Chris Bucholtz

Chris Bucholtz is Editor-in-Chief of CRM Outsiders and leads analyst relations for SugarCRM.

Chris is a long time journalist, blogger and CRM industry influencer. For over 17 years he's been a technology journalist for some of the industry's best print and online media. After his role at CRN (Computer Reseller News), he became the first Editor of InsideCRM, a Focus.com brand. He then took the reigns as Editor-in-Chief of ForecastingClouds.com—an online destination delivering rich content and thought leadership views regarding CRM and ERP cloud solutions. He's also a regular columnist for CRMbuyer.com.

In his current Editor-in-Chief role, Chris is the voice of CRM Outsiders, the fourth most influential CRM blog in the world, according to a recent study. Bucholtz continues the CRM Outsiders tradition of being an independent and opinionated CRM advisor, who provides trusted and useful content to the market. He uses his extensive network to encourage other CRM visionaries to contribute regularly on CRM Outsiders.

"One of the things that made CRM Outsiders such a success with readers was the fact that it told stories and offered objective advice, rather than relying on market speak and pushing veiled sales pitches in a social media format," said Martin Schneider, Vice President of Marketing at Basho Technologies and former chief contributor and editor of CRM Outsiders.

Chris outlines his perspective, in his very first CRM outsiders blog post, "I love the CRM space, and here's why: I come at it from the point of view of a customer first, then as a small business owner, then as a journalist, and then, way down the road, as a technology nerd."

Chris' writing style is unique and certainly effective in capturing a dedicated following. "Chris brings an unassuming brilliance to his writing, research and relationships. I've had the privilege to work with Chris and learn from his experience. His focus in writing from the reader perspective results in a unique style that frames both opportunities and challenges facing his readers in a straight forward business context, renders the content easy to consume, delivers thoughtful take aways and keeps readers coming back for more," said Chuck Schaeffer of CRMsearch.com.

As a case in point, Chris frames a common challenge felt by many IT and business executives trying to get beyond adoption of a few social media tools and figure out a more holistic social strategy. “Social CRM is a huge challenge, because the avenues for customer input are no longer limited in number and controlled by the business,” says Chris, who further frames the social challenge, “That’s created a lot of confusion—where do you listen? How do you respond? Because customers are unique, even within specific markets, what works for one company may be very different from what works for another company.”

In this case, executives are too often looking for quick social solutions, however as Chris points out "This (social CRM) is not a case where you can buy a product, look up some ideas in a business book, and mechanically follow instructions. This is a case where you have to learn enough about your customers to know how they behave socially and to interact with them in ways that make sense through a collection of different tools. Although you may now be less likely to get face time with them, you may also now be required to know them better and understand them more deeply."

It's a complex business challenge no doubt, but as Chris notes its why he loves covering the topic and it's not without its upside. "Establishing real relationships is harder than managing data, and it's potentially more rewarding, to both parties in the relationship."

Chris is also effective in extending his communication skills to the most cautious of industry pundits, including the analyst community. "Chris has great credibility in the analyst and blogging community," said Nick Halsey, CMO and EVP Corporate Development of SugarCRM, who says Chris both leads analyst relations and educates the market on why companies worldwide should work on a comprehensive CRM and social CRM (SCRM) strategy.

Readers who follow Chris' and CRMoutsiders.com are destined to gain deep understanding and perspective to both the challenges and opportunities of CRM and social CRM strategies, processes and tools.

By Chris Bucholtz on CRMsearch.com

	CRM Software Choice—Beyond The Vendor Rhetoric
	Chris looks at CRM software and customer choice. Not necessarily choice as espoused by CRM vendors, but real choices—and suggests that delivering more available choices among technology alternatives, deployment models, customer support options and otherwise—is a smart move for both customers and vendors. More ...
	Oracle OpenWorld '11 Review
	Oracle OpenWorld 2011 succeeded in furthering the company's cloud and social strategies. However, the Ellison-Benioff feud over-shadowed important announcements and suppressed some of the ideas that get people thinking, and then turn into hundreds or even thousands of small epiphanies, which are shared, discussed and become the ideas that return to businesses around the world. More ...