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Copper Releases New Study, Revealing That CRMs Need to Adjust to Serve Today’s Relationship-Makers Outside of the Traditional Sales Team

Sales & Marketing

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December 24, 2018

Copper Releases New Study, Revealing That CRMs Need to Adjust to Serve Today’s Relationship-Makers Outside of the Traditional Sales Team

The Length of Business Relationships Is Increasing, While the People Using CRM and Productivity Are Merging

Copper, the #1 Google-recommended CRM formerly known as ProsperWorks, announced the results of a new study, sponsored by Google and commissioned by Qualtrics Research, that determines how businesses are impacted by the relationships they build and the role CRM software plays in enabling them. The new report titled, “The Future of Relationship Management” surveyed more than 2,500 global business professionals in nine industries to measure their perception toward building lasting customer relationships, changing sales roles, software requirements and the future of CRM. To learn more about the findings, please download the full report here.

The report revealed that business relationships are extending beyond individuals in the sales department and are now touching every team in the company. The findings also uncovered that many of these teams don’t have access to the company CRM, therefore leaving valuable customer information uncaptured.

“There is a clear shift in the market around how teams work and communicate with their customers,” said Morgan Norman, chief marketing officer at Copper. “We’re seeing an appetite for both businesses and customers to have longer and more meaningful relationships. However, this study proves that the current state of CRM remains a major roadblock for this to happen.”

Of the major findings, the survey revealed that:

Businesses worldwide are shifting to longer-lasting relationships
With the rise of subscription-based products and services, customers today have limitless options and the freedom to choose any vendor they want—a memorable customer experience is no longer a nice-to-have, but a necessity for companies of all industries.

Customers today are looking for companies that focus on loyalty. In fact, only about three percent of today’s customer relationships last less than six months.
Approximately a quarter of small businesses and mid-sized companies say that most of their customer relationships last between two and four years, while 27 percent of enterprise companies say their customer relationships last about seven years.

The new wave of relationship-makers sells as a team
What was once a job for the salesperson is now a company-wide responsibility—even HR and legal play a role in building customer relationships. Companies today also have countless collaboration touchpoints with customers through productivity tools such as Google Drive, chat functions and video services. However, many teams don’t have access to a company CRM, meaning the data from these channels remains siloed and cross-collaboration proves to be a challenge.

For small businesses and mid-size companies, the majority of customer relationships are managed by teams of three to four people. For enterprise companies, that figure rises to 11 teammates.

Businesses manage all kinds of relationships
Business relationships encompass more than just customers. Relationship-makers are managing leads, vendors, partners, creatives, investors, etc., yet today’s CRM offerings lack the capabilities to support these types of relationships.

In addition to 56 percent of respondents who report using CRM for company relationships, 34 percent said they use it to manage leads and 29 percent use it for vendors.

Traditional CRM technology has held teams back
As customer relationships evolve, CRM offerings have yet to adapt to employees’ needs. Traditional CRMs continue to be labor-intensive and the manual entry of data has siloed information rather than providing useful, accessible insights around customer moments.

One-third of people waste two to five hours of skilled time on manual data entry each and every week.
This problem increases in the enterprise with 11 percent of people spending more than 20 hours per week on CRM data entry.

CRM is not just for sales
There is a disconnect in how CRMs today are marketed and who is actually using the software. This survey found that CRM is no longer just for an account executive and that it’s also being used for more than sales management.

While sales teams still drive a bulk of company relationships (63 percent), other teams such as engineering (30 percent), human resources (19 percent), and legal (14 percent) are playing a larger role.

There are new expectations for software today
Companies of all sizes expect their enterprise software to be as intuitive as popular consumer apps and deployed at the same speed. However, legacy CRM offerings have traditionally taken months, even years to get up and running.

More than one-fifth of small businesses expect enterprise software to be up and running in four days or less.
For this to happen, CRM offerings need to integrate easily with other tools, be easy to deploy, and look and feel like an app rather than a clunky customer database. Yet 31 percent of people surveyed describe their CRM as “complicated.”

