CRM offers excellent customer service because it equips you with the tools you need to understand your customers and their wants and needs. But the effort is wasted if you don't use them properly. You can make full use of your CRM by delivering excellent service. CRM also provides the basis for excellent customer service by giving you a 360-degree view of the customer. Ideally, CRM system should contain records of all your customer contacts with your business, including any problems that might have arisen and especially any promises that have been made to the customer. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/crm-and-consistent-excellence-70338

According to a study, 63% of CRM initiatives fail, costing companies thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses, which negatively impacts future revenue due to missed sales and opportunities. CRM is effective for those who manage several sides of business, which includes sales, marketing, customer relations, and product updates. There are three reasons for these failures – flawed communication of goals for the CRM system by company leaders, lack of organization-wide use, and inability to integrate with existing tools and applications. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/3-reasons-crm-implementations-fail-70341

Stephanie Khoury (Marketing Manager) writes in her article about small business IT trends of 2015. The number one trend, according to a survey of 500 small businesses, was the increased spending on technology. The second trend is integrated cloud-based systems and the last trend is mobility. In short, small businesses should implement the right systems which will in turn make a huge difference in overall business efficiency. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/grow-software-solutions/small-business-it-trends-of-2015-70323

Organizations can have different reasons to implement an ERP system. But, the most successful implementations are the ones which have the highest benefit. It was found in a 2015 report that most organizations fail to realize at least half of the business benefits that they expect. In general, most successful implementations deliver some common benefits. Eric Kimberling (Managing Partner of Panorama Consulting Solution) writes in his article about the business benefits that can be achieved with the right focus and expertise. They are - Increased revenues, Decreased inventory cycle times, More efficient business processes, Integrated business processes, and Higher employee morale. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/erp-roi/five-tangible-business-benefits-to-expect-from-your-erp-system-70324

Defining ERP requirements is important for an ERP system. Requirement mapping starts with taking a close look at your business, how it performs and what is right with your business. Basically, it consists of identifying what you're not satisfied with. In short, ERP mapping is required to improve, mapping out the processes as they now exist and looking at how you can change them with ERP to make them function more efficiently. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/mapping-requirements-for-erp-70310

Nowadays, ERP systems are capable of generating all types of reports and backed by different tools. The main task is to get the most out of these tools. Unlike spreadsheet based reporting, the tendency with ERP reports is to overdo it. But, moderation is needed. It's best to apply the principle of parsimony to generating reports. Generate as few as possible and distribute them as narrowly as possible. It is advisable to remember that the purpose of the reports is to convey useful information on the status of your business. Read more about ERP reports at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/getting-the-most-from-erp-reports-70313

Standardization drives efficiency and one of the many ways ERP improves efficiency is by standardizing business processes. It also increases certainty and reliability by setting standardized expectations. Another reason is that ERP increases efficiency to make the business processes automated as this speeds up the processes. The other reason for spending so much time on business processes is increasing optimization. ERP also increases efficiency by integrating functions tightly across the entire business. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/improving-efficiency-with-erp-70311

Web Real Time Communication (WebRTC) is the latest trend in the business world. It allows businesses to leverage the cost efficiencies of online and app-based services while creating a user experience that is more similar to real life by adding audio and video communication and is cost effective. Every tablet, phone, computer, television, or any other connected device is now capable of RTC-enabled communication. JT Ripton (a valued contributor to Business 2 Community), writes in his article about some benefits of WebRTC in business. Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/strategy/5-reasons-business-take-advantage-webrtc-01359173#pHVf8Jm4ajdc6rrH.97

It is found that more efficient your supply, the more profitable is your business and ERP plays a vital role in keeping your supply chain running at the top. Nowadays, many ERP systems come with built-in supply chain modules. The supply chain begins when the customer decides to purchase and ends when the customer is satisfied with the purchase. ERP system can give an insight into all the things that happen in the supply chain and helps to manage the process better by giving you better information. The information obtained is invaluable only if you can integrate it into your supply chain management. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/tuning-your-supply-chain-with-erp-70287

Nowadays, reputation management is considered as an industry. But, first we should know what is reputation management. According to Wikipedia, “Online reputation management (or monitoring) is the practice of monitoring the Internet reputation of a person, brand or business, with the goal of suppressing negative mentions entirely, or pushing them lower on search engine results pages to decrease their visibility.” Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/online-marketing/online-reputation-management-the-basics-01362720

