Building a Community - One Skeptical User At a Time
David van Toor is revolutionizing how companies create personal relationships with customers in an impersonal world.
David van Toor
This is a "New Coke" parable:ACT (the widely-used contact management system), was getting blasted on Amazon.com, after a major upgrade to the program. Instead of hiding behind the corporate firewall, David van Toor, the new SVP and GM of Sage CRM in the U.S., started a blog and invited ACT users to join the conversation. Instead of pulling his product from Amazon.com, he posted his phone number and email address on Amazon's discussion board so customers could contact him directly. In doing so, he turned many of the most vociferous critics into loyal customers.
Are you looking for ways to engage your customers? Connect with an employer you would like to work for? Build your personal online brand, or dramatically increase customer satisfaction? If you've checked off any of the above, you've tuned-in to the right show. Welcome to a Leadership edition of Total Picture Radio with Peter Clayton reporting.
Joining us today from Scottsdale, Arizona, is David van Toor, SVP General Manager for Sage Customer Relationship Management in North America, part of the Sage Group plc, a global supplier of business software and services. David has transformed the way his organization is talking with its customers, and that's why we're talking with David today. During his career, spanning leadership positions in USA, New Zealand, Australia, and South East Asia, David has developed a unique and engaging perspective on the ways in which customer experience, technology, and innovation intersect. His presentations prepare audience members to apply these same success principles. Dave is a frequent blogger on the ACT! customer community.
Job interview question: Do you Consider yourself innovative?
Talking Points: Questions Peter Clayton asked David van Toor:
Okay before we begin a personal request: Please, please have your engineers develop a Mac version of ACT! I know you're working on iPhone applications, but "ACT on Mac" rhymes, and all of the CRM solutions currently available for Mac suck!
So let's back up. How long have you been with Sage, and what was the reputation of ACT when you joined the company?
How hard was it to convince your management to create a blog, and to allow for open dialogue regarding your products.
How do you counter the argument that the "only people reading these product blogs are your competition?"
I know another favorite topic of yours is customer surveys.
You sent a couple of engineers to Canada to do an upgrade install for a small business customer? How do you justify that expense for a $300 software application?
I know you are personally involved in a number of hiring decisions. Tell us how you use LinkedIn.
What advice would you give someone about to interview at Sage?
Are you hiring?
What have you learned by blogging? What advice would you give someone about to start blogging?
Sage Software's parent company is Sage plc, a London-based publicly traded company. What was their reaction when they learned you were going to blog? Do you have blogging guidelines established?
How have your blogs impacted traffic to your web site?
David van Toor Bio:
David van Toor is the General Manager for Sage CRM Solutions North America, part of the Sage Group plc, a global supplier of business software and services. David has transformed the way his organization is talking with its 3.1 million CRM customers. During his career, which has included leadership positions in USA, New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia, David has developed a unique and engaging perspective on the intersections between customer experience, technology, and innovation. His presentations prepare audience members to apply the same principles that have made him such a success. David is frequently quoted on customer relationship management trends and best practices in industry publications, and is a frequent blogger on the ACT! customer community at http://community.act.com/.
Prior to joining Sage Software, David was Managing Director of a leading Australian business software company, where he was an early promoter of integrated operational and CRM systems. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand.
About The Sage Group plc:
Founded in 1981 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom, The Sage Group plc produces, sells, and supports business management software for small to medium-sized companies. Since 1991, it has expanded by acquiring other companies and integrating them into the Sage group, a process that has enabled it to massively expand the scope of its markets while vastly increasing the number of products that it offers. Sage currently has 14,800 employees around the world, and sells products to 5.7 million customers. It has support contracts with 1.7 million customers, and manages 36,000 customer calls per day. Its global network features 25,000 reseller partners and 40,000 accountants.
Channels 
10.9 MB 
