There are two questions that emerging companies in the CRM space hear when they face the analysts:
The first question is easily and deftly handled by most executives, and it must be. An IPO has its own cadence, and the Securities and Exchange Commission is very keen to protect its turf, even in an age when Congress keeps tight control on regulators' budgets.
It takes almost no effort to fine an overexuberant executive for making statements about things that are not in the official filing or during the quiet period. So smart executives stay very far away from those questions.
The second question is - or at least can be - a quagmire. There are many marketing software vendors who have necessarily built functionality that spills out of the pure marketing definition, and that's enough to keep some people wondering.
A customer database is a good starting point. The argument goes like this: You already have a customer DB, so how hard can it be to blow out another wall and add sales functionality? Then voila! - CRM.
That logic misses the point by a country mile and a decent customer service function, yet it doesn't go away.
Read the full article at E-CommerceTimes.com
