Category: CRM
November 24th, 2009
The 'social enterprise' comes of age
Salesforce.com’s flamboyant announcement of Chatter has catapulted social computing to the forefront of discussion among enterprise thought leaders.
First-rate CRM analyst, Denis Pombriant, explains that Chatter surprised many people, which is one reason it has received so much attention:
One thing that impressed me about Dreamforce was Salesforce’s ability to be creative, to invent something completely unexpected to announce in Chatter. Whether Chatter will be any good when it is released next year is debatable but Salesforce did what it was supposed to do in bringing out a big new idea for its assembled customers.
Although Salesforce has upped the mojo on positioning social computing for the enterprise, we should remember they aren’t the first major software company to embrace social networking in a big way. For examples, look no further than Oracle and SAP.
Oracle’s internal collaboration platform has been around since mid-2007, built by an exciting group inside the company called the AppsLab. This small team is forward-looking and has its ear to the ground, even though its work has not received attention at anywhere near the scale of Chatter.
SAP has also focused thought leadership on social computing. A recent article written by Mark Yolton, Senior Vice President of the SAP Community Network, intrigued me. Mark describes a vision for the strategic value of social computing that he calls the “borderless enterprise.” It’s worth noting that his community has almost two million members.
From the article:
November 18th, 2009
Salesforce Chatter: Something to talk about
In a major update to its product set, Salesforce.com introduced an enterprise-level social networking platform, called Chatter, which was inspired by Twitter and Facebook. I think the announcement is exciting, but the picture is not entirely perfect.
Here are some first impressions, based on conversations with Salesforce executives, independent analysts, and bloggers. I plan to follow up with the company’s customers to gain a more complete view of this platform.
On the surface, Chatter seems rather unexciting. After all, enterprise social computing products aren’t new; for example, an enterprise Twitter-style application called ESME, which was created by developers connected with SAP, has been around for over a year.
Chatter sports some interesting features, such as the ability of Force.com applications to send status messages into the Twitter-like stream. (For an excellent breakdown of Chatter’s features, take a look at Dion Hinchcliffe’s ZDNet post on this topic.) However, the import of this announcement has nothing to do with features; it arises from Salesforce’s level of visibility and its commitment to social computing.
When a company of Salesforce’s size and stature seriously gets behind a particular technology or market, it brings credibility and a halo to everyone in that ecosystem. In this case, Salesforce appears to be making a substantive, long-term commitment of resources and marketing capital to the social computing and Enterprise 2.0 domains.
Of course, an announcement does not carry the weight of shipping real product to customer, so the jury of reality has yet to reach a verdict. With that in mind, I asked Brett Queener, Senior Vice President of products, to describe the company’s level of commitment to Chatter. His comments are unequivocal:
November 18th, 2009
Dreamforce: Quick first impressions
Sitting here in the audience at the annual Dreamforce conference of Salesforce.com, a couple of quick impressions come to mind. This post is mid-stream during the first keynote speech, so there will be more later.
A few observations:
- Salesforce.com is indeed a force to be reckoned with. One of the largest software vendors in the world, with an annualized run rate of $1.3 billion in revenue, no one can deny the inroads that cloud computing has made in the enterprise. 19,000 people registered for this conference, an obvious indicator that something serious is going on.
- The company has developed a vibrant ecosystem. Wandering through the expo hall to see the vendors and partners showing their wares, I was struck by diversity. Notably, I spoke with a system integrator implementing large (over 1000 seats) Salesforce projects. At that scale, there’s real complexity, especially around business process redesign and integration with existing systems. I intend to explore this topic further.
- CEO Marc Benioff emphasized “trust” as key theme. In a slide showing aspect of the Saleforce’s infrastructure, trust was right at the center. Here’s a photo:
The trust issue is big and there’s no surprise Benioff positioned it front and center of his first slide on product strategy. Trust, confidence, and reliability are among the key matters of concern to large enterprise buyers.
This post comes while the keynote is in-progress. More soon…
[Photo by Michael Krigsman.]
November 9th, 2009
Enterprise unplugged: Riffing on failure and performance
My favorite part of blogging is the opportunity to learn from fascinating people who are at the top of their game. I recently chatted about enterprise issues and IT failure with Naomi Bloom and Nenshad Bardoliwalla, two articulate folks whose expertise is matched only by their willingness to share what they know.
Listen to the podcast to hear how their conversation ebbed and flowed like a great jazz improvisation.
Nenshad Bardoliwalla is a creative entrepreneur who most recently was CTO for Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) at SAP. Nenshad is author of the book, Driven to Perform, a 700-page reference on managing performance with systematic metrics. When I have questions about BI, metrics, and related topics, you can guess to whom I turn for advice.
Naomi Bloom is a top consultant, analyst, writer, and thought leader throughout the HRM delivery system (HRMDS) industry. Her specialty is the application of HR technology and innovative service delivery models to achieve breakthroughs in organizational business outcomes. Check out her formal bio–it’s pretty darned impressive.
Pulling these two folks together for an IT failures podcast presents an interesting challenge because their backgrounds and areas of professional focus are so different. However, they share an abiding interest in improving business transformation with technology-related projects. In other words, these guys understand how technology and business interact to produce useful results (or not, as the case may be).
