CRM - February 2009 - (Page 22)

Statistics THE NUMBERS >> Statistics can be scary stuff. Absent of context, MAKE Megaphone! Marketing Your TELLtheTale Index 2008 Loss The third worst year ever stats—like the ones scattered across this spread— can stymie strategic thinking and wreak havoc on your company’s short- and long-term planning. Your challenge is to keep that from happening. But scary they remain. To wit: According to one survey, 39 percent of companies admitted to laying off workers in 2008—and 23 percent said there’d be more downsizing in 2009. In fact, the United States unemployment rate hit a 15-year high in November; the number of temporarily laid-off workers hit a 17-year high. It gets worse: U.S. automakers posted their biggest annual sales drop since 1974. The Consumer Confidence Index hit an all-time low in December, the same month U.S. factory activity fell to a 28-year low. Not even counting the subprime-mortgage fiasco, the drop in home values has erased $4 trillion of American wealth— and some analysts suggest that figure may double before we bottom out. Meanwhile, in one of those statistical quirks that make bad news sound rosy, household debt dropped for the first time since 1952—a sign that people are hoarding what little cash they have, further stifling the flow of capital. It’s not all numbers—some dire phrases are being thrown about, as well. “The bleakest economic outlook since World War II,” said Lawrence Summers, picked to head the new president’s National Economic Council.“This is an economy that is in absolute free-fall right now,” said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight. But this, too, shall pass. All recessions end, so prepare for what’s to come. Oh—and don’t be scared. Dow Jones Industrial Average S&P 500 NASDAQ The third worst year ever The worst year in the history of the Nasdaq (dating back to 1971) —WallStreetSurvivor.com NOVEMBER 2008: S&P 500 hits an low Amount by which the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped over the course of just 14 months —Bloomberg trillion The from global markets in 2008 —Bloomberg VALUE ERASED 22 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | FEBRUARY 2009 www.destinationCRM.com http://www.WallStreetSurvivor.com http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - February 2009

CRM - February 2009 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Express Service CRM on Twitter Breaking Customer Service Tradition Outsprinted That’s (Not) Entertainment Running on Empty Required Reading Up Against the Downturn The Numbers Tell the Tale Make Marketing Your Megaphone! Hold Onto Your Customers! Spend Your Way Out! Constructing a Virtual Customer Experience Next Customer, Please! It’s Showtime! From A(erospace) to Z(oology) Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - February 2009

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