• Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Special Offers
Business Intelligence Info
  • Business Intelligence
    • BI News and Info
    • Big Data
    • Mobile and Cloud
    • Self-Service BI
  • CRM
    • CRM News and Info
    • InfusionSoft
    • Microsoft Dynamics CRM
    • NetSuite
    • OnContact
    • Salesforce
    • Workbooks
  • Data Mining
    • Pentaho
    • Sisense
    • Tableau
    • TIBCO Spotfire
  • Data Warehousing
    • DWH News and Info
    • IBM DB2
    • Microsoft SQL Server
    • Oracle
    • Teradata
  • Predictive Analytics
    • FICO
    • KNIME
    • Mathematica
    • Matlab
    • Minitab
    • RapidMiner
    • Revolution
    • SAP
    • SAS/SPSS
  • Humor

Tag Archives: live

Managing and Marketing Microsoft Teams Live Events – Part 2

January 13, 2021   CRM News and Info

xwebinar blog 625x417.jpeg.pagespeed.ic.y2Z27Z3biC Managing and Marketing Microsoft Teams Live Events – Part 2

In part one of our 2 part blog series on Microsoft Teams we told you what Microsoft Teams Live Events are and we showed you how is simple to create and market a Teams Live Event. There are 3 simple steps to follow when holding a Microsoft Teams Live Event: planning and set up, marketing, and post event wrap up. In this second part, we will cover marketing your Teams Live event – as well as post event wrap up.

Step three: Marketing your Microsoft Teams Live Event

This may be one of the most important steps in holding your live event. You need to ask yourself who it is that you want to attend your webinar. Do you want primarily new customers, existing customers, or a mix? If you are primarily marketing to existing customers, you may want to do something like add a note to your email signature or send emails to existing customers or prospects.  When engaging new prospects, you may want to do something such as creating a blog about your topic and post it on social media. Don’t forget #hashtags! You may also want to consider joining and posting in LinkedIn groups related to your topic and creating LinkedIn Lead Generation forms to capture sign ups from LinkedIn.

Our marketing automation tool of choice is ClickDimensions. ClickDimensions was made exclusively for and is natively built in Microsoft Dynamics 365. Using ClickDimensions, we built a campaign automation when planning the marketing of our webinar. Campaign automations allow you to set up dynamics paths for a contact or lead based on certain actions. In our fast paced world, campaign automations help simplify and automate daily processes. Campaign automations turn manual processes into automated ones. Campaign automations are not only simple to set up, but extremely beneficial. Not only do they give you piece of mind,  campaign automations increase productivity – freeing you up to focus on other things. Below is an example of our campaign automation.

xTeams la 6 campaign automation 625x361.png.pagespeed.ic.8Gqnaiu QP Managing and Marketing Microsoft Teams Live Events – Part 2

Step four: Post event wrap up of your Microsoft Teams Live Event

After your Microsoft Teams Live Event is over, you still have a few tasks to perform. You can make your job easier by simply prebuilding many of these assets and finishing them after the webinar is completed. For us, we like to upload all of our webinar videos to YouTube. We also save our PowerPoint presentation to a pdf and download both the pdf and the video to our website. You will also want to send an email to all who registered (not just attendees) – thanking them for attending and attaching links to the webinar recording on YouTube and the PowerPoint notes.

Don’t take down the webinar landing page you built for registrations. Use it to continue generating leads. Update the sign up form so that people can watch the video on demand.

In Conclusion

Webinars are among the best marketing platforms. Webinars establish you as an authority in the field and allow you direct contact with your target group. Holding webinars actually saves time and money, as they allow you a global audience without having to travel. Webinars allow you to reach a large amount of people at once. Remember, the hardest thing about doing webinars is just getting started. Decide you want to do it and just get started. You won’t be perfect. You will evolve with time and practice.

Get started today – happy planning!

How Can We Help?

If you have any questions on getting started with Microsoft Teams Live events or if we can help you with any of your Dynamics 365 needs, don’t hesitate to contact us. We would be more than happy to assist you. enCloud9 is a recognized expert in helping organizations like yours get the most out of their Dynamics 365 system.

Watch for details of our upcoming webinars in 2021. Topics to be announced soon and registration will be available on our website, as well as on our Facebook page.

Visit our YouTube channel for other informative webinars or our blog for the most current and up to date information.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365

Read More

Managing and Marketing Teams Live Events – Part 1

January 9, 2021   CRM News and Info

What are Microsoft Teams Live Events?

So, you’ve likely used Microsoft Teams for chat, messages, and meetings, but did you also know that you can also host webinars in Teams? Microsoft Teams Live Events are an extension of Teams meetings – enabling users to broadcast video and meeting content to a large online audience. Teams Live Events are meant for one-to-many communications where the host of the event is leading the interactions and audience participation is primarily to view the content shared by host. It is simple to create and market a Teams Live Event. There are 4 simple steps to follow when holding a Microsoft Teams Live Event: brainstorming, marketing, preparation/performance, and post event wrap up. This blog is part of a two part series. Part one will cover what Teams Live events are – as well as planning setting up your Teams Live Event. Part 2 will cover marketing your Teams Live event – as well as post event wrap up.

With so with so many options for webinar hosting services, why would someone choose to use Microsoft Teams as their platform for hosting webinars?

There are many reasons someone would choose to host webinars in Microsoft Teams using Live Events.

