Customer relationship management (CRM)

Find Customer Relationship Management (CRM) resources here: news, analysis and case studies on CRM software choices and implementing CRM. Find out how UK companies and organisations are harnessing CRM to drive forward customer-centric business strategies. Understand CRM market trends, and how organisations are managing the customer experience for competitive advantage.

News 26 Jun 2023
How Ikea is driving digital customer experience

Ikea franchisee in four Southeast Asian markets and Mexico taps chatbots, conversational commerce and remote planning, among other capabilities, to drive digital customer experience Continue Reading
News 23 Jun 2023
Investment in employee experience, cloud, AI drives greater customer experience

Study from global IT infrastructure and services company finds employee experience and customer experience gaining rapid recognition of their importance at board level, and as many as 95% of organisations see cloud enablement as vital in enabling outcomes Continue Reading

Tip 22 Jun 2023

4 knowledge base article templates

Knowledge bases can improve CX and employee productivity, but organizations may not know where to start. Discover four templates to help teams write knowledge base articles. Continue Reading
News 21 Jun 2023

Avaya expands Google, Alcatel-Lucent alliances to boost customer experiences

Collaboration with leading cloud platform designed to deliver enhanced contact centre solutions as improved Experience Platform enables users to integrate digital capabilities to redefine agent operations Continue Reading
News 21 Jun 2023

Software spending grows fastest as finance firms spend $652bn on tech in 2023

Banks and investment firms are increasing their spending on IT despite gloomy economic outlook, but priorities have changed Continue Reading
Feature 20 Jun 2023

Customer success vs. account management: How do they differ?

Customer success and account management strategies help organizations grow in different ways. Customer success focuses on loyalty, while account management focuses on revenue. Continue Reading
Feature 20 Jun 2023

4 components of a customer obsession model

Customer-obsessed organizations put customers at the heart of their operations. A customer obsession model requires important elements like a data strategy and leadership support. Continue Reading
News 20 Jun 2023

ServiceNow’s Bill McDermott: a ‘work in progress’

Bill McDermott, president and CEO of ServiceNow, speaks to Computer Weekly about his vision for the company and the technology industry, which he believes to be in the throes of exponential change Continue Reading
News 16 Jun 2023

Citi US Personal Banking turns to AI to ‘delight’ customers with personalised services

Citigroup’s US Personal Banking business has created a repository of customer data and is rolling out a decision engine to provide customers with personalised services Continue Reading
Answer 07 Jun 2023

CXM vs. CRM: Which platform is best for your business?

CXM and CRM systems help organizations boost customer satisfaction, but CXM focuses on how customers perceive a brand, while CRM helps employees understand their customers. Continue Reading
Answer 05 Jun 2023

How to calculate call center utilization rates

Customer service leaders use metrics like call center utilization rates to track performance and CX. Leadership must learn the effects of these rates and how to calculate them. Continue Reading
Feature 02 Jun 2023

7 must-have skills for customer experience professionals

CX professionals must seek to understand customer problems and perspectives, so they need skills in communication, data collection, relationship building and empathy. Continue Reading
Feature 31 May 2023

What does a knowledge management leader do?

Knowledge management teams often include IT professionals and content writers. But at the head, they need a central leader to make connections and guide people. Continue Reading
Tip 31 May 2023

6 risks of ChatGPT in customer service

Despite ChatGPT's customer service benefits, organizations must understand the technology's risks, such as fabricated information, bias and security concerns. Continue Reading
News 30 May 2023

How Pendula is driving customer communications

The Australian startup’s conversational messaging platform lets businesses draw on internal and external data to cross-sell and upsell their offerings while improving customer retention Continue Reading
News 12 May 2023

IT Priorities 2023: Business automation intensifies as data governance returns

Business automation and a renewed focus on data governance to get more value from data have attracted more interest for UK enterprise software investment, says the TechTarget IT Priorities 2023 survey Continue Reading
Tip 03 May 2023

