Why You Should NOT subscribe to SugarCRM

In this article, we will be showing you several reasons to avoid switching to SugarCRM. We hope this helps you clarify your CRM purchasing decision.

Reason #1: You are not looking for the best bang for your buck

SugarCRM Professional offers the most value per dollar – of just about every CRM available. Their “built in” feature set includes items such as:

• free access from any computer, be it MAC, PC or Linux
• free Workflow automation
• free Mobile access from any mobile device
• free Support to address any technical bug that you might encounter
• free ability to add your own Custom Module
• free Outlook Email integration
• free Outlook Task and Contact synchronization
• free and simple Reporting
• free Email sending of Reports
• free ability to place my Reports on my Dashboard
• free attaching of Documents
• free Field Calculations
• free ability to “conditionally” show and hide fields
• free Social Integration
• free access to “Inside View” data
• and a lot more

Reason #2: User Adoption is unimportant to your organization

When comparing the various CRM systems on the market, Sugar has the most simple User Interface. The screens are clean and simple. There is no extra clutter along the right and left side of the screen. There are no extra, unnecessary items along the top or the bottom of the screen. And once your users understand the Detail View and the List View for one entity, they will understand that logic for all the other views. Sugar’s simple, logical structure permeates the entire database. And this allows users to feel comfortable with the system after one hour of training.

Reason #3: You don’t care if your CRM vendor goes out of business in a year

SugarCRM is among the top 3 CRM providers for a reason – they have proven themselves! Even IBM has bought into their strategy – and named them their strategic alliance partner for Cloud CRM solutions. Sugar’s cashflow and financial reports show a strong, healthy, and stable company that is going to be around for a long, long time! They have the money to keep investing in product development. Bottom line – I am reducing my risks by partnering with Sugar. 

Free SugarCRM 6 Evaluation Tool

Click here to download our Free Sugar CRM 6 Evaluation.

With this Tool, readers will be able to identify the key enhancements within Sugar CRM.

Evaluation Topics addressed:

1. Sugar Mobile 1.0 details
2. Calculated Fields
3. Favorites and Favorites Dashlet
4. Twitter and Social Media integration
5. Reporting (filtering, scheduling)
6. User interface improvements (there are many!)
7. and much more.

Free – TCO Calculation Tool for implementing CRM

Click here to download our Free CRM TCO Calculator.

By using this tool, readers will be able to identify the key TCO line items that are relevant for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 3 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both Subscription (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

TCO line items:

1. Implementation
2. Annual License/User price
3. Support
4. Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
5. Staff
6. Network
7. Mobile
8. and much more.

Free Excel Spreadsheet to Compare multiple CRM Packages

Click here to download our CRM Package Comparison Tool.

With this spreadsheet, you will be able to identify the key similarilites and differences between 9 of the top CRM systems, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix, GoldMine, Sage ACT!, Pivotal and more.

Comparison Topics :

1. Hardware and Network support (Microsoft, Linux, etc…)
2. Key CRM Features
3. Pricing (Licensing, etc..)
4. Available Modules (e.g. SFA, Marketing, Service, etc)
5. Feature Details (Sync, Call Center, Quoting, E-commerce, Lead Management, Security, Workflow, and much more.
6. Industry/NAICS

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Why Upgrading to Sugar 6.4 makes sense

I will try to list off a few reasons for upgrading to SugarCRM 6.4.

Click here to check out a detailed Feature List.

#1: Calendar Improvements

• Users have the Ability to drag-and-drop items — Drag and drop items in Calendar for better ease of use

• Improvement to Quick create and edit forms — Click on any time slot within Calendar to create Meetings and Calls; also click on any Calendar item to modify information in Quick Edit forms

• Long meetings are now displayed in a solid continuous piece — Calendar items that are longer than 30 minutes in duration are displayed as a solid continuous item ie, they do not have lines demarcating the 30 minute time boundaries

• Users now have access to a Calendar dashlet — Calendar has been added as one of the Sugar Dashlet items in 6.4.0

• Individual color-codes for Meetings, Tasks and Calls — Meetings are displayed in blue, Calls in red, and Tasks in green. This will help  to distinguish and identify them easily in Calendar

• Now have the ability to change the first day of the week in month-views — Select any day as your preferred first day of the week from your User pages and display the modifications in month-view of Calendar

• Users can now navigate within Calendar by using the calendar view — Navigate to any date with lesser clicks of the mouse using the calendar view, instead of using the Next button

#2: Platform Improvements

• Database layer refactoring — In this update SugarCRM is planning a 3 phase, multi-release Database Layer refactoring to improve database independence and increase performance and stability.

