CRM - February 2008 - (Page 28)

THE DIGITAL CLIENT client’s social movement goes way beyond technology, drawing on normal human impulses and adopting only goaloriented technologies. Most important, the members of this generation increasingly are the buyers/influencers of your organization’s products and services— not to mention your own employees. Consider the experience of BT Group, one of the world’s leading providers of WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES SHARE THREE BASIC TENETS THAT WILL IMPACT THE FUTURE OF CRM: USER-GENERATED CONTENT, SOCIAL NETWORKING, AND DISINTERMEDIATION. communications solutions and services, operating in 170 countries. In November 2007’s Employee Engagement Today magazine, Richard Dennison—who works on intranet, social media, and knowledge management strategy for BT—described his company’s Web “liberalization” project, an attempt to ensure that all its employees had access to social media (richarddennison.wordpress.com/ bt-web-20-adoption-case-study/). BT recognized social media tools as a huge opportunity to transform the way its employees interact not just with each other, but with BT itself as well as its customers, partners, and suppliers. Perhaps more important, as Dennison pointed out,“when over 4,000 of your employees voluntarily join a Facebook group called ‘BT,’ it’s time to take note.” For digital clients, Dennison said, Web 2.0 technology “is second nature and an important part of how they interact and manage their time. The extent to which a company adopts user-generated tools is bound to become a barometer of company culture for those looking for suitable employment in the future.” Anytime, Anywhere BY TIM BAJARIN A bout 10 years ago, I had an interesting discussion with Bill Gates while on a visit to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. At the time, he was touting some new mobile software that Microsoft was about to release, and reiterating that this was part of his vision for “information at your fingertips, anytime and anywhere you happen to be.” In fact, if you‘ve been following Microsoft for any length of time, you already know that this mobile mantra has been one of the company’s major drivers. This is why it has made such an investment in Windows Mobile software, and why today the idea of delivering a more robust mobile operating system for laptops, tablets, and smartphones has become part of the company’s DNA. As of last year, laptops outsold desktops; by decade’s end, some analysts believe that laptops will account for 65 percent of all computers sold. Today, smartphones represent only about 7 percent of the 1.1 billion cell phones sold annually, but by 2010, analysts believe they’ll account for up to 22 percent. The fact is that we’re becoming, more and more, a mobile society. Businesses and consumers want their information, email, applications—even entertainment—on demand, no matter where they happen to be. That trend is clearly in the sight of all of the personal computer, consumer electronics, and mobile handset makers, as they and the telephony carriers rush to deliver high-speed wireless networks and mobile devices of all kinds, capable of delivering business in an instant. New third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) wireless networks will soon deliver wireless connections with speeds well over 4 MBPS. In the future, WiMAX networks will become the wireless workhorse, delivering connections up to 70 MBPS. And WiFi hotspots are popping up everywhere, making it easier to get connected even if you don’t have a cellular modem in your laptop. As more and more applications get delivered via the Internet cloud, the need for high-speed, smart, wireless devices will only increase. It’s time we prepared businesses and consumers alike for a world where business applications, information, and even consumer-driven entertainment are delivered—as Bill Gates suggested a decade ago—“anytime and anywhere you happen to be.” Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, is a leading authority within the CRM industry. He will also be a presenter at the destinationCRM 2008 conference, taking place August 18–21 in New York. He can be reached at tim@creativestrategies.com. PUTTING WEB 2.0 TO WORK FOR YOU It all starts with the new technology tools that Web 2.0 has to offer: blogs, wikis, videos, RSS feeds, widgets, podcasts, and others—each of which supports the social movement around interpersonal communications. These technologies share three basic tenets that will impact the future of CRM: user-generated content, social networking, and disintermediation. According to Pew Research, nearly half (44 percent) of U.S. adults online are “content creators”—posting messages, running blogs, hosting personal sites, etc. More than half of 12-to-17-yearolds use online social networking sites. There are already more than 70 million blogs, and a new one is launched every second. User-generated videos account for 47 percent of total online videos streamed in the U.S. (See “Power to www.destinationCRM.com 28 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | FEBRUARY 2008 http://richarddennison.wordpress.com/bt-web-20-adoption-case-study/ http://richarddennison.wordpress.com/bt-web-20-adoption-case-study/ http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - February 2008

CRM - February 2008 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point The Loyalty Riddle CRM Drives Down-Market Out of the Gate: Marketers Rate ’08 Traits The Pulse Consultants Adapt to CRM’s Changing Landscape Required Reading Cover Story: CRM Gets Serious Contact Center Solutions Always On Rumble in the Office The Smallest Slice Tying Up Cable’s Loose Ends Burning Up the Paper Trail Sunny Skies for Knology No More Bumps for BlueRoads Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - February 2008

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