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a management tool that gives businesses the opportunity to engage and interact with current and potential customers. The advantages of CRM are numerous. It streamlines customer service, provides customers with a channel for communication, and allows businesses to manage and control interactions in different ways that benefit the organization and their clients . CRM increases customer satisfaction and improve clients' experiences, integrating CRM with social media provide several benefits to businesses and customers. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/using-social-media-integration-to-optimize-crm-70291

Modern customer relationship management (CRM) solutions are fast, sharp, and are driven by cross-platform big data. These changes represent a move towards an economy driven by the Internet of Things (IoT). In this article, the author analyzes the predictions of recognized CRM experts about the future of CRM. They are -  Wearable Technology, Wearable Tech for IoT Insights, Bigger Data Analytics, Mobile Data Collection, Increased Predictive Analytics. Read more at:  http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/whats-in-store-for-crm-wearable-technology-bigger-analytics-and-more-70292

Speech analytics is helping companies in recording customer experience. Cloud-based speech analytics also utilize audio mining technology to give contact center leadership an easy to implement platform that can analyze thousands of calls in real time. Agent knowledge assessments help companies to improve training practices that in turn increase revenue and productivity. Customer comment analysis adds “voice of the customer” observations that help in improving products and services. Jeanne Landau (author) in her article writes how leading companies are using speech analytics to enhance their customer engagement strategies at:  http://customerthink.com/three-ways-leading-businesses-use-speech-analytics-to-improve-their-customer-engagement-strategies/

Flash storage will remain a viable and valuable option for many years to come. A new technology is starting to gain importance and it may one day end up replacing it. It’s called the memristor, a combination of the words “memory” and “resistor,” and was first formulated in 1971 by a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. It can retain memory even when no power is present. Read more about memristor at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/byod-cloud/meet-the-technology-that-will-replace-flash-storage-70265

Distributed networks can create a mess of files, applications and other services that need to be tracked and available for recovery in case of a major problem. Unless one can control which applications are used, where all files are stored, and how every network resource is used, one will have great difficulty writing a complete, top-down recovery plan. Organizations must think about different aspects of IT. They also need to rethink about backup scope and operations to include workstations, laptops and mobile devices.  It is found that the role of IT is key to successful overall planning. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/enterprise-solutions/the-role-of-it-in-business-continuity-70271

According to McKinsey Global Institute’s report, it was found that IoT has a total potential economic impact of $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion a year by 2025. Gartner also predicts that the approximately 3.9 billion connected things in use in 2014 will grow to 25 billion in 2020. IoT is growing and it is making its presence felt in utility industry, industrial sectors, connected cars, healthcare and consumer apps. IoT is setting its feet in investment, manufacturing and retail also. McKinsey’s analysis found that there is an even greater potential value from IoT use in B2B applications. Read more about IoT and its potential at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/it-solutions/7-things-the-experts-want-you-to-know-about-iot-70273

Nowadays, most companies allow employees to access company files remotely. One of the great advantages of the digital age is the ability for people to work from home and as mobile and tablet technology advances, laptops and desktops are less necessary. At the same time, no one in the digital data space is unaware of the dangers. So businesses are nervous about data security, and security breaches are increasing exponentially the more people have access to any given system. Mobile driven management or MDM is providing security to make workers more efficient when working remotely. Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/mobile-device-management-upside-01359034#ugY63etPhKfDqMgA.97

IoT is bringing substantial changes across all industries. Big cities are using IoT as a tool in order to move towards data-driven management across all systems which include energy, transportation, waste, and water. It is found that cities are using the most basic IoT tools like the street lights to develop their IoT programs and modernize their existing structures and facilities. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/this-is-it/the-internet-of-things-scaled-up-70258

We know that Electronic data interchange or EDI is a method of standardizing the exchange of electronic data between systems. Some people think that enterprise resource planning or ERP and EDI are same. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. EDI and ERP are actually separate technologies that don’t often gel well together unless one puts thought and planning into their integration. One of the barriers is integrating EDI and ERP. Data are formatted differently for each technology, so a large part of integration is finding a way to make each system see data the same way. It’s often expensive and time-consuming. Organizations that make that investment, however, increase the value of their ERP. Jerri Ledford (author of business technologies) writes in her article about the benefits of investing in the EDI–ERP integration process. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/3-ways-edi-can-add-value-to-your-erp-implementation-70222

Integration of e-commerce and ERP are gaining importance. But, some organizations are not giving importance as integrating ERP and e-commerce can be time-consuming and expensive. However, the benefits of the integration are much greater than the cost and time investment. When approached properly, an ERP and e-commerce integration can go well and end with excellent results. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/2-strategies-for-integrating-erp-and-ecommerce-70221