CRM Blog

Dashboard CRM

I have personally implemented Microsoft Dynamics CRM internally in our firm - and I’m a believer! There are numerous enhancements. And these are specifically aimed at improving the user adoption experience, not just adding new fesatures. One of the best improvements is the MS CRM Dashboard.

CRM Dashboard

Dashboard CRM users are empowered to customize their views as well as personalize their reporting dashboards. One beautiful option here is In-Line Visualization. Similar to Pivot Tables, your data can be charted and graphed. Graphic options include Pie, Funnel, Column, Bar and more.

This new MS CRM Dashboard experience allows for flexible drill-downs on any field. Try doing the same drill-down within Microsoft and Salesforce. You’ll notice an immediate speed and time difference!

MS CRM Dashboard Examples:

Although there are  numerous potential CRM Dashboard examples, we provide 3 samples below – simply to “wow” you. Yes, these are eye-popping. They work, and they work fast! 

Other features that have been addressed in CRM 2011 are as follows:

CRM 2011 System Features for users:

1. New Look and Feel within Office. MS Outlook connects with MS CRM via a button in Outlook. MS CRM 5.0 uses the same Ribbon as is used in Office 2007.
2. Singular Layout. Having seen the success of this approach within its top competitors, Microsoft’s new screen strategy is bold and wholistic. Pop-ups have their place, but the new Singular Layout makes navigation easy and quick. Tabs can be accessed as drop-down options on the Information button.
3. Layout Design via Drag and Drop. Rather than spend tons of time creating a layout, designers can now use drag and drop to quickly move fields where they are needed.
4. Dashboard CRM. Users are empowered to customize their views as well as customize their reporting dashboards. One beautiful option here is In-Line Visualization. Similar to Pivot Tables, your data can be charted and graphed. Graphic options include Pie, Funnel, Column, Bar and more.
5. Flexible User Interface (Layout). In the past, layouts were fairly inflexible. Now, labels can be positioned in various proximities to the fields.
6. Advanced Security. Not only is record ownership carried over from MS CRM 4.0, but this new version also includes role-based ownership.
7. Filtered Search Results. Layouts can now be customized such that they only show specifically filtered data.
8. Layout Footers and Headers. In order to limit scrolling, Layouts can be designed such that the most often needed data can remain visible at all times.
9. Drop-down simplification. Instead of having to define unique drop-downs, global drop-downs can be defined and managed within “Managed Solutions”.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Feature Evaluation

==>Click here<== to access our Free MS Dynamics CRM 2011 Analysis.

CRM Topics covered include:

1. Salesforce.com vs Microsoft CRM
2. Pros and Cons of SaaS vs On-premise CRM
3. Crucial User Adoption Factors
4. Total Cost of Ownership of Microsoft CRM

Free SugarCRM 6 Assessment PDF

SugarCRM also has an excellent CRM Dashboard tool. ==>Click here<== to access the Free Sugar CRM Evaluation PDF.

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

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.

Free Excel Tool to Compare CRM Systems

==>Click here<== to access and download 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.

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

Microsoft CRM 2011 vs Salesforce.com Webinars

==>Join us for this competitive webinar<== as we explore the points outlined below – and hope to provide you valuable insight about this top-rated CRM solution. We hope that our comparison with Salesforce.com will help you on in your CRM evaluation.

Search terms for Compare CRM:

• crm dashboard examples
• dashboard examples
• dashboard samples
• crm 2011 dashboard
• salesforce dashboard examples
• free crm dashboard examples
• act sales funnel
• ms outlook examples
• crm vtiger map table
• sugarcrm pipeline dashlet dont show bars

Most CRM users have become comfortably numb to CRM Systems that are either Too Complicated or Too Expensive. In fact, many CRM Systems are BOTH.

Much of our work at Accent Gold is to help our clients simplify their CRM process so that User Adoption increases. We have found that our customers often want to perfectly emulate their business process within their CRM tool, be it Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage ACT or SugarCRM.

