Wizard Systems

Falling back in love with CRM

Just like your first love, inexperience, excitement and unrealistic expectations may contribute to your first CRM project not standing the test of time. 

 

Let’s be honest - with the first CRM deployment, no business knows exactly what to expect. So if your first CRM experience has not been great, no need to worry: you can easily bounce back! And if you learn from that first experience, you can get it right the next time!

 

So, let’s take a look at WHAT MAKES A CRM PROJECT GO WRONG?

 

Side tracked

With a CRM deployment it is very easy to lose focus on the real objectives. The main question you should hone in on is: Why is the business investing in CRM?

• Is the goal to increase revenue?    
• Should the focus be cutting costs?
• Is it possible to do both?

In the first flush of excitement, it is far too easy to forget that underpinning goal... and that could cost your project dearly.

 

The wrong partner

Initial attraction is no guarantee of relationship longevity and no relationship will succeed if there is a mismatch.
From a CRM perspective, there are many potential traps and pitfalls to avoid. The right partner can ensure the right approach to the project and reduce the impact of issues on the business. The wrong partner can tempt you down an expensive and unrewarding path. Many companies are keen to sell a CRM system bundled with apps and add-ons but will they:

• Successfully implement the solution across the business?
• Manage change across the organisation?
• Guarantee successful user adoption?
• Deliver a solution tailored to your specific business and strategic goals?

A good partner should always be transparent and tell you the truth. Like in any relationship, trust is pivotal.
 

Avoid distractions

Don't get led astray by seductive yet unnecessary new technologies or apps and keep focused on your core objectives. Only once these are achieved you can begin to expand CRM into more parts of your business with ease. Bells and whistles are great but make sure that they help you address your business goals and help you reach the outcomes you want.

 

WHAT MAKES IT GO RIGHT? 

Be Specific

So how can you avoid expensive and potentially CRM derailing solutions? The only way to keep the relationship on track is to concentrate on the fundamentals - and that means setting very specific goals that will keep you on track to achieving your overall objectives. For example you can set cross- and up-selling targets or focus on using CRM to improve your understanding about existing customers to improve the relevance of cross and up-sell offers.

You need to continually monitor performance against these targets and honestly assess the success of your CRM strategy. Don't take anything for granted and do not be disheartened - long term success requires continuous scrutiny and assessment and it is a journey. You have to keep working on it.

 

Take Responsibility

Like any relationship, success depends on people taking responsibility. No one can take a part-time approach to a relationship and expect it to succeed. A CRM project is far more likely to be successful if it is the sole responsibility of an individual or a small group of people who make it a priority.
Done well, CRM can transform the way the business operates, from customer interactions to sales & marketing impact. Effective change management is essential, and a responsible approach makes a massive difference to project outcomes:

• Dedicate an individual / or small group to overseeing change.
• Ensure you have the right partner.
• Reinforce the message regarding CRM outcomes.
   

Learn from the Past

The perception is that CRM has been around for a while and is not that difficult to implement. The reality is that first time failure is both incredibly common and a huge learning opportunity. Take aways should include:

• Understand the limitations of that first CRM system to identify what to look out for going forward.
• Recognise the mistakes that were made: Was there poor communication with the CRM vendor? No change management? A loss of focus? What could we have done differently?
• Highlight any areas of benefit: Did customer service improve? Was it easier for sales staff to share information and manage their engagement with customers and prospects? Was the marketing activity more targeted and could you effectively measure the ROI of your marketing investments?

Success the second time around is about taking the positive from that first experience and being objective about the negatives. It is also important to recognise the role the business played in the outcome first time around.

 

Face the Truth

Not all relationships or CRM solutions can be saved! Whatever you do, don't let the relationship drag on beyond its 'sell by date'. The result is not only lost time and money, but gradual erosion in the overall perception of CRM and its value to the business. It may be hard to walk away from that first CRM solution, but the business has changed and grown and making the decision to let go may be what’s best for your business. 