CRM vs. CMS: How they differ and how to integrate them

CMSes and CRM systems serve different purposes, but together, they can help organizations improve customer data management as well as automate sales and marketing strategies. Continue Reading
Feature 01 May 2023

The role of AI as an everyday life assistant

We speak to the co-author of a book that explores the idea of artificial intelligence-powered automation that enables machines to become customers Continue Reading
Feature 27 Apr 2023

How to use ChatGPT for customer service

Customer service teams can use ChatGPT to automate tasks, generate responses to customer inquiries, summarize email threads and power human-like chatbots. Continue Reading
Podcast 12 Apr 2023

Next-gen AI: A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

Mark Raskino, co-author of When Machines Become Customers, discusses machine-to-machine commerce Continue Reading
Feature 30 Mar 2023

How account-based marketing can improve personalization

An ABM strategy can help B2B marketers personalize marketing efforts for top prospects. An ABM strategy includes an ideal customer profile, personalized messaging and a CRM system. Continue Reading
Feature 30 Mar 2023

Advice for marketing personalization

Business professionals have become numb to the plethora of marketing emails they receive every day. However, personalized messaging can grab their attention. Continue Reading
Podcast 24 Mar 2023

Everywoman in Tech, datacentre heat reuse – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

The team talks about disclosure regarding diversity and inclusion programmes, datacentre heat reuse in swimming pools, and NetSuite supporting business transformation at Guinness World Records Continue Reading
Blog Post 24 Mar 2023

The business case for customer success investment is built on 360° data

This is a guest blogpost by Jean de Villiers, Chief Customer Officer, and Michelle MacCarthy, Global Head of Customer Success, Unit4 Customer Success (CS) is a programmatic approach to delighting ... Continue Reading
News 23 Mar 2023

Podium taps ChatGPT for reputation management

The customer interaction and payment specialist with operations in Australia has integrated ChatGPT into its platform to help local businesses respond to customer reviews on social media Continue Reading
News 15 Mar 2023

How industry cloud platforms are shaping the future of business applications

More than half of enterprises are expected to use industry cloud platforms that combine cloud-based infrastructure, platform and application services to accelerate their business by 2027 Continue Reading
Tip 08 Mar 2023

7 customer success best practices

Customer success aims to ensure a positive CX after the sales process is complete. These best practices can help teams stay on track and keep customers satisfied. Continue Reading
Tip 08 Mar 2023

7 examples of sustainable marketing

Organizations can help the environment, society and their bottom line at the same time with sustainable marketing. Examples include charity partnerships and social transparency. Continue Reading
Feature 07 Mar 2023

Culture eats technology in digital transformation

Digital transformation without culture change is an empty phrase, but get the balance right and you can reap rewards Continue Reading
News 06 Mar 2023

Guinness World Records goes digital

Guinness World Records has been around since 1955. Over the past 20 years, it has transformed from book publishing to consultancy and digital content creation, most recently marshalling NetSuite Continue Reading
News 01 Mar 2023

APAC is proving to be ‘substantial growth engine’ for Rimini Street

Rimini Street CEO Seth Ravin outlines growth opportunities in Asia-Pacific and discusses the company’s move up the support value chain Continue Reading
Answer 15 Feb 2023

What does a customer success manager do?

The customer success manager is an essential CX role that takes a proactive approach to ensuring customer loyalty and retention when the sales process is complete. Continue Reading
Answer 02 Feb 2023

What are the different types of marketing personalization?