The future of CRM is all about productivity
CRM should work the way we do—fitting seamlessly into existing tools and workflows. The future of CRM requires manual data to be automated, information to be centralized and collaboration across teams to be a top priority.

More than 45 percent of small businesses spend more than 20 hours per week working in G Suite. This means that a large number of customer relationships and interactions live inside Google’s collaboration tools like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, and Drive, yet this information remains uncaptured by traditional CRMs.

“Companies can’t keep up with the amount of communication and channels that exist between customers and teams today,” said John Aniano, chief product officer at Copper. “That’s why we’ve made it our mission at Copper to master the art of productivity and transform the face of business relationships by creating a tool that works where you, and your team, already are.”

“The accelerated adoption of Google’s G Suite as a leading digital workplace and productivity tool has customers seeking more native and deeper integration with their CRM systems. Why? Organizations are shifting to lasting relationships and users are collaborating with customers in new ways through the productivity suite. Employees expect Drive, Sheets, Slides, Hangouts to automatically capture all these moments and build a new future of CRM centered around relationships, not management. It’s time that we put the R back into CRM,” said R “Ray” Wang, founder and CEO of Constellation Research, Inc.

Ventana Research Names Infor Birst a TCO/ROI Leader in Its 2018 Analytics and Business Intelligence Value Index

STS News Desk

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December 24, 2018

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Ventana Research Names Infor Birst a TCO/ROI Leader in Its 2018 Analytics and Business Intelligence Value Index

Birst Networked Business Analytics Platform Also Earns High Marks for Reliability & Adaptability Based on Ventana’s Assessment

Infor, a global leader in business cloud software for Enterprise and SMB companies, announced that Ventana Research, a leading business technology research and advisory services firm, has named Infor Birst a leader in TCO/ROI, Reliability, and Adaptability in its 2018 Analytics and Business Intelligence Value Index, published Dec. 17.

The Ventana Research assessment of Infor was based on its evaluation of the Birst Enterprise networked analytics and business intelligence (BI) platform (Birst Summer ’18 Release, which became generally available on July 28).

For additional insight on Ventana’s 2018 Value Index, click here.

Brad Peters, SVP and General Manager of Birst, an Infor company, said, “We believe our strong showing in the Ventana Research Value Index reflects the Birst platform’s unique and proven ability to deliver value remarkably faster than traditional solutions and with the lowest total cost of ownership. Our smart, patented automation technology and multi-tenant cloud architecture enable organizations to create, deploy and maintain mission-critical, enterprise-scale analytic solutions with fewer resources and in a fraction of the time it would take in any other product.”

According to the Ventana Research Value Index report, “The strength of Birst’s Enterprise product is its breadth.”

“The Birst Enterprise architecture supports cloud or on-premises deployments, and the data model is designed to access data from a variety of sources in a networked or virtualized approach,” the report stated. “Its flexible deployment options and integration with business processes and applications allow organizations to incorporate analytics into varied line of business activities.”

The Ventana Value Index reported noted that, “Birst Enterprise is designed to be easily integrated into the existing infrastructure, applications and processes.”

The Ventana Research Value Index for Analytics and Business Intelligence is based on a comprehensive examination of 15 vendors’ products in seven evaluation categories, five that evaluate the products’ ability to support the breadth and depth of business needs around analytics (Usability, Manageability, Reliability, Capability and Adaptability) and two that address vendor validation and total cost of ownership/return on investment (Vendor Validation and Total Cost of Ownership and Return on Investment, TCO/ROI). The 2018 Value Index for Analytics and Business Intelligence identifies the companies that deliver the highest value based on an overall weighted evaluation.

