CRM Magazine Extends Nomination Period for 2009 CRM Market Awards

NEW YORK--CRM magazine, the customer relationship management industry’s leading publication, has announced the extension of its submission and nomination period for the 2009 CRM Market Awards.

CRM magazine’s eighth annual CRM Market Awards will honor the vendors, consultants, and end-user companies that have produced successful customer experiences through the use of people, processes, and technologies. Nominations will be accepted through Friday, June 19, 2009, and can be submitted online at http://www.destinationCRM.com/nominations.

In each of 10 categories comprising the various fields of CRM excellence, the magazine will name one vendor, firm, or consultancy as the Market Winner. In addition, each category will produce four Market Leader awards and a “One to Watch” winner.

These are the 10 categories:

• Enterprise Suite CRM
• Midmarket Suite CRM
• Small Business Suite CRM
• Open-Source CRM
• Sales Force Automation
• Incentive Management
• Marketing Automation
• Business Intelligence
• Data Quality
• Consultancies

Winners, leaders, and “ones to watch” in the CRM Market Awards will be determined through an extensive three-month process and proprietary rating formula that involves industry analysts, financial and corporate information, product and functionality assessments, and scores reflecting reputation for customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, CRM magazine is once again looking to identify Influential Leaders from within the CRM community, and intends to add yet another industry giant to its CRM Hall of Fame. Hall of Famers (and past Influential Leaders) include Larry Ellison, cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Oracle Corp.; Marc Benioff, cofounder, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce.com; Dr. Jim Goodnight, cofounder and CEO of SAS Institute; and Greg Gianforte, founder, chairman, and CEO of RightNow Technologies.

CRM will also be looking for a handful of Rising Stars, up-and-coming firms both inside and outside of the CRM industry that are changing the nature of the customer experience.

The CRM Market Awards recognize people and companies that have performed at the highest level, shaping the industry and pushing it forward. To that end, the magazine will also spotlight several customer initiatives as winners of its CRM Elite Award—highlighting the year's top CRM projects for their innovation and achievement.

(Please note: Nominees for the Elite award should be CRM users, not CRM vendors.)

The 2009 CRM Market Awards will be presented at a ceremony during the CRM Evolution Conference in New York in August 2009. An expanded version of the results will be published in the September 2009 issue of CRM magazine. The awards package will appear online beginning September 1, 2009, at http://www.destinationCRM.com.

About CRM magazine

CRM magazine is the leading publication of the customer relationship management industry, covering sales, marketing, customer service, and strategy. The magazine also administers and hosts the annual CRM Evolution conference. Each of these properties is designed to serve customer-centric business initiatives, and leaders who recognize CRM as a key strategy for creating enhanced customer value in any industry. For more information about the magazine, its editorial calendar, or CRM in general, please visit us on the Web at http://www.destinationCRM.com, or on Twitter at @CRM (http://twitter.com/CRM) and @destinationCRM (http://twitter.com/destinationCRM). The destinationCRM Web site (which is updated daily) and the monthly magazine are properties of CRM Media, a division of Information Today, Inc.