Marketing teams use multiple personalization strategies for customer outreach, like emails, targeted ads and chatbots. Each approach brings several benefits and can improve CX. Continue Reading
News 27 Jan 2023

SAP 2022: 11% revenue growth, 2.5% staff targeted by restructure

SAP has announced full-year 2022 revenue of nearly €31bn, up 11% year on year. In 2023, it will explore a sell-off of Qualtrics stake and do a restructure, with an impact on 2.5% of staff Continue Reading
News 19 Jan 2023

APAC consumers expect human-like service from chatbots

Consumer expectations of chatbots in Asia-Pacific have risen in tandem with improved performance of AI applications over the past year, a study has found Continue Reading
News 15 Jan 2023

Thai enterprises spend more on software amid growing digitalisation

The majority of software spending in Thailand during the first half of 2022 went into applications followed by infrastructure software and development tools, according to IDC Continue Reading
Infographic 06 Jan 2023

Salesforce acquisitions from 2022 mark a year of integrations

2022 was slow for vendor acquisitions, and Salesforce was no different. The vendor's three acquisitions in 2022 focused on improving integrations and supporting its ecosystem. Continue Reading
News 30 Dec 2022

Top 10 business applications stories of 2022

As the Covid crisis gave way to the energy crisis and economic turmoil, enterprise software suppliers have urged customers to step up modernisation and evince more empathy for employees Continue Reading
Feature 14 Dec 2022

4 benefits of a customer data platform

CDPs organize customer data to support personalized CX strategies and compliance. Benefits of CDPs include unified customer profiles and enhanced marketing efforts. Continue Reading
Feature 01 Dec 2022

How to efficiently measure customer loyalty

Most organizations don't measure customer loyalty often or thoroughly enough to improve CX. This book excerpt explores tips and suggestions to measure loyalty more efficiently. Continue Reading
Feature 24 Nov 2022

XR and the real world: Feedback loops and spillovers

As the metaverse develops, the realism of advanced extended reality applications could allow users to take experiences, interests and strategies with them into the real world – creating spillovers from virtual to real worlds Continue Reading
News 23 Nov 2022

Oracle’s Steve Miranda on the value of turning inside out

In a Q&A with Computer Weekly at Oracle Open World, applications head Steve Miranda discussed the supplier’s opening out and its intensification of an industry cloud approach, signally with healthcare Continue Reading
News 21 Nov 2022

EDF UK deploys Riverbed’s Alluvio Aternity to tackle IT issues

Monitoring software links into ServiceNow and PowerShell scripts are being used to automate remediation Continue Reading
News 03 Nov 2022

Russia risks shortage of PCs and software

Russian consumers and businesses could face a shortage of IT equipment including PCs and software Continue Reading
Feature 01 Nov 2022

Cellebrite sees silver lining in the NetSuite cloud

It’s only natural that companies invest in business software solutions to bring about growth in their organisation. But in times of uncertainty, the narrative is around doing more with less, how to increase productivity and efficiency through automation, and how to get better control of supply chains. We see how one company is doing just that Continue Reading
Podcast 28 Oct 2022

Top 50 women in UK tech, IR35 Truss fiasco – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

The team reflects on the announcement of the Most Influential Women in UK Technology 2022, the IR35 reforms being scrapped, then not, and Dreamforce & Oracle Cloud World in the US Continue Reading
Feature 21 Oct 2022

Efficiency to empathy: Customer experience in cost-of living crisis

Find out how businesses can shore up their CX strategy to support consumers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis Continue Reading
Feature 20 Oct 2022

What do the US’s new software security rules mean for UK organisations?

The White House announced recently that all software supplied to the US government and its agencies needs to be secure, so what does this mean for the UK and EU security sectors? Continue Reading
News 14 Oct 2022

Gitex 2022: Florius takes AI-powered CCaaS speech analytics to transform customer experience

Changed workloads during the pandemic have driven Netherlands-based mortgage lender to use AI and CCaaS technology Continue Reading
Feature 12 Oct 2022

Top 4 CRM systems comparison

What differentiates the 'big four' CRM providers? Explore the advantages and disadvantages of Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft and SAP in this CRM comparison. Continue Reading
Opinion 05 Oct 2022

Everything you wanted to know about the metaverse

Possession may be nine-tenths of the law, but the unique qualities of digital assets mean they do not easily fit into the age-old legal concept of ownership Continue Reading
News 29 Sep 2022