  • Cost – This is a very significant factor in choosing webinar hosting services.  If you are already using Teams, why pay for another service when you already have the functionality?  Getting started with Teams live events is not difficult. Initially, you may have more work to set things up, but once you have it running, the benefits simply outweigh any additional work you may have to do.
  • More Control – This is where Microsoft Teams Live events shines bright. When it comes to moderating a webinar, it is vital to be in full control.  One of the ways Microsoft Teams Live Events allows you to be more in control is in the recording of the webinar. YOU choose when you begin and end the recording, something that is not an option in many other webinar software tools. To start the recording in a Teams live event, simply click on the 3 ellipses in the meeting panel and select Start Recording. When ending the call, it is suggested to end the call for all attendees, so that attendees don’t linger. You also have control over what attendees see. You can choose to show your whole desktop or just a specific window. You can choose to put your camera on or leave it off. Another thing you have control over is the roles of the participants. There are 3 roles – presenter, producer, and attendees.
  • Easy Editing – Once you have your Live Event set up, you can edit the details in Meeting Options.  Here you have control over such things as who can enter the call, who needs to wait in the lobby until they are admitted, or who can present content within the meeting.
  • Attendees access – Attendees will have access to the recording, as well as your PowerPoint presentation – if you choose. Attendees can easily share your content or refer to it at a later time.

Step one: Planning and Set up of your Microsoft Teams Live Event

When planning a webinar you must first make an outline for your webinar. Consider the amount of time you have and what you want to cover in that time. The basic format we follow for our webinars is as follows:

  • Introduction (first five minutes or so) – during this time, we introduce who we are, state the topic of our webinar, let people know that we will be recording the webinar, and covering any rules for the webinar (i.e. – questions at end).
  • Demo (the majority of the time) – Walk through your topic in a meaningful way to engage your viewers. Everyone is busy. We want people to feel that attending our webinar was a good use of their time. Make sure not to focus to much on the technical side of things – focus on the benefits!
  • Wrap up – Now is the time to review questions from your audience. (You may want to have a couple questions ready to go just in case)! Let attendees know that they will be getting an email with follow ups from the webinar.

At the beginning stage of the planning for your webinar is brainstorming.  You must first decide how often you want to do webinars. Will your webinar be a one-off event or part of a continual series? Another question you may want to ask yourself is how long your webinar will last. EnCloud9 holds a monthly 30 minute webinar. Everyone is busy and we felt that for our audience, 30 minutes was appropriate.

The next thing you need to decide on is a topic. It is important to consider your audience. Think about what is new in your industry and what your audience wants to hear about. Look at the analytics of past social media posts and blogs. What has generated the most interest? Look at what your competitors are blogging about and doing webinars on. What is the best way to share your expertise? Will you have a co-presenter or will you bring in an external expert?

And of course giving yourself adequate time to prepare is key. Make sure you have enough time to perform all the work required. Practicing and doing a few trial runs is a good idea.

After deciding on a topic, it is now time to create your live event in Microsoft Teams. Simply go to your calendar and in the upper right corner, next to new meeting, click on the down arrow and choose Live Event.

xset up teams la 1 625x374.png.pagespeed.ic.BD4P9xftNA Managing and Marketing Teams Live Events – Part 1

It is now time to fill in details for your webinar.

When you scroll down, you will see more options, such as whether you want a Q&A session or an attendee engagement report.

*Important to note that when you invite people to your event, you have to chose the role you wish them to have. There are 3 roles: producer, presenter, and attendee. It is important in assigning roles that you understand exactly what each role can and can’t do.

  • Producer – There should only be one producer. The producer is in charge on controlling the live event. The producer sends the event live and also finishes the event. The producer can share their content or that of the presenter. Once the live Q&A session has been switched on, presenters can also act as moderators.
  • Presenter – There can be multiple presenters on your live event. Each presenter can share their audio, live video, or content on a screen sharing – as well as content from other presenters (if you have more than one).
  • Attendee –  Depending on how you set your live event up (public or private), attendees can be external or internal. Attendees can either join the live event by using their invitation link or they can choose to view the event in their web browser of Teams app.

In Conclusion

Webinars are among the best marketing platforms. Webinars establish you as an authority in the field and allow you direct contact with your target group. Holding webinars actually saves time and money, as they allow you a global audience without having to travel. Webinars allow you to reach a large amount of people at once. Remember, the hardest thing about doing webinars is just getting started. Decide you want to do it and just get started. You won’t be perfect. You will evolve with time and practice.

Get started today – happy planning!

How Can We Help?

If you have any questions on getting started with Teams Live events or if we can help you with any of your Dynamics 365 needs, don’t hesitate to contact us. We would be more than happy to assist you. enCloud9 is a recognized expert in helping organizations like yours get the most out of their Dynamics 365 system.

Join our January 2021 webinar about The New Search Experience in Dynamics 365. Topics for future webinars will be announced soon and registration will be available on our website, as well as on our Facebook page.

Visit our YouTube channel for other informative webinars or our blog for the most current and up to date information.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365

Read More

Michael Che Of ‘Saturday Night Live’ To Pay Rent For 160 New York Public Housing Residents

April 16, 2020   Humor
 Michael Che Of ‘Saturday Night Live’ To Pay Rent For 160 New York Public Housing Residents

“Saturday Night Live” star Michael Che has committed to paying one month’s rent for 160 residents of a New York City public housing building as a tribute to his grandmother, who died last week of coronavirus-related complications.

Che disclosed his decision on Instagram in a post that called on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and others to find a solution to the rent crisis that many New Yorkers are facing amid the widespread unemployment caused by the COVID-19 lockdown. Che disclosed the death of his grandmother last week when “SNL” returned to the airwaves with its first-ever remote production. Che will cover the rent for other residents in the building where she lived, to honor her memory and make a statement about the rent crisis in the city.

