Latest CRM Software Industry News

Trials Boost Revenue Growth & Improve Customer Experiences

(SAN JOSE, CA—May 31, 2006) – One of the nation’s most prestigious media companies, Hearst Corporation, has selected the Relationals on-demand CRM platform to streamline the sales process, increase sales and improve the experience with customers across their 12 daily newspaper properties, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Houston Chronicle.

Customer relationship management has long held the promise of reducing customer churn, maximizing up-selling and cross-selling opportunities, optimizing the product and pricing mix, and analyzing the return on investment for marketing campaigns. However, many of these capabilities exist in disconnected systems that create barriers for sales representatives and management access to important business management information.

Until now. Relationals CRM’s integrated selling and customer management environment provides an efficient platform for tracking, finding, and managing all aspects of the selling and customer advertising buying relationship.

“Relationals was the best fit for our strategy of deploying sales technology that will improve customer experiences, raise sales productivity and profitably expand top line revenue growth,” says Mark Adkins, senior vice president of Advertising for Hearst Newspapers.

“Relationals provides the easiest to use and most powerful CRM system available for the media industry,” said Pankaj Malviya, chief executive officer for Relationals. “Sales teams come to quickly understand how this can help them increase their sales, maximize opportunities and retain customers. It provides sales representatives with a complete information system that let’s them know everything that’s going on with their accounts – which is something that customers have come to expect from the companies with whom they do business.”

Relationals provides the foundation for integrating disparate sources of information to a single view of your customers.

Synergistic tools from Wanted Technologies and Relationals CRM provide newspapers with unmatched sales & marketing firepower

(SAN JOSE, CA—August 24, 2006) – Newspaper organizations across North America are increasingly implementing sales tools from Wanted Technologies and Relationals CRM to bring more sophistication and productivity to their classified advertising sales process. The two technology providers have been working in tandem to ensure that their real-time solutions generate rapid returns for their growing list of clients.

Indianapolis Star Recruitment Sales Supervisor, Patrick York, has experienced success with his team since they implemented the two Web-based technologies. “….the sales reps really wanted and needed a new way to gain intelligence about their clients and have the ability to find new business. The recent accessibility of quality information has helped tremendously.” Underlining the benefits of the new technology is the newspaper’s top ranking in recruitment advertising sales throughout the Gannett newspaper network, as evidenced in a recent two-month audit.

Valuable real time market intelligence and advertising activity data supplied by Wanted Analytics tool can easily be imported into the customer relationship management (CRM) software of Relationals, which allows the client to centralize contact and account information. The combined capability of the two systems allows sales teams and managers to have at their fingertips a 360-degree view of the history, activity and opportunity value relating to existing clients and prospects. It also permits team leaders to gauge group performance, monitor sales cycles and report on revenue generated from call and email campaigns.

“But even more importantly, the integration of account information and relevant market information has empowered sales professionals, like never before, to put in place new strategies enabling them to convert qualified sales leads into customers with an improved success ratio”, stated David Tanguay, President and CEO of Wanted Technologies.

Both solution providers have recently received acclaim from Classified Intelligence (www.classifiedintelligence.com), a consulting firm specializing in the classified advertising industry. In their 2006 annual recruitment advertising report, Wanted Technologies was cited as providing “…credible advertising intelligence that no recruitment advertising provider or industry analyst should be without.” Last month a case study in Classified Intelligence featured Relationals as a “…straight-forward CRM tool, which we found to be well-suited for ad publishers of all sizes.”

The industry endorsements generated for Wanted and Relationals have yielded many mutual media clients including affiliates of Gannett, Cox News, Hearst Newspapers, MediaNews Group and E.W. Scripps. All are benefiting from the preferred affiliation the two vendors have with full-service support for implementation, maintenance and system upgrades.

Wanted and Relationals excel at reacting to client feedback which furthers their ability to provide quality tools and support. Responsiveness is a common trait that allows the two tech firms to seamlessly implement user requests, make service modifications and optimize features. This flexibility and dedication to client satisfaction has proven to be a recipe for success for both Wanted Technologies and Relationals CRM.

