To be ready for the next big trend or story, it is essential to build your personal brand online. To stay on track, good research and analytics is very important. If you are thinking of what's being shared on social media, there are many ways how your brand can take advantage of agile marketing. It can help in staying ahead of what is to come and be prepared for news and events. Today one needs to be active on social media and track content and trends. It is essential to build an audience. Knowing the needs of the audience is a good way to start along with a flexible marketing plan. There are some steps that can increase brand awareness. They are: - # Track the latest hashtags # Conduct thorough research # Be ready for change. As you involve agile marketing as a regular part of your personal branding strategy, it's good to remember that this is a process which involves careful attention and planning. To read more about agile marketing follow : http://www.business2community.com/branding/use-agile-marketing-bring-visibility-brand-01461244

Mobile app developers are changing the app building and maintenance approach to new technologies and architecture that supports modular apps with collaborative development process and is flexible, speedy. Whether you're making an enterprise or external customer apps, it is an iterative process. Waterfall development practices are unable to support the demands of developers, to create and update apps for modern mobile users. Adopting a modular approach create a number of opportunities for efficiency. So, where do you begin? Here are three emerging technology trends that will get your mobile app development teams headed in the right direction. 1) Micro services. 2) Cards, and Deep Links. 3) Native JavaScript Frameworks. To read more about it follow the article by Peter Crocker (Founder and Principle Analyst at Smith's Point Analytics) at: http://www.informationweek.com/devops/mobile-app-dev-3-trends-that-will-shake-up-your-strategy/a/d-id/1324290

Agile is becoming important in the IT field. But, what is the importance of agile certification? Adding a certification to your resume has been always appreciable. But the industry looks for candidates who can really apply agile. A certification implies that the candidate has some experience in this field. Moreover, it is easier to work with the team with an Agile professional, because team members will pay more heed to an expert. Read more about it in the article written by Sharon Florentine (writer at CIO.com) at:  http://www.cio.com/article/3033058/careers-staffing/do-agile-certifications-mean-anything.html

Customer information is important for every business. Organizations should have their CRM systems up-to-date. Nowadays, CRM maintenance is easier because of cloud technology. Organizations who depend on on- premise CRM system should also do periodic maintenance. CRM maintenance is important to achieve high levels of data quality and performance. This article by Peter Kowalke (journalist and editor), explores some CRM maintenance basics that every business should perform regularly. They are – Data Cleaning, Data Enrichment, Template and Workflow Review, Authentication and Automation Pruning, Security Review, and   Performance Tuning. Read more at:  http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/six-crm-maintenance-basics-71558

Very soon we will be able to connect all our electronic items at home and it will in turn improve our quality of life. It will also turn the business world upside down. DanRadak (Consultant), writes in his article about the new trends in the IOT and how it will affect business efficiency. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/hosting-facts/the-internet-of-things-new-trends-for-business-productivity-71405

Cloud marketing is influencing many industries including marketing. The banner ad and pop up you see online is stored in the cloud. But, marketing cloud also needs to upgrade itself in a few areas. They are – Security, Customer Satisfaction, New Technology, and many more. Read more at - http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/tech-advances-business/5-aspects-of-the-marketing-cloud-that-need-foolproofing-71413

CRM software market is growing at an incredible rate. It is estimated that by 2017, the market will grow more than a $36 billion. So, this CRM market will see many providers who will want to improve the software's capabilities on a regular basis, and in turn, the organizations will keep pace with the industry trends. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/why-worry-about-crm-trends-71397

There are many CRM solutions available in the market. But, choosing a CRM technology, according to one’s business need is important. There is no absolute checklist for choosing the right CRM. There are some key functions that at the center of CRM. The following functions make a good starting point in the selection process – 1. Intelligence 2. Automation 3. Simple Data Entry 4. Analytics and Reporting and 5. Mobile Access. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/five-important-functions-to-look-for-in-a-crm-71190

Sales management benefits from lead tracking and activity monitoring i.e. keeping an eye on the sales pipeline. But sales staff, however, has a different perspective. CRM features are important to sales people. There are many important CRM features, but, there are some features that are important for the agent closing a sale. They are – Automation, Analytics, Activity Scheduling and Process Management, Offline Sync, and Easy Contact and Pipeline Management. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/five-features-your-sales-team-will-want-in-their-crm-71207

Mobile customer relationship management software is gaining popularity in today’s business world and as mobile CRM is evolving along with the development of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), more and more organizations will have access to accelerated digital productivity. Data mined from mobile technology also augments the range of information available to CRM systems, which helps in getting more insight. Mobile CRM is also helping to streamline functions. It was also found that the entire sales process, from initial contact to after-sale service, benefits from mobile CRM. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/mobile-crm-accelerates-productivity-in-2016-71273