Birst is a cloud BI and analytics platform that helps organizations understand and optimize complex business processes in less time than traditional solutions. Built with patented automation and machine learning technologies, Birst’s “networked BI” approach connects teams and applications across the enterprise via a trusted network of analytics, delivering insights that help companies make smarter decisions by delivering a comprehensive view of their business. This unique approach has helped leading global companies improve profitability, reduce costs, increase revenues, and transform the way they do business, often in 90 days or less.

Candidate Shortages Prompt Increased Sign-On Perks and Openness to Transferable Skills

Sales & Marketing

STS News Desk

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December 24, 2018

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Candidate Shortages Prompt Increased Sign-On Perks and Openness to Transferable Skills

With unemployment in the executive, managerial and professional sector hovering around 2 percent, companies across many industries are struggling to find top talent. A recent survey conducted by MRINetwork, underscores the need to reconsider the qualifications required of candidates, as well as the incentives potential employers should offer to attract applicants into their companies. MRINetwork is one of the largest executive search and recruitment organizations in the world.

According to the 2018 MRINetwork Performance Management Study, due to a lack of industry-experienced talent, nearly 80 percent of employers surveyed agree or strongly agree they’re more likely to hire people with transferable skills. “Because of the increased competition for high performers, employers are now more willing to make concessions to find needed talent that can move their organizations forward,” says Nancy Halverson, general manager of MRINetwork. “Instead of focusing on the perfect candidate who has worked several years in the industry, they’re recognizing that an applicant can still have a tremendous impact based on other work experiences and methodologies that would be welcomed in the organization.”

“By considering those with transferable skills,” observes Halverson, “you can significantly expand the number of applicants and focus on more general skills, such as organization, teamwork and communication, which might be just as important for the role, but are much less teachable than specific, technical skills.”

Both employers and candidates see poor communication as a problem in this area, according to the study. “Companies need to make it clear they are open to candidates who have applicable expertise, despite their lack of specific industry experience,” advises Halverson, “and candidates need to focus on how they discuss transferable skills during the interview process and demonstrate how those skills can be applied to a different industry.”

The study also indicated that half of the surveyed employers are increasing the rate at which they offer sign-on perks. Among the top perks that organizations are willing to provide are company-paid health insurance, sign-on bonuses and moving expenses. Candidates are on the same page as employers about the desirability of these benefits, with 76 percent citing both sign-on bonuses and health insurance, and 54 percent citing moving expenses as most important to them. A number of employers also stated they are willing to offer tuition reimbursement (33 percent) and even pay moving expenses (32 percent) as incentives.

“Employee perks can have a significant impact on the ability to attract desirable candidates and lower employee turnover,” says Halverson. “Some of the standard benefits packages offered by companies just aren’t cutting it, which is why many firms have decided to augment them to stay ahead of their competition for top candidates.”

An interesting finding of the survey suggested that while employers are boosting sign-on perks, many candidates are unaware of the potential perks they could be leaving on the table. Halverson believes that organizations need to become more forthcoming about these perks during the hiring process and applicants need to become less afraid to negotiate these benefits.

In a down market, candidates will be less demanding and more flexible with employers. But in today’s market, applicants have numerous options, so it is imperative that the way employers approach them and the advantages that are offered give candidates every reason to want to join a company.

Accenture to Acquire Knowledgent to Amplify Capabilities That Help Businesses Transform into Data-Powered Intelligent Enterprises

STS News Desk

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December 24, 2018

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Accenture to Acquire Knowledgent to Amplify Capabilities That Help Businesses Transform into Data-Powered Intelligent Enterprises

Accenture has entered into an agreement to acquire Knowledgent, a data intelligence company, expanding its data management capabilities that help companies gain deep insights into their businesses and customers, creating a strong competitive advantage. Based in New Jersey, Knowledgent employs more than 200 highly skilled “informationists” that provide data strategy and architecture, data engineering, and data management services.

“Knowledgent’s talent, experience and solutions complement our existing capabilities to solve business problems by rapidly turning data into actionable insights that drive smart decisions for our clients in North America and beyond.”