Helps Classifieds Advertising Team Increase Performance

(SAN JOSE, CA—August 22, 2005) – Relationals, a leader in hosted customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the publishing and media industry, today announced that Pioneer Press has selected the Relationals CRM suite to increase revenues and improve the relationship with advertisers.

“Relationals has been a fantastic addition to the Recruitment team here at the Pioneer Press. Implementation went incredibly smooth for us. I was very impressed by the service and responsiveness that the Relationals team provided during the roll out. My team loves the product and its capabilities!” says Geoffrey Brown, Recruitment Sales Manager at Pioneer Press. “It has enabled us with a customer management system where we can store customer information, track and plan contact activity. It also provides strategic direction with its marketing campaign features and lead distribution abilities. As a manager it provides me with the visibility needed to manage performance and plan strategic initiatives.”

“To media sales teams, Relationals CRM serves as a centralized Customer Data Integration (CDI) hub that aggregates customer information from every business system in the enterprise,” says Pankaj Malviya, CEO and Founder of Relationals. “When sales teams have access to all customer information they are more knowledgeable about how to help the customer, which promotional offers to make, pricing strategies that can result in quick decisions, as well as customer business goals and target market details that help sales representatives create effective campaigns — Relationals helps sales people better serve their customers.”

On-Demand CRM Set to Improve Advertising Sales & Track Performance

San Jose, Calif., December, 2005 – In the heart of Silicon Valley, the San Jose Mercury News has been reporting on the growth and changes in this burgeoning technology market since its inception. So when it came to managing its advertising sales, the newspaper wanted to choose the best CRM to help their advertising sales groups reach new levels of productivity and customer service.

“For years, we’ve been using basic reporting tools – like Excel and paper reports – to manage our sales and marketing functions,” says Jim Stoch, Director of Recruitment and Career Fairs for the San Jose Mercury News. “We needed a better management tool – and we found that solution in Relationals’ on-demand CRM solution.”

Relationals, a leader in providing hosted customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to the media and publishing industries, is helping the San Jose Mercury News accelerate its sales process, improve sales collaboration, and increase advertising and recruitment fair revenue, among other activities.

“This is the first time in years that we’ve been able to have such a complete picture of our sales operations,” said Mr. Stoch. “Nothing this sophisticated has been offered to us before. We can monitor sales performance. We can check on who is logged onto the system and track sales calls and activities. It even alerts our sales reps if they need to make a follow up call. Not only is it easy to use, but we have eliminated our need for Excel spreadsheets completely. It’s a good time management tool.”

“In short, Relationals helps sales teams serve their customers – which results in increased sales and revenues in the long run,” said Pankaj Malviya, chief executive officer for Relationals. “Sales teams now have a secure, centralized customer information system that allows them to track previous sales history, follow up in a timely manner, and track future opportunities. Relationals provides the information management and sales tracking needed to develop better campaigns and reach out more effectively to prospects and customers.”

Rita Castro, Supervisor of Recruitment Advertising for the San Jose Mercury News, noted that, in the past, the sales team spent extra time preparing reports and tracking activities. With that process automated, time has now been freed up to focus on revenue-generating activities.

“When our reps enter their activities into the Relationals system, they can make notes on calls that are attempted or completed. They can note if a sale is pending and where it is in the pipeline,” she said. “It provides us with a better understanding of where we’re spending our time and focusing our efforts – and whether or not those activities paid off. In short, did we generate any revenue?”

She adds that the Relationals on-demand CRM solution has turned out to make reporting to management a breeze.

“Now, we can easily associate revenue with number of new business calls just by printing out a report. It saves time and aggravation – and ensures that we have a stronger revenue picture for management. We should have had this a long time ago.”

Ms. Castro noted that extensive training wasn’t needed when it came to implementing the solution at the San Jose Mercury News.

“Relationals thought of everything, so our team was productive from the first day. In short, even new members can jump right in and start using the system right away,” she said. “The Relationals team helped us with some customization and their follow through was exceptional.”

Relationals Automates and Streamlines Advertising Sales Processes

(SAN JOSE, CA—July 25, 2005) – Relationals, a leader in hosted customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the publishing and media industry, today announced that Lee Enterprise’s Columbus Telegram has selected the Relationals CRM suite to automate the simplify sales processes and improve advertiser relationship management.

