The Townsend Report

Lauren Carlson of Software Advice has published a series of video interviews with Microsoft Dynamics CRM general manager Brad Wilson. State of the CRM Software Market My notes: In last ten years CRM has become a necessity and not optional Value of your company is your customer relationships Social CRM is a new trend Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers four things: a complete suite, flexible configuration and deep customization, user experience, and affordability "Malicious compliance" means barely using a deployed CRM How Can Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partners Survive in the Cloud Era? My notes: ISVs can allow customers to download trials of their CRM solutions. Partners will likely have higher number of leads to handle Likely to close deals without ever meeting the customer in person Smart partners will learn how to handle a larger number of leads and customer trials Majority of services revenue has come from domain expertise and high value consulting What Percentage of Customers ar

Technology and market efficiency are combining forces to give us more and more of worse and worse, and it's hard to tell what the net effect will be on our quality of life. For us in the technology business, as well as affluent young people around the world, we have more and more gadgets, transactions, news sources and diversions than ever before. We have greater choices on where to get our news, for instance, and can drop traditional media such as the daily newspaper or network TV news show, while getting more information than ever before on our favorite topics. Real, tangible things are getting cheaper as well. I pay less for a men's suit today in nominal terms, not to mention inflation adjusted terms, than I did twenty years ago. Food is inexpensive, and we know what the result is. In the information economy, there are vast numbers of things from software to information that are at no charge, especially if I'm willing to expose myself to advertising as part of the deal.