The podcast recording session was informal and fun; really, three friends getting together to chat about the drivers of business success and failure. If that means I hang around with geeky friends, then guilty as charged.
Here are a few excerpts from the podcast, just to give you a flavor of the discussion. These are notes and not meant to be a transcript.
Naomi: Business outcomes and achieving the mission matter most. In today’s world, the vast majority of the work we do to accomplish these goals is technology-enabled. So, if we don’t get the technology part right, then we fail.
To define success, ask people in the business whether a new system helps or hurts the day-to-day effort to accomplish their job. Looking at this way, there’s a lot of failure out there.
Nenshad: The discipline of performance management is meant to align the people in an organization with the outcomes they are trying to achieve. Failure often results when an organization implements technology without first deciding on the outcomes. If you don’t know the target, then it is difficult to design technology that will achieve your goals.
October 19th, 2009
Going commando: Four signs of CRM failure
CRM failure remains a significant problem in many organizations. For that reason, it’s important to explore why so many of these projects do not achieve their potential.
- Related: CRM failure rates: 2001-2009
For this reason, I asked Jill Dyché, a Partner with IT services and management consulting firm, Baseline 
Consulting to write a guest post for this blog. Jill is the author of three books on the business value of technology, including her latest, Customer Data Integration: Reaching a Single Version of the Truth. You can reach Jill on Twitter (@jilldyche) or email (jilldyche@baseline-consulting.com).
Most folks involved in CRM don’t quickly recognize the warning signs of failure, causing bad projects that die a slow, agonizing death. These folks need Arnold Schwarzeneggers’ Commando to stop the madness and put their project out of its misery.
Arnold’s role of “exit champion,” in which he kills for the greater good, reminds us that not all CRM projects are fit to survive. However, most corporate cultures discourage naysayers, so even well-informed people who sense a CRM effort going sideways avoid making waves and don’t call out obvious warning signs.
This cultural condition creates groupthink and denial, a type of organizational neglect that researcher Isabelle Royer calls “the seductive appeal of collective belief.” We’ve all seen or heard this kind of logic:
Our project must be going fine, since no one is complaining, even though we’re already over-budget and the development team is still being trained on the software. After all, CRM is a hot topic with analysts and our executives are all on board. Someone must know what they’re doing. Right?
Although the warning signs of CRM-gone-wrong may appear vague, they are actually quite consistent across companies, vendor solutions, and development plans. Here are four to watch for:
October 9th, 2009
Twitter suspends security researcher's account as a threat
Twitter erroneously suspended, and subsequently restored, a prominent researcher’s account two months after he tweeted a security warning intended to inform his audience about an imminent threat.
Aside from poor security handling, this situation offers a case study example of immature customer service and suggests problems with the organization’s corporate culture.
Mikko H. Hyppönen, Chief Research Officer at well-known computer security and anti-virus firm F-Secure, discovered that Twitter unexpectedly banned his account without warning. Here’s a screen capture (that I edited for clarity) from Mikko’s blog:
When Mikko complained, Twitter restored his account with this minimal explanation:
I’ve unsuspended your acct.
You were suspended for using the malware URL rnyspeceDOTcom in DMs.
Be careful!
We scan evrythng for malware.
Apparently, this tweet got Mikko intro trouble:
I asked Mikko to share his thoughts on what happened:
Obviously, I was quite surprised about the whole incident. As I’ve worked with Twitter previously regarding Twitter worms and such, I really didn’t expect this. In addition, I wasn’t expecting them to ban me because of a tweet that was actually warning users to stay away from a phishing site. I think their process leaves a lot to be desired.
Twitter did not immediately respond to my request for comment.
THE PROJECT FAILURES ANALYSIS
There are several problematic aspects regarding Twitter’s handling of this matter:
- Twitter waited two months to suspend Mikko’s account after he sent the “illegal” tweet. A two-month delay responding to perceived security threats does little to protect users.
- This case has extreme irony because Mikko’s tweet attempted to warn followers away from a major security threat. In addition, his tweet included spaces in the middle of the address, making it non-clickable for readers.
- For the coup de grâce, the company’s explanation is rude, blames the user, and does not even apologize. In addition, Twitter did not restore any of Mikko’s followers or the people he followed.
One might expect a small, poorly funded startup to exhibit these problems, but that’s not Twitter’s situation. According to Bloomberg, the company is valued at $1 billion, having raised $150 million.
Cute logos and web page illustrations are no substitute for genuine customer service values. If the company doesn’t improve customer service attitudes, its reputation may one day descend to the level of cable and telephone companies: hated utility services that we tolerate until a replacement comes along.
October 7th, 2009
CRM failure: A virtual town hall discussion and podcast
Today’s IT failures town hall discussion brought together CRM analysts, sales experts, and IT practitioners to discuss why CRM projects do not achieve planned results and how to improve these projects. Click the player at the top of this post to listen.
