CRM - December 2008 - (Page 50)

MARSHALL LAGER, DECEMBER’S CHIEF FILL-IN-THE-BLANK OFFICER Congratulations to President It’s never too early to get in good with the leader of the free world whoever it may be I’m caught in the usual conundrum of print publishing—writing for an issue that will appear in the future, a future about which I’m very uncertain. You’re reading this in December, right between the election of the U.S. president and his inauguration. But I’m writing in September, so the campaigns are still in full swing. Plus, there’s a financial crisis brewing down on Wall Street that has the nation on the verge of panic; Texas just got slammed by a huge hurricane; oil prices are insane; and of course we’re still trying to fight a conventional war against guerrilla forces on their home turf. Oh, and we’ve just run out of Colombian coffee. How to address all these issues, while wrapping up the year in general? Simple—I’ll let you do it for me! Thanks to a suggestion from my managing editor (and with apologies to the late Match Game host Gene Rayburn), I am proud to introduce the first-ever CRM magazine Mad Lib. Send us yours, and we’ll post a collection online. Well, it’s been one NOUN f , of a year, this 2008. Business aside, the big story right now has to be the political NOUN Of course, we’ve just had the presidential election, but before I get into that ADJECTIVE NOUN . After all the VERB ENDING IN “-ING” and , let’s talk about some of the VERB (PAST TENSE) VERB ENDING IN “-ING” of the campaign, we finally have a new face EMOTION goings-on that CRM this year. CRM VENDOR in the White House, and I couldn’t be more It started off with a ONOMATOPOEIA when about the result. Can you believe that guy won? I suppose it was inevitable; in this age of sound bites, all he had to do was latch onto a hot-button issue like ISSUE announced that it was finally moving ahead with its new TECHNOLOGY . While VERB ENDING IN “-ING” for quite some time, its differ, or ISSUE NOUN and ? ADJECTIVE arrival made a the public’s gut did the rest. Democracy—ain’t it a QUALIFYING ADJECTIVE ence—especially in verticals such as VERTICAL SUBSTANCE CRM VENDOR Once the old guard hands over the keys, our leader’s ORDINAL POLITICAL ISSUE NOUN VERTICAL , and VERTICAL . That touched off a priority should be to deal with . It’s been VERB ENDING IN “-ING” -storm of activity, as rivals including and PLURAL NOUN CRM VENDOR VERB (PAST TENSE) our collective for a while now, and the president should VERB back with of their own. True to the unpreCRM PRODUCT definitely COMPARATIVE/QUALITY . Now that the economy is in dictable nature of the business, adherents to are now the ones in COMPETING CRM PRODUCT POSITION shape, we have to break new ground or risk PLURAL NOUN , while those in the . has been future generations remembering us as . VERB camp are ADJECTIVE One thing’s certain, though; whether we the VERB NOUN VERB ENDING IN “-ING” Much thought until we turn DIRECTION COLOR , or , VERB (PAST PERFECT TENSE) to the concept of the changing nature of CRM SUBJECT MATTER to reach ABSTRACT NOUN STATE OF BEING CRM itself. Whether your favorite topic is CRM SUBJECT MATTER TYPE OF PERSON , CRM will continue to be a to businesses in , or CRM SUBJECT MATTER , there’s at least one every field. We predicted some trends in this issue, and only time will tell if or if it will be ADJECTIVE DIRECTION TREND VERB (PAST TENSE) speaking to that concern. Most of them are , but some are definitely on the goes the way we think it will, by TREND NOUN or the . I look INTELLECTUAL QUALITY ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE track. Some of them even spoke at our destinationCRM 2008 conference. AssociatADJECTIVE behavior of the to VERB ENDING IN “-ING” NOUN you understand the BODY PART ing with them really helped make us appear 50 . changes with every of my . CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | DECEMBER 2008 www.destinationCRM.com 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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