By David Sims
[email protected]
The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music
is – can’t believe we haven’t had this one on yet – 2004’s There Will Be A Light, by Ben Harper with the Five Bind Boys of
Alabama:
It was an ambiguous headline on the press release – “Salesboom
Announces Release of New Web-Based Automotive CRM Software Edition.” You’re an
American, you assume that’s CRM you can do in your car, right? You have car
phones, car faxes, why not car CRM? Something you put your BlackBerry in to
synchronize…
Actually it’s a CRM
package specifically for the automotive industry. No cup holders included.
The press release calls it “a tailor-made CRM version for all aspects of the automotive
industry.” Tools include Car Dealer Software, Used Car Dealership Software
(plaid sport coat and toupee available as upgrades) and Automotive Factory
Software among others.
It’s available for trial upon a request to
Salesboom, and since it’s on demand can be deployed online. Companies are
invited to try Salesboom free of charge for 30 days or 5,000 miles, whichever
comes first.
So what was the pressing need for this product? Salesboom thinks the “key
advantages” it has over other traditional CRM software providers includes a “fully
integrated Inventory Management systems to keep control of your inventory
levels, from the factory level down to each individual dealership.” Yup,
inventory management, that’s a new concept.
Also, “Salesboom is deployed real-time, so all links in the
business process chain have access to the most up-to-date information whenever
they log into the Salesboom system, eliminating any lapses in information
transfer down the chain.” That’s certainly something First CoffeeSM’s
never heard of any other CRM package offering.
But there’s also a “fully functional Customer Billing &
Invoicing system for individual consumers and corporate sales.” How’s that for
out-of-the-box thinking?
First CoffeeSM’s not saying this isn’t a good
product, it could be the best one on the market for all we know. It would be
nice, however, to have some insight into how the demands of CRM differ for the
automotive industry reflected in the product announcement or description
itself.
Yosri Al-Kishawi, Salesboom’s CTO said “working closely with
partners in the automotive industry, we’ve spent a huge amount of time and
resources carefully crafting the perfect automotive software solution.” They’ve
clearly done their homework, First CoffeeSM knows them to be smart,
hard-working guys who put out a good product, so why not let us know why we should
buy it?
…
Maybe you saw this last Thursday, First CoffeeSM
missed it, but Kana
Software has completed a private placement of 1,631,541 shares of
common stock with institutional investors at a price of $1.471 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of
approximately $2.4 million. “The company has entered into an
equity-financing round with its investors, raising $2.4 million that will be
added to the CRM provider’s working capital,” according to Kana officials. $2 million
of that comes from NightWatch Capital, a major Kana backer.
Kana had bad first-quarter 2005 results, reporting revenue
of about $10 million for the quarter, only $1.5 million of that being license
revenue. On top of that was a loss of $4.1 million on revenue of $13.3 million
in the first quarter of 2004.
“So far, 2005 has
been a bad year for Kana,” says ComputerWire. “It missed the deadline for filing
its 10K form for last year as a result of delays arising from the appointment
of new auditors. It also missed the 10Q deadline for the first quarter of this
year, and received a Nasdaq delisting notification.”
An SEC disclosure at the end of June revealed that an audit
has suggested unmerited reimbursements to the CEO and board members.” There was
no suggestion of misconduct on the part of the CEO and other board members, and
the sums have either been repaid or are being reconsidered by the audit
committee,” ComputerWire reports.
...
First Coffee’s mild-mannered reporter alter ego reported
recently on Hampton, Virginia’s 311 call center, where city residents can
report things like potholes and garbage removal issues, graffiti and sewer
problems and find out about impounded cars without having to run the gauntlet
of municipal bureaucracy to find the Assistant Deputy Undersecretary For Your
Particular Problem On Your Particular Street Who’s Willing To Get Off Her Butt
And Do Something Before Retirement, or – as many folks were doing – simply
calling 911, where somebody has to pay attention to you.
Anyway municipal 311’s a great idea, it’s nothing but pure
CRM in action at the civic level, it’s all good and First CoffeeSM’s
pleased to see KOB-TV report
that Albuquerque, New Mexico has
opened a 311 call center for its residents.
Much of the reason for opening 311 centers is simply to free
up 911 for more important issues. “Today there are just three numbers in the city of
Albuquerque that people should call,” Mayor Martin Chavez said on the KOB-TV
report. “911 for emergencies – that will stay. 242-COPS if there’s a
non-emergency. For anything else its 311.”
It’s a free service, and more than 70 operators work at the 311 center,
but it’ll save Albuquerque “thousands of dollars on phone book blue pages
listings – those listings in the front of most white pages phone books designed
for government services.”
…
No, First CoffeeSM missed Live 8, and, frankly has
it up to here with silly rock
stars pretending to understand or care about global
economic policy. Stick to the drugs and groupies, guys, at least you understand how
those work.
Rock benefit concerts are “always rip-offs,” according to no
less an authority than John Lennon. “I
haven’t performed for personal gain since 1966, when the Beatles last
performed,” he told David Sheff
shortly before his death. “Every concert since then, Yoko and I did for
specific charities, except for a Toronto thing that was a rock-’n’-roll
revival. Every one of them was a mess or a rip-off… it’s all a rip-off. So
forget about it.”
It’s arrogant, idiotic – and borderline racist – to assume, as Live 8 does, that
Africans are such basket cases that Bono, Madonna or Bananarama calling for free handouts
“helps” them more than showing them how to build societies which enable
sustained prosperity. If concerts could solve Africa’s problems Live Aid –
heck, Concert for Bangladesh, which Lennon dismissed as “caca” – would have
done the trick.
Consider the Marshall Plan. What
happened – in a nutshell – was America set aside an initial allocation of $25
billion in credits for Western Europe to purchase American-made goods. Europeans
paid for the goods using their currencies, which gave them incentive to work –
there was stuff worth buying on the shelves – and allowed them to maintain
their dignity, something Western liberals seem intent on stripping Africans of.
The payments were removed from circulation and held in trust (to forestall
inflation) and given back to each country as public works funds or business
loans, which furthered prosperity. Europeans did it themselves, could take
pride in that and build on the accomplishment.
The part of Africa that Lennon’s former bandmate Paul McCartney cares
about during press conferences has never had an industrial base. It’s never
protected property rights or business profits, it’s never built decent schools
or enforced the rule of law, never taxed its citizens fairly, its leaders have sold
off the land’s rich resources for multimillion dollar bribes. Until that
changes shoveling money in only subsidizes bad policy and megashows will help nothing but Bob Geldof’s ego.
Maybe if the West started actually showing Africans how to build
Western-style societies and demanded Western-style accountability from them
they’d see the Western-style prosperity Africa claims to want. After all, assuming
that Western-style prosperous society is beyond Africans is nothing but smug racism
which leads to condescending, self-righteous GeezerFests. Look at China,
Vietnam and India, who went from Africa-style poverty to greater prosperity by
market-friendly policy reform, not free handouts favored by self-obsessed rock stars
and others like them who can’t be bothered to actually do something that actually helps actual Africans.
Again, from John Lennon: “America has poured billions into places
like that. It doesn’t mean a damn thing. After they’ve eaten that meal, then
what? It lasts for only a day. After the $200,000,000 is gone, then what? It
goes round and round in circles. You can pour money in forever.” A rock star
talking common sense on world economics. Imagine.
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