Release 6.4.0 includes the first of these phases which mainly focuses on moving database specific code and queries into a clean class hierarchy, eliminating the DB helper classes. These changes may affect customizations and custom modules which were built against older Sugar versions. It is imperative to test the upgrade process in a staging environment before proceeding with the production upgrade, especially if the system includes customizations or custom modules.

• Cache upload enhancements — Upload directory moved out of cache directory and is now a separate directory; generated files (like javascript grouping files) moved to cache directory; encrypted data files and other persistent configuration files moved from cache to custom directory; unified APIs for upload and cache directory added. Note that you need to place the cache directory in any location within the file system after editing the config settings.

• CSS Sprites for better performance — Images of multiple icons combined into single images resulting in fewer images for the browser to download and fewer requests to the server. This results in reduced download time, less bandwidth consumption, and better performance of the application, and is beneficial especially for users with slower internet connections.

SugarCRM – Free Evaluation Document

Click here to receive our Free Sugar 6 Document.

With this free document, you will be empowered to identify the key enhancements within Sugar.

Topics include:

1. Twitter and Social Media integration
2. Calculated Fields
3. Favorites and Favorites Dashlet
4. Reporting (filtering, scheduling)
5. User interface improvements (there are many!)
6. Sugar Mobile 1.0 details
7. and much more.

TCO Spreadsheet for Budgeting CRM Costs

Click here for our Free CRM TCO Spreadsheet.

With this free spreadsheet, users will be able to see the chief TCO line items that are key for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 3 Year and 5 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both SaaS (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

TCO line items include:

1. Annual License/User price
2. Support
3. Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
4. Implementation
5. Staff
6. Network
7. Mobile
8. and much more.

Spreadsheet Tool for Comparison of CRM Software

Click here to receive our Excel CRM Comparison Tool.

With this tool, you will be able to view the key similarilites and differences between a number of the top CRM systems, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix, GoldMine, Sage ACT!, Pivotal and more.

Topics include:

1. Key CRM Features
2. Pricing (Licensing, etc..)
3. Available Modules (e.g. SFA, Marketing, Service, etc)
4. Feature Details (Sync, Call Center, Quoting, E-commerce, Lead Management, Security, Workflow, and much more.
5. Hardware and Network support (Microsoft, Linux, etc…)
6. Industry/NAICS

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New Features in SugarCRM 6.3

Sugar continues to develop amazing new features. Sugar supports up to 20 languages, and Sugar Administrators can select as many languages as needed to support their global workforce. Our staff has recently tested and reviewed the latest features of this new version.

Auto-Archiving Email in SugarCRM 6.3

Sugar 6.3 adds the ability to easily archive any email by CC’ing or BCC’ing the database’s unique email address. Simply add that email to the CC or the BCC line, and watch your email get archived into the database!! This makes keeping track of your email conversations with your customers even easier.

Document Sharing in SugarCRM

You can share documents with your team, customers or partners easily – using Google Docs or Lotus Live.

Social Marketing in SugarCRM

Sugar now integrates with Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. Users are able to even view Twitter or Facebook streams from within their Dashboards.

Social Sales Intelligence in SugarCRM

SugarCRM comes with Social Sales Intelligence. The built in (and free!) tool, InsideView, enables users to easily view demographic data on each contact or account (such as Revenue, # of Employees, and much more!). InsideView is the worldwide leader in Sales Intelligence.

Activity Streams in SugarCRM

Users are able to view internal communication (aka Activity Streams) for all leads, cases, contacts and opportunities that they have subscribed to. This functionality provides a “chatter”-like experience. Specific Activity Stream items can be replied to or deleted.

Online Collaboration in SugarCRM

You can start and schedule meetings using Webex, GoToMeeting or Lotus Live – with the built in Sugar Activity Type.