Accenture is driving innovation in data services with investments in machine-led solutions, highly skilled data specialists and leading platform and industry data capabilities, helping clients rotate to data-powered intelligent enterprises. Knowledgent also helps enterprises maximize the value of their data and create competitive advantage by applying innovation to better manage data, using cutting-edge data technologies and significant experience in the life sciences, healthcare and financial services industries.

“We are in the midst of a data revolution, powered by new technologies. Enterprises are using data to gain deep insights into all aspects of their businesses and customers, and build a strong competitive advantage to gain market share,” said Bhaskar Ghosh, group chief executive, Accenture Technology Services. “With the acquisition of Knowledgent, we can accelerate our data services to clients, using Knowledgent’s top-notch talent, industry experience and proven data solutions.”

“With increasing volume and availability, data is now feeding the world. Joining Accenture will allow us to continue our strategy of innovating in and through data for our clients,” said Shail Jain, CEO, Knowledgent. “Our combined capabilities will help create more comprehensive, end-to-end data management solutions – from data strategy, architecture, and system integration to managed services– turning data into value at every step.”

“We are taking our data services to the next level, helping clients tap into the ‘right’ data to build a foundation for digital transformation,” said Annette Rippert, senior managing director for Accenture Technology in North America. “Knowledgent’s talent, experience and solutions complement our existing capabilities to solve business problems by rapidly turning data into actionable insights that drive smart decisions for our clients in North America and beyond.”

Corcentric Expands Partnership with Conversion Technologies International (CTI)

STS News Desk

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December 24, 2018

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Corcentric Expands Partnership with Conversion Technologies International (CTI)

Corcentric, a fast-growing provider of procurement and financial process automation solutions, recently expanded its partnership with Conversion Technologies International (CTI), a full-service document and image conversion center, to include Corcentric’s Accounts Payable Automation Solution, Cor360 Approval Workflow, as an offering for those CTI customers who implement document scanning but still use a manual accounts payable process. The relationship marks the continued integration of Corcentric’s solution with CTI as a way to provide customers with smarter technology that optimizes the invoice-to-payment process.

“We are pleased to build upon our relationship with CTI for a complementary offering that not only makes smart business sense for the customer, but illustrates the value of a seamless collaboration between companies,” said Matt Clark, President & COO at Corcentric.

“This partnership with Corcentric enables us to provide our customers with ‘one-stop shopping’ for their document management. As a result, we strengthen our reputation as a trusted advisor in all matters relating to document management and processing,” said Larry Skinner, CTI Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Corcentric is a leading provider of procurement and finance solutions that transform how companies purchase, pay, and get paid. Corcentric’s procurement, accounts payable, and accounts receivable solutions empower companies to spend smarter, optimize cash flow, and drive profitability. Since 1996, more than 6,000 customers from the middle market to the Fortune 1000 have used Corcentric to reduce costs and improve working capital.

Star Micronics and Cohub to Offer an Omni-Channel Point of Sale Solution for Retailers

STS News Desk

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December 24, 2018

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Star Micronics and Cohub to Offer an Omni-Channel Point of Sale Solution for Retailers

Cohub Provides a Full Business Management Platform from the Back-End to Storefront with Star Micronics’ Printing Solutions

Star Micronics, a leading manufacturer of mobile, point of sale (POS), and customer engagement technologies, is proud to announce that Cohub has added support for Star’s TSP100III and TSP650II Bluetooth printers. This partnership will allow Cohub customers to process in-store retail sales with printed receipts. The solution is affordable, intuitive, and perfect for the average SMB retailer.

Cohub offers enterprise-level software for small and medium-sized companies that consolidates multiple business systems into a single platform. Cohub’s point of sale system is designed specifically for the retailer, offering an interface that is best suited for their business and sales teams. With Cohub’s impersonation feature, retailers can “walk in the customer’s shoes.”

