It wasn't invented yet. CRM.

Neither was Nike. The company was called Blue Ribbon and Phil Knight's first hire was a guy called Johnson.

He sold Tigers, the company's imports from Japan with the tenaciousness of a terrier.

And faithfully reported every move back to Knight.

He wrote every day detailing what he had done - the phone calls, customer responses, updates on sales calls, everything.

He sent so many letters, Phil Knight lost track. And at time, patience.

They were hammered out on a typewriter and covered details big and small.

Every single idea he had about selling more shoes was shared, photographed and earnestly followed up.

The lack of a response from his boss didn't dishearten Johnson. In fact, it seemed to propel him further.

Every customer he sold to got their own index card with the name, shoe size and shoe preferences.

This database was maintained in real files, not computers.

He sent his customers Christmas cards and birthday greetings.

When they won marathons, he sent them congratulatory notes.

They included  track stars and weekend joggers.

So, Phil Knight had an early human-driven CRM system much before it became the norm.

Just Do It was coined decades later

Waiting for the phone to ring

It rings. A customer calls in to talk.

Looking as if they are positively inclined to a purchase

But you know little about them and how they got to you

The digital journey that translated into the call is hidden

What worked for the customer and where you can begin a conversation is unclear

That's a gap that can be filled only by tracking customer interactions with advertising across platforms.

Wild Jar is able to get the points at which customers interacted and the digital journey to the point where they got in touch

And if you can get a sense of the stopovers on that journey, you're better prepared to engage.

It's like analytics that picks out progress points along the way.

An inbound call is like amber turning green.

Customers on the verge of buying - checking out companies they have shortlisted.

Wild Jar has signed up nearly 200 companies paying $1000 a month.

Alerting them to calls which should not be missed.

A social medium for movie buffs

Facebook may have the billions but is there a way to build for specific social interests?

For years now, Ning has offered the choice of building niche social networks and communities away from the dominance of Facebook.

Somehow, this group approach has chugged along gathering people around building drones, youth services, education and tackling mental illnesses and they probably fulfil the needs of those communities.

There are exceptions, of course - a company called Ravelry has built a massive network around crochet and knitting on its own, something that seemed like a trivial pursuit or a hobby.

It has a base of 9 million registered users with over 1 million active every month. 

Now, there's a social medium devoted to movies.

Letterboxd allows you to find people with the same taste in movies that you do.

So what does it have that IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes don't?

It allows you to build your own fan following around the films you care about.

Exchange notes and playlists with people who like the films you are passionate about.

It's also a new mode of discovery for movies not in the mainstream.

The site already has over 3 million members who have signed up.

Interested?

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