Simplified Data Import Options in SugarCRM

Users can now download an Import File Template. This template enables users to easily see the field names and formats – and thus be optimally prepared for their import. On top of that, the Import Wizard has been very much optimized.

Importing Contacts from Google into SugarCRM

Importing contacts into SugarCRM from Google Contacts is now as easy as 1-2-3! When running the contact import, simply select “My data is in an external application or service. Then select Google Contacts! It’s that easy. Fields are already mapped and ready to go!

Public Cloud Options in SugarCRM

Not only can Sugar be hosted in the Sugar On-Demand environment (hosted by SugarCRM in their own environment), but also in one of the following 3 environments.

• Customer Network – Users are able to host the database themselves behind their own firewall.
• SugarCRM Partner Cloud – Partners are able to host Sugar in their environments
• Public Cloud – Sugar can be hosted within Windows Azure, Rackspace or even Amazon Web Services
• IBM Smart Cloud – IBM even recently named SugarCRM its Cloud CRM Alliance Partner!

Customization and Workflow in SugarCRM

Users are now able to configure Calculated Fields without paying for a programmer! This functionality is built right into the field design module of Sugar. Each field can be calculated. An example of a calculated field is “Days until Close”. This would be a date field. Currency fields are also popular for this purpose – examples would include “Commission Amount”.

Fields can also be set to visible or invisible – based on the content of other fields. Lastly, SugarCRM comes with the ability to create “Related Fields”. Thus a user can easily relate any record to other entities.

There are unlimited possibilities with these new customization options available in SugarCRM!

SugarCRM 6 – Free Assessment Document

Click here to download our Sugar 6 Evaluation PDF.

With this PDF, you will be able to identify the key enhancements within Sugar CRM.

Topics addressed include:

1. Calculated Fields
2. Favorites and Favorites Dashlet
3. Twitter and Social Media integration
4. Reporting (filtering, scheduling)
5. User interface improvements (there are many!)
6. Sugar Mobile 1.0 details
7. and much more

TCO Calculator – Free Tool for CRM Projects

Click here to access our Free CRM TCO Calculator Tool.

With this new spreadsheet, you will be able to clearly identify the important TCO line items that are relevant for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 3 Year and 5 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both SaaS (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

TCO items include:

1. Annual License/User price
2. Support
3. Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
4. Implementation
5. Staff
6. Network
7. Mobile
8. and much more

Free Spreadsheet Tool to Compare Multiple CRM Systems

Click here to download our Free Excel CRM Comparison Tool.

With this excel tool, you will be able to identify the key similarilites and differences between 9 of the top CRM systems, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix, GoldMine, Sage ACT!, Pivotal and more.

Comparison Topics include:

1. Key CRM Features
2. Pricing (Licensing, etc..)
3. Available Modules (e.g. SFA, Marketing, Service, etc)
4. Feature Details (Sync, Call Center, Quoting, E-commerce, Lead Management, Security, Workflow, and much more.
5. Hardware and Network support (Microsoft, Linux, etc…)
6. Industry/NAICS

Nationwide Training and Consulting for CRM

With locations throughout the United States, Accent Gold Solutions is able to provide excellent CRM training, consulting and implementation service whereever you are. Please contact us to find out the best way to get your CRM project underway. Remember, step 1 is to figure out what your business requirements are, and step 2 is to select the proper CRM system for your individual needs.

Being certified in various CRM systems such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix CRM, Sage ACT!, SAP CRM and more, we are confident we can advise you as to the proper CRM software to fit your business. 

Whether you are in San Diego, California or Phoenix, Arizona, we can get your CRM solution designed, implemented and trained so that your users will love it and use it. We define our success by your CRM adoption rate. So call us to get started!

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Join our LIVE SugarCRM Webcast – 11/16/2011

Make the time to join SugarCRM and Accent Gold Solutions for a 30 minute webcast. This webcast will help you discover how to REACH valuable customers KEEP them.

>>REGISTER NOW FOR THIS LIVE WEBCAST<<

Understand why more and more companies are looking to SugarCRM to help them reach and keep customers in today’s complex selling environment.