“It’s crazy to me that residents of public housing are still expected to pay their rent when so many New Yorkers can’t even work,” Che wrote on Instagram. Of his decision to cover rent for residents of his grandmother’s building, Che wrote: “I know that’s just a drop in the bucket. So I really hope the city has a better plan for debt forgiveness for all the people in public housing, AT THE VERY LEAST.”

Che closed his post with a “P.S.” addressed to de Blasio, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and hip hop mogul Sean Combs. “De Blasio! Cuomo! Diddy! Let’s fix this! Page me!”

Che did not specify the building or elaborate on the details of his grandmother’s death. NBC’s “Today” identified Che’s grandmother’s as Martha.

Che is co-anchor with Colin Jost of “SNL’s” “Weekend Update” segment and co-head writer of the show. He’s been a writer for “SNL” since 2013 and on air with the show since 2014. Che and Jost co-hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast in 2018.

Source: Variety

Share this:

Like this:

Like Loading…

Rashida Jones To Star In New Animated Comedy For Quibi Titled ‘Filthy Animals’

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

The Humor Mill

Read More

Live Blog – Trump Presser: bailouts ahead, Easter Miracle!

March 25, 2020   Humor
 Live Blog   Trump Presser: bailouts ahead, Easter Miracle!

Trump: puffery with Boeing, airlines, cruise lines

Pence: “Let me just say thank you America” 15 days to slow the spread! prop —  Drink!

more public-private etc….

60% of new cases in NYC

holds up prop again— Drink!

“a few more weeks” for that hospital ship to get to NYC (should we all talk to volleyballs?)

business responses …. gaslight DPA use “no one has said no”

pimps McDonald’s, 3M “inspiring generosity

holds up prop again— Drink!

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

moranbetterDemocrats

Read More

Live Webinar: How Financial Services Firms are Using the Microsoft Power Platform to Accelerate CRM by “Minding the Gap”…Even Around Salesforce!

March 20, 2020   CRM News and Info

Have you been to London? Then it’s likely you’ve ridden the Tube (subway) and heard an announcement politely saying as you enter or exit: “Mind the gap.” This deceptively benign statement was put there to warn you to watch out for the space between the platform and the train because if you don’t “mind the gap,” you can trip or fall. That could mean going to the hospital or at the very least, having a bad day. Either way, you slow down or even end your journey to your destination—and you’ll probably slow down the train, as well.

What is the connection between minding the gap and financial services?

“Mind the gap” has been adopted by business experts as an analogy. In an Inc. article, entrepreneur Josh Linker said, “While the gaps in your organization aren’t screaming for attention, they can be a wellspring of opportunity…the rallying cry for you to explore what’s missing, what’s not there, and what could be.” The act of minding gaps in your operations could mean failing to realize your vision (or at least slowing it down) or reaching it faster.

How do you realize your vision…and realize it quickly? Use the Microsoft Power Platform to mind the gap

Nobody wants to delay realizing their goals or vision, and they certainly want to avoid missing goals and missteps along the way. You do that by identifying the gaps—processes, technologies, methodologies—then look for ways to address them with the right technology. The issue is, unfortunately, that traditional approaches of customizing off-the-shelf software that is already in place or spending lots of time and money building a custom application doesn’t work or is cost-prohibitive. That’s when it’s time to turn to the Microsoft Power Platform.

The Microsoft Power Platform: A low-code, rapid application development environment that bridges the gaps

Smart financial services firms are already using the Microsoft Power Platform to quickly and easily build apps, automate workflows, and extend solutions they already use—not just Microsoft applications. Even software like Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP can be extended by the Power Platform to bridge any gap.

This might sound too good to be true, but it works—fast and cost-effectively. Plus, you don’t have to uproot, change, or replace applications or systems you’re already using. If you’re happy with what you have but just have that one gap to fill, the Power Platform does it with finesse. Here are a just a few examples of AKA financial services clients that have put the Power Platform into action and are already seeing results:

Automated Client Reporting…From Salesforce: The asset management arm of a life insurance company was risking penalties and losing huge investors, but they didn’t want to replace Salesforce. AKA built a Power Platform solution “surrounding” Salesforce that streamlined the process, resulting in empowered, happy employees who can put their focus on delivering white-glove customer service.

Client Engagement Hub with Next Best Action…Within Dynamics 365 CRM: A global asset management firm had a goal to double sales growth, but their current system had a poor user interface, did not offer personas, and did not offer insights for next best actions. AKA designed in the Power Platform and rolled out in just 3 months a Client Engagement Hub with Next Best Action—fully integrated with Dynamics 365 CRM and Marketo.

Mobile Trade Approval App…Integrated with Salesforce: Portfolio managers for an investment firm were slammed with emails for trade approvals. They needed an easy, fault-proof way to approve/disapprove trades from mobile devices. In a one-day workshop, AKA designed a Power App that integrates with Salesforce, enabling the managers to approve trades with the click of a button on their mobile devices.

Build an app to bridge that gap

Would you like to see for yourself how the Power Platform works? Sign up for our webinar, hosted by AKA financial services experts Tom Berger and Michael Quattlebaum, where you’ll see how other financial services firms have used the Power Platform to accelerate their CRM systems by eliminating gaps:

LIVE Webcast
Bridging Gaps and Building Apps – IN DAYS, NOT MONTHS
How 5 Financial Services Firms are Using the Microsoft Power Platform to Accelerate their CRM–Including Salesforce

April 7, 2020 | 1 pm EDT / 10 am PDT 

During the webcast you’ll learn about the Power Platform and what makes it the best choice above custom development or customizing existing software. We’ll discuss several typical gaps the Power Platform bridges, followed by 5 real-life examples of how the Power Platform is being used at by financial services companies.