Star Micronics’ TSP100III and TSP650II printers are reliable and easy-to-operate. They offer a small footprint, ideal for smaller businesses that need to utilize valuable counter space, and offer a Bluetooth interface, meaning less wires and less mess. Both printers are compatible with Star Micronics Cloud Services to offer retailers both digital receipt options for their customers through AllReceipts, and printed promotions and coupons through PromoPRNT.

“Star makes affordable, durable, high-quality printers that are easy to set up for our customers and easy to integrate technically,” said Jimmy Baker, CTO of Cohub. “Star’s SDK and their technical staff have made integration with Cohub a breeze for our development team.”

SalesTech Interview with Mika Yamamoto, President at Marketo

Sudipto Ghosh

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December 24, 2018

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SalesTech Interview with Mika Yamamoto, President at Marketo

Tell us about your role and how you got here. What inspired you to be part of a Marketing Technology company- Marketo?

My move from SAP to Marketo was less of moving away from something, than moving to something. The opportunity to join Marketo is one that I believe comes very infrequently in someone’s career – it’s the perfect combination of product set and an industry where I’ve spent so much time. I’ve also been focused on taking my leadership to the next level; while I had a longer runway in mind in terms of getting there, this opportunity presented itself and I couldn’t pass it up. Aside from the products and industry, the biggest clincher was Marketo’s culture and team. CEO Steve Lucas is an amazing, respected leader, and the team is unparalleled across the board. It is the convergence of all these elements that brought me to where I am today.

As a woman in a Tech-heavy ecosystem, what message would you give to other women, especially in the Marketing and Sales functions?

For anyone – woman or man – my loudest message is to always be yourself; be authentic to you.

You hear a lot of voices in your head about how you should be, but you can only listen to your value system. Don’t think of who you should be in terms of behavior, action, or words. Understand the values you stand for, and stand for them. Also, ask for what you want. There are a lot of instances where you might wonder if anyone knew what you wanted, by way of position, or responsibility, or salary. Have enough wherewithal to understand what you’ve earned and ask for it.

How is your role at Marketo different from the one you had as Chief Digital Marketing Officer at SAP?

It is very similar, although I’d describe it as being breadth versus depth. At SAP, I had responsibility for a $29 billion portfolio, with the depth being the demand for SAP’s tech stack. Marketo is more about breadth – my responsibilities span every interaction, from marketing and sales, to support and professional services.

How do you see the evolution of Marketing Technologies impacting the Sales in SMB ecosystem?

I’ve been deep in this space since I was an analyst at Gartner, but now more than ever there are solutions, and there is access to solutions that were previously only available to huge companies. Small companies will never have the same resources as large companies, but now there is functionality that allows them to operate similarly to how enterprises operate.

For example, as an SMB, having chatbots means you don’t need as large a staff of customer service representatives responding to chats. In short, you no longer need really complex IT tech stacks to get business done.

Which leaders in the industry do you work closely with? How do they help you stay close to business action?

I have a lot of mentors, including from each company I’ve ever worked – dating back to my Accenture days. It has been important to me to maintain relationships with the influential leaders I’ve come across in my career.

I consider these people my “counsel,” and go to them with questions about which path to take, how to make it through a tough crossroad, etc. These mentor figures range from CEOs and founders, to IT and HR professionals. They’re who I turn to, to guide major decisions.

How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a business leader?

Artificial Intelligence and machine-learning is not something to be feared but to be embraced. AI can help to sort through data in a split second instead of taking hundreds of hours for you or me to do it. It’s designed to work with our teams to help them be more efficient and creative.

Which apps/software/tools do you use to stay on top?

Nest, WhatsApp, Strava, MyFitnessPal, AllTrails, Amazon Fresh and Weather.com.

What’s the smartest work related shortcut or productivity hack?

Keep a bag packed and stocked for travel at all times so I’m ready to go, and color code my calendar so that I can check at a glance if the priorities in my world are getting focus – family, friends, health, philanthropy, work…

What are you currently reading? How do you consume information?

