What is CRM? Do I really need or want the big CRM? (No Comments »)
There are many definitions of CRM that can be confusing and challenging because of all the technical jargon and terminology. We want to demystify all of this by explaining what the different types of CRM are and how you go about choosing the right one for your business?
At the top level there is traditional CRM that has suited big organisations and enterprises in the past and many of you will have heard of these CRM giants i.e. Sales Force and Netsuite. This type of software was developed a decade ago and is very much the traditional menu driven type system most of us are familiar with when we think about database software. When I talk about this I mean that it took 3-4 steps/click throughs to create something, another 3-4 steps/click throughs to action it and rest to report on it and so on. It was slow and complex to use with many amazing features that the average user never fully utilised and isn’t cheap to run.
It was a system that was built for Managers to manage and not so user friendly for the rest of the team on the ground to adopt. However it was revolutionary for its time and very much supported sales teams helping them keep track of processes, pipelines and leads. So it was adopted by many businesses and still is going strong today however it’ s weakest link has always been to get the whole team to use it not just the managers.
Over the last few years a new breed of CRM has emerged stronger, faster and more powerful than its predecessors in the way that it satisfies the needs of both team workers and Managers. This new CRM is better known as web-based CRM and the global market is seeing a massive uptake from businesses large and small alike and this is the reason why.
Web-based CRM gives teams of people the ability to access CRM (database software) online from anywhere on many platforms (i.e. PC, Mac, Mobile, and tablets.) They are less complex and feature rich so appeal more to smaller businesses with less infra-structure who want to manage day to day processes i.e. prospect/lead tracking. The advantage of not being full CRM is that these simpler web-based CRMs require less data-entry by the front-line staff. Horses for courses, but simpler CRM are more likely to be used successfully by sales and office people. Web-based CRM is so much simpler to use, scalable and much more affordable.
However, generally simple means fixed in the past but this is not the case with icomplete CRM the latest breed of web 2.0 web-based CRM which received a DELL Computers Innovation award 2009 for releasing a very simple, yet configurable CRM service, now with built-in eMarketing and VoIP options. So simple that staff generally take 30 minutes to learn how to use it.
In sectors (media, advertising, TV, artists etc.) where sales talent is appreciated more, paid more, such simplicity with its lower data-entry burden is much sort after.
“According to icomplete CRM a classic example of this is a media client who has 4 unique fields and 3 tags as their entire prospect model. Simplicity in itself. In this case the staff rejected the current more complicated CRM application and lobbied the boss to get icomplete for their small team. They have since expanded their usage from 12 staff to 36 staff. We get people who cancel their SalesForce or other feature-rich CRM accounts and downgrade to icomplete, saving cash but more importantly getting the thumbs up from the sales staff. “
icomplete CRM is not devoid of team management, it’s just done more in a peer (sometimes peer competitive) style. The dashboard is like a twitter feed for the business, keeping everyone in the picture for the day, no more meetings to see who is up to what these days you can see it as it happens. It’s an approach that called the ‘Gamification’ of business, where the whole team see the flow and activity, not just managers.
Runners Up Dell Award 2009 (No Comments »)
We are pleased to announce that it was a close call in the final of the Dell UK Small Business Excellence Award 2009. It was neck and neck but we were pipped at the post by ‘A suit that fits all’ which went on to win the Global Dell Award too. Never the less we are proud to confirm that we were the the ‘runner up’ out of thousands of entries.