CRM - December 2008 - (Page 17)

Insight with Entellium’s products and operations. “I think we’ll remain cautiously optimistic, keep working in Entellium— but look for a backstop solution just to serve as contact management,” Whelan says. “Entellium Rave—that’s really what we want.” As users contemplate life after Entellium, many in the CRM industry are doing the same: What does one company’s plight mean for the rest of the market? “My early thought was that small businesses might think maybe this is the start of a trend for [software-as-aservice] businesses that aren’t as established, and stick with something more traditional,” Leary says. “That’s still a concern, but I think they’ll realize you have to make sure…the company you’re working with is trustworthy.” Leary says that bigger CRM companies will have an advantage under these circumstances, since many of them are publicly traded and have a paper trail. “It’s hard for startups to establish that— prove they’re viable and honest—without the transparency. It’s very hard in this environment.” (See our cover story, page 24, for more on the trend toward transparency.) —Marshall Lager Financial Frenzy Banks are dropping like flies—or mating like bunnies hen Washington Mutual and Wachovia—two of the largest retail banks— were snapped up by former competitors JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, respectively, the deals were just part of the country’s—and the world’s—financial crisis. As exceptional as the game of musical chairs has become, some customers seemed to have no trouble finding their seats. Given the volatile stock market, people just want a safe place to put their money. “One thing that drives consumers in banking is this notion that they’re protected,” says Kyle LaMalfa, manager of the best-practice consulting team at Allegiance, a provider of enterprise feedback management solutions. But with institutions as large as Wachovia and WaMu getting gobbled, he says, “that statistic is going to go down the tank.” Acquirers seem intent on forestalling that. Chase, JPMorgan’s retail banking unit, launched its “Welcome WaMu Customers” Web page the Friday after the announcement, followed by on- and offline campaigns that attempted to allay concerns. Over the next few weeks, says Nancy Norris, a JPMorgan Chase spokesperson, WaMu actually saw a surge in deposits, particularly in areas where Chase had no branches, such as California, Washington, and Florida. Chase and WaMu ATMs were interoperable within two weeks, but it will be another two years before WaMu accounts actually become Chase accounts, Norris says, citing challenges with “converting the computer system.” Chase may have dodged a bullet, but observers are skeptical. Banks have historically struggled to make emotional connections with their customers, says Nate Fisher, a principal at consultancy Customer Value Partners. In a 2007 customer advocacy report by Forrester Research, the largest retail banks—Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, 17 W CRM on Bucholtz: Yikes! PJ Johnston and Parrish Jones of Entellium indicted on wire fraud charges: http://tinyurl.com/4mfsxw On the national stage, one of the earliest signs of Entellium’s sudden crisis came by way of Twitter—and the reaction there spread like wildfire. Want to follow CRM magazine on Twitter? You can find us at www.twitter.com/destinationCRM. You can reach us directly by using @destinationCRM at the start of your tweet. jbennett047: Entellium was committed to CRM, but they committed CRiMe. chris_marino: Entellium CEO/CFO arrested for cooking the books… board asleep at the wheel, for sure. http://is.gd/3LFn jasona: So, Entellium had 190 employees and only reported $5.2M in revenue? Which was really $1.7M? That’s a fast burn. RichBohn: Hey Entellium users, back up your data before the servers go dark! darnoc: Fairly certain Ignition Partners’ portfolio firms will have audits in the near future after this Entellium debacle. http://snurl.com/47eaj guitarlawyer: @RichBohn Great post! We are ready to take all the former Entellium customers that are a good “true small business” fit with Infusionsoft. jeffnolan: this news story about Entellium is really wild. Imagine being in the Ignition partner meeting when this was discussed. http://lin.cr/1s4 djwhelan: Bummed about Entellium (http://tinyurl.com/3m7nkq). Our startup was just starting to use it. Time to talk to @37signals and @jasonfried? www.destinationCRM.com CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | DECEMBER 2008 http://www.twitter.com/destinationCRM http://www.twitter.com/destinationCRM http://tinyurl.com/4mfsxw http://is.gd/3LFn http://snurl.com/47eaj http://tinyurl.com/3m7nkq http://lin.cr/1s4 http://www.destinationCRM.com

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

CRM - December 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point The Rave Is Over CRM on Twitter Financial Frenzy Will Customer Experience Survive in a ‘Soft’ Economy? Holiday Humbug Empowered Consumers Are Ready to Flip the Switch Required Reading Transparency Spiff Up Your Site! They Aim to Please Mixing In a Little Sugar Sweetens the Deal A Newsletter Employs New Tactics A Site Stops Feeling Overtaxed Make ’Em Laugh—Personally Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - December 2008

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