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

I consume a mix of current events that reflect world views as reported by international reporters, I seek perspectives from alternative points of view. I hate to admit it but I love consuming via the printed word.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Always show up as the best version of yourself. Don’t try to be someone you aren’t. It’s awkward, exhausting and unnatural.

Tag the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read.

Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook and Steve Lucas, our CEO.

Thank You, Mika, for answering all our questions. We hope to see you again, soon.

About Marketo
About Mika

About Marketo

Marketo Inc., an Adobe company, offers the leading Engagement Platform that empowers marketers to create lasting relationships and grow revenue. Consistently recognized as the industry’s innovation pioneer, Marketo is the trusted platform for thousands of CMOs thanks to its scalability, reliability and openness. Marketo is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices around the world, and serves as a strategic partner to large enterprises and fast-growing organizations across a wide variety of industries.

Certain is the leading enterprise event automation platform that helps data-driven marketers and event professionals integrate rich buying signals and attendee insights into omnichannel marketing campaigns to improve sales and marketing results and deliver event ROI. Certain partners with hundreds of companies across tens of thousands of events with millions of attendees.

About Mika

Mika Yamamoto is the President at Marketo. She is the former Chief Digital Marketing Officer at SAP. She joined Marketo as Global President, focusing on delivering a world-class, end-to-end experience for Marketo’s rapidly growing base of nearly 5,000 customers worldwide.

Mika holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) degree from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada.

Stimulsoft Dashboards: Powerful Tools for Data Visualization and Analysis

STS News Desk

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December 24, 2018

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Stimulsoft Dashboards: Powerful Tools for Data Visualization and Analysis

Stimulsoft company announces the release of a new tool for business intelligence – Stimulsoft Dashboards for Web and Win. It allows to create rich dashboards for visualization and analysis of key indicators in virtually any field: sales, marketing, finances, manufacturing, services, and more.

Stimulsoft company, the manufacturer of software solutions for data analysis and report creation, announces the release of a new product – Stimulsoft Dashboards for Web and Win. It is a powerful tool for creation of dashboards that visualize, transform, group and analyze report data.

Stimulsoft Dashboards.WEB

Stimulsoft Dashboards.WEB helps developers visualize data in ASP.NET, ASP.NET MVC and .NET Core projects. This powerful solution supports various infographic elements (tables, diagrams, maps and progress indicators), which ensure visual clarity of a dashboard and facilitate data perception.

If a developer needs to change the design of a report, Stimulsoft Dashboards.WEB offers a built-in editor that allows to work with both report components and dashboard elements. A full-fledged report viewer supports interactive elements and data filtering, as well as export of dashboards to PDF, PNG and Excel formats. The solution is compatible with .NET 4.0 and higher, MVC 3.0 and higher, .NET Core 2.0 and higher.

Stimulsoft Dashboards.WIN

With the help of Stimulsoft Dashboards.WIN developers can create ready-to-use dashboards and add them to WinForms apps for the purpose of data analysis. The toolkit of this solution includes a wide variety of widgets: tables, diagrams, pointer indicators, and maps. It is extremely easy to embed such a dashboard into an app – only a few lines of code will do it. By the way, no royalty payments are required for distribution of Stimulsoft Dashboards as part of an app.

Stimulsoft Dashboards.WIN also includes an interactive viewer and a handy dashboard designer, which supports MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, and Firebird sources. The solution is compatible with the platform .NET Framework 4.0 or higher.

In the nearest future Dashboards.JS, a similar tool for creating dashboards on the JavaScript platform, will be released.

The price of a single developer license starts from 699.95 USD. More detailed information on licenses is available on the purchase page. The online demo-version of the product is available for testing.

Top Independent Agencies in Avoya Travel Network Predict 2019 Wave Sales Increases

STS News Desk

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December 21, 2018

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Top Independent Agencies in Avoya Travel Network Predict 2019 Wave Sales Increases

Avoya Travel’s Wave Season Survey Reveals Positive Outlook for Next Year

Avoya Travel, one of the world’s most innovative travel brands, shares booking insights from its 2019 Wave Season Survey. Avoya asked top producing Independent Agencies in the Avoya Travel Network™ to forecast sales and booking trends for 2019 Wave, and the overall outlook is very positive.