• Business goals have changed.
• Technology has developed.
• The relationship with the vendor no longer works.
• The company has simply lost faith in the CRM solution.

All is not lost - there are plenty of other solutions to fall in love with. The right solution that will actually provide you with value is out there. You just need to start looking for it.  Just as a new relationship can introduce you to new interests and people, when CRM works well it can be transformative!

 

Long-term partnership for success 

No relationship is perfect. It takes work, commitment and dedication to get the best from both sides. This is no different in a business. It is imperative to:

• Retain focus on the objectives.
• Remember the reason for the CRM investment.
• Gain advice as to how best to achieve that goal.
• Don't get side-tracked by the glittery attractions of new technologies, apps or features. Focus on what will impact your business now and for the foreseeable future.

 

There is no excuse for letting old CRM constrain the business or allowing the fear of trying again to hold you back. Just learn from your mistakes and go on a quest for the right solution! It will be better the second time around. 

The key is to identify, prioritise and address the most pressing issues. Failing to understand the outcomes you are looking for and not clearly defining your CRM requirements at the beginning of the project can have dramatic consequences and affect your ability to measure its impact on the business.

Contact Wizard Systems to help us choose your next CRM!

 

Workbooks CRM User Case Study - How Workbooks keeps track of leads & opportunities

Find out how AbBaltis use Workbooks to keep track of leads & opportunities and now have full visibility and traceability of all their customers. Watch their story here:

 

 

QuoteWerks version 5.4 released with 41 new features and support for latest ACT!

A major new release of QuoteWerks has been released, version 5.4 build 1.08.  Here's a run down of the new features.  To get access to the latest version of QuoteWerks, you must have an Upgrade Maintenance Program from Wizard Systems. Please contact us for details..

 