BSH Home Appliances takes on Twilio to revamp digital customer engagement

Customer engagement platform partners with Deloitte Consulting to support plan by home appliances firm to revamp its entire digital infrastructure within customer service organisation Continue Reading
News 27 Sep 2022

American football giants jet into digital age with HCLTech

US football clubs the New York Jets and New York Giants outsource their digital transformations to Indian service provider as they target improved fan engagement Continue Reading
Blog Post 25 Sep 2022

Bono-Benioff fireside chat at Dreamforce 2022: divinity in the destitute

The last time I sat in the Yerba Buena Theatre near the Moscone Centre in San Francisco at Salesforce’s annual conference Dreamforce, was to hear David Beckham having a fireside chat with the then ... Continue Reading
News 06 Sep 2022

How the Australian Red Cross coped with a donation surge

The Australian Red Cross adopted Boomi’s integration platform to manage the surge in donations in response to the floods in New South Wales and Queensland earlier this year Continue Reading
E-Zine 18 Aug 2022

CW APAC: Trend watch: Enterprise resource planning

Organisations are starting to look at refreshing their enterprise resource planning systems. In this handbook, focused on enterprise resource planning in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at what’s behind this renewed priority, how GLS Group strengthened its processes, why firms want cheaper software maintenance and the benefits of best-of-breed cloud apps Continue Reading
News 15 Aug 2022

How clean data helps Southern Water identify vulnerable customers

Escalating prices means households around the country are having to tighten spending, with many struggling to pay their bills. Water4All, a consortium led by Southern Water, is using data to identify low-income and vulnerable households so they can be better supported Continue Reading
News 11 Aug 2022

Crown Commercial Service opens door to Salesforce

The Crown Commercial Service has agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with Salesforce to facilitate public sector access to the supplier’s products and services, including Tableau, Slack and Mulesoft Continue Reading
News 09 Aug 2022

Tata teams with Genesys to boost enterprise engagement with enhanced InstaCC Platform

Global digital ecosystem enabler partners with cloud-based customer experience orchestration to further transform customer engagement across platforms ranging from social to mobile Continue Reading
E-Zine 09 Aug 2022

Eurotunnel’s digital journey for the realities of post-Covid travel

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the travel industry was devastated by the pandemic, but we find out how Eurotunnel is turning to digital to better engage customers in the post-Covid world. We examine the impact of the economic slowdown on the tech giants. And we explain all you need to know about data gravity. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
08 Aug 2022

Channelling customer focus

Adapting to the realities of post-Covid European travel, Eurotunnel is revamping the customer experience - as product and experience director Ian Rabagliati explains. Continue Reading
News 05 Aug 2022

CIO interview: Stephen Booth, CIO, Coventry University

After more than 20 years at the university, the CIO is still taking on new responsibilities – including his team becoming a commercial entity and acquiring its own software Continue Reading
Tip 04 Aug 2022

How to market a loyalty program effectively

Loyalty programs boost customer retention, but organizations must first convince customers to sign up. Marketers can incentivize referrals and use mobile apps to gain enrollment. Continue Reading
News 04 Aug 2022

Bayern Munich sides with Adobe to enhance global fan experience

Bayern Munich is using Adobe’s Experience Cloud and allied software to better connect with its fans in Germany and worldwide Continue Reading
News 03 Aug 2022

Twilio eyes CDP opportunity in APAC

Twilio is tapping opportunities in customer data platforms and will deploy APAC instances of its Segment platform next year Continue Reading
E-Zine 02 Aug 2022

How to create a datacentre capacity plan

In this week’s Computer Weekly, planning datacentre capacity is a growing challenge – we ask the experts for the latest best practice. Victims of the Post Office IT scandal explain why they think they were targeted for speaking out. And we look at the digital skills gap in retail and find out how employers can source talent. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
Feature 29 Jul 2022

Customer loyalty vs. brand loyalty: What's the difference?