Avoya reports that 100 percent of survey respondents predicted 2019 Wave sales would be the same or better than Avoya’s record-breaking 2018 Wave and sales year. As a comparison, in last year’s survey over 80 percent predicted 2018 Wave would be the same or better. This 2018 Wave prediction was spot-on as the 2019 survey confirmed more than 80 percent of participants reported same or better results for Wave 2018. The survey data validates the forecast of continued sales growth for the Avoya Network.

The most common reasons given by Independent Agencies for why 2019 Wave sales will be even better included:

The trend of a great 2018 Wave season and strong sales throughout the year will continue
Increased inventory with new itineraries and innovative ships, such as AmaWaterways AmaMagna, Celebrity Edge, Carnival Panorama, and continued buzz for Norwegian Bliss and the Norwegian Joy refurbishment
A strong economy and low un-employment are driving consumer confidence and spending
Retirement of many Baby Boomers who want to and can afford to travel
Individual Independent Agencies feel more prepared and organized going into Wave

“In 2019 I have a better plan in place to maximize my time and really make the most of the busy season,” said Maree Corrone of Oceans To Outback Travel when explaining why she predicts sales will increase. Abundant Journeys, LLC’s RaShonda Gibson adds, “With the help of Avoya’s Mastermind Program, I have better focus and the ability to handle more business during Wave and all of 2019.”

Both Corrone and Gibson are members of the Avoya Mastermind program and their sentiment was a popular response among surveyed Independent Agencies. Many credited the Avoya Mastermind Academies and Avoya’s other optional professional development programs for their business’ improved sales.

“I’m finding that a lot of people are retiring with disposable income and travel is on the top of the to-do list,” said Badonna Birdsong of Badonna’s Travel World, LLC. Alice Rivera with AVR Cruises and Tours LLC added, “There is a bigger interest in upscale cruises that I didn’t see last year. I think that more Baby Boomers are traveling, and the cruise lines are catering to these new and repeat guests with new experiences, itineraries, and ships.”

Most Independent Agencies Avoya surveyed foresee growth along all product segments of the leisure travel industry. In particular, the upper premium and luxury cruise market and river cruises are projected to do exceedingly well, with over 70 percent of respondents expecting sales increases in those categories during Wave. Growth is also forecasted for ocean cruises and mass market and premium markets.

The top three destinations Independent Agencies expect to be best sellers in Wave are Europe, which garnered 80 percent of responses, followed by Alaska and the Caribbean. Avoya’s new investment in expanding its resorts portfolio and partnership with The Mark Travel Corporation are projected to drive more sales in the Caribbean as well as Mexico for the Network. In addition, AmaWaterways’ innovative twice-as-wide AmaMagna is expected to be a game changer in Europe and new cruise capacity on the West Coast and in the Caribbean is driving anticipated growth.

“Avoya Travel is looking forward to a great 2019 Wave season and supporting the growing number of Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network to increase sales, connect with more travelers, and plan more vacations at great values than ever before,” said Jeff Anderson, Executive Vice President, Avoya Travel. “There are many new advancements to be excited about for 2019 that we expect will benefit travel professionals and drive demand from customers in all travel segments, from Avoya Travel’s expansion into resorts and continued investment in growing its travel platform to more West Coast cruise capacity, the impressive recovery in the Caribbean, innovative new ships, and so much more.”

Avoya provides Independent Agencies unique and exclusive resources designed to support business success and above average incomes year-round. When asked which resources contributed most to their Wave sales growth and success, over 80 percent of Independent Agencies said Avoya Live Leads™ (new customers offered exclusively to their business) were the most valuable. Avoya’s patented Agent Power™ technology and exclusive group space on hundreds of sailings were also among the top three resources credited for driving the Network’s sales success.