ABOUT AKA ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS
AKA specializes in making it easier to do business, simplifying processes and reducing risks. With agility, expertise, and original industry solutions, we embrace projects other technology firms avoid—regardless of their complexity. As a true strategic partner, we help organizations slay the dragons that are keeping them from innovating their way to greatness. Call us at 212-502-3900!


Article by: Amy Spencer | 212-502-3900

Amy leads the team that is responsible for go-to-market strategies, messaging, and demand generation for AKA’s financial services practice. The better part of her 25+ year career has been dedicated to working for Microsoft’s most successful ERP and CRM partners, including The Taylor Group (aka ManagedOps.com & Surebridge), Navint (acquired by Tribridge and then DXC), Innovia Consulting, and now AKA Enterprise Solutions.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365

Read More

Mo’Nique’s New Comedy Special ‘Mo’Nique & Friends: Live From Atlanta’ To Be Broadcast On Showtime!

January 26, 2020   Humor
 Mo’Nique’s New Comedy Special ‘Mo’Nique & Friends: Live From Atlanta’ To Be Broadcast On Showtime!
Bold and unapologetic, comedienne Mo’Nique is back hosting her first stand-up special in almost 10 years, MO’NIQUE & FRIENDS: LIVE FROM ATLANTA, premiering Friday, February 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. Filmed at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, the hour-long special features a variety of talented newcomers including Prince T-Dub, Just Nesh, Tone-X and Correy Bell alongside veteran comedian Donnell Rawlings (Chappelle’s Show).
Multi-media powerhouse and Academy Award®-winning actress Mo’Nique has captivated audiences in stand-up comedy, television, film and literature. Throughout all of her Hollywood success, Mo’Nique never strayed too far from her comedic roots, which were born on stage in her hometown of Baltimore. In her 20-year career, she has starred in Precious and The Parkers and been featured on such shows as Showtime At The Apollo, Def Comedy Jam, Apollo Comedy Hour, Snaps, Comic View, The Queens Of Comedy, Ugly Betty, The Game and Nip/Tuck and performed at The Montreal Comedy Festival. Mo’Nique also shared her personal perspective and philosophy in her New York Times best-selling book Skinny Women Are Evil: Notes of a Big Girl in a Small-Minded World, published in 2003.
MO’NIQUE & FRIENDS: LIVE FROM ATLANTA is executive produced by Sidney Hicks and Mo’Nique Hicks and produced by Matt Schuler, Eric Abrams and V.W. Scheich.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k0OBNfnU24&feature=youtu.be

Share this:

Like this:

Like Loading…

Surprise-‘Bad Boys’ 4 Moves Forward!

TV One To Commemorate The 45th Anniversary Of ‘The Jeffersons’ With A Milestone Marathon!

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

The Humor Mill

Read More

Personalization is dead, long live personalization

January 15, 2020   CRM News and Info

aarrons Personalization is dead, long live personalization

Aarron Spinley, experience anthropologist and growth futurist. 

I “met” Aarron (2 a’s, 2 r’s) Spinley online — and I’ve never met him in person. But we have become both good friends and intellectual colleagues. What prompted this post is one of our discussions that  touched on personalization. I realized that this dude has a really well thought out outlook on personalization — where its come from, where it’s been, where it is, and where it’s headed — and a framework that provides you with a means to actually think about it. He is dead on when it comes to the ideas. But there is an added bonus: He’s a great conversational writer. Damn.

Aarron calls himself an experience anthropologist and growth futurist. That shows you where his heart is. Here is something that he wrote for me when I asked him about what he wanted to see here:

Aarron Spinley is a growth strategist and futurist who observes culture, society, and digital. With a passion for designed human experience and the social sciences, he writes, consults, and speaks in the fields of business growth and customer engagement through his work at Spinley.co.

He has consulted to major brands in many countries and held senior positions with Marsh, WTI, Tigerspike, and SAP. He draws on wide experience including the study of the performing arts and futurism, and has established and led businesses in fields as diverse as corporate risk advisory to a creative technology agency.

He couldn’t have described it any better himself. Oh wait, he did! But it fits like a glove. As does the additional title that I am going to bestow on him: Really Good Person.

I don’t want you to miss a word of this engaging piece so I’m shutting up. Take it away, Aarron.


This recent release from Gartner — as the analyst firm promoted their latest offering to the marketing profession, “Predicts 2020: Marketers, They’re Just Not That Into You” — certainly turned heads in December.

And that’s what it was supposed to do. It is classic “provocative appeals” theory, where the principal (in this case Gartner) seeks to draw attention through taking a position which could be anti-establishment, or even extreme.

Humor is always a useful ingredient as well, such as Burger King’s quite brilliant mobile billboard in the UK.

 Personalization is dead, long live personalization

uk-bus.jpg

But I digress.

Gartner’s headline did the trick. Nowadays, we call it “clickbait.” And it got me. I read it. You probably did too. And whilst you can likely tell from my headline that I don’t entirely buy it, I am grateful as it has spurred on this overdue piece from me.

