Few executives in marketing and sales would debate the value of reference selling. However, most of us manage references on an ad hoc basis versus making it a standard operating practice. Listen as Joshua Horwitz - CEO of Boulder Logic - provides insight and advice in how to put more structure and discipline around reference selling to make it really pay off.

Providers tend to execute a single communications plan across all of their partners, often missing out on opportunities to improve indirect channel performance. Listen as Tiffani Bova highlights the key findings of her recent research that shows how tailored communications can drive higher contribution and loyalty from all channel partners.

One of the keys to taming the wild-wild-west of social media can be found in governance practices. In this podcast, Chris Boudreaux of Accenture highlights the findings of his survey of how leading companies are applying governance to social media to protect the brand, the company and the message. Listen and learn more.

2009 was a difficult year. Shrinking economic activity, rising unemployment, decline in investment returns and eroding confidence in the financial system rippled through to even the most-resilient insurers. But as insurers navigate through the continued turbulent effects in financial markets, many have managed to continue investment in IT, specifically with core systems. Listen and learn more.

In the aftermath of the economic crisis, property and casualty (P&C) and life insurers need to adapt their business and IT priorities. IT managers need to become more agile and align closer with their business peers to gain a competitive edge in an uncertain and challenging market environment. Listen and learn more.

Social media extends the one-to-one marketing model that sprang from Web 1.0 more than ever, helping marketers reach out and connect with prospects that were previously difficult to find. But all the increased market noise from social media introduces new challenges. Listen as Tiffany Anderson - Account Supervisor at Sterling Communications - discusses social media's impact on the traditional world of public relations.

Lead scoring - the process that measures a lead's alignment with the provider's definition of sales readiness - is critical in allocating sales resources and deriving maximum business value from marketing projects. Listen as Bob Gallagher - President of Funnel Impact - discusses how lead scoring can help your organization set priorities and sell smarter.

When and where does Gartner see growth returning? It's the question on everyone's mind and in this podcast, analyst Laura McLellan talks about the type of growth - geographically and vertically - we can expect in all regions of the globe supported by Gartner forecasts. Listen and learn why buying behavior definitely changes in a recession, and which of these behaviors will outlive the recession for years to come.

The Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Value, by Richard Hunter and George Westerman, outlines a step-by-step path for transforming IT from cost generator to value creator. Listen as Gartner analyst Mark Raskino talks to the authors about some of the tenets of their new book.

Every year, a bigger piece of the IT vendor's revenue pie moves through the indirect channel, including (but not limited to) OEMs, resellers, systems integrators, and vendor Web sites. What is driving this aggressive movement of IT products, especially hardware, to the indirect channel? Listen and learn more.

In an economy where budgets are continuing to be slashed, innovation remains a key strategy for improving quality without incurring cost. But what is key to really sustaining innovation versus conducting the occasional brainstorm? And have executives moved past lip service to make innovation an integral part of their operation? Listen as Lisa Bodell, President and CEO of Futurethink, talks about the changing role of innovation.

A U.S.-based life insurance company is using social networking to communicate and collaborate with customers, and insurers can learn important lessons from this company's experience in its creation of its own branded destination. Listen and learn more.

Has the term online marketing become redundant now that everything is essentially moving online? And while email marketing is hugely popular, why are customers suffering more and more from email fatigue? Listen as Simon Grabowski - CEO of Implix - talks to Gartner analyst Richard Fouts about what marketers are doing to get above the noise with new channels constantly emerging.

Insurance companies often have a multitude of applications running, many of which lack cross-enterprise connectivity. Listen and learn why taking a more integrative, architected approach to insurance IT can help your organization maximize resources and save money.

How are technology resellers and VARs using social networks to find new customers, generate leads and improve close rates? Listen as Mark Sochan - President and CEO of Constructive - discusses the growth of social media in the reseller market.

Property and casualty (P&C) insurers must continue to replace legacy claims systems with newer applications to enable greater end-to-end claims management. Insurers that fail to address their aging claims administration systems will not be able to rapidly adapt to cyclical business changes or service customers quickly, accurately and cost-effectively. Listen and learn more.

To remain competitive, life insurers must efficiently offer new products, such as hybrid annuity and long-term care products; improve their abilities to cross-sell various products based on customer need; improve Web-based self-service capabilities for customers and distributors; and revamp operational, compliance and risk management processes. Listen and learn more.

The European Parliament has taken a first step toward harmonizing risk management for insurers in the European Union by approving the Solvency II framework. But delegates quashed stronger plans for cross-border regulation. Listen and learn more.

Every marketer wants to stand out, to be different...to rise above the market noise. But it takes courage. Listen as Eran Farajun - VP of Business Development at Asigra - discusses the challenges and successes of his company's recent marketing campaign, 'Recover Your Cool.'

Insurers underestimate the challenges that they will face in the next three years as a result of workforce turnover, recruitment and skill set preservation. Learn why it is imperative that companies prepare for the demographic and marketplace changes that are anticipated in the next few years.