Yet in the end, we have found there to be 3 keys to our success at rolling out CRM projects:

1. We strive to understand your business processes. Since Tim and I both grew up within the Sales Environment (I worked at Xerox, selling DocuTech production printers), we “get” your process. And we “get” why Sales and Marketing often despise each other.
2. We make every effort to help users adopt their CRM. Our trainings are not about technical skills. They are about simplifying the CRM process for the user, so that he or she knows exactly what to focus on each day. He doesn’t have to become an expert at the entire system – just the parts he is accountable for.
3. We create reports and dashboards that allow managers to manage. This starts with a simply “User Adoption” report. As a manager, you need to know if your users are using the system and what functions each user may not feel comfortable with. From there, we can create virtually any type of report you need. We “get” Business Intelligence!

Do you need a review of SugarCRM or Microsoft Dynamics CRM as an ondemand web based CRM software (windows CRM application vs web CRM software)? Do you have questions regarding the pricing model (Licenses, Software as a Service SAAS CRM) and feature differences between the various online web CRM solutions on the  market? Are you interested in a SugarCRM or Microsoft CRM upgrade or in need of a download to install the lastest version? No worries! Just give us a call! We’ll help you understand just how powerful these web based online customer management tools can be as a hosted sales CRM – especially in an Open Source or Call Center software environment.

Do you need a live demo of how SugarCRM or MS CRM as online CRM solutions compare to other sales force tools such as SageSalesLogix (Cloud) CRM, vTiger (Open Source CRM) or Salesforce (on Demand CRM)? Are you concerned with understanding free web CRM Software and your options?

Do you have questions regarding the world of web CRM, hosted CRM  and cloud CRM in a local CRM environment? Do you need CRM training in Kansas City, a CRM implementation in Dallas, or CRM consulting in Indianapolis? We would love to assist you!

Do you need clarity regarding CRM lead generation services or CRM  support/help plans? No worries! Just contact us!

Search terms for Compare CRM:

• crm process
• saleforce implementation in kansas city
• customer relationship management implementation
• keys to a successful implementation
• keys to successful crm implementation

If you are using the Community Edition of SugarCRM 6, you might be wondering if you should upgrade to the Professional Edition. Click here to see a Feature Comparison Chart.

Below is a list of features that you would gain by upgrading to Professional:

REPORTING

1. Matrix Reports. Create powerful reports across modules with the ability to group by multiple attributes. These are very powerful reports that truly help you discover your ROI.
2. Dashboards. Monitor key business metrics across Marketing, Sales and Support.
3. Customer Profiles. These provide a better understanding of who your customers are. Reports and dashboards show customer profiles by industry, geography, company size, product assets, revenue and other important attributes. By gaining a better understanding of customers, companies can better manage existing relationships and build new ones.
4. Marketing Analytics. This allows you to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns from the initial offer to a closed sales opportunity. Managers can asses the effectiveness of marketing campaigns relative to budget, channel, expected revenue and win rate to gain a full picture of how marketing programs impact the sales pipeline.
5. Sales Trends. Sugar Reporting gives sales managers the insight needed to adjust to changing business conditions. On one screen, sales managers can monitor the pipeline of sales representative by sales stage, view how many calls each rep has made over a given time period, and monitor closed and expected revenue for the quarter. Managers and reps can also take advantage of the strong reporting and charting capabilities to create personalized dashboards that update whenever information changes.
6. Case Reports. Monitor customer problems and how well your customer support team is solving these issues. Case Reports can be used to measure open cases by time period, support representatives, priority and entitlement. With Sugar Case Reports, managers gain a better view into the satisfaction of its customers and the performance of the support organization.

