According to reserach firm IDC ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)/ERM (Enterprise Resource Management) will see a 4.6% year-over-year growth in revenue.
Five companies – SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Sage and Intuit – will earn more than a billion dollars of revenue. More recently Infor needs to be added to this list, especially given its acquisition of Lawson.
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/feature/2095716/erp-evolution
Marc Benioff of salesforce.com and Larry Ellison of Oracle either have the most schizophrenic relationships or are amusing themselves at our expense.
Benioff used to work for Oracle before branching out on his own with a lot of financing from Ellison. In fact, Ellison used to sit on the board of directors of salesforce.com. Later, and despite being an investor, Ellison publicly stated that he wished his salesforce.com investment would collapse so badly that it would be reduced to zero. Both companies sell SAAS CRM of course. More recently, Benioff admitted to periodic conversations with Ellison. Salesforce.com runs on Oracle database. So, what is the truth?
I was reminded of all this as I just saw an advertisement for Oracle’s annual convention, OpenWorld. Once again, the competition in the form of salesforce.com is a sponsor. Funny, since salesforce.com’s slogan is “no software.”
http://www.oracle.com/openworld/exhibit-sponsor/exhibition-halls/sponsor-listing/index.html
Are these guys amusing themselves at our expense? Is it all a little silly to begin with? After all, the only thing that matters is the benefits these firms’ respective applications bring its users.
Update: In October 2011 Oracle cancelled Benioff’s Keynote speech at Oracle OpenWorld. Benioff claimed surprise at the last minute cancellation.
A woman in Norfolk, in southern Virginia has been receiving salary for the past 12 years. This is not about the US debt negotiations or recent recession. She was fired 12 years ago. Yet, the pay from the Norfolk Community Services Board kept coming in.
According to the report, “for the last 12 years the agency has been paying her $25,000 to $40,000 a year with full benefits even though McGlone was not coming to work. Also, she was given regular pay raises.”
Nix everything you have read here about pay raises and how to negotiate them.
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/norfolk/no-show-worker-in-norfolk-identified-jill-mcglone
Several months ago I posted about Daniel Pink’s Drive. His assertion is that ‘creative’ employees and roles are better linked to non-monetary incentives once a base level of remuneration is reached and achieved.
http://www.alighaemi.com/wp/?p=522
Compensating employees that are wholly, or more likely partly, commission or bonus-based is still a matter of much argument. Pink’s synopsis of years of research into the subject suggests most companies have it wrong. In fact, whole companies and systems exist to figure out how to calculate the variable portion of employees’ pays.
Others just make do with Excel.
However, fact is, most salespeople are still placed in a stick and carrot setting.
Like any relationship both sides win when both sides are satisfied. Management needs to consider the perspective of the employee before creating and operationalizing a plan.
Granted these resumes mostly belong to creative design and art professionals and are inspired by corporate formats, but it is difficult to dislike them. They are creative, fun and pique one’s curiosity.
One wonders if there is room for professionals from other fields to make their resumes sell. If resumes are meant to sell then what are salespeople, for example, doing with all the bland black and white sheets of paper?
Joe Kelso Joe Kelso is a graphics artist
Sabrina Saccoccio Sabrina Saccoccio is a journalist
Eric Gandhi Eric Gandhi of http://www.ericgandhi.com is in information technology
Hiring managers do not solely rely on resumes, but a creative resume might open doors for an applicant. To be fair, let us pose the question, does everything needs to be creative?
Came across a sales article on a site called A Sales Guy. Old–school name, but interesting post about sales processes. Nearly everyone agrees that, while different methodologies apply at different times, most successful sales follow a process that give it order, discipline and a superior chance for success.
The Buyer’s Sales Process Adapting One’s Sales Process
Sales managers, coaches and departments require adherence to a sales process (SPIN, Infomentis, CPSA, whatever) both for improving chances for success and for internal tracking purposes. When everyone follows the same methodology, after all, it becomes much easier to compare salespersons, sales engagements and determine and forecast numbers.
Defining the sales process has also been inward. As the article recaps the process is typically a variation of the following:
Pre-sales>>Qualification>>Presentation>>Trial Close>>Objection Removal>>Close>>Support
While this process, and its offsprings are valid, neat and tidy, they adhere to the seller’s practice; not the buyer’s. Jim Keenan (the author of this post) suggests we become more conscious of our buyers’ sales processes and needs and aligning the sales processes with the buyer’s buying map. It might require much modification and flexibility. A sales process should enlighten one about the customer.
A new Consumer Reports investigation reveals companies know something we don’t: bad customer service pays (apparently).
Which one of us has not had a bad experience at the hands of a company’s customer service representative or department? How many of us have decided against a purchase because of this? The catch is that the lack of service often comes after purchase.
The Consumer Reports article points out that the “Better Business Bureau logged 1.1 million complaints against North American businesses last year.” The worst of the worst in a study of eight industries? None other than Walmart and Sam’s Club. As I said, these companies know something we do not. They are not only the worst of the worst, but also the biggest of the biggest.
Things That Need To Go Away:
-Someone returning a Bible is told books are not returnable.
-Dell replaces computers with refurbished units should the computer be more than 90 days old. The replacement took a month to arrive and was a different model.
-An American trying to disconnect his AT&T home telephone spent 6 hours on the phone to India and the United States, with the added bonus of being disconnected several times.
Consumer Reports July 2011 Customer Service Deteriorating
When last we looked at what motivates employees it was through an InformationWeek survey and analysis in mid-2008. Three years later and the publication has issued an updated ranking of what matters to employees.
2008 Salary Survey Three Years Ago
Note: these are presumably IT workers
The top 3 criteria are similar with ‘stability’ having crept in possibly due to the main street recession in which some of the world has been mired.
Interestingly, and perhaps coincidentally, elsewhere in that edition of the magazine, an article titled 4 Steps To Spark Innovation notes that “in the first quarter of 2011, 20% of S&P 500 companies reported that their revenue exceeded prerecession peaks. Many more will reach this milestone before the end of 2011.”
Is senior management listening? Will the stock market care? Will Wall Street/Bay Street think longer term and note what makes companies tick (think Google’s announcement regarding salaries)?
*Things That Need to Go Away: ‘motivational’ e-mails from the CFO that share prices are up or earning are either up or steady (but employment, benefits, perks or salaries will be slashed).
I recently attended an industry CRM event. I was given one of
those logoed bags that one normally gets at such events. You know the ones.
They are stuffed with chachkas, a couple of brochures and possibly a
map or agenda. One of the items in the bag was Dale Carnegie’s Golden Book.
Dale Carnegie is, of course, the author of How To Win Friends & Influence
People.
Among the many pieces of advice in this little fold-out is one
that caught my attention. Under the category of ‘The Perfect Way to Conquer
Worry’ it simply states `Pray.`
What do you think of praying as an antidote to worry? As a
marketer, contributor, manager or executive what are the implications of facing
worry with prayer? This piece of advice, seemingly, goes against standard
wisdom that worrying needs to be confronted through action. Then again Carnegie
is also the author of How To Stop Worrying And Start Living.
Making Friends By Turning Your Back
One of the key means of motivating employees of any sort is managing the person as an individual. Personalizing a person’s management implies that the manager will take the time to hear out, get to know and understand the employee. In this manner, a manager can refrain from assuming a one-size-fits-all approach works for everyone in the group.
Managers need to get to know their employees. They need to know what motivates them, what they like, what their hot-buttons are and what their desires are. Then the manager may discuss what is of value to the specific person. What works for one person may not work for another.