Low prices can generate customer loyalty, whereas reliability and reputation foster brand loyalty. To maximize customer retention, organizations should strive for both. Continue Reading
E-Zine 26 Jul 2022

Inside Russia’s Ukraine information operations

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we get the inside track on Russia’s disinformation operations attempting to spread propaganda and cyber threats about the invasion of Ukraine. Our new buyer’s guide looks at customer and employee experience management. And we assess 10 top Kubernetes backup suppliers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 25 Jul 2022

CDO interview: Ian Rabagliati, product and experience director, Eurotunnel

The Channel Tunnel operator is coming to terms with the realities of post-Covid European travel, and focusing on customer experience to bring it closer to its passengers Continue Reading
Feature 19 Jul 2022

Employee experience joins CX for total enterprise view

Total experience is emerging to join up employee and customer experience for organisations intent on being holistic and progressive Continue Reading
Tip 07 Jul 2022

5 best practices for customer journey mapping

As CX teams create customer journey maps, they must set clear goals, collect feedback and embrace creativity. Failure to follow best practices can leave teams with inaccurate data. Continue Reading
Answer 30 Jun 2022

Why are loyalty programs important?

Loyalty programs can help organizations retain their most valuable customers with special offers. Additionally, they can gather useful marketing data, increase referrals and more. Continue Reading
Feature 28 Jun 2022

Composability set to be next big thing for digital experience platforms

Digital experience platforms are the latest word in increasing customer loyalty by engaging across all channels. Gaining real-time views of customers while managing data compliantly is critical Continue Reading
Tip 24 Jun 2022

4 real-world customer journey map examples

Real-world examples of customer journey maps in action can help brands understand how customers feel amid the buying process and benefit customer relationships moving forward. Continue Reading
News 22 Jun 2022

How TDCX is building a people-centric business

Every digital tool deployed by the Singapore-based services firm is aimed at augmenting the performance and experience of its employees, says TDCX’s group CIO, Byron Fernandez Continue Reading
News 17 Jun 2022

Fintech firm chooses Salesforce software to support growth

Revolut is to use Saleasforce software to support sales and marketing as part of its expansion plans Continue Reading
Feature 14 Jun 2022

The link between employee experience and customer experience

A customer's experience with an organization is only as good as an employee's experience. Business leaders should know that empathy is key to employee and customer success. Continue Reading
News 10 Jun 2022

Investment firm takes Salesforce to task for lack of racial diversity

Retail investment platform Tulipshare is campaigning to hold Salesforce to account for its lack of racial diversity Continue Reading
Answer 09 Jun 2022

What's the difference between SCM and CRM?

CRM platforms track customer interactions, whereas SCM platforms track materials and product shipments. Tech buyers should know how these platforms differ before making a purchase. Continue Reading
News 09 Jun 2022

CIO interview: Yiannis Levantis aims at total quality for Unipart IT

Unipart has a heritage in quality manufacturing and services that CIO Yiannis Levantis is building on, in part by harnessing SAP’s cloud-based business transformation service Rise Continue Reading
News 26 May 2022

Executive interview: Miles Hillier, NatWest

Retail bank’s digital channel development head talks about building a multi-channel customer experience Continue Reading
Tip 24 May 2022

What are the benefits and challenges of CRM?

CRM platforms can boost CX with business insights if sales agents use them properly. Sales leaders should know the benefits and challenges of these platforms before purchasing. Continue Reading
E-Zine 24 May 2022

Set innovation free and make great ideas a reality

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at Gartner’s call to innovate – and innovation across retail, the circular economy and the automotive sector. We talk to Verastar’s CTO about customer engagement in its small business services. And we examine how poor data quality is frustrating corporate desires to be data driven. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
23 May 2022

Digitising customer engagement

Verastar CTO Spencer Clarkson explains how digital transformation and unifying customer relationship management systems are driving the business services group forward. Continue Reading
Tip 13 May 2022

5 upcoming CCaaS trends to watch

As organizations plan to increase CX spending over the next few years, they should pay attention to CCaaS trends, like agents changing workspaces and integrations with UCaaS. Continue Reading
News 11 May 2022

