Around 1,500 participants attend inaugural tournament

ALHOSN University, a leading Abu Dhabi-based university dedicated to high-quality, value-based education, Read the full story

Company uses 122,000 kilograms of powder coating and 487,000 litres of paint on the world’s tallest tower

Trine Finnevolden, General Manager, Jotun Paints UAE

Jotun, one of the world’s leading producers and suppliers of paints and coatings, announced that it has painted the ‘Burj Dubai’, Read the full story

The Community Development Authority in Dubai (CDA) in cooperation with UAE Down Syndrome Association, organised an awareness session titled “Ability not Disability”, Read the full story

Arab nationals comprise 40 percent of the total passengers from the Middle East region to sail on Star Cruises’ luxury cruise liners.

Mr. Najeeb Mithvani, Second Assistant Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Star Cruises, Read the full story

CRM expenditures in the region tend to focus on campaign management, sales force automation (SFA), contact centre, enhancing customer experience and business forecasting

Vikram Suri, Managing Director, Sage Software

Middle East spending on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is set to increase by30 per cent in 2010, according to Sage Software, the leading global supplier of ERP, CRM and HRM solutions to medium and large organisations. The company added that CRM expenditures in the region tend to focus on campaign management, sales force automation (SFA), contact centre, enhancing customer experience and business forecasting, as businesses try to build a competitive edge amidst the declining economy. With focus on providing SMBs in leading economies results-driven CRM solutions, Sage Software has recently concluded a road show at the Al Futtaim Training Centre in Dubai, where CRM champion Shobha Moni, Founder of Triad Software, discussed various topics under the theme ‘Work smarter with Sage CRM’.

UAE companies need accurate and detailed insight on the performance of the business and employees at any given time so they can take advantage of any increase in demand and/or workload that improving trading conditions may present. As such, scenario planning and sales forecasting have become the priority for executives as they need to accurately capture a large enough spread of possible outcomes to cover future uncertainties. By adopting Sage Software’s CRM solutions, companies can accelerate out of the downturn by automating cashflow and collection management, getting detailed insight on business and staff performance, and responding to changing customer needs and demands, among others.

“CRM can be extremely useful in campaign management, sales force automation, and contact centre and call centre operations, but its potential goes so much further beyond these,” said Vikram Suri, MD, Sage Software. “For instance, core CRM functionality such as opportunity management can improve the effectiveness of the sales team while allowing the marketing department to focus on the most profitable customer segment. Furthermore, customised CRM solutions can ensure a consistently exceptional customer experience and enable the company to nurture long and profitable relationships with every customer.”

The primary features of ‘Sage CRM’ focus on allocating leads to sales personnel, measuring activities and timelines involved in a sales process, accurate and complete forecasting, performance tracking, and uninterrupted support to customers. The solution also addresses the information management aspect of the business by facilitating a centralised database of all customers and their activity history. Furthermore, ‘Sage CRM’ also offers customer care, mobile solutions, application integration, productivity tools, and Microsoft Outlook integration.

“A business can grow and profit during a recession if it understands the underlying dynamics of the marketplace. The challenge is for businesses to respond to changes in buying behavior in a timely and direct fashion. Sage CRM can open up opportunities for UAE companies to leverage a web-based tool to define processes and implement them with workflow and alerts capability, while integrating with outlook for Calendar, Task and Emails. Our efforts to increase awareness on the benefits of our CRM solutions is in line with our aims to help companies adequately support vital processes via convenient storage and access to information about customers across different company departments,” concluded Suri.

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About Sage Group:

Founded in 1981 in North East England, Sage Group PLC is a global company with 5.8 million customers, over 14,500 employees and more than 25 years of experience working with small and medium sized businesses. It has built its success on understanding and meeting the needs of customers in their local markets, which has driven its growth as a world-leading provider of business management software and services. While its heritage is in the small business market, it also has the experience and expertise to meet the needs of specific industries and larger organisations. Its products and services are developed and supported locally, thereby ensuring their relevance to the customers and that they are supported by local experts.

For more information, please contact:

CommuniGate Middle East

PO Box 66861, Dubai, UAE

Tel: +971 4 3988134

Fax: +971 4 3988137

Email: info@communigateme.com

Website: www.communigateme.com

Danube BUILDMART aiming to expand design centre and interior related products to leverage burgeoning market

Rizwan Sajan, Chairman, Danube Building Materials

The UAE is expected to spend AED 53.8 billion for interior design contracting and fit-outs by 2010, Read the full story

Free 3G modem, 3 months free subscription and volume discounts offered

Etisalat today announced significant savings for businesses looking for a reliable and cost effective access to mobile Internet Read the full story

Invitation-only card for ultra high net worth clients

Diamond-encrusted card handcrafted with genuine gold calligraphy

Offers range of exclusive privileges, including international concierge services, event and lounge access, travel insurance, purchase protection and more

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced today the launch of the Al Islami Infinite Credit Card, Read the full story

Automobile enthusiasts will be in for a multitude of visual treats at the Al Habtoor Motors Stand at the 10th Middle East International Motor Show. Read the full story

A new kind of service station offering a greener experience

In an effort to improve both energy conservation and underscore its commitment to communities, Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) will open the Middle East’s first eco-friendly service station next year. Read the full story