The Cloud Trend
So we’ve talked about the benefits of SaaS (Software as a Service) including cost efficiency, scalability, and even its positive effect on the environment. However, most companies handle their Business Intelligence (BI) applications in-house. This may not be true in the next few years as SaaS usage is expected to grow to 23% by 2013.
What exactly are BI applications? Business Intelligence applications are computing utilities ranging from data mining and analytic programs to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms.
CIO conducted a survey in May with over 300 IT leaders and found that 23% expect to utilize cloud of SaaS as their main BI solution within three years.
For SaaS vendors, this is incredibly good news, as 57% of those surveyed claimed they anticipate a bigger investment in BI applications within the next year. Opportunity is knocking!
The Benefits of SaaS
We’ve already discussed the benefits of SaaS, but we’re going to do it again!
Two Major Advantages of SaaS
- Cost Efficiency:
o SaaS eliminates the need to buy licenses in bulk.
o Rented on a month-to-month basis (lower upfront costs).
- Off Site Management:
o Reduces workload for in-house IT staff.
o Vendor monitors and updates application.
o Off-site automated backups available.
Its Up To You
Do you want to be ahead of the game and hop on the bandwagon now or later? Regardless of what you decide, SaaS is on the rise. Now is the time to start thinking about whether or not to head into the Cloud.
10 Steps for a Successful CRM Implementation
With more than 21 years of experience as an IT support person and software developer, Nancy Keddy, Co-Founder and CEO of Touch Ahead Software, has "seen and heard about many CRM implementations that have gone poorly, but [has] also had the pleasure of being involved with many successful implementations."
In our white paper, "10 Steps for a Successful CRM Implementation," Nancy makes critical points on key elements that organizations must consider when considering a CRM implementation.
Without considering these key elements, a company's CRM initiative could fail. Read the white paper and see what valuable information you have yet to discover about correctly choosing and implementing a CRM solution!
Here is a preview of the contents of the white paper:
1. Business Process
When implementing a CRM solution, the organization as a whole needs to become accustomed to the application. Successful companies use CRM as a tool to give them the information they need so they can be more effective. When you implement a CRM system, you cannot hold the preconception that people do not like change or that everyone has their own way of handling information. Let us be clear here, it is not about each person individually, it is about the team as a whole. It’s about the organization’s goals and achieving them, which in the end benefits each person.
Hold your team accountable and get your statistics from your CRM. Do not allow users to provide other sources for their information. If they had ten meetings in a month, the CRM should have a record of those ten meetings.
Garbage in, garbage out! In order for the CRM to work optimally within your organization, you must ensure your users enter content completely and consistently. This way, the information you get out of the system will be helpful to you and everyone else.
2. Ease of Use
Ease of use allows for a smooth user adoption experience. Day-to-day activities need to be simple and quick. CRM is about having information at your finger tips. Managers need to access the pipeline and statistics quickly. The whole team needs to be efficient. Adding key information needs to be quick and simple, and it needs to follow the work flow. For example, if certain users are fast on a keyboard, the CRM should have keyboard equivalents to get through the process with less mouse clicking...
We hope you enjoyed the preview!
To continue reading, please click the link below or the image above.
10 Steps for a Successful CRM Implementation
If you worry about
employees’ reluctance to learn how to use the new CRM software your organization
has just invested in, this post may help ease your mind.
Since investing in CRM
software requires a substantial amount of thought and careful consideration,
you have the right to want everyone in your organization to use the software to
its full potential. You may worry that some people will be reluctant to use it,
or that they won’t want to put effort into learning how to use it. Although not
every CRM system is difficult to use, some people find it hard to
leave their comfort zone and become familiar with a new way of doing things - even if the new way will benefit them.
The following suggestions
may help ensure that employees are willing to adopt the new software:
Lead by Example
If you want employees to be
as excited about the new software as you are and to see the value it has in helping with everyday tasks, it helps to be an avid user yourself.
If employees know that you
don’t actively use the software, they probably won’t think it is worth it to
use it themselves. After all, why would an employee use software that a leading
figure in the company won’t even use? Take the time to explore your new
application and you will see how greatly it benefits you. You will then naturally
want to share your enthusiasm with others in the organization. Also, there is
likely going to be someone who stands out in your organization as a quick adopter.
Encourage this person to help and motivate others.
Train
Once the CRM software is
implemented, it can’t be expected that employees will automatically know what
to do with it and which buttons perform what function. Therefore, it is
necessary that there are learning resources available to employees.