I was joined for this event by CRM industry guru, Mike Muhney. Beginning with the co-invention of ACT! Mike has been recognized as a global visionary and powerful speaker on the subject of effective business relationships. He has publicly spoken to over 150,000 people worldwide on improving the way they do business, and he has often been interviewed and written about in numerous global publications on the topics of entrepreneurship, market creation, penetration and leadership, global expansion, and motivational speaking.
The conversation focused closely on the role of ensuring buy-in on the part of sales people when deploying CRM systems. Since many CRM implementations suffer from poor adoption, understanding sales person needs is a primary consideration for success.
Even though the group discussed CRM project failure, the focus was clearly on business, rather than IT, issues. While IT may be a problem, it pales in comparison to making sure users want to engage a new CRM system.
Listen to the podcast by clicking the player at the top of this post to hear recommendations and insightful analysis from this highly experienced group. If you are interested in any aspect of successful CRM, this podcast is for you.
September 17th, 2009
CRM success: An IT failures virtual town hall meeting
Customer relationship management projects are notoriously difficult to get right. This IT failures town hall meeting examines why CRM projects fail and presents practical tips to help make you successful.
We’ll discuss issues such as:
- What makes CRM projects so difficult
- Sales people and their relationship to CRM
- Crossing the CRM chasm to success
- Social CRM
I will be joined for this event by CRM industry guru, Mike Muhney. Beginning with the co-invention of ACT! Mike has been recognized as a global visionary and powerful speaker on the subject of effective business relationships. He has publicly spoken to over 150,000 people worldwide on improving the way they do business, and he has often been interviewed and written about in numerous global publications on the topics of entrepreneurship, market creation, penetration and leadership, global expansion, and motivational speaking.
In 1986 Mike and a friend co-founded the company Contact Software International and they co-invented ACT! which is credited with creating the category of Contact Management applications. ACT! also has been frequently credited with pioneering today’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management) industry. Released in 1987, ACT! went on to win over 100 awards globally, including numerous PC Magazine Editor’s Choice awards (the “Oscar” of any and all PC Industry Awards), and is still, after 22 years, the predominant Contact Manager with an extremely loyal following, now estimated to number in excess of 10 million users worldwide.
Please attend this interactive discussion and participate in a valuable conversation about success and failure in CRM. There’s no cost but you must register in advance.
Topic: Achieving CRM success: An IT failures virtual town hall meeting
Date and Time: Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 12:00 noon -1:00 PM, Eastern Time. The registration page lists international telephone numbers.
Registration: Click here to register for this online session
September 16th, 2009
Social CRM reality check
Some so-called “experts” apparently believe that enterprise organizations must instantly adopt social networking if they are to survive and thrive. Although social tools such as Twitter and Facebook are useful, that perspective reflects ignorance of how large companies adopt new technology.
Genuine CRM expert, Jill Dyché, addresses this issue in an insightful blog post, subtitled “In which Jill watches Social CRM consultants get naked—and throws them a towel.” Here’s an excerpt:
I sympathized with the two guys who came in to lead a discussion of how social media can be a strategic game-changer…. One of the consultants proclaimed, “You can’t do CRM without going social.”
Daring? Yes. True? No. You see, the insurance company had already tried enticing agents to use social media. In turn, the agents tried enticing their customers, many of whom they’d known for years. The fact is that social media, bright and shiny though it may be, is still one of many communications channels. In a survey of agents, most admitted that they were available by phone “during 90 percent of the business day, and often thereafter” but they nevertheless tended to use social media “occasionally or when I’m bored.”
The social media dudes advocated enlisting the CEO who, unsurprisingly, was busy doing things like communicating with Wall Street. (And I’m pretty sure that most of those conversations weren’t done using Twitter.) When he was finally asked to publicly advocate instant messaging accounts for all agents and a corporate Facebook page, he e-mailed his direct reports a missive that said something along the lines of the following (although shorter, and a bit more colorful):
September 15th, 2009
'How I tweeted my way out of spinal surgery'
The post describes a failure that is significant in light of the ongoing national debate surrounding health care reform and economics. Beyond health care, the role of social networking makes this failure a valuable case study for the enterprise.
Technology consultant and blogger, Sarah Cortes, went by ambulance to Robert Packer Hospital, a facility located in rural Pennsylvania, after she suffered a serious spinal fracture. The story takes an unusual turn because Cortes says Twitter helped her escape from the clutches of hospital staff whom, she claims, tried to intimidate and coerce her into accepting unnecessary spinal surgery.
On her blog, Cortes writes that Packer, “tried numerous maneuvers over 48 hours to hold me there against my will.” She continues [bullet formatting added]:
[The] tactics included:
- Threats that my insurance would not pay any expenses if I did not accept their treatment. My bill was already in the many thousands of dollars, they informed me.
- Intimidation that if I did not stop resisting their treatment I could be paralyzed
- Impeding my communication with Boston doctors by needlessly limiting my phone access. Thank God for Twitter and iphones.
Cortes believes Packer wanted to perform the surgery to help boost its accreditation statistics. From Cortes’ blog:
Michael Krigsman is CEO of Asuret, Inc., a software and consulting company dedicated to reducing software implementation failures. Click here to discuss this post with him on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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