The other day I was speaking to a small business owner. They told me that using Concourse Suite was helping them manage sales leads, and I was asking them about the steps beyond the sale and how they were using the CRM and other capabilities, and what processes they had introduced.
"Beyond the sale? We're just looking to grow," was the response. I was stunned.
I'm not undermining the importance of the sale. Nothing happens until someone sells something, that's business. But good businesses look beyond the sale and to a longer-term relationship. Relationships should be a top concern for any business that wants to grow. It doesn't matter if you have 10 employees or 10,000.
It's about knowing your customers. After you've sold them something, get working on the relationship. Talk to them, ask them what they like about your product or service, and what brought them to you. Get feedback. Listen.
Here are several great questions for small business owners to ask themselves, courtesy of a great post at Duct Tape Marketing from earlier this week, which is all about making sure you are attracting the right type of customer.
Relationships are key: when a company opens a two-way conversation, they learn a great deal not just about that customer but also about their own company. We call this 'Get and Grow'.
Technology plays its role in this strategy. It ensures that you have the right processes, allowing the consistent tracking of what customers have bought, all contact they have had with the company and any actions required. It's all about knowledge: knowing who your customers are and how/when they want to be reached - but tracking these things on Post-Its, spreadsheets and desktops is not the way to share this vital knowledge.
If you're not thinking beyond the sale, you're not thinking abut long-term business - no matter how much you sell.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Sun Shines $1B on Open Source Database MySQL
Huge news in the Open Source world today: Sun Microsystems announced that it will spend $1B to acquire the Open Source database MySQL. MySQL is the back-end of the LAMP stack (Linux OS, Apache server, MySQL database, and PHP programming language), on which many web applications are based, not to mention web giants like Facebook and Google. The press release can be read here, which contains the following paragraph:
There are two big themes that I took away from this quote. First is that Sun will be able to pick up a large, pre-existing customer base through MySQL's broad deployment (which was made even more broad late last week when Virgin Mobile announced its SMS database would be based on MySQL). One of the biggest benefits of Open Source software is that it can spread very quickly to gain a large hold of the market. The second note I see in this article is that Open Source is getting the publicity it deserves for being flexible and easy to use.
To me, this announcement also indicates that open source is going upscale. This deal represents the largest acquisition of an open source company to date and continues a trend that increased in scope throughout 2007 with the Zimbra acquisition by Yahoo!. It seems that big companies are seeing Open Source as a completely viable option and I think that we should anticipate more Open Source applications gaining the interest of a broader marketplace. I'll be intently watching to see how this shapes the open source landscape in 2008.
"This broad penetration coupled with MySQL's strength in Web 2.0, Software as a Service (SaaS), enterprise, telecom and the OEM embedded market make it an important fit for Sun. With MySQL, Sun will have the ability to deepen its existing customer relationships and create new opportunities with companies seeking the flexibility and ease-of-use of open source systems. With MySQL, Sun will have the ability to deepen its existing customer relationships and create new opportunities with companies seeking the flexibility and ease-of-use of open source systems."
There are two big themes that I took away from this quote. First is that Sun will be able to pick up a large, pre-existing customer base through MySQL's broad deployment (which was made even more broad late last week when Virgin Mobile announced its SMS database would be based on MySQL). One of the biggest benefits of Open Source software is that it can spread very quickly to gain a large hold of the market. The second note I see in this article is that Open Source is getting the publicity it deserves for being flexible and easy to use.
To me, this announcement also indicates that open source is going upscale. This deal represents the largest acquisition of an open source company to date and continues a trend that increased in scope throughout 2007 with the Zimbra acquisition by Yahoo!. It seems that big companies are seeing Open Source as a completely viable option and I think that we should anticipate more Open Source applications gaining the interest of a broader marketplace. I'll be intently watching to see how this shapes the open source landscape in 2008.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Increased Security through Open Source
On Friday I wrote about the debate going on around Open Source software bugs. Let me restate: bugs in software are not related to the fact that the source code is freely available. In fact, open source software has fewer bugs due to the constant scrutinization and programming skills of its development community.
On the topic of security this article in ZDNet Asia, uses an Open Source adoption study from IDC as its reference point and states that: "Security was the top reason for deploying open source technology". This alternative view just shows how different the press can approach one facet of technology. The article cites an IDC analyst, Prianka Srinivasan, who talks about how Open Source is seen by its advocates as providing more secure software than closed source alternatives.
The article also talks about how companies are taking an interest in open source versions of CRM, and so they should be. The combination of innovation, security and the ability to connect with customers, partners and stakeholders across the extended enterprise is something that any business should at least explore.
On the topic of security this article in ZDNet Asia, uses an Open Source adoption study from IDC as its reference point and states that: "Security was the top reason for deploying open source technology". This alternative view just shows how different the press can approach one facet of technology. The article cites an IDC analyst, Prianka Srinivasan, who talks about how Open Source is seen by its advocates as providing more secure software than closed source alternatives.
The article also talks about how companies are taking an interest in open source versions of CRM, and so they should be. The combination of innovation, security and the ability to connect with customers, partners and stakeholders across the extended enterprise is something that any business should at least explore.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Closed Minds on Open Source
There's a buzz around the internet right now regarding an article recently posted on Information Week titled "Open Source Code Contains Security Holes". If you couldn't tell from the title, this is a piece about the potential bugs in open source applications. If you couldn't guess from the title: I'm not exactly supportive of the author's standpoint.