“It’s been a phenomenal tool. I wish we had put this into place 6 months or a year ago! We can track every call, every mailing, every sales visit. A year from now we will be able to go back and look at that same activity to make sure we don’t miss out on any opportunities.” says the Shannon Brinker, Advertising Manager at the Columbus Telegram. “The sales reps enjoy being able to track their own revenue on a daily basis and having a tool that helps me track activity for multiple teams has been invaluable. We’ve customized the system to track flight revenue and individual project revenue so that on a daily basis exactly how many calls have been made for any project we are undertaking. I would definitely recommend the program to others.”

Relationals CRM suite is focused on the unique requirements of the newspaper and media industries advertising and agency relationships including newspaper specific selling models, workflow, reporting, and business systems integrations.

Accelerates Sales Process for Classifieds, Recruitment, Real Estate and National Account Advertising

(SAN JOSE, CA—August 2, 2005) – Relationals, a leader in hosted customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the publishing and media industry, today announced that the Charlotte Observer has selected the Relationals CRM suite to accelerate the sales process, improve sales collaboration, and improve advertiser retention.

“Flexibility and customization were two key factors in our choosing Relationals” said Susan Gagnon, Recruitment Advertising Sales Manager at The Charlotte Observer. “Implementation and training went very smoothly and my team was using the system with ease immediately. Not only do we now have sales management capabilities to improve our revenue forecasting and business planning, but we also have a central point for all customer information. With secure access to customer contacts, new opportunities, prior purchase, and campaign history, sales reps can focus on a more consultative approach to selling our products and serving our advertisers.”

“Customer knowledge is the lifeblood to an enterprise” says Pankaj Malviya, CEO and Founder of Relationals. “When sales teams have access to all customer information they are more knowledgeable about how to help the customer, which promotional offers to make, pricing strategies that can result in quicker buying decisions, and collect customer business goals and target market details that help sales represent create effective campaigns – Relationals helps sales people better serve their customers.”

Major Publisher to Unify Sales Management across Newspapers

(SAN JOSE, CA—March 18, 2005) – Relationals, a leader in hosted customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the publishing and media industry, today announced that E.W. Scripps Interactive (http://www.scripps.com) has selected Relationals CRM suite for publishing to meet sales tracking requirements and to automate their sales processes, improve advertiser relationships, increase revenues, and unify sales management across thirteen newspapers.

“We evaluated other vendors and selected Relationals because of its market-leading capabilities, customization, and ease of use,” said Bob Benz, General Manager, Scripps Interactive. “Newspapers are always seeking ways to operate more efficiently, increase revenues and demonstrate return on investment. If it’s not fast and easy to use, it won’t be used. We needed a CRM service that would fit into our environment and work the way we work and Relationals does that. Relationals easily complements the way sales teams work and we expect even greater returns on investment as more newspapers and teams adopt and use it.”

Relationals CRM is a hosted service and as such there’s no hardware to buy, no software to install, no networking or configuration lead times, no back up software to purchase. Newspapers use Relationals CRM with confidence that the services is always up and operational, professionally managed, and that all data is secure and backed up.

“For newspapers that have thought about using CRM software to streamline and accelerate their sales process but have been concerned about the costs or risks of deployment, Relationals can demonstrate impressive benefits quickly,” says Pankaj Malviya, Chief Executive Officer, Relationals, Inc. “Most newspapers can get started within a week including training, customization, print and interactive rate sheet loading, website lead capture integration, and account history tracking and sales opportunity management.”

Because Relationals exclusively designed for the publishing industry, the screens, terminology, functionality and workflow is familiar and intuitive for sales representatives. Information from other personal software organizers, contact management systems, Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, or business systems can quickly be imported and remain synchronized and this also helps sales personnel quickly establish a context and easily include Relationals as an extension of their everyday work activities. Sales representatives spend less time sending emails, archiving emails, retrieving information and more time selling.

