For many brands, mobile marketing offers the potential to explore new heights in record time, similar to a rocket launching to the Moon. Without the proper engineering and fuel, however, a rocket isn’t likely to get off the ground. In mobile marketing, the key to liftoff is the mobile database. With an impactful mobile database you can accurately identify your customers’ communications preferences, monitor purchasing habits and capture preference shifts. Without it, a mobile marketing plan is destined to never get off the ground. Apply the following four elements to your mobile database and launch your mobile marketing plan into orbit: Read full post

At the forefront of any contact center operation is always the topic of risk mitigation and compliance.   In the past couple of years managing federal and state regulations has become increasingly more difficult.  Add that to the staggering number of requirements and subsequent reporting needs to actually prove compliance and now you have yourself a full time job, or even a fully staffed department.  But, of course, compliance is not your sole primary objective.  You must also develop and execute contact strategies to increase right party contacts and, ultimately, revenue.

I recently hosted a joint webinar with LexisNexis highlighting the current state of risk mitigation as it pertains to database and platform management.  It was clear by the litigation statistics that the trend of lawsuits is not going to slow.  FDCPA compliance is clearly the greatest concern, as 87% of the lawsuits filed under consumer statutes this year pertained to it. There is a clear inability of most organizations to control functions that are necessary at the platform level and a need for automated processes to reduce risk and error. Read full post

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… long before the first SMS or Droid^TM phone hit the market in 2008… another more famous droid made his debut in 1977: R2D2.  At the time, some thought Star Wars was just a sci-fi movie for kids. But the summer blockbuster grew into a pop culture phenomenon across generations, geographies and demographics.  And although many films have tried to capture the story, spectacle and marketing genius that is Star Wars, no one can hold a candle (or lightsaber) to it. Who could argue that Star Wars has survived the test of time and is still going strong today with sequels and prequels being released and re-released? Read full post

Last year while shopping for my first home, I can honestly say that I had little idea what I was doing.  Fortunately, I was able to use the recommendations of friends, family and numerous online tools to help me make my decision.   This was not a quick process however.  I spent the better part of a year developing the right questions to ask realtors, identifying the critical must-have to the nice-to-have features in the home, and simply trying to figure out what town I actually wanted to live in.

The home shopping process reminded me of the request for proposal (RFP) process.  RFPs don’t just get sent out of the blue.  The requesting organizations spend hours creating questions, considering vendors to receive the RFP and organizing a document that will be easy to understand thereby allowing them to compare results across vendors. Basically a ton of work for what they hope will let them gather the right information and make the best vendor decision. Read full post

Over the weekend, I was out running errands with my family. My wife ran into the supermarket to pick up a few things while I sat in the car with my kids, listening to the radio. I looked at the keys dangling from the ignition and wondered if she’d need the loyalty card attached to the key ring. Then I remembered, of course she doesn’t! Her shopping list, associated manufacturer coupons and loyalty information is already stored in her mobile phone. Read full post

The shopping habits and desires of mobile-empowered consumers, or m-commerce, are an emerging group who are narrowly focusing and hunting down what they want from the billions of choices out there.  Anyone who has seen an episode of Extreme Couponing will attest to that.

A recent survey of 1,500 US adults at the 2011 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition revealed mobile shoppers’ most common purchases broken down by percentage: Read full post

Now two years to work through government channels may not seem like a long time – but in the corporate world it can feel like forever.  Last Wednesday’s FCC meeting marked an end to two long years of uncertainty surrounding the 2010 TCPA Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM).   The overall result is positive for SoundBite and for the communications industry at large.

After reading the final FCC 12-21 order, below is what I see are the significant highlights: Read full post

If you watched Super Bowl XLVI, you couldn’t have been disappointed in the game as the AFC and NFC champions competed down to the last few minutes of the 4^th quarter.  Besides the actual game, the other main event we tune in for is the commercials. Water cooler chatter on Monday is normally about the TV commercials; be it about beer, cars, summer movie blockbusters, monkies at work or talking babies.   Being in the mobile industry, I’m sure we were all tuning in to see how mobile marketing technology would be used at this year’s game.  I’d say it was disappointing. Read full post

Ok, I’ll admit it; I have had the conversation with myself (and with my wife) regarding how I can be more like Tim Tebow.

No matter what I do, I’m not going to get taller, faster, more athletic, better looking, or have a fan base of millions.  However, there are many things Tim Tebow can teach those of us in the contact center world that can immediately change our fortunes. Read full post

“Rip and replace” is a term that is all too familiar to the manager that is responsible for upgrading and modernizing their company’s infrastructure. Contact center infrastructure vendors have worked hard to convince these decision makers that there is no time like the present to move to a “unified communications” on-premises solution that encompasses all of the critical components of the modern contact center. An integrated solution will improve productivity, reduce costs and help take you to the “promised land”. Sound familiar? Read full post