MARKETING, SALES, AND SUPPORT

1. Forecasting gives sales representatives and managers the ability to generate accurate forecasts based on sales data in SugarCRM. Managers can create, assign and edit quotas for their team, roll-up forecasts across individuals and teams, and measure forecast accuracy relative to commit amounts. Sales representatives can take advantage of scenario planning tools to generate high, medium and low forecasts, utilize worksheets to develop accurate commit amounts, and track their sales progress from the Sugar homepage.
2. Plug-ins for Microsoft Office integrate your CRM data with the Microsoft’s leading productivity tools. With a few simple clicks, Sugar users can sync email, contacts and calendar information into Sugar modules, export data into Microsoft Excel and merge CRM data in Microsoft Word.
3. Quotes & Contracts. With Sugar Quote and Contract Management functionality, sales reps can generate accurate quotes with support for multiple line items, currencies and tax codes. Quotes and contracts can be delivered to customers via email, Word or PDF. Strong version control functionality ensures reps can more easily manage multiple versions of quotes and contracts.
4. Mobile. Stay in touch while on-the-go with Sugar mobile functionality. Sugar offers wireless and PDA access that is hassle-free so you can continue to work away from the office. Sugar mobile solutions translate to less downtime and greater productivity.
5. Data Merge. Pull information directly from LinkedIn, Hoovers and JigSaw directly into Sugar 6.
6. Knowledge Base. The Sugar Knowledgebase helps customer support and engineering teams to better manage and share structured and unstructured information. Knowledge Base allows user to create frequently asked questions (FAQs), manage files, and search and rate content – all in an easy-to-use interface.

PLATFORM

1. Workflow Management streamlines critical business processes within your organization. Using Sugar templates, administrators can create custom business processes based on Sugar Objects. Users can also define alerts, actions and triggers to become a more responsive to customer demands.
2. Team Management allows companies to create and manage teams based on job type, division, geography or other attributes. Once roles are assigned, administrators can assign access rights to a given role to ensure team members have access.
3. Module Administration. Delegate administrative authority for different parts of the application.
4. Access Control. Sugar Access Control levels allow information to be shared or restricted based on user role. Administrators can determine what information that role can access at either a module, view or field level. Access Control rights include the ability to access, view, edit, import or export.
5. Data Quality Control. Insure clean data through import and de-duplication controls.
6. On-Demand or On-Site. Choose which deployment option is right for your organization.

Do you need more information or a SugarCRM demo? Do you need to understand the differences between SugarCRM and other CRM solutions such as Sage ACT!, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix or Salesforce.com? Please don’t hesitate to contact us. We would love to help you properly compare so that you are empowered to choose the best web CRM Business Software system for your organization.

Search terms for Compare CRM:

• sugarcrm community edition vs professional
• sugarcrm community mobile
• difference between sugarcrm community and professional
• sugarcrm community edition versus professional
• code differences between sugarcrm communitiy edition and professional
• who is using community sugarcrm
• upgrade sugarcrm community to professional
• sugarcrm upgrade community edition
• sugarcrm community quotes
• sugarcrm community edition access right control

We often get asked about which simple CRM tool best integrates the sales process for Sales Reps. We can recommend ACT, Microsoft CRM and SugarCRM as the best CRM software tools available for Sales departements. This blog will focus on how Sugar excellently handles the Sales Process for users.

First of all, Sugar empowers Account Management. While ACT is contact-centric, (which might be preferable, depending on the environment), SugarCRM is Account-centric and thus provides and excellent overview of a Key Account. The Account view displays information regarding all involved contacts, leads, influences, opportunities, activities, histories, quotes, projects, and contracts.

Secondly, Sugar’s opportunity process is a breeze. Updating the Stage and Status of an Opportunity can be easily customized and more easily implemented by users. Need custom fields? Sugar’s got it.

Need workflow or automation in your sales process? Sugar’s got that built in. Once an event or meeting has occurred, it is now listed as a history item. Updating the status of an opportunity to “Closed Won” automatically updates the probability to 100%. This then affects the pipeline, which in turn simplifies reporting analysis for sales management.

