the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore.
Sixty-one percent of respondents believe managing IT in-house provides no competitive advantage and has to stop.
In looking at 2010, organizations cited cost savings (58 percent) and growing revenue (54 percent) as their top strategic priorities. The biggest issue facing organizations is having to doing more with less budget (54 percent).
When asked what factors prevent their organizations from outsourcing all elements of their IT infrastructure, survey respondents cited company culture (43 percent) and sunk costs where IT assets are already paid for and owned (37 percent).
More information can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
In April, independent research firm Vanson Bourne surveyed more than 600 IT and business decision makers from mid to large enterprises and public sector organizations based in the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore.
Sixty-one percent of respondents believe managing IT in-house provides no competitive advantage and has to stop.
In looking at 2010, organizations cited cost savings (58 percent) and growing revenue (54 percent) as their top strategic priorities. The biggest issue facing organizations is having to doing more with less budget (54 percent).
When asked what factors prevent their organizations from outsourcing all elements of their IT infrastructure, survey respondents cited company culture (43 percent) and sunk costs where IT assets are already paid for and owned (37 percent).
More information can be found at www.CRMindustry.com
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