CRM Resources

I rely on many sources of information to stay on top of the CRM world! Many of you have asked, so I thought I should share some of these resources with you.
 
Many of these web sites also publish opt-in newsletters, they can be very interesting as well.
 
If you discover some new and useful CRM book or web site, drop me a note so that we can share the info with everyone. 

Rich's Recommended Web Sites

CRMAdvocate

CRMAdvocate is everything you need to know about CRM because we do the hard work for you consolidating over 40 sources of CRM knowledge into one, easy to read format. Isn't that what an Advocate should do?

http://www.crmadvocate.com/

Selling Power

This is a great site and a wonderful resource for every sales professional! However, to get the best information on this topic, you have to take an extra step: Once you get to the home page, look for the "Search" box - usually near the upper left corner. Then simply type "crm" in that box and click "Go." You will instantly get a nice selection of articles that will surely inspire you and help you with your problem! One more thing, the first time you do this, you must register with the site. Don't worry! It's free and innocent!

http://www.sellingpower.com/

CustomerThink

CustomerThink's mission is to help business leaders develop and implement customer-centric business strategies. We do this by publishing high-quality articles, blogs and discussion; conducting research on key issues and trends; and by facilitating interactions with a global panel of experts.

http://www.customerthink.com/

The CRM Association

CRM Association represents the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) industry and all its constituents. CRM represents what is now becoming an organized body of knowledge and strategy to be reckoned with. The CRM Association aims at representing the industry as not just a purveyor of knowledge and information, but an action-oriented association that will protect and promote the interests of customer relationship management and its institutions and provide the members with the tools that it needs to enrich and improve that customer experience – be it the member's direct customers or the customers of the members customers.

http://crmassociation.org/

Search CRM

http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/

destinationCRM.com

From the editors of CRM Magazine, destinationCRM.com features are designed to serve leaders engaged in the development of customer-centric e-business initiatives and ventures at their companies.

http://www.destinationcrm.com/

CRM Landmark

CRM Landmark is a true independent voice of the CRM software customer, consultant or practitioner. This research, information repository and forum is dedicated to both on-premise and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) CRM solutions and made up entirely of volunteer contributors. CRM Landmark has nothing to sell and does not participate in vendor advertising, vendor orientated white papers or vendor paid endorsements.

http://www.crmlandmark.com/

CRMDaily.com

Brought to you by NewsFactor Network, CRMDaily.com

http://www.crm-daily.com/

ITtoolbox CRM

Brought to you by ITtoolbox CRM, a very good resource with a more technical bent.

http://crm.ittoolbox.com/

MyCustomer.com

MyCustomer.com, Europe's leading online CRM service, provides highly valuable news, information, advice and best practice case studies to help members make the most of customer management activities, achieve core business objectives and help improve the ROI of your CRM programmes.

http://www.mycustomer.com/

CRM Buyer

The Essential guide for CRM system purchasers.

http://www.crmbuyer.com/

CRM Industry.com

Customers don't just deal with the support operation - they interact with accounting, sales, marketing - all departments of the company. Managing every customer communication channel, or customer relationship management (CRM), is key to the continued success of any enterprise. crmindustry.com provides members information and tools to successfully become a customer-centric company. Members are high-level decision makers responsible for Customer Relationship Management in their company. Titles include Director/VP/Manager of Marketing, Sales, and Customer Support.

http://www.crmindustry.com/

CRM Marketplace.com

CRM Marketplace is the premier sourcing site for call center and customer relationship management technologies. CRM Marketplace features a CRM supplier directory, a product showcase, and an offline customer relationship management system vendor search service. So, don't waste time; CRM Marketplace is the only online CRM resource you need!

http://www.crmmarketplace.com/

CRM Today

CRM Today focuses on every business function - Marketing, Sales, Human Resources, Technology etc. - and business sector - Finance, Retail, Health, Insurance, IT, Telecoms, Internet, Call Centers etc - in order to provide its members with information and knowledge that is indispensable in today's competitive business environment.

http://www.crm2day.com/

eCRM Guide.com

http://www.ecrmguide.com/

Rich's Recommended Blogs

Paul Greenberg's Blog

In addition to being the author of the best-selling CRM at the Speed of Light: Essential Customer Strategies for the 21st Century, Paul Greenberg is President of The 56 Group, LLC, an enterprise applications consulting services firm, focused on CRM strategic services including go-to-market strategies for vendors and integrators, CRM strategic planning and vendor selection. The 56 Group also provides writing, speaking and educational services.

