For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Extending Online Customer Service To The Mobile Channel

by Diane Clarkson, September 9, 2010

eBusiness decisions to employ mobile commerce, apps, and self-service features have garnered the lion's share of mobile strategy. But what happens when users need customer service from within a mobile Web site or app? Those customers need immediate and . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Designing A Mobile Empowered Product Strategy

An Empowered Report: Applying The IDEA Framework To Smartphone Users

by J.P. Gownder, September 7, 2010

Product strategists developing mobile offerings should take inspiration from Forrester's new book Empowered. When designing a mobile product strategy, they should employ a mobile version of the IDEA framework: Identify Mobile Mass Influencers, deliver . . .

For Business Process Professionals

Benchmarks For CRM Selection And Deployment

Size Up Your CRM Initiative Compared Against 99 Projects

by William Band, August 26, 2010

How does your customer relationship management (CRM) project compare with those at other organizations? Forrester surveyed 99 organizations that are using one of 19 leading CRM suite solutions to understand their CRM solution purchase patterns, buying . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Canadian Insurance Customers Use Different Channels

by Ellen Carney, Peter Wannemacher, August 24, 2010

Canadians still use the phone as their primary channel for insurance. In fact, the phone was the only channel used by a majority of online Canadian insurance customers in the past year, while fewer than one in three customers used an insurer's Web site . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Demand Insights: The SMB Software Market 2010

Small And Medium-Size Businesses Are Defying Gravity

by Tim Harmon, August 9, 2010

Small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), like their enterprise brethren, are shifting their technology focus from IT to business technology (BT). As their focus on business solutions — as opposed to technology products — continues to grow, SMBs are now . . .

For CIOs

Learning From IT Satisfaction Surveys

Measure Expectations As Well As Satisfaction

by Chip Gliedman, August 3, 2010

Although spending on IT may be up a bit from past years, there is by no means any money to waste. CIOs must carefully prioritize initiatives and allocate scarce monetary and human resources to support business growth. A survey of internal customers across . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Satisfied Are US Consumers With Online Chat?

by Adele Sage, August 3, 2010

Companies are increasingly offering online chat as an interaction channel for customers and prospects. But how successful are those interactions? Of the 18% of consumers who have used chat, most are initiating the interactions themselves, rather than . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Wells Fargo Proves The Business Case For Online Chat

Wells Fargo's Second Attempt At Online Chat Finds Incremental Success

by Brad Strothkamp, July 21, 2010

Wells Fargo was a pioneer in the use of online chat in 2002. While that initial move into live help met with mixed results, the desire on the team's part to inject human assistance into the process of shopping online for lending products never faded. . . .

For Business Process Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: CRM Suites Customer Service Solutions, Q3 2010

by William Band, James G. Kobielus, July 19, 2010

Forrester evaluated the customer service and support capabilities of 19 leading CRM suite solutions against 196 criteria. Customer service and business process professionals face a diverse range of products to sift through to support the quest to create . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Online Retailing In Australia 2010: Marketing, Merchandising, And Customer Service

by Steven Noble, July 6, 2010

In "Online Retailing In Australia 2010," a Forrester study incorporating data collected in partnership with the Online Retailer Expo & Conference 2010, we found that, on the whole, Australian online retailers are focused on the start and the middle . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Selecting Online Customer Service Channels To Satisfy Customers And Reduce Costs

by Diane Clarkson, June 25, 2010

From a customer service perspective, right-channeling means providing your customers with satisfying service through the lowest-cost channel. For most eBusinesses, improving right-channeling requires expanding online customer service options. eBusiness . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

The Four Essentials Of Effective Web Site Intercept Surveys

How To Make Getting Visitor Feedback A Positive Customer Experience

by Andrew McInnes, June 21, 2010

Web site intercept surveys are a popular tool for finding problems with the online experience. But a poorly designed site intercept survey can hurt more than it helps by providing misleading insights and negatively affecting customers' online experiences. . . .

For Business Process Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: CRM Suites For Large Organizations, Q2 2010

A Crowded Market Means Lots of Choices For Buyers

by William Band, June 16, 2010

Forrester evaluated 18 leading customer relationship management (CRM) suite solutions against 516 criteria reflecting the requirements of large organizations. We found that heavyweight Leaders Oracle Siebel and SAP still offer the most complete solutions, . . .