SAP ‘optimistic’ about S/4 Hana in APAC

A top SAP executive is confident that more of its customers in Asia-Pacific will adopt S/4 Hana this year, as the company shores up integration of its ERP software with other business applications Continue Reading
News 10 May 2022

How one Australian firm is creating smarter menus

Me&u’s smart menus are intelligent enough to recommend food items based on customer preferences, and even help to reduce food waste and alleviate bartender workloads during peak periods Continue Reading
Tip 03 May 2022

Best practices for initiating chatbot-to-human handoff

Contact centers perform a balancing act between AI and human agents. Support teams must train bots on chatbot-to-human handoffs and design AI aware of customer frustration. Continue Reading
Podcast 28 Apr 2022

Metaverse, women in software – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

Cliff Saran joins Clare and Brian, in Caroline’s absence, to discuss the metaverse, Windows 11, the Makers Women in Software Power List, and how CIOs do technology in 2022 Continue Reading
News 27 Apr 2022

Microsoft shows inflation-busting growth, driven by cloud adoption

As prices rise, Microsoft is trying to position its cloud services as the public cloud that offers the best value for money Continue Reading
Feature 18 Apr 2022

What is Adobe Experience Cloud? CRM platform overview

Adobe Experience Cloud -- the vendor's CRM platform -- includes tools to help medium and large enterprises manage all facets of their customer engagement strategies. Continue Reading
News 30 Mar 2022

CIO interview: Spencer Clarkson, CTO, Verastar

Digital transformation and unifying customer relationship management systems are driving the business services group forward Continue Reading
News 30 Mar 2022

UKISUG: Big majority of SAP users beset by data problems in migrating to S/4 Hana

In a survey prior to its Analytics Symposium, the UK & Ireland SAP User Group finds 61% of SAP customers say data management issues are slowing down process automation and impeding moves to S/4 Hana Continue Reading
Tip 18 Mar 2022

How do experience maps vs. customer journey maps differ?

Customer experience maps and customer journey maps serve as the blueprints for buyer interactions. Despite these maps' similarities, they play different roles in organizations. Continue Reading
News 23 Feb 2022

Salesforce pays out over £2m in bug bounties

Salesforce says it received more than 4,000 vulnerability reports in 2021 alone as it delivers a rare public update on its bug bounty programme Continue Reading
News 17 Feb 2022

Nvidia founder and CEO portrays AI-centricity

Earnings call for Nvidia’s fourth-quarter results offers a leading indicator of where the application of artificial intelligence may be heading Continue Reading
Feature 02 Feb 2022

Finland brings cryostats and other cool things to quantum computing

Not only is Finland the clear leader in refrigeration technology for quantum computers, but it also leads in fundamental research into the underlying quantum information theory Continue Reading
News 01 Feb 2022

Dutch software engineers join campaign for research funding

Software researchers from all over Europe are sounding the alarm: to maintain a strong international competitive position, more financial resources must be committed to software research Continue Reading
News 27 Jan 2022

SAP full-year 2021: Revenue nudges up 1%, cloud growth up 17%

SAP has announced a 2% rise in full-year 2021 revenue, to just under €28bn, while S/4 Hana customer base increased by 18% to 18,800 Continue Reading
News 24 Jan 2022

Heathrow Airport takes to the cloud with Oracle Fusion Applications

Airport has implemented a full spread of Oracle Cloud Applications, including ERP and HCM, as it looks to recover from the pandemic Continue Reading
News 20 Jan 2022

UK SMEs to receive tech skills and software boost

A new government scheme aimed at helping businesses improve their productivity and sales online has opened for applications Continue Reading
E-Zine 11 Jan 2022

How Pepsi is taking digital to the max

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to PepsiCo’s digital director about delivering innovation in customer experience. Our first buyer’s guide of 2022 examines hybrid cloud storage. And we find out how Arkwright and Granville from the BBC sitcom Open All Hours are inspiring retailers 40 years on. Read the issue now. Continue Reading