Software inherently has bugs. It's a fact of life and I am appalled that the article makes no mention of the bug rate found in closed source software for comparison, instead hinting that open source has some fundamental problem. Bugs are found and fixed more quickly in an open source application because of the public scrutiny of the code and the community involvement in the fixing of any potential bugs.
For example: when a bug is found in software from your average Redmond-based software behemoth, nothing really happens until enough users report errors, at which point a "critical update" will be issued. One of the great aspects to open source code is that there is a community of developers keeping an eye out for any potential problems which they are keen to resolve as soon as they are discovered.
To read a recap on this topic, head over to the Enterprise Open Source blog.
I discussed this with our CTO, Tom Manos. Tom brought up the recent, and equally inaccurate, release from McAfee warning investors about the dangers of "ambiguous" open source licenses. Tom pointed out that McAfee is obviously not open source, but has similar functionality to many cheaper, or even free, open source alternatives, making its argument entirely self-serving.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. We're on the brink of a time when the towel will be thrown in for fight over open source ‘versus' closed source. The audience isn't looking for one to win over another, they just want cost-effective, feature rich applications that will help them drive their businesses.
All we need now is an open mind.
Software inherently has bugs. It's a fact of life and I am appalled that the article makes no mention of the bug rate found in closed source software for comparison, instead hinting that open source has some fundamental problem. Bugs are found and fixed more quickly in an open source application because of the public scrutiny of the code and the community involvement in the fixing of any potential bugs.
For example: when a bug is found in software from your average Redmond-based software behemoth, nothing really happens until enough users report errors, at which point a "critical update" will be issued. One of the great aspects to open source code is that there is a community of developers keeping an eye out for any potential problems which they are keen to resolve as soon as they are discovered.
To read a recap on this topic, head over to the Enterprise Open Source blog.
I discussed this with our CTO, Tom Manos. Tom brought up the recent, and equally inaccurate, release from McAfee warning investors about the dangers of "ambiguous" open source licenses. Tom pointed out that McAfee is obviously not open source, but has similar functionality to many cheaper, or even free, open source alternatives, making its argument entirely self-serving.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. We're on the brink of a time when the towel will be thrown in for fight over open source ‘versus' closed source. The audience isn't looking for one to win over another, they just want cost-effective, feature rich applications that will help them drive their businesses.
All we need now is an open mind.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Seeing the future clearly - Crystal ball gazing and open source transparency
There's nothing like some good press to start the year off. This week Reuters has highlighted the work of the Open Solutions Alliance in its story "Open-Source Chief Executives Make 2008 Predictions". This article picks up a quote from our CEO, David Richards, about international differences in open source, stating that in 2008 Asia will likely see a rapid open source adoption.
In the article Palamida's Mark Tolliver also echoes one of the concepts behind the OSA, stating, "Watch for consolidation among open source organizations as a way to strengthen their offerings and development efforts as well as acquisitions of open source market leaders by large commercial vendors who have a desire to expand their market reach and revenue stream". You can read the full Reuters article here.
On the topic of the OSA, Enterprise Open Source magazine has featured a Concursive presentation I gave at the SOA World Conference entitled "The Customer is Listening: What are we saying" in which I review what companies are really looking from technology solutions and how some companies can confuse the issues with open source smoke and mirrors. I think that in 2008 open source will continue its rise in popularity to at point where people will stop questioning if something is open source or not, they'll only question if it works.
You can view the video and read the article on the Enterprise OpenSource Magazine site.
In the article Palamida's Mark Tolliver also echoes one of the concepts behind the OSA, stating, "Watch for consolidation among open source organizations as a way to strengthen their offerings and development efforts as well as acquisitions of open source market leaders by large commercial vendors who have a desire to expand their market reach and revenue stream". You can read the full Reuters article here.
On the topic of the OSA, Enterprise Open Source magazine has featured a Concursive presentation I gave at the SOA World Conference entitled "The Customer is Listening: What are we saying" in which I review what companies are really looking from technology solutions and how some companies can confuse the issues with open source smoke and mirrors. I think that in 2008 open source will continue its rise in popularity to at point where people will stop questioning if something is open source or not, they'll only question if it works.
You can view the video and read the article on the Enterprise OpenSource Magazine site.
Friday, January 4, 2008
CRM in 2007 and an Outlook on 2008
Happy New Year!
I returned from the holidays to a number of fun news stories summarizing 2007 IT events (check out #13), the past year in CRM innovations (see #2), and making predictions for 2008. Most notable was the story CIO Insider ran a few days ago: How to Do CRM Online: Three Big Ideas for 2008
I think this article brings up a few key points that align well with a number of our goals at Concursive: know our customers, listen to our customers, and protect our customers. As 2008 develops we will continue to put focus on each.
I returned from the holidays to a number of fun news stories summarizing 2007 IT events (check out #13), the past year in CRM innovations (see #2), and making predictions for 2008. Most notable was the story CIO Insider ran a few days ago: How to Do CRM Online: Three Big Ideas for 2008
I think this article brings up a few key points that align well with a number of our goals at Concursive: know our customers, listen to our customers, and protect our customers. As 2008 develops we will continue to put focus on each.
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