CLIC: Interesting article, also believe they are presenting at a conference this week, could see major announcement coming out of this conference, the F50 we have been waiting for???
CRM of the crop
New Investment Frontiers 03/03/00 3:30 PM
By Nathan Beckord
It's a good era to be a customer, as this world becomes increasingly customer-centric. Consolidation, competition, and market maturation have resulted in razor-thin margins. In such markets, any service or system that helps reduce costs will be eagerly accepted. What's more, price, product, and distribution often no longer distinguish a company, but rather customer service and sales relationships.
Both of these macro trends have given rise to the Customer Relationship Management [CRM] market. Broadly defined, CRM software encompasses a variety of activities within the selling process, including marketing, sales automation, customer support, and field service. Typically, such software is tied to existing financial, manufacturing, and other Enterprise Resource Planning [ERP] systems, as well as data warehouses and offline call centers. It's used for targeted marketing, demand management, cross-selling, tiered service provision, help-desk support, etc. In deference to its "front office" software roots, CRM usually refers to more comprehensive, integrated systems.
A growing market
Numbers are beginning to be painted around this space, and emphasize the perceived, significant potential. AMR Research forecasts that the CRM market will hit $16.8 billion by 2003, up from $2.3 billion in 1998. Further,....
A CRM bargain?
Calico Commerce (CLIC) has made a name for itself through sales of its Configurator product line, which assists customers with complex purchases -- especially relevant to many business-to-business markets. For the most part, the company has focused on selling within the technology sector. Calico is unique among CRM companies in that its share price is 50% off its 52-week high. |
