Calendar Of Events

Date To Be Announced - Real Time Enterprise -- Impact of Wireless CRM

Remember the days when firms first imagined how the portable computer could completely revolutionize the way we do business? Those same organizations are now abuzz with the possibilities of wireless connectivity and applications. Wireless and on-demand applications are changing customer expectations and the sales process. Are you positioned to meet the challenge? Learn from leading corporations and industry experts how you can capitalize on the newest technology to become a standard in the CRM toolbox.

• Find out how wireless technology enables mobile professionals to stay better connected, improve productivity, and even close deals
• Learn how you can put the data that your workforce wants and needs to get their job done more efficiently, more productively, and more profitably, at their fingertips when they need it
• Find out how the potential of this new technology increases with every mobile technology improvement--and new cell tower

We are in the process of assembling a panel of executives who can reflect on these and related questions from the perspective of experience. There is an open call for executives from qualifying corporations to be interviewed for the panel. Qualified candidates should contact Andrew Webb, CRM Association of Chicago Vice President and Programs Chair (andrew_webb@comcast.net), to be considered for panelist positions.

Time: 7:30am-10am
Location: Downtown Chicago location to be named soon
Cost: $40

Past Meetings

June 16, 2005 - Sales Effectiveness

Are the costs of field sales increasing? Are non-sales activities taking up too much selling time – 30 percent or more? Are you having trouble seeing the connection between your sales force and customer satisfaction and loyalty? Plenty of companies are answering “Yes” to one or more of these questions. Some of them are changing the role of Field Sales, Channel Sales, Inside Sales and Support Organizations in efforts to expand market reach, sell more cost-effectively, and do a better job of meeting the needs of customers.

• Panelist: Mike Abt, President, Abt Electronics
  
• Panelist: Cathy Adduci, VP and General Manager, Central Region, Unisys
  Click here for a copy of her presentation Accelerate Field Success
• Panelist: Kishore Gangwani , Director of Business Development, Morningstar

March 10, 2005 - High-Performance Marketing

Ensuring the effectiveness of individual marketing initiatives - optimizing channels, marketing mix, message and timing - is a full-time job by itself. But finding more than incremental revenue growth often requires a fundamental re-think of how to approach markets and customers, and how to deploy your Marketing and Sales assets. Our panel provided case studies from three successful initiatives.

• Moderator: Naras V. Eechambadi, Ph.D., CEO, Quaero Corporation
  Click here for a copy of his presentation High Performance Marketing
• Panelist: Alison Zepp, VP Marketing, Juno Lighting
  Click here for a copy of her presentation Lessons from the Shop Floor
• Panelist: Bill Brandell, VP Sales and Marketing, Rexam Beverage Can
  Click here for a copy of his presentation Delivering Value for Customers and Investors
• Panelist: Bob Wise, VP of Marketing and Strategic Business Development, Intercall

December 2, 2004 - Managing CRM in an Outsourced Environment

Coming out of the cost-cutting efforts of the last recession, many CRM professionals are now relying on outsourcers/external service providers to execute key portions of their CRM strategy. Key sales, marketing, and customer services activities - telesales, campaign management, customer service centers - were aggressively outsourced, but are now the key to driving revenue growth. Our panel provided insights from users and suppliers of outsourced CRM services.

• Moderator: Mark Peacock, Principal, Archstone Consulting
  Click here for a copy of his presentation What is Outsourced CRM?
• Panelist: Brian Tkac, Corporate Director of Marketing, Hostmark Hospitality Group
  Click here for a copy of his presentation on Hostmark's use of outsourced CRM.
• Panelist: Bill Nolan, Vice President - Sales, Brigade Corporation

September 16, 2004 - Multi-Channel Sales Strategies

The CRMA-Chicago meeting examined the challenges and effective management of go-to-market strategies in the face of today's proliferation of direct and indirect selling channels. "Reengineering" the sales channel is not for the faint of heart. This session will examine the following question:

• What determines the mix of channels to maximize revenue and profit?
• What are the implications for the sales organization?
• How are successful organizations addressing the challenges of providing a consistent customer experience across all channels?

June 17, 2004 - Driving Top Line Growth

Keith M. Eades, author of The New Solution Selling, moderated a panel featuring Chicagoland executives who have successfully driven top line growth during the challenging economy of the last couple of years.

Find out how your company can focus its energy on growth from experienced executives who deployed the strategies and succeeded by:

• Improving sales force effectiveness by introducing training, improving territory management, and implementing automation
• Outperforming the market by launching new products, increasing market share, and/or increasing the value of their customer portfolio)
• Effectively leveraging scale through merger or acquisition

Our panelists were:

• Randy Fitzhugh, Vice President Sales at Videojet Technologies
• Brandon Cady, SVP Sales and Account Management at American Imaging Management.
• Peter Cokinos, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Little Lady Foods.

March 18, 2004 - Optimizing CRM

Much CRM activity is about the daily task of extracting value from existing assets that support or drive customer transactions, and build enduring relationships with customers. These efforts include process improvements that reduce transactional friction and enable 'one and done' sales and service interactions; training that supports a cross-selling goal; or data management work and system adjustments that capture valuable customer information.

The meeting was led by a 3-person panel comprising experienced and accomplished CRM managers:

• Tom Lindberg, Senior VP and head of CRM, Bank One Treasury Management
• Mark Kwasigroch, Vice President Customer Service, Weber-Stephen Products
• Jennifer Acuna, Director of Customer Care, Beltone