The central premise of all my work is the pursuit of “growth.” Whether that be through all the traditional means like sales revenue, share, loyalty/retention, or market cap etc; or growth of the organisation itself (often to the same ends but not exclusively) through purpose, culture, carrier principles, and leadership. As a result, I advocate the art and science of creating experiences, such that they evoke target behaviours. I study business, tech, society, and culture. In that sense, I am probably a quintessential evangelist of the experience economy. That being my professional background, here’s my proposition:

Gartner forgot about the terrain.

There is no point sending troops into the jungle in typhoon season issued with desert fatigues and equipped with bandannas to avoid breathing in dust, and special covers to stop sand from jamming their weapons. None of that will help. Their first enemies will be wet socks and flies and malaria. They’ll never make it to the fight.

Terrain — or context — is always key, and the terrain in this case is a little thing called societal consumption behaviour (SCB). Whilst SCB is heavily accented to local cultures, its overriding trends are both global and macro.

Consumer psychology is not something that we can wish away. It is changing all around us and has done so at a rapid pace since the late 2000’s, entering breakneck territory in the last half of this just concluded decade. All the predictions in the world can’t ignore that human idiosyncrasies are moving markets — fast — and that as we embark on the next decade, we can expect more of the same.

Pretending that it isn’t what it is, simply because a large portion of brands and leaders have not yet handled the terrain — for a range of reasons — is like not entering the jungle in the first place.

But the jungle is where the victory is. The truth is that engaged customers become engaged because of the collection of experiences that we provide them, and the way that we make them feel. Human beings feel connected when we provide the environment for connection. In other words, it’s personal. Ergo, personalisation isn’t exactly optional. So, let’s talk about where we are now, and I’ll start by talking about where we are not.

We are not at a mature apex in the journey of personalization technology or tactics.

The truth is that we have only just begun. Cloud computing became mainstream in 2012. Think about how far that has already come, about the businesses that couldn’t — and didn’t — exist beforehand.

We had 2 billion internet users then, and whilst that was up dramatically from 1 billion in 2007, it pales compared to the 4.5 billion we were approaching in 2019. It was only 5 years ago (2015) that we started consuming the internet on mobile as the dominant means (over PC), which truly infused it in our lives. It has become us. Mobile is now trending toward an involuntary extension of ourselves.

Wave away a fly. Hail a taxi. Scratch your nose. Swipe right.

Through all this our consumption behaviour, our attitudes, our expectations, evolved and evolved. The decline of trust accelerated. Brands found themselves in a digital quagmire, trying to shout to be heard.

Subsequently, we raced into new domains, ala “personalization.” The principle was right, remains right, but quite predictably new paradigms come with new problems.

A friend of mine, Scott Treller who runs a CX software business in Australia, sometimes tells a story that goes a little like this:

Standing at a BBQ, a young woman is approached by a smiling guest.

“Hey there Sophie”, he grins.

A little taken aback, Sophie furrows her brow. “Hi…um, have we met?”

“Oh not in person” came the reply – and so too the forever grin. “But you wandered by my work once”.

Sophie burst out laughing. Then stopped. He was serious.

“So anyway”, he continued. “I’d really like to get to know you a bit more, but I know you have to run in 20 minutes to pick up little Bobby from school before you visit your Dad for dinner. How is Steve by the way? Recovered from that bowel problem?”

Not sensing her growing unease for even a moment, he ploughed on.

“Because I really need you to spend time with me, but isn’t life so busy these days, so full of choices!”

He leans in, lowers his tone. “Don’t worry, I get it”.

Sophie can’t breathe.

“So hey, I’ve bought you a gin and tonic to save a little time. I know how much you love them, and this one has that Schweppes tonic that you like, and I made sure the bartender used lime after that nasty episode you had with the cucumber in Spain last year”.

And the grin just kept on coming.

Don’t laugh, or do, but that’s precisely the way that many brands have behaved.

The irony is that in our pursuit of customers through “personalization” we broke all kinds of social contracts, and we thought we could do that because it was digital. Given time, this had the opposite effect to its intent. As much as society has evolved to expect better and better personal experiences — many of them disposable — it doesn’t want to feel disposable itself.  And it will, if there is not legitimacy in the connection.

So, if we’re not yet at maturity in personalization, then where are we? Let me frame it like this.

Phase 1

When we realized that people didn’t want to be treated as “just another number,”  we established practices that we thought would be more effective selling to them, like putting their name in an email greeting, instead of “Dear Customer.” Personalization was an email strategy, and not much more. This is where a lot of brands are still occupied today.

Phase 2

Many did take the next step, creating login’s to websites in order to publish their customers’ name in the corner, and allow them to “manage” their own account. Sort of. We let them change their contact details and billing information and see purchase history. The new frontier of trust — at least in the limited (but valid) terms that marketers have hedged it — was almost exclusively about the security of that data, particularly with mandatory disclosure law related to personally identifiable information (PII) entering mainstream western economies, and only amplified with the more recent arrival of GDPR.

Phase 3

As companies embraced more sophisticated instruments, they started using the “gorilla” tactics that Scott’s little story draws out so beautifully. They began harnessing the information gathered about customers to provide more tailored messages, vary the splash page on websites based on user profiles, inserting cookies and tracking behaviours, geo-fencing store assets — or even competitor locations! — and creating “intervention” tactics. Logically, we started sharing information across our business ecosystems, partnerships, and other channels to create an ever-enriched pool of customer information and records, and then began writing algorithms within marketing engines to vary engagement activities in real time. We started following our customers on social media sites. There are many other examples that this learned readership will know of, so I’ll stop there, but I think you get the point.

And on the seventh day, we rested. Or should have.