New Features - Build 1
	1. Microsoft SQL Server 2019 is now supported! [Service Release: 1.08]
	2. ACT! version 21 is now supported! [Service Release: 1.08]
	3. Maximizer CRM 2019 is now supported! [Service Release: 1.08]
	4. SugarCRM 8.2 is now supported! [Service Release: 1.08]
	5. Integration to ShareWerks web-based collaboration and communication system! With ShareWerks you can collaborate on this quote with your team, keeping all the communication in a single place rather than spread out over unstructured emails or chats. All the files and conversations relating to this quote will all be in one place where you can easily access them. At any time you can invite additional people into the discussion and immediately they will have access to all the previous messages and file uploads making it easy to get those people up to speed on the quote. Just use the [Discuss with ShareWerks] button on the Notes tab of the Quote WorkBook. [Service Release: 1.08]
	6. You can now manually override the automatically calculated Grouped Bundle Price. This is useful when, for example, your grouped bundle total is $5,043.23 and you would like to present it to the customer as a "cleaner looking" $5,000.00". Just type in the manual amount into the Grouped Bundle's Unit Price column and QuoteWerks will distribute the $43.23 difference across all the line items in the bundle in a proportional way. During this process any PriceModifiers for the bundle items will be cleared. [Service Release: 1.08]
	7. There is now a Find feature that lets you search the line items in the currently open quote. There are several ways to use this. First you can select the Edit->Find menu (or press CTRL-F) which launches the find window and sets the Find Column to which will search all the columns. While on that window you can choose to just search a single column. Alternatively, you can CTRL click on the column heading to search that specific column. You can search for things like, search for lines with a profit margin less than 10, search for lines with an empty cell, search for dates greater than specified date. When the search is run, it will find and highlight the first match, then you can successively press the [Find Next] button to highlight the next match. As matches are found, this is also a great opportunity to press the highlight button to set a highlight color for the row the match is on. [Service Release: 1.08]
	8. You can now sort Line Items on the Document Items grid. Just select the rows that you would like to sort and then click the column heading you want to sort the rows by. You can hold down the SHIFT key to do a reverse sort. Since quotes can have different line item types that are purposely meant to stay together, the sort will only sort the selection if it contains Product/Service, Comment, Heading, or Summary lines. You can select a contiguous range or lines, or can single select multiple lines. [Service Release: 1.08]
	9. For QuoteValet users, with the recent introduction of QuoteValet payments that can apply surcharges or discounts based on the payment method, we've added refinements to make it easier to understand the total amount of payments made vs the Surcharges/Discounts, and the balance remaining. These additional breakdowns are on the payments area of the QuoteValet tab, the Payments tab of the QuoteValet Dashboard, the main QuoteValet page (once a quote has been accepted), and also on the QuoteValet Payment page. [Service Release: 1.08]
	10. For Autotask users, bi-directional data linking is now supported for Autotask opportunity fields. Field information can be copied from QuoteWerks into the Autotask opportunity and then fields can also be copied from the Autotask Opportunity into QuoteWerks. [Service Release: 1.08]
	11. For MS CRM users, bi-directional Data Linking is now supported for MS CRM opportunity fields. Field information can be copied from QuoteWerks into the MS CRM opportunity and then fields can also be copied from the MS CRM opportunity into QuoteWerks. [Service Release: 1.08]
	12. For MS CRM users, retrieving the existing opportunities on the opportunity window is significantly faster. [Service Release: 1.08]
	13. For MS CRM users, the opportunity name can now be changed on the create new opportunity window. [Service Release: 1.08]
	14. For MS CRM users, the opportunity name now supports the Default Opportunity name Generation macro from the Misc tab of Tools->Options. [Service Release: 1.08]
	15. For MS CRM users, if a follow-up call was created, the link is now displayed under the links tab. [Service Release: 1.08]
	16. For MS CRM users, more than 250 users can now be loaded on the opportunity window. [Service Release: 1.08]
	17. For MS CRM users, the DataLink now retrieves a list of all the Contacts, Accounts, and Opportunities fields available from MS CRM. [Service Release: 1.08]
	18. For QuoteValet users, there is now a [Dismiss All] button on the Inbox tab of the QuoteValet Dashboard. [Service Release: 1.08]
	19. For QuoteValet users there is now a [View QuoteValet Users] button on the Logged In Users window that will show you the users that QuoteValet licenses are currently allocated to. [Service Release: 1.08]
	20. The Etilize subscription no longer requires that you enter an S License Key each year as the annual subscription expires. QuoteWerks will check with the Aspire Licensing Server to obtain Etilize subscription information. [Service Release: 1.08]
	21. Under Utilities->License Manager menu there is a new [Redeem Code] button that can be used to replace or add License Keys into QuoteWerks with a single Redemption Code. Especially useful and time saving for Edition Upgrades, License Relinquishments, and Fresh Installations. [Service Release: 1.08]