His book, first published in January 2001 by McGraw-Hill is now in its third edition (August 2004). CRM at the Speed of Light is now in 8 languages and been a runaway best seller. It is used as a text in more than 60 universities across multiple continents. It was called “the number 1 CRM book” by SearchCRM.com in July 2002. The Asian edition of CIO Magazine named it one of the 12 most important books an Asian CEO will ever read. It has been called “the bible of the industry.”

Paul writes regularly for publications like CRM Magazine and SearchCRM.com and CRMGuru. He is a contributor to multiple other national business publications. He has spoken as a keynote speaker and otherwise at conferences and seminars in the United States, across Europe, Asia and Australia.

He is considered one of CRM’s leading authorities on strategy and on the state of the market, and has been quoted in multiple national magazines and newspapers as a subject matter expert including the New York Times.

http://the56group.typepad.com/

CRM Mastery, Inc.

The e-journal of Jim Berkowitz, a 25 year CRM veteran who believes that Small and Mid-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are faced with a conundrum…
“Selecting the right CRM software and implementing CRM so that it delivers measurable business growth and profit improvement are not tasks that most SMEs have the in-house resources, time, or expertise to successfully tackle on their own. But, to-date, there hasn’t been a cost-effective source for help; traditional CRM consulting services are too expensive while low cost alternatives just don’t do the job.”

http://crmweblog.crmmastery.com/

Beagle Research Group

After a very successful career as an analyst, managing director of the CRM practice and thought leader at Aberdeen Group, Denis Pombriant founded Beagle Research Group to better direct his full attention to analyzing the CRM market and providing deep insight to vendor and end user customers.
As a recognized CRM thought leader, Pombriant’s analysis of the CRM market has resulted in numerous insights. Beginning in 2000 he studied the CRM hosting industry and he was an early advocate of the business model. In 2003 he conducted significant new research in hosting and discovered a tipping point in user acceptance of the hosting model during the first half of 2003 that has led to rapid expansion in the industry.

Pombriant has led numerous research efforts and has authored — both independently and with others — major research reports on relevant CRM topics including hosting, CRM in the insurance industry, several spending and satisfaction surveys, best practices reports, and an in-depth analysis of satisfaction within the Siebel customer base.

Pombriant was the originator of the “What Works” series of best practices reports — a format that has been widely emulated throughout the industry. He continues pursuing an active research calendar and is currently investigating social networking and the future of application hosting in CRM.

Pombriant is frequently quoted in such publications as CRMDaily, DestinationCRM, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, CIO, Computerworld, E-Week, InformationWeek, and other industry publications.

The recently published third edition of CRM at the Speed of Light, quotes several research reports authored by Pombriant and author Paul Greenberg describes Pombriant as “...an innovative thinker and the one who...characterized the ASP market as a ‘disruptive innovation.’ He is one of the smarter analysts out there, willing to be an iconoclast who is often proven right.

In 2003, CRM Magazine named Pombriant one of the most influential executives in the CRM industry.

http://beagleresearch.typepad.com/beagle_research/

CRM BlogPipe

The CRM BlogPipe is a compilation of CRM and Sales-related blogs that are of interest to the sales and CRM communities.

CRM BlogPipe is sponsored by Considered Sales CRM, a goal and progress oriented online CRM application designed for small business.

http://crmblogpipe.com/

CRM Reloaded

Stéphane Lee's Blog

http://www.feedback20.com/en/blog/

The CRM Consultant

Brought to you by Richard Boardman:

I'm something of a grizzled veteran of the CRM space having worked in the industry for the last 12 years and having been involved in implementing over 300 CRM systems. In 2004 I went from poacher to gamekeeper, and left one of the UK's leading CRM vendors to set up Mareeba CRM Consulting with the pretty simple objective of helping organisations get a considerably better return on investment from CRM technology than was the traditonal norm. I'm based in Amersham in the UK.

http://www.mareeba.co.uk/blog/

Rich's Recommended Reading List