Critics argue that at no point did marketers pause or engage in a respectful dialogue with customers about any of this. Our view of personalization stemmed from an almost surveillance-state mindset that the KGB would have been proud of during the cold war.

But hold on. These are good-hearted marketing folk: citizens, partners, fathers, mothers, coaches, and mentors. Everyday people. Professional people. The intent was never sinister. They were simply trying to grow their business.

The problem was they were operating in uncharted waters where there was no rule book. No one had written one. Should we have known better? That’s another debate. But to many consumers, some of our tactics had become kind of creepy.

Decline of trust

Much is written about the decline of trust in society. I am one of those commentators. I have researched it, speak on it often, and offer a model to help executives think critically about how trust is fostered, created, and maintained.

This is a wider issue, not just for the marketing and CRM profession. The highly respected Edelman Trust Barometer has monitored the decline of trust across business and government for a long time. It is not a new phenomenon, but it is increasingly material.

In September 2018, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres felt compelled to say this:

“Our world is suffering from a bad case of ‘trust deficit disorder’. Trust is at a breaking point. Trust in national institutions. Trust among states. Trust in the rules-based global order.”

This is a macro societal problem driven by a multitude of factors. Just think of the effect to consumer confidence in brands at large, following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

I am also drawn to the growing societal realisation — and pushback — on device addiction, and the need to manage our state of connection. Authors Brian Solis (“Lifescale”, Wiley 2019), and Nir Eyal (“Indistractable”, BenBella 2019) have both written popular and important works on this subject.

We also now know that there is a direct link between the level of individual social media consumption and our mental health. Society is having a re-think. We’re evolving again. We were always going to.

So, am I making the case for Gartner that indeed personalization could well be dropped by 80% of marketers by 2025? Well, if you are one of those marketers and you do, your competitors will — as I said in the headline — eat you alive!

First, Gartner kind of gave themselves away in a quote from one of their directors when they say:

“… (consumers) increasingly cluttered email inboxes and mobile phone notification centers may lead them to ignore even the most carefully personalized and contextualized message. Marketers must really adopt the basics when it comes to test and learn before investing in personalization technology and new tactics.”

In other words, they are referencing the many companies still caught up in phase 1 (see above). It’s an attention-grabbing headline, but they’re not really talking about personalization.

Secondly, in the same release they call out the increased need for Consent Management. They forecast that by 2024 more than half of the online advertisements will be influenced by AI-identified emotions, and that by 2022 a quarter of marketing departments, will have a dedicated behavioral scientist or ethnographer on staff.

Also: Cookie consent: Most websites break law by making it hard to ‘reject all’ tracking

Why would you do any of that, if personalization was dead? Come on now.

What we really need to talk about is not how to amputate personalisation, but about its evolution.

The proliferation of technologies from vendors (e.g. CRM), the market rationalisation through acquisition and re-imagination of some capabilities (e.g. marketing automation); the consumption or embedding of newer technologies like user journey orchestration or identity management into wider eco-systems; and the emergence of new capabilities (e.g. AI and experience management) — all present a thought-provoking landscape for brand owners. It challenges old assumptions and alliances.

Most of all, it challenges our strategy competence.

One of the fallouts from all of this, in my estimation, is an industry-wide confusion on (or perhaps just a need to re-learn), the roles of different customer systems in value creation.

I am privileged to be writing this article in Paul’s column which is fitting, because the most complete and insightful work on this subject can be found in his book, ‘The Commonwealth of Self-Interest’. Check out chapters 13 and 14, which deal with systems of record versus systems of engagement. The whole book is a masterpiece, seriously, and if you’re a reader of this column you’ll enjoy that familiar tone and dry humour of his.

By the way, that’s another form of personalisation… because personalization is a two-way street, it’s a conversation. (But that’s an article for another time.)

In my own work, I often call this group of technologies, “systems of customer control”, which is not to say that we control our customers, but it is to say that we —  in partnership with customers — can jointly control our shared experiences and therefore outcomes.

  • Partnership (for)
  • Jointly
  • Shared
  • Outcomes

It provides a governance lens on the role of customer programs, but it’s more than that. Think about it: Isn’t that how we have always grown relationships?

So, in the spirit of never doing a prediction piece, here’s my 9-point “hypothesis” partly in response — but not really — to Gartner’s clever provocation, through to the close of 2025.

  1. Identity management will be critical (consent, compliance, access, UX).
  2. AI will become embedded (not a software adjunct); both pervasive and persuasive.
  3. Brands that adopt 2 but not 1 (above), will risk ending up in court and being rejected by their markets.
  4. Assisted sentiment analysis will pervade both tech and experience design (see 2).
  5. Social sciences disciplines within marketing teams will increase (way overdue).
  6. Investment into creative culture will accelerate.
  7. The CRM category will to continue to grow, but normalise to ~5% YoY (probably).
  8. The Customer engagement category will be the fastest growing in history (almost certainly).

All of this will happen because at the end of the day, we all just want (read: need) to be closer to our customers to advance our businesses and our mission. In all human relationships, “closeness” stems from a growing familiarity, a sense of safety, predictability, doing the right thing (context!), and of caring. Brands can’t escape this, not for a millisecond.

Now, the smart ones in the room will have noticed what they think is a typo. I said I had a 9-point hypothesis, but only gave you eight. Nope, I didn’t forget. I was setting you up. Another one is coming. Are you ready? Are you? Really??

What I am doing right now is building your anticipation.