Powerful reporting capabilities enable newspapers to view the sales activities of each newspaper and also see a consolidated sales progress against quarterly goals. Graphical management dashboards provide bar, line and pie charts of key performance indicators across newspapers so that trends can quickly been identified. With over 40 standard sales management reports ready to use, newspapers have a great starting point for measuring performance or drilling into the details. A powerful report builder wizard enables newspaper or corporate sales management to customize existing reports or create new ones.

Built on the Relationals Customer Data Integration (CDI) Platform, Relationals provides customers with proven scalability, customization, integration and performance. Relationals integrates with common sources of information by connecting with publishing business systems, lead sources, customer lists. Additionally, Relationals can integrate with in house ad desk systems, creative and document repositories, and security and single sign-on systems to operate as an extension of your existing IT infrastructure.

Centralized, Integrated Self-service portal, Surveys, Campaign Project Management and Marketing campaign automation improve retention and increase sales

(SAN JOSE, CA—March 18, 2005) – Relationals, a leader in hosted customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the publishing and media industry, today announced version 3.0 of their Publishing CRM suite that provides additional functionality needed by publishing and media companies to automate their sales processes, improve advertiser relationships and increase revenues.

With more competition than ever for business advertising spending coming from TV, Radio, Cable and Internet content and search sites, improving customer service and attentiveness and responsiveness will make a measurable impact in customer loyalty and retention.

Customers expect a constant line of communication and connection with the companies they do business with. With Relationals, advertisers can have a direct connection with the newspaper to manage their business interactions through a completely customizable Web-based self-service portal that has the look and feel of the newspaper Website. Through this portal, customers can review their account information, contact their sales representative, receive notifications about new program offerings, review their active contracts and campaigns, request service or support, and electronically proof and approve advertisements. The portal provides the next level of business transparency and service that businesses have become accustomed to receiving in other industries – now available in the publishing industry.

Relationals CRM for publishing now has features that make it easer to shorten production cycles through automation. Complex multi-channel advertising campaigns need to be tightly coordinated to track and manage numerous tasks, details and completion status to meet production deadlines, contract commitments and customer expectations. Using Relationals campaign project management tools teams can create project and manage them so they can consistently meet final delivery dates, define key milestones, create and assign tasks and activities that need to be completed along the way and measure the progress of a project toward completion and ultimately the campaign launch.

Using advertiser-focused marketing campaign automation capabilities, newspapers can contact their customers based on any attribute including SIC code, location, activity, prior product purchase, advertising frequency, or activity history to name a few. You can use the new rich-text editor to create html email campaigns that target program offerings or special promotions to exactly the advertisers you want to reach. You can measure the results of each of these campaigns by tracking email opens, link clicks or requests for more information. In addition to contacting installed base advertisers, Relationals can import lead lists from any source so sales representatives can contact and develop new business.

Completely unique to Relationals is the ability to create customized surveys that can be electronically distributed to advertisers or customers to help newspapers directly collect useful information such as questions about new product ideas, ratings for previously purchased services, demographic information or future intended product purchases. Relationals Survey collects survey results and the information is graphically summarized and accessible online including verbatim responses to open-questions. Surveys can be anonymous or have identified responses. Newspapers can also use Survey automation to collect valuable newspaper employee information.

“Now more than ever publishing companies need to effectively complete with other media for the mindshare of business advertisers,” says Pankaj Malviya, Chief Executive Officer, Relationals CRM. “Publishing companies need to equip their sales, service, support and production personnel with the automation and productivity software they need to streamline time consuming tasks, accelerate communications with customers and simplify access to important information. Using Relationals CRM software, specifically for the publishing industry, the process of selling is no longer a distraction and sales people have more time to focus on customers and building relationships that result in loyalty and increased revenue.”

Built on the Relationals Customer Data Integration (CDI) Platform, Relationals provides customers with proven scalability, customization, integration and performance. Relationals integrates with common sources of information by connecting with publishing business systems, lead sources, customer lists. Additionally, Relationals can integrate with in house ad desk systems, creative and document repositories, and security and single sign-on systems to operate as an extension of your existing IT infrastructure.

Leading newspaper publishers such as Scripps, Blethen, McClatchy, Lee, Stephens Media Group, Morris Communications use Relationals CRM to centralize access to customer information, reduce advertiser churn, measure sales progress against targets and accelerate business advertising spending decisions.