When Does Marketing End & Sales Start?

The typical sales funnel starts from Target Audience and goes through various stages like Suspect, Lead, Qualified Lead, Opportunity until it ends with the Deal. It’s jointly owned by Marketing (which includes product management, business development, marketing communications) and Sales (which is comprised of presales and field sales functions). Since times immemorial, there has been a … Read more

Skating Away With Online Payments

For several years, online payments in India have been subject to two-factor authentication, which works as follows: Shoppers reach the checkout page of the merchant or biller’s website where they select their method of payment (e.g., credit card). They’re then ferried across to the payment provider’s website. Here, they enter their credit card details including … Read more

Don’t Blame Google For Everything

Apart from using its search engine regularly and being a customer of Google AdWords and a couple of its products, I’ve no personal or professional interest in Google. However, as a technology professional, I feel compelled to point out that the recent Economic Times article titled Is It Time to Sign Off is full of inaccuracies, and … Read more

The Clear & Present Danger With Contactless & NFC Payments

Technophobes and security pundits have been warning for a long time that it’s possible for a passerby with an RFID reader – and malafide intent – to skim debit / credit card details off of contactless cards and NFC smartphones even when they’re tucked away inside their owners’ wallets, pockets or hand bags. I had … Read more

First Impressions Of Google Maps Navigation

Three days ago, Google announced turn-by-turn navigation with voice assistance on the Android version of its Maps app for the top six cities in India including Pune in Western India. While driving back to my house in NE Pune from my parents’ house in SE Pune earlier tonight, I got the chance to try out the … Read more

If You Must Use A Long Form, At Least Pre-Fill As Much Of It As You Can

EMAIL360 is a cloud-based software that delivers the most powerful features of marketing automation solutions at a fraction of their cost. EMAIL360 helps marketers start the conversation with their website visitors by collecting the barest minimum contact information. By doing so with a 1-click form and without complex reCAPTCHAs and page transitions, EMAIL360 provides a frictionless … Read more

TransPromos Help Billers Grow Advertising Revenues

Electronic delivery of bills and statements promises to save stationery, printing and postage costs for banks, mobile network operators, municipalities / boroughs, utilities and other types of billers. Attracted by the cost savings potential, a large number of billers have adopted eBilling / eStatements technology in recent times. To actually realize the savings, many billers … Read more

The Business Case For Social Media Customer Service

In a previous blog post titled Customers Of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But The Call Center Hold Music, I’d written about customer service via social media and how it could be a great experience for customers of airlines, banks, insurers, mobile network operators and other service providers. We now look at … Read more