Webtrends Adds Online Behavior Data to Salesforce CRM
Webtrends is adding online behavioral data to Salesforce.com's customer relationship management (CRM) system so sales, support and marketing personnel can track a customer's browsing history.
Webtrends CRM Exchange for Salesforce is available on Salesforce.com's AppExchange 2, and was developed in partnership with American Data Company. Users must be customers of both Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) and Webtrends to use the service.
Webtrends product marketing director Jeff Seacrest said the service only tracks customers who have opted in by filling out a form. The customer's browsing behavior is then added into the lead and contact data fields in Salesforce's CRM system.
The service only tracks customers at the client's site, not across the Web, and the service usually only tracks from the time the form is filled out. “We have a few customers who have opted to build anonymous profiles in the hopes of obtaining the contact info at a future time, but the standard solution only works from time-of-form moving forward,” said Seacrest.
By tracking products and pages browsed and search terms, sales, support and marketing people will be able to better target products, services and email marketing campaigns. They'll also learn if products are well positioned, and if search terms or product positioning need to be improved.
Seacrest said Webtrends chose Salesforce for its first foray into CRM because “we have a lot of customer overlap with Salesforce accounts,” but he said the company could eventually offer the service on other CRM systems like Microsoft Dynamics CRM. He said the Webtrends app is “one of a kind” on Salesforce.
Seacrest declined to discuss pricing, characterizing the service as “pretty reasonably priced.”
In a joint press release announcing the service, Salesforce and Webtrends noted that “Long before customers contact a company's sales or service team, they will turn to the Web to research products, download information, search topics and find help.”
Webtrends CRM Exchange takes this behavioral data from Webtrends Analytics and “puts it directly into the hands of sales and support organizations” through Salesforce.
“Marketing is becoming less about spending time to find new customers and more about referrals using various online communities,” stated James McDermott, vice president of business development at Webtrends. “Webtrends is delivering a solution that enables organizations to improve results through more knowledgeable customer relationships.”
Robin Temple, director of digital marketing for Lawrence & Schiller, said the advertising and interactive marketing agency uses the service to monitor websites developed for clients. “We use Webtrends CRM Exchange for Salesforce to help our clients deliver more relevant information to their prospects, have more informed conversations and close more business,” Temple said in a statement.
The service will be on display at next month's Dreamforce 2010 conference in San Francisco.
Paul Ferrill has been writing for over 15 years about computers and network technology. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering as well as a MS in Electrical Engineering. He is a regular contributor to the computer trade press. He has a specialization in complex data analysis and storage. He has written hundreds of articles and two books for various outlets over the years. His articles have appeared in Enterprise Apps Today and InfoWorld, Network World, PC Magazine, Forbes, and many other publications.