	22. For ConnectWise Manage users, the DataLink can now copy information from QuoteWerks into ConnectWise Manage opportunity fields when QuoteWerks creates or updates a ConnectWise Manage opportunity. This can be done on the opportunity level with the EventAction of "CRMOppHeader_CreateUpdate". Information can also be copied at the line item level when QuoteWerks is creating/updating ConnectWise Manage opportunity product items using the EventAction of "CRMOppItem_CreateUpdate". The DataLink is bi-directional so after the Opportunity is created/updated in ConnectWise Manage you can setup a DataLink mapping to copy information from the ConnectWise Manage opportunity back into the QuoteWerks quote for fields at the opportunity level. This functionality also is available when creating a new QuoteWerks quote from a ConnectWise Opportunity via the QuoteWerks Opportunity Dashboard or via the Quote button on the ConnectWise Manage Opportunity. As an example, At the Opportunity Item level, this new functionality enables you to control what QuoteWerks Line item field is mapped to the ConnectWise Manage Description and Customer Description fields. While At the Opportunity Header Level, this new functionality enables you to populate the ConnectWise Manage Opportunity Notes field from a QuoteWerks field and also exposes the Opportunity Custom Fields to be mapped as well. [Service Release: 1.08]
	23. For QuickBooks Online users, when searching for a QuickBooks Online Item from the QuoteWerks Product Lookup by Manufacturer Part Number, results will be returned by both the QuickBooks Item MFG Part number and the Item Name. [Service Release: 1.08]
	24. Added the Manufacturer field to the POItems table which can now also be used when emailing POs from the Purchasing window. [Service Release: 1.08]
	25. For QuoteValet users, support for the "Stripe" Payment Gateway has been added. [Service Release: 1.08]
	26. For QuoteValet users, the ability to view license allocation errors has been added to the QuoteValet Insight Usage Monitor. [Service Release: 1.08]
	27. For QuoteValet users, template support now includes [DH_&PreparedByFullName] and [DH_&SalesRepFullNameOrUserName]. [Service Release: 1.08]
	28. For QuoteValet users, the ability to receive email notifications indicating the total number of times a customer has viewed the quote is now available. Contact Technical Support to activate this feature. [Service Release: 1.08]
	29. On the Quote Workbook, the drop-down menu for Sales Rep and Prepared by will now seek the first matching name when pressing the first letter of the name on the keyboard. This enables you with a key press to select a name in the list. This is helpful when there are many names in QuoteWerks. [Service Release: 1.08]
	30. Added option "When adding or inserting a Comment Line, place cursor in Description column" under the Misc.General tab of the Tools->My preferences menu. You can uncheck this if you want the cursor to be placed in the Description Column of the Quote Workbook when inserting or adding a Comment Line to the document. [Service Release: 1.08]
	31. When using Microsoft Word documents with QuoteWerks, you can select DOCM files in addition to DOC and DOCX. [Service Release: 1.08]
	32. For ConnectWise Manage Users, when clicking on the Quote Button in the ConnectWise Manage Opportunity to create a new Quote in QuoteWerks, the ShipTo and Bill To Contact Address Information from the Opportunity will be brought over to the new QuoteWerks Document. This functionality requires a contact for each to be specified. [Service Release: 1.08]
	33. For ConnectWise Manage Users, on the My Summary tab of the QuoteValet Dashboard, when clicking on the "Create Quote for ConnectWise Opportunity", the ShipTo and Bill To Contact Address Information from the Opportunity will be brought over to the new QuoteWerks Document. This functionality requires a contact for each to be specified. [Service Release: 1.08]
	34. For ConnectWise Manage users, the ConnectWise Opportunity will now have a link to open the QuoteWerks document in QuoteWerks Web. [Service Release: 1.08]
	35. For ConnectWise Manage users, when setting up the DataLink for Retrieving SoldTo, ShipTo, or BillTo contacts, the Custom Field Names will now be returned for both the Company and Contact to map. Previous to this change, you would need to manually type in the custom field name in the datalink setup. [Service Release: 1.08]
	36. For the DataLink Setup, Added InternalNotes, IntroductNotes, ClosingNotes, and Purchasing Notes as fields that can be mapped when mapping to a "QuoteWerks Field as a Destination." [Service Release: 1.08]
	37. Added new "Remove Optional Attribute for Selected Items when converting." option on the Installation tab under the Tools->Options menu. This is used to remove the "Optional - SELECTED" attribute for items that the customer did select in the quote when converting the quote to an order. [Service Release: 1.08]
	38. On the Payments tab of the QuoteValet Dashboard, dbl-clicking on a payment now opens the document the payment is for. [Service Release: 1.08]
	39. Added new user settings to control when overriding the automatically calculated Alternate Unit Price. UserSettings\UserConfig\AlternateCurrencyPriceOverrideDisablePrompt=-1 UserSettings\UserConfig\AlternateCurrencyPriceOverrideDisableColoring=-1 UserSettings\UserConfig\AlternateCurrencyDefaultSelectedTotals=-1 [Service Release: 1.08]
	40. License Key addition, removal, and creation is now logged in the event.log [Service Release: 1.08]

