CRM - December 2008 - (Page 36) They Aim To Please There’s one way to improve your chances of having customer-centric service: Hire customer-centric employees. If only it were really that simple | By Christopher Musico EDWARD FIELDS DECIDED TO CREATE A COMPANY in 2004 because he wanted one very simple thing: to make sure he was never again surprised at any of the parent-teacher conferences he attended for one of his four kids. “It’s probably silly to spend $14 million and five years of your life to get that capability,” he recalls now. “But that was the core driver for me.” Today, the company he created, Bethesda, Md.–based HotChalk, has become far more than his personal early-warning system. It’s a comprehensive learning environment for K–12 teachers, students, and parents, including a learning management system; a library of teacher-contributed lesson plans; digital content such as video from NBC News; and professional development for teachers—all available through any Internet browser. With more than 410,000 registered teachers and 80,000 schools in 188 countries utilizing HotChalk, it’s fair to say that Fields, who is now the chairman and chief executive officer, has exceeded his initial goals. And yet, as successful as HotChalk has become, Fields says that one concern still bothers him: finding customer-centric employees. “[That’s] one that keeps me up at night,” he says, “because the most important thing at HotChalk is the people we 36 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | DECEMBER 2008
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 CRM - December 2008 - CRM - December 2008 (Page Cover1) CRM - December 2008 - CRM - December 2008 (Page Cover2) CRM - December 2008 - Contents (Page 3) CRM - December 2008 - Contents (Page 4) CRM - December 2008 - Contents (Page 5) CRM - December 2008 - Front Office (Page 6) CRM - December 2008 - Front Office (Page 7) CRM - December 2008 - Feedback (Page 8) CRM - December 2008 - Feedback (Page 9) CRM - December 2008 - Reality Check (Page 10) CRM - December 2008 - Reality Check (Page 11) CRM - December 2008 - Customer Centricity (Page 12) CRM - December 2008 - Customer Centricity (Page 13) CRM - December 2008 - The Tipping Point (Page 14) CRM - December 2008 - The Tipping Point (Page 15) CRM - December 2008 - The Rave Is Over (Page 16) CRM - December 2008 - Financial Frenzy (Page 17) CRM - December 2008 - Will Customer Experience Survive in a ‘Soft’ Economy? (Page 18) CRM - December 2008 - Holiday Humbug (Page 19) CRM - December 2008 - Empowered Consumers Are Ready to Flip the Switch (Page 20) CRM - December 2008 - Required Reading (Page 21) CRM - December 2008 - Required Reading (Page 22) CRM - December 2008 - Required Reading (Page 23) CRM - December 2008 - Transparency (Page 24) CRM - December 2008 - Transparency (Page 25) CRM - December 2008 - Transparency (Page 26) CRM - December 2008 - Transparency (Page 27) CRM - December 2008 - Transparency (Page 28) CRM - December 2008 - Transparency (Page 29) CRM - December 2008 - Spiff Up Your Site! (Page 30) CRM - December 2008 - Spiff Up Your Site! (Page 31) CRM - December 2008 - Spiff Up Your Site! (Page 32) CRM - December 2008 - Spiff Up Your Site! (Page 33) CRM - December 2008 - Spiff Up Your Site! (Page 34) CRM - December 2008 - Spiff Up Your Site! (Page 35) CRM - December 2008 - They Aim to Please (Page 36) CRM - December 2008 - They Aim to Please (Page 37) CRM - December 2008 - They Aim to Please (Page 38) CRM - December 2008 - They Aim to Please (Page 39) CRM - December 2008 - They Aim to Please (Page 40) CRM - December 2008 - They Aim to Please (Page 41) CRM - December 2008 - They Aim to Please (Page 42) CRM - December 2008 - A Newsletter Employs New Tactics (Page 43) CRM - December 2008 - A Site Stops Feeling Overtaxed (Page 44) CRM - December 2008 - Make ’Em Laugh—Personally (Page 45) CRM - December 2008 - Secret of My Success (Page 46) CRM - December 2008 - Re:Tooling (Page 47) CRM - December 2008 - Scouting Report (Page 48) CRM - December 2008 - Scouting Report (Page 49) CRM - December 2008 - Pint of View (Page 50) CRM - December 2008 - Pint of View (Page Cover3) CRM - December 2008 - Pint of View (Page Cover4)
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.