Need Opportunity security? No worries. Sugar allows for simple or highly complex security models. Need to hide opportunities or accounts from certain users? No worries. Just create your teams and roles at the outset. Then limiting access for each new employee or sales rep is a 5 minute process!

Do you need a personal demo for this fantastic Open Source CRM solution? Then please call us for a free presentation. Our goal is to review with you your options. And our hope is that in the end you will feel well advised and look to us for further knowledge, training and services.

Do you need a demo or review of Sugar as an online CRM software (windows CRM application vs web CRM software)? Do you have questions regarding the pricing model (Licenses, Software as a Service SAAS CRM) and feature differences between the free/community edition and the  paid (professional, enterprise) editions? Are you interested in a SugarCRM upgrade or in need of a download to install SugarCRM 6? No worries! Just give us a call! We’ll help you understand just how powerful this web based online customer management tool can be as a hosted sales CRM software - especially in an Open Source or Call Center software environment.

Do you need a review of how SugarCRM as a web based CRM compares to Sage SalesLogix (Cloud) CRM, vTiger (Open Source CRM) or Salesforce.com (on Demand CRM) - or the differences to hosted MS CRM? Are you concerned with understanding free online CRM Software and your options? Do you have questions regarding how the world of online CRM, website CRM  and cloud CRM in a locally hosted CRM environment? Do you need clarity regarding CRM lead generation tools or CRM maintenance and support (incl. CRM Help) plans? No worries! Just contact us!

Search terms for Compare CRM:

• ACT sales process
• sugarcrm sales process
• sugar sales process
• sugar crm sales process
• Simple CRM
• sales process tools opensource
• sugarcrm-sales process
• sugarcrm sales process history
• best crm for sales rep
• sugarcrm import projects

In our experience at Accent Gold, all Sales Managers face 2 key challenges in the realm of CRM. First, sales reps spend too much time on administration and data entry instead of being face to face or on the phone with customers. Second, Sales Reps simply aren’t using existing CRM tools because it just doesn’t fit their needs and their business processes.

SugarCRM 6 address these issues by organizing Sales Leads, Contacts, Opportunities and Accounts into a single, simple dashboard view.

The results for Sales Divisions are 3-fold:

1. Sales Reps are more focused and thus productive
2. Sales Managers have visibility regarding performance
3. Sales Executives receive the reports they need to drive revenue.

On a single Dashboard Report, Reps can view (a) a list of their new leads (b) their hot opportunities (c) deals that have closed recently and (d) how they are performing against target quotas.

Rather than manually compiling a list from Outlook Email, Accounting Reports and Excel Spreadsheets, users and managers are able easily view and respond to their sales data – all within a single, simple Dashboard.

This increases user adoption. Users can also easily add custom charts and lists to their dashboard.

To find out more about how SugarCRM’s Dashboards can be customized to meet your needs, give us a call. Sure you can look up the SugarCRM Wiki, but we would love to advise you on and review with you your options and on the best way to use the built in dashboards with Sugar.

If you need a Sugar Demo or more information about Sugar as a hosted CRM management software  integrates with iPhone or other mobile phones, let us know. Do you need a demo or review of Sugar as a customer relationship management software (windows CRM vs online CRM software)? Do you have questions regarding the license pricing and feature differences between the free/community edition and the  paid (professional, enterprise) editions? Are you interested in a SugarCRM upgrade or in need of a download to install SugarCRM 6? No worries! Just give us a call! We’ll help you understand just how powerful this web based customer management tool can be as a hosted sales CRM – especially in an Open Source or Call Center software environment.

Do you need a review of how SugarCRM as a web based CRM compares to Zoho CRM or Salesforce.com – or the differences to hosted MS CRM 4.0? Are you concerned with understanding CRM Software On Demand? Do you have questions regarding the world of online website CRM  and how the CRM cloud (Saleslogix) can work for you in a hosting CRM environment? Do you need clarity regarding CRM lead generation tools or CRM support/help plans? No worries! Just contact us!