sagecrm.com being discontinued (NOT on premise Sage CRM!!)

Attention all sagecrm.com users out there, Sage plc have given notice of the imminent retirement of sagecrm.com.  THIS IS THE CLOUD VERSION OF SAGE CRM SOLD DIRECTLY BY SAGE AND NOT SAGE CRM THAT IS INSTALLED ON YOUR OWN SERVER !!!!!

Here is the announcement in full sent to Sage Partners like us, but a similar one has just gone out to subscribers of sagecrm.com:

"We've recently undertaken a full review of our CRM portfolio. As a result of this review, we have made the difficult decision to retire the CRM.com product as of 31 August, 2019. After this date, you will no longer be able to access Sage CRM.com. This decision will enable us to focus our time and resource differently to ensure we can deliver market leading solutions for our customers.

Effective immediately, no further sales or upgrades can be purchased. Technical support will be available until 31 August, 2019.

For customers that you have using this solution, we'd ask that you work closely with them to ensure that they do not permanently lose access to their data. Before August 31, 2019, data must be backed up to a separate location, details on how to do this are available here.

Customers will be directed to contact their support provider, in some cases this may be Sage. For direct customers, if they choose to migrate to an alternative solution like Sage CRM then we'll provide them with names of 3 alternative partners, please let your account manager know as soon as possible.

Migration of data from Sage CRM.com to Sage CRM is possible, as the data is in a different structure, work is required to match the necessary import structure. Sage are unable to provide a migration tool, instructions or support if this is the option the customer opts for.

If you have any questions, please contact your account manager.

Regards

Sage Product and Services Team"

So.....We at Wizard Systems would love to speak to you about a move to Sage CRM on premise.  We can help you with the transition and you might end up saving money!!  Please contact us if you are on sagecrm.com and you use this cloud version of Sage.

 

Mapping option for Workbooks CRM - See it in action this Friday 2nd November 2pm

Our next regular Workbooks presentation is Friday 2nd November at 2.00pm UK time.  This time we're going to cover the Mapping option with Workbooks.  The Mapping Module gives Users the ability to view the locations of People and Organisations on a Map.  This is a useful tool for Field Sales Teams or anyone who is off-site visiting customers, as it makes it possible to compare the location of one customer to other nearby customers, and to see which customers are within a certain distance of a point – meaning that they could plan their day around a particular location.

 

 

....And you can ask us plenty of questions on the call!

It will be about a 15 minute session and there's no charge by the way!

You have to register first at (please do this as soon as you can and not just before the presentation is due to start) 

 

 

Workbooks CRM - NEW features to be added this weekend

Here's a review of  some great new features to be delivered to Workbooks CRM this weekend:

 

Deleted Items

 

We have now made it possible to restore a deleted Record within Workbooks. Most Record Types that are deleted by a User can be now retrieved from the Deleted Items within 30 days. More information on how Deleted Items works can be found on the Knowledge Base.

 

 

 

Scheduled Bulk Actions

Bulk Actions can now be set to recur at regular intervals. They can be used to perform all of the same actions that are available from a Report or Landing Page.

 

 

 

An option is now available when running any bulk action to Run on a schedule, this can be used to reassign Records when they meet certain criteria on a daily basis, update fields with data based on other criteria within a Report or create Activities or Compliance Records for newly created Records. More information can be found on our Knowledge Base and we have created two worked through examples on our Support Forum.

 

 

 

Image and File Fields

 

Image and File Field types are now available which allow you to attach files directly to a record. Image Fields will display the image and only allow .png, .gif and .jpg files but File Fields do not restrict the file type.

 

 

 

Separately, a hidden ‘Files’ tab has been added to most of the record types. Create or modify a form layout to reveal it if you would like to use it. 

 

 

 

 

Disable Forgotten Password

 

If an email account is compromised then delivering a forgotten password link is a way for someone to gain access to Workbooks. This can now be turned off to prevent access to a database in this manner. We recommend that you only do so after carefully considering how your users will regain access should they forget their password.

 

It can be configured at the account level for all of your users within Account Settings.

 

 

 

Alternatively, this can be managed on a user by user basis within the Password section of a User record.