I’m borrowing from a concept in experience design called “anticipatory design,” which triggers intrigue and causes a target (you!) to decide to continue with me, because we have now created a more personal user flow, which I could only do because I had some insight about you (namely that you read this far so you must be at least partially interested). I hope I am making my point.

Anyway, the crescendo of this piece, the 9th and final point in my, by-2025-hypothesis, is this:

 9. Like a toddler who, after a long time crawling and falling (with the scars to prove it) is finally taking their first steps with    confidence, we will have learnt from the early stages of our journey, and the industry will adopt a new era of “partnership-based personalisation”.

Perhaps that’s the optimist in me talking, but it’s also the powerful opportunity in front of us. Let’s all agree — Gartner, you and I — to put it another way:

Personalization is dead. Long live personalization.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

ZDNet | crm RSS

Read More

How AI scrubs out fake reviews and amplifies your customer’s voice (VB Live)

December 14, 2019   Big Data
 How AI scrubs out fake reviews and amplifies your customer’s voice (VB Live)

AI offers an efficient, cost-effective way to unlock actionable insights from your reviews. Watch this VB Live event to learn how AI and machine learning can help you to deal with the negative reviews, resolve customer pain points, and build trust. 

Access free on demand here.


Consumer trust in information that’s available from businesses is dropping drastically. Almost 85% of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising, and 70% rely on reviews and recommendations from other customers, which of course includes online feedback.

A lot of businesses don’t like to look at their negative reviews, and don’t know how to deal with them or respond to them. But 82% of the top-performing companies report paying close attention to the human experience around digital and tech. That means keeping up-to-the-minute tabs on your reviews.

“One of the greatest challenges is trying to take advantage of this feedback and really use it to turn around the conversation,” says Ramin Vatanparast, chief product officer at Trustpilot. “For example, negative reviews are a great opportunity for businesses to reach out to unhappy customers and understand what the problem was with their experience and try to win back their respect, and build trust and credibility.”

Positive reviews also offer vital information to businesses — they’re not just pats on the back, but taken together are an incredibly accurate barometer for the success of your customer service and your products.

Whether it’s reviews, comments in a forum, support requests, or any of the feedback that you’re getting from customers, the challenge from a technical perspective is that it’s quite hard to scale all of that text — the things that people are writing and saying about your company — and understand the core themes, says Chris Hausler, senior data science manager at ZenDesk.

“If you’re a small company receiving 10 to 20 reviews or support requests a week, it’s easy for someone to individually sit down and read those and understand your customer’s perspective,” Hausler explains. “But when you scale that to tens of thousands, or even millions, it’s no longer feasible for an individual, or even a group of individuals, to read and understand all that text.”

That’s where AI comes in. Natural language processing helps identify patterns in that text, understand the core themes in what people are talking about, and give you a perspective that you aren’t able to get as an individual with that scale of feedback.

“The biggest opportunity isn’t just the star rating for those reviews,” Vatanparast says. “It’s looking at the context and being able to take advantage of the tools and technologies that let you understand the sentiment behind those star ratings, analyze your data, and improve your business.”

The other big piece is customer trust, he says.

“When we look to the Edelman trust barometer, you’ll notice that the overall trust level for online businesses, and even online digital platforms, is going down,” he says. “At the same time, fake reviews are creating a huge challenge for consumers, who now need to identify what’s real and what’s fake.”

AI also really has a role to play here, particularly at scale, Hausler says.

“On the fake review side, particularly when it’s coming from bots, there tend to be telltale signs in the ways they communicate that make them slightly different from the way that a human would write a review,” he explains. “Much in the way that we have something like spam detection in your Gmail account, you can train your AI to identify where you’re getting these bot reviews and then move them to the side so you and your customers are not being misled.

Fraud detection models, combined with offering customers the ability to flag suspicious content, lets you secure your customer feedback and make sure the reviews they see in the platform are as legitimate as possible.

“The biggest thing for any organization nowadays is to build strong principles and values around trust and what they stand for, to be able to openly talk about it and share their data and make sure the information they provide their consumers, including reviews, is as clear as possible and as trustworthy as possible,” he says.

For a deep dive into how an AI-powered review platform works to sort, flag, and capture sentiment from your reviews, how to turn negative reviews into opportunities to connect with your customers, and how to implement a fully secure review platform to capture customer sentiment, catch up on this VB Live event now!


Access for free on demand.


You’ll learn:

  • How to find themes in your customer reviews so that you can fix the real pain points instead of putting “band-aids” on each unhappy customer
  • Steps to guide your business decisions around what your customers say they want, not what you think they want
  • The importance of addressing your most common negative issues first to see an immediate change in your customer satisfaction level
  • The concept of always improving your customer experience — searching for trends in your good reviews to turn them into great reviews

Speakers:

  • Ramin Vatanparast, Chief Product Officer, Trustpilot
  • Chris Hausler, Senior Data Science Manager, ZenDesk

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Big Data – VentureBeat

Read More

Exclusive LIVE Community Event #2 – Ask Amir Anything

November 12, 2019   Self-Service BI

Next up in our Triple A Live Event Series:

Have you ever wanted the chance to ask Technical Fellow Amir Netz questions about the latest updates, features and future?   Now’s your chance! On November 20th, 2019 at 12 PM Pacific Time, we’ll be hosting another exclusive, invitation only, live event.

