Whether it’s the newest technological item presented in dozens of fashion colors, the infinite number of fonts and letter effects in word processing/printing, or the seemingly endless options that most major  manufacturers (and aftermarket companies) offer to ‘make something theirs feel more like yours’, it’s fairly common knowledge that the discerning customer now almost expects to have certain things available for customizing with any product or service.  In fact, some companies now make their livelihood exclusively dealing with the custom options and add-ons for existing products!
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If you have, you may have noticed a slight tweak to the appearance of the home page. Google has increased the size of the search box:
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A few months back I wrote a piece for one of our SAVO Newsletters and I would like to share my insights again here.
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In my previous career in sales I was a user of many leading CRM applications in addition to a homegrown solution I helped my IT organization develop.  There’s no doubt that CRM can drive significant value to the organization as a whole when implemented successfully, however when I was in sales you’d never hear me admit it.  At the end of a long week on the phone or in meetings, entering data and checking boxes was not high on my priority list, regardless of how much value my VP and Executives received from it.  I did it because it was mandated from the top down, and I didn’t want to get “the call” from my manager.  Almost every prospect or client I speak with today has asked how they can drive higher adoption of their CRM, without having to make “the calls”.
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When I sat down to write this piece I thought about doing something along the lines of why B2B organizations should be embracing social media. This is something I believe strongly in as the social media guy here at SAVO. However this topic has been touched on quite a bit lately, and there are great blogs out there already like Mashable that can give some good insights on this topic. (Also, if you haven’t yet seen it yet take a look at this recent YouTube video from Socialnomics and the data behind the explosion in social media, it is worth a look.) However, after some thought I decided it might be more valuable to give a little insight in to why we are doing it at SAVO.
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