Bilibili and Taobao Announce Business Collaboration in E-Commerce

STS News Desk

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December 21, 2018

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Bilibili and Taobao Announce Business Collaboration in E-Commerce

Bilibili Inc., a leading online entertainment platform for young generations in China, and Taobao Marketplace (“Taobao”), China’s largest mobile commerce destination under Alibaba Group (“Alibaba”), announced that they have entered into a business collaboration agreement in content-driven e-commerce and commercialization of Bilibili’s intellectual property (“IP”) assets.

Under the agreement, Bilibili and Taobao will collaborate to develop a dynamic ecosystem that will better connect content creators, merchandise and users on both platforms. Specifically, through Bilibili, content creators on Bilibili will register and operate a number of accounts on Taobao, and promote merchandise by producing content in a creative and interactive format. Bilibili and Taobao will also work to promote and commercialize Bilibili’s IP assets, leveraging consumer insights on both platforms. Additionally, Taobao will provide Bilibili with e-commerce technical support to ensure a more efficient user experience.

“This business collaboration with Taobao is a remarkable testament to Bilibili’s commercial potential and closely aligns us with China’s leading and most successful e-commerce platform,” said Mr. Rui Chen, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Bilibili. “We can now leverage Taobao’s gigantic platform and seasoned e-commerce operating capabilities to further help our content creators realize and improve their commercial values, thereby building a more-virtuous content community and commercialization-focused ecosystem.”

“Through this collaboration, we will better incentivize the creativity of our young people and will utilize each other’s strengths and resources to generate more premium content. We look forward to working with Taobao to fulfill the tremendous entertainment and consumption needs of the young generations in China, and importantly, in turn, we look forward to increasing the value we bring to all of our stakeholders,” Mr. Chen concluded.

“Early in 2015, Taobao rolled out a program to encourage bloggers, writers and online experts to post content on various channels on Taobao, to amplify the value of creative content. Over 1.6 million content creators, including anime, comic and games (ACG) experts, were actively supporting the Taobao App and helping brands on our platform engage with consumers,” said Fan Jiang, Vice President of Alibaba Group and President of Taobao. “Through deep cooperation with IP holders and content creators, Taobao has experienced the great potential of ACG. We greatly value Bilibili’s unique online hub themed around ACG, and appreciate “Gen Z” demographic expertise and believe there is a great, natural synergy between us. Together with Bilibili, we are devoted to tapping into the significant business value of this coveted demographic and bringing rich content and products to the young generations.”

Copper Releases New Study, Revealing That CRMs Need to Adjust to Serve Today’s Relationship-Makers Outside of the Traditional Sales Team

Ventana Research Names Infor Birst a TCO/ROI Leader in Its 2018 Analytics and Business Intelligence Value Index

Candidate Shortages Prompt Increased Sign-On Perks and Openness to Transferable Skills

Accenture to Acquire Knowledgent to Amplify Capabilities That Help Businesses Transform into Data-Powered Intelligent Enterprises

Corcentric Expands Partnership with Conversion Technologies International (CTI)

Star Micronics and Cohub to Offer an Omni-Channel Point of Sale Solution for Retailers

SalesTech Interview with Mika Yamamoto, President at Marketo

Tell us about your role and how you got here. What inspired you to be part of a Marketing Technology company- Marketo?

As a woman in a Tech-heavy ecosystem, what message would you give to other women, especially in the Marketing and Sales functions?

How is your role at Marketo different from the one you had as Chief Digital Marketing Officer at SAP?

How do you see the evolution of Marketing Technologies impacting the Sales in SMB ecosystem?

Which leaders in the industry do you work closely with? How do they help you stay close to business action?

How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a business leader?

Which apps/software/tools do you use to stay on top?

What’s the smartest work related shortcut or productivity hack?

What are you currently reading? How do you consume information?

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Tag the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read.

Thank You, Mika, for answering all our questions. We hope to see you again, soon.

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