Today’s guest post is written by Adria Saracino.

The traditional sales pipeline is dead.

Customers no longer move down a linear corridor from marketing and PR to sales.

Rather, the customer is constantly connected – and expects the same of his or her favorite brands.

The customer now wants (and feels entitled to) a true relationship.

Easy peasy, except this constant connectivity creates a mass of data through which businesses must sort and respond. This is no easy endeavor and can quickly turn into information overload.

That’s why now, more than ever, it’s crucial for businesses to have a system in place for wrangling, redirecting, and nurturing this flood of customer data coming in from all directions. (more…)