On premise CRM solutions are fading away and cloud-based CRM systems are the future.  According to Jim Desler, director of corporate communications for Microsoft, “The cloud opens up new possibilities and benefits for our customers”. Most software benefits from the cloud model, but the gains from placing CRM in the cloud are finding more customers. This article link describes reasons why businesses are moving to cloud CRM and how the cloud has changed the space. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/five-ways-the-cloud-changes-crm-71206

Staying connected to customers is the vital thing in today’s business. Nowadays, CRM solutions also focus on connectivity. CRM solutions are mobile now. CRM on-demand solutions are available to meet the need. By providing real-time data, you are able to know your customers and increase your customer base no matter where ever you go. To increase mobility, organizations must look for solutions that are: Cloud-based, Wi-Fi enabled, Responsive, mobile friendly, Geospatial Data, Note-Taking, Message Marketing, Profile Analyzing, and Conversation Listening. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/crm-for-2016-taking-connected-to-a-whole-new-level-71095

Customer-relationship management tools, or CRM tools, provide an important way to connect better with the customer base. In a study, it was found that 71% of telecommunication companies stressed the importance of integrating customer data across the entire organization. An old CRM strategy can become obsolete and cost you new customers and customer retention also become a problem; it could even decrease the overall quality of your customers' experiences. To overcome his problem, software companies are offering modern CRM solutions. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/dont-let-your-crm-go-stale-71154

Customer relationship management systems expands the value and impact of content, capture lead intelligence, improve conversion rates, and drive repeat purchasing and in turn enhances the overall customer experience. But, analytics that CRM system delivers from customer interactions, delivering a quantifiable platform for reviewing the value of your business processes is often overlooked. CRM presents a real-time breakdown of data that can help in increasing sales, make better decisions, and empower sales force to increase profits. This article describes how CRM can help you improve overall visibility, communication, and profits across your organization. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/driving-revenue-through-crm-integration-71060

In today’s sales world, personalization is an important aspect, especially sales campaigns and CRM make it easy to collect information about customers and to apply it. Personalization involves a balance between using information about the customer to build a relationship and an invasion of privacy. It is also one of the most powerful tools in the CRM toolbox and a way to build trust and inspire customer loyalty. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/crm-personalization-not-intrusion-71092

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical devices using embedded electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity, which helps in enabling devices to collect and exchange data. Nowadays, fitness tracking devices count heart rate and daily step-count, and connected thermostats control the temperature of your house. Now in 2016, IoT is leading to many more innovations across the board, including a new concept called the CRM of Things. The trends in the CRM of Things are - Richer CRM profiles, Preempting customer needs, Dynamic pricing strategies, improved automation, and pattern analysis. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/the-crm-of-things-71115

Customer relationship management systems have become the standard platform for managing customer data in today’s business world. Focusing only on the organizational value of a CRM system is a good way to measure return on investment, but it might not give you the full picture of how well your system is really working. It's also important for you to evaluate the personal value of your CRM system. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/how-to-get-a-read-on-the-personal-value-of-your-crm-system-71101

This year social media will play a bigger role in CRM strategy than ever before. 2016 is the year that will truly test the concept of customer relationship management and as the social scene grows, CRM solutions will need to integrate with other software platforms in order to provide a continuous experience for you and your consumers. A company should look for these tools and abilities before you make any decisions: Track social interactions, Capture profile info, View mutual friends, Collaboration tools, Social behavior analysis, Brand analysis, and convert to leads. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/getting-to-know-you-is-your-crm-social-enough-for-2016-71102

In today’s world, organizations whether big or small from every industry rely on CRM solutions to support their contact centers. It’s not always easy to determine what to look for when sourcing a new CRM solution. Some offer more than others when it comes to supporting contact center operations. Every contact center is unique, this article link explores some qualities that should be considered essentials when evaluating options. They are – Integration, Ease of Use, Understandable Analytics, Campaign Management, List Management, Customization, Scalability, Follow-Up and Follow-Through, and Survey Capabilities. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/the-best-qualities-of-a-contact-center-crm-tool-71058

CRM systems are mainly designed to make sales management easier and to enforce regimented selling process and the secondary reason is to make selling easier and more efficient. Companies during purchasing a new CRM system, examine the analytics features. Analytics is the summarization and presentation of information from the CRM database in such a way that salespeople and management can gain insight by looking solely at individual records and varies from company to company. Read more at:  http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/building-analytics-into-or-onto-old-crm-systems-71056