How to Reach & Keep Clients using SugarCRM

Please join us for our free, live 30-minute webcast, sponsored by Accent Gold Solutions–the CRM Experts–and SugarCRM, to see how we can help you profitably attract new customers, keep your existing customers happy and gain instant visibility into your company’s vital sales and marketing operations.

SugarCRM is CRM Made Simple, and with release 6.3, it’s even faster, easier and more powerful than before.

Sign up for our FREE SugarCRM 6 Evaluation PDF

Download our Free Sugar CRM 6 Evaluation

With this Review, you will be able to identify the key enhancements within Sugar CRM.

Factors include:

1. Calculated Fields
2. Favorites and Favorites Dashlet
3. Twitter and Social Media integration
4. Reporting (filtering, scheduling)
5. User interface improvements (there are many!)
6. Sugar Mobile 1.0 details
7. and much more

Sign up for our FREE TCO SPREADSHEET for CRM

Click here to download this Free CRM TCO Calculator Tool.

With this spreadsheet, you will be able to identify the key TCO line items that are relevant for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 3 Year and 5 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both SaaS (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

TCO keys include:

1. Support
2. Annual License/User price
3. Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
4. Implementation
5. Staff
6. Network
7. Mobile
8. and much more…

EXCEL Spreadsheet Tool for Comparing CRM Systems – 100% FREE

Click here to receive this Free Excel CRM Comparison Tool.

With this tool, you will be able to identify the key similarilites and differences between 9 of the top CRM systems, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix, GoldMine, Sage ACT!, Pivotal and more.

Evaluation includes:

1. Key CRM Features
2. Pricing (Licensing, etc..)
3. Available Modules (e.g. SFA, Marketing, Service, etc)
4. Feature Details (Sync, Call Center, Quoting, E-commerce, Lead Management, Security, Workflow, and much more.
5. Hardware and Network support (Microsoft, Linux, etc…)
6. Industry/NAICS

Search terms for Compare CRM:

• sugarcrm blog

Join our LIVE Webcast – 11/16/2011

Make sure to join SugarCRM and Accent Gold Solutions for a 30 minute webcast. This webcast will discuss how you can FIND valuable customers KEEP them.

>>REGISTER HERE FOR THE LIVE WEBCAST<<

Discover why more companies are looking to SugarCRM to help them attract and retain customers in today’s complex selling environment.

How to Find & Retain Customers using SugarCRM

Join this free 30-minute webcast, sponsored by Accent Gold Solutions–the CRM Experts–and SugarCRM, to see how we can help you profitably attract new customers, keep your existing customers happy and gain instant visibility into your company’s vital sales and marketing operations.

SugarCRM is CRM Made Simple, and with release 6.3, it’s even faster, easier and more powerful than before.

Receive our SugarCRM 6 Evaluation PDF – 100% FREE

Download our Free Sugar CRM 6 Review

With this Review, you will be able to identify the key enhancements within Sugar CRM.

Issues include:

1. Calculated Fields
2. Favorites and Favorites Dashlet
3. Twitter and Social Media integration
4. Reporting (filtering, scheduling)
5. User interface improvements (there are many!)
6. Sugar Mobile 1.0 details
7. and much more

Free TCO Calculator SPREADSHEET for CRM Implementations

Click here to get our Free CRM TCO Calculator Tool.

With this spreadsheet, you will be able to identify the key TCO line items that are relevant for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 3 Year and 5 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both SaaS (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

TCO topics include:

1. Support
2. Annual License/User price
3. Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
4. Implementation
5. Staff
6. Network
7. Mobile
8. and much more…

EXCEL Tool to Compare CRM Systems – 100% FREE

Click here to get our Free Excel CRM Comparison Tool.

With this tool, you will be able to identify the key similarilites and differences between 9 of the top CRM systems, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix, GoldMine, Sage ACT!, Pivotal and more.

Evaluation includes:

1. Key CRM Features
2. Pricing (Licensing, etc..)
3. Available Modules (e.g. SFA, Marketing, Service, etc)
4. Feature Details (Sync, Call Center, Quoting, E-commerce, Lead Management, Security, Workflow, and much more.
5. Hardware and Network support (Microsoft, Linux, etc…)
6. Industry/NAICS

Search terms for Compare CRM:

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