“Configure, price, quote” (CPQ) programs, increasing customer wallet share via account planning, as well as social media skills and sales analytics are topping the sales VP “must have” list for 2013 projects.

Many businesses have recently budgeted for their CRM programs. But what’s the next CRM improvement that will be best for your sales team?

With customers spending more of their online time on social networks, your next step should be obvious: market accordingly. That means courting customers on Facebook, Google+, Twitter or anyplace online where customers or potential aficionados of your products and services gather.

Embracing social CRM offers significant potential marketing, sales and service upsides. But you’ll need to handle social CRM correctly to benefit from maximum business impact.

Top-notch marketing programs keep customers and prospects coming back for more. Learn the next, best step for your marketing program.

The universe may have started with an intensely hot fireball, but your Salesforce.com deployment shouldn’t be a Big Bang.

Everyone wants to build a 360-degree view of their customers. But in most cases, having a 360-degree view is overkill. Instead, ask what information your customer-facing employees need to be more productive in their jobs. Because just throwing endless amounts of customer data at marketing, sales and service personnel won’t deliver business results.

With a good master data management program, your organization can reduce its spending on non-value-producing activities, and instead focus on more strategic, high-value pursuits that generate additional customer satisfaction and revenue.

How did Genzyme Biosurgery successfully roll out Salesforce.com, meet its business requirements, and foster high levels of user adoption? In a word, by planning.

To maximize sales productivity and revenues, you’d think most organizations would create a written plan to guide sales planning—highlighting the steps salespeople should pursue for any call, defining the top skills its salespeople need, or even maintaining an integrated view of customer contact information. But most don’t.