Head on over to the Power BI community to find out how you can get a chance to join: https://aka.ms/PBICommEvents

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Microsoft Power BI Blog | Microsoft Power BI

Read More

How to Integrate Dynamics 365 with Any Software for Live Data

November 6, 2019   Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Let’s discuss migration to cloud Dynamics 365 Business Central and Finance & Operations and analyze scenarios and ways of synchronizing and integrating these ERPs with nearly any third-party software and databases. Read on!  

how to integrate dynamics 365 finance operations business central with any software for live data 625x316 How to Integrate Dynamics 365 with Any Software for Live Data

Migrating from on-prem NAV and AX to the cloud 

Although on-prem NAV and AX are still up and running, with a new, upgraded cloud version of the ERP software available, many organizations are interested in migrating from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations and from Dynamix NAV to Business Central. This makes sense. The cloud apps have much more functionality compared to the old versions. With the new version, companies can use the web-based login, the new interface, the improved business intelligence and have more flexibility – with other new features and updates coming soon. Besides, the new versions integrate easier with other Microsoft cloud products.   

Another serious reason for migrating AX to Finance & Operations and NAV to Business Central is that with the global trend of cloud-first and mobile-first, on-premise versions of Dynamics may become obsolete in a few years.  

Connecting SaaS ERP with applications on-prem and in the cloud 

The transition from the on-prem ERP to SaaS is the first obvious step for organizations focused on streamlining business processes. But, in fact, there are many more things happening around cloud FinOp and Business Central.  

The next improvement is integrating them with other apps existing at the workplace. ERP software synchronization is critical to centralizing data and reducing inefficient workflows.   

For example, taking data from the ERP and inserting it manually into another program takes a lot of time. Integrating it automatically speeds up the process and reduces human error. It also increases collaboration among employees and improves transparency.    

Therefore, when implementing ERP systems, organizations look for ways to integrate them with their other existing software.   

Below, we will analyze typical integration scenarios.  

Typical cloud ERP integration use cases 

Although scenarios for Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations or Business Central are numerous, most common ones can be grouped in the following categories:  

Synchronizing Dynamics NAV with Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics AX with Finance and Operations. Advanced integration platforms and dedicated connectors can integrate on-premises and cloud ERP systems for potential migration in the future.  

Integrating a cloud ERP and production and machine data software. Both data from the machines and a manufacturing execution system (MES) contain a lot of information on what the factory produces and how. Synchronizing it with enterprise resource planning will help to increase production efficiency and make the company more responsive to changing demand, avoid overproduction, and increase maintenance automation.   

Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations and project management software. Once integrated, the ERP system provides critical financial data and the project management tool reveals a full picture of progress and status.   

ERP integration with storage/warehouse. A warehouse should not operate as a stand-alone entity and synchronizing its data with Dynamics 365 allow for that. All departments from manufacturing to customer services and purchasing can all quickly pull real-time data on the warehouse system and use it to make better decisions.   

ERP Integration with Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Our clients often need to integrate the new Cloud ERP with their existing CRM systems like Salesforce, SugarCRM, Dynamics 365, Oracle, or Workbooks or better management and smoother customer onboarding.   

Synchronization of a cloud ERP platform with Supplier Systems and Purchase Order systems (POs). Organizations send requests to suppliers whenever a purchase alert for a component or spare part is generated in an ERP system. Once a supplier’s quote arrives, it enters the system for further processing. By integrating your ERP with a POs, you get immediate access to receipts, logs, and other relevant information. You minimize the time and hassle of manual data entry.  

ERP and an inventory management system. This integration can increase your company’s productivity a lot, especially if you operate a large volume of purchases, and the orders need to move to the on-premises inventory system. It is very useful. Employees can look up the availability of the spare parts from their personal devices in real-time.  

Cloud ERP and an on-prem product lifecycle management system (PLM). The PLM system sends the finished bill of materials (BOM) data to Dynamics FinOp / Business Central for approval. This process is fast, automated and error-proof when the systems are integrated.  

Dynamics 365 FinOp/Business Central and a data warehouse. This is one of the most typical use cases for the integration between the cloud ERP and an on-premises system. Check our step-by-step instructions for on-prem database integration to Dynamics 365 online. This example uses the AdventureWorks Database, a fictional multinational manufacturing company. Our IT expert explains the story with a deep insight and wit. Highly recommended!  

Integration of cloud ERP and sales orders. One of our major clients had this request: to integrate sales orders from an on-prem front-end system into Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations for processing and management. They were happy to see it could be done efficiently.  

Dynamics 365 Business Central/ FinOp and Customer Portal and Customer Service. Typically, a customer portal and service are self-hosted, and the integration with the ERP system allows for a smooth exchange of critical business data.   

***  

These are only some ideas that can increase your organization’s productivity. Although, depending on the company’s specifics there can be many other integration possibilities that we can cover.   

If you are interested in migrating for a cloud ERP system, check Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations pre-built connectors that can facilitate the task. 

***

About the author

As a part of Connecting Software’s team, Anastasia Mazur has been investigating ins and outs of business software integration and synchronization. Superpower: translating from the nerdy programmer lingo to the human language. Expert on business needs for Dynamics CRM, ERP, Salesforce, Industrial IoT integration and can participate in a short conversation about it without appearing superficial.

Contact the author: anastasia@connecting-software.com

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365

Read More
« Older posts
  • Recent Posts

    • OUR MAGNIFICENT UNIVERSE
    • What to Avoid When Creating an Intranet
    • Is Your Business Ready for the New Generation of Analytics?
    • Contest for control over the semantic layer for analytics begins in earnest
    • Switch from Old Record View to Kanban Board View to Maximize Business Productivity within Dynamics 365 CRM / PowerApps
  • Categories

  • Archives

    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
© 2021 Business Intelligence Info
Power BI Training | G Com Solutions Limited