 

 

 

 

Date Filters & Criteria

 

We have added new Report Criteria and Landing Zone Filters that can be applied to Date Fields. This allows you to look at Records where dates are in more specific time frames such as; “in the last 2 hours”, “in the last 3 months” and “in this and the last 6 months”.

 

 

 

 

Calculated Column Comments

 

It is now possible to add comments in the formula for a calculated column, allowing you to explain how it should work. Full information on this can be found on our Knowledge Base.

 

 
 

 

 

Current User Report Filters

 

There are two new Report criteria available on Text columns: ’is current user name’ and ‘is current user login name’. This makes Reports easier to design when only wanting to show Report results specific to the Person viewing the Report.

 

The current login name will use the User’s email address rather than name, which may be necessary where an Assigned to name may not be unique.

 

 
 

 

Grand Total on Achieved Column

 

When displaying Targets on Summary Views the Total Achieved percentage is now available showing the overall Total Achieved against Total Target.

 

 
 

End of Support Notification for Sage CRM version 7.3

Every year in Autumn, an older version of Sage CRM moves into 'end of support' status and another version enters a status of 'extended support'. This is detailed in Sage's support policy and is standard industry practice for technology companies.

From 01 October 2018, Sage CRM 7.3 will no longer be supported by Sage, after going into extended support in October 2017.

Sage CRM 2017 R1, R2 & R3 enters extended support on 01 October 2018, with all support for this version ending on 30 September 2019.

Full details of the change of service is outlined within the Sage Resource Centre.

We believe that using the latest software is the best way for us to help our customers to run their business effectively, to use all the new features and compatibility benefits.  If you are on Sage CRM version 7.3 or older, please speak to Wizard Systems about an upgrade.

 

Sage CRM 2018 R3 now released - Calendar and MailChimp integration enhancments

Sage CRM 2018 R3 provides new features and enhancements in the following areas:

• Calendar - Create quick appointments and view calendar as a list
• Quick Find - Search by postal address, email address, and phone number
• MailChimp Integration - A user can now set the status of a MailChimp campaign to Closed. This doesn't affect the campaign status in MailChimp. Closing MailChimp campaigns in Sage CRM is particularly convenient when you have a long list of campaigns and want to move some old or unused campaigns out of your way.
• Supported character sets - Better support for Unicode characters in email messages
• Setup - Sage CRM Setup has been improved to verify the integrity of the MailChimp Integration-related database tables and views during upgrading. If an issue is found, Sage CRM Setup displays an error message.

To access the new version of Sage CRM, you must have a current 'Maintenance Contract' for Sage CRM and it then needs to be installed on your system.  Wizard Systems can do this for you and we can provide a price.

Here is a link to download the full release notes and information on this update

Download SageCRM_2018R3_ReleaseNotes_EN

Workbooks CRM Case Study - Forum of Private Business - How Workbooks got rid of the Frankenstein Monster! Implemented by Wizard Systems

The Forum of Private Business is a not-for-profit organisation offering support to companies – most of which employ fewer than 50 employees – about many aspects of running a business, from employment law, HR and health and safety, to finance, legal, compliance, marketing and sales.

Until 2017, the Forum relied on a cobbled-together CRM solution based on an old, unsupported version of Microsoft Dynamics, which included an integrated Sage 200 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

Over the years, the old CRM system was modified numerous times to make it fit the Forum’s requirements – but those modifications were undocumented, which eventually made the whole system unmanageable and impossible to update. The lack of documentation made support and training increasingly problematic too.

Read more about the Workbooks system installed by Wizard Systems helped get rid of the 'Frankenstein Monster'.........

Download Forum of Private Business Case Study - Workbooks

GatorMail for Workbooks - Why is it so different from other email marketing solutions out there?

We're running a short presentation on GatorMail for Workbooks on Thursday 9th August, 2pm UK time.  GatorMail is the most popular email marketing add on for Workbooks.  We will run through the main offerings for Gator and it's tight integration with Workbooks CRM.  Plus you ask us loads of questions.

Please register to get your place (it' free to attend)