For Business Process Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: CRM Suites For Midsized Organizations, Q2 2010

Many Choices With Robust Functionality And Sensible Price Points

by William Band, June 16, 2010

Forrester evaluated 19 leading customer relationship management (CRM) suite solutions against 516 criteria reflecting the requirements of midsized organizations. We found that vendors in the Leader category, such as CDC Software, Microsoft, Oracle CRM . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

2010 US Auto Insurance Secure Site Rankings

Progressive Secures The Top Position, Barely Edging Out GEICO

by Chad Mitchell, June 14, 2010

Forrester evaluated the secure Web sites of the four largest US private passenger auto insurance providers — Allstate Insurance, GEICO, Progressive Casualty Insurance, and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance — using our Web Site User Experience and . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Making Proactive Chat Work

Maximizing Sales And Service Requires Ongoing Refinement

by Diane Clarkson, June 4, 2010

Many online consumers want help from a live person while they are shopping online; in fact, 44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a live person while in the middle of an online purchase is one of the most important features a Web . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Web-Phone User Experience 2010: PC Laptop Manufacturers

Forrester Applies Its Web-Phone User Experience Review Methodology To Four Top US Firms

by Adele Sage, May 27, 2010

Forrester applied its Web-Phone User Experience Review methodology to the experiences at four large PC laptop manufacturers: Apple, Dell, HP, and Toshiba. The results: Apple came out ahead, but the overall experiences across the PC manufacturers earned . . .

For CIOs

Do CIOs Care About IT Management Tools?

by Tim DeGennaro, Sharyn Leaver, May 17, 2010

CIOs are constantly working to run IT like a business — focusing on business orientation through capabilities like IT planning, portfolio management, and IT investment optimization. A myriad of vendors — from small niche players to traditional heavyweights . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How To Create A Social Customer Service Strategy

Applying The POST Methodology To Online Customer Service

by Diane Clarkson, May 10, 2010

Social customer service can provide support to customers before, during, or after their purchases. While customer adoption of social customer service is nascent, satisfaction levels are high. eBusiness professionals are looking to social customer service . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Desktop Managed Services Pricing And Delivery Models Evolve

SVM Professionals Should Take Advantage Of New Opportunities

by Andrew Parker, Wolfgang Benkel, May 10, 2010

Technology and service delivery innovation has accelerated again in the field of desktop computing in the enterprise. There are multiple opportunities for enterprise sourcing teams to evaluate around the desktop environment, including around new operating . . .

For Business Process Professionals

Align Your Enterprise Apps Investment Plans With Industry Trends

Business Data Survey Results Show That Activity Persists, Despite Recession

by Paul D. Hamerman, April 21, 2010

Business process and applications professionals can use our survey-based enterprise applications investment planning data and adoption patterns to help rationalize their 2010/2011 investment strategies. The results presented here are based on an extensive . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

What Consumers Do When They Can't Complete A Goal In Their Channel Of Choice

by Adele Sage, April 9, 2010

Forrester asked US consumers what they did after their first channel of choice — either Web or phone — failed to provide the information they needed. Our data shows that among those who stayed with the original firm, consumers tended to fall back to phone-based . . .

For Business Process Professionals

Pegasystems Acquires Building Blocks For Next-Generation CRM

Signals Major Change For Enterprise Applications

by Derek Miers, Connie Moore, Clay Richardson, April 7, 2010

For quite some time, Pegasystems (Pega) has pursued customer experience and customer service business through its strong rules-based business process management (BPM) offering and customer process management framework application. Now Pega has thrown . . .

For Customer Intelligence Professionals

How Web Analytics Will Emerge As A Cornerstone Of Customer Intelligence

Using Site-Based Intelligence To Drive Multichannel Marketing Improvements

by Joe Stanhope, March 29, 2010

Marketers today have a dizzying array of online and offline touchpoints at their disposal, but without a doubt all roads lead through the Web. For most organizations, Web sites, microsites, landing pages, communities, and other interactive properties . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Web-Phone User Experience 2010: Discount Retailers

Forrester Applies Its Web-Phone User Experience Review Methodology To Four Top US Firms

by Adele Sage, March 26, 2010

Forrester applied its Web-Phone User Experience Review methodology to the experiences at the four largest discount retailers in the US: Costco, Kmart, Target, and Wal-Mart. The results: Target led the pack, but the overall experiences across the retailers . . .