Training sessions help employees
learn the purpose of certain functions within the software, as well as how to
enter data correctly. They help everyone to be on the same page and learn how
to use the software strategically. It helps to think of examples that are
applicable to your organization's processes to use during training. If you find
a certain tutorial video interesting, share it with those you think could
really benefit from it. Remember to take advantage of the learning resources the CRM vendor has available!
Written by Melissa Cocks
Touch Ahead Software LLC
What You Should Take into Consideration
When it comes time for you
to start using a CRM system for the first time or to take the plunge and adopt
a new one, there are some things you may want to consider to make sure you are
prepared to use a CRM system for all it is worth.
CRM software is meant to
help your business in many different ways, especially to increase efficiency.
In no way is it supposed to make things more complex and stressful for you. It
can do great things for you such as keep you organized and updated, help you
identify problem areas and trends, and, of course, help you maintain
relationships with clients. There are countless ways in which CRM systems can
help you.
You may find yourself a bit
overwhelmed if you don’t have an idea of what you would like the CRM system to
help you to achieve. Do you want to see where you are lacking productivity? Do
you simply want to record contact information and keep track of communication
with clients? What about having the ability to create and share groups of
contacts?
Although it’s perfectly acceptable for you to want to do only one of
these or all of them combined, you should at least know what you expect the
system to help you with. This should be considered before you purchase
software. It might help to think of
what your organization’s pain points are and what data you plan on entering
into the system. Keep in mind that since you have to actually enter data to
give yourself and the CRM system something to work with, you cannot expect to
realize results without the user(s) giving input.
In order to use the system to its full
potential, to get the most out of the system and to realize the benefits, you
must learn how to use the system, and to your benefit. This is where simplicity
comes in as a valuable characteristic. The more simplistic your CRM
software is (simplistic meaning uncomplicated for the user), the better able you will be to use it for all it is worth because
you will have a better chance of knowing all the features really well instead
of just knowing many features slightly or not knowing them at all. If you pay
for software that has a million different complicated features, and they aren’t
helpful to your business or you have no idea how to use them, you may be
setting yourself up for frustration.
Written by Melissa Cocks
Touch Ahead Software LLC
At both the ACG InterGrowth Conference in Las Vegas and the Growth Conference in Boston in 2009, we conducted a survey to gain insight regarding the alternative asset community's CRM usage and experience. The survey was administered to those who represented a private equity, venture capital, or any alternative asset firm. The survey was comprised of ten questions with multiple parts.
The following information summarizes Touch Ahead Software's findings.
CRM Software Satisfaction
42 out of the 55 companies (76.4%) questioned about satisfaction with their current CRM software responded that they were dissatisfied.
CRM Brand Usage
27 of the 61 different companies surveyed (44.3%) use a Microsoft Office application (i.e. Outlook, Excel, Access) in some way as a part of their total CRM experience.
7 (11.5%) use a Microsoft Office application to supplement another brand of CRM.
Of the total 61 companies surveyed:
o 22 (36.1%) use non-CRM Microsoft applications
o 10 (16.4%) use Salesforce
o 9 (14.7%) use ACT
o 5 (8.2%) use Microsoft Access or Dynamics CRM
o 4 (6.6%) use SalesLogix
o 3 (4.9%) did not know or gave no response
The remaining 8 companies (13.1%) use other CRM brands.
Most Valued Features for CRM Users
Survey participants were also asked to rate CRM features in order of what is most valuable to them.
The options consisted of the following:
o ‘Ease of Use'
o ‘Web-based'
o ‘Integrates with Outlook'
o ‘Integrates with External Data Base'
o ‘Ability to Get a Clear Snapshot'
o ‘Flexibility and Ease of Customization'
o ‘Schedule Management'
The results from the 14 companies that responded to this specific question:
o 42.9% ranked ‘Ease of Use' as the most important
o 21.4% ranked ‘Schedule Management' as the most important
o 14.3% ranked ‘Ability to Get a Clear Snapshot' as the most important
o 14.3% ranked ‘Integrates with Outlook' as the most important
o 7.1% ranked ‘Integrates with External Database' as the most important
They also found that the following CRM features were ranked as second most important:
o 35.7% ‘Ability to Get a Clear Snapshot'
o 14.3% ‘Web-based'
o 14.3% ‘Flexibility and Ease of Customization'
o 14.3% ‘Ease of Use'
o 14.3% ‘Schedule Management'
o 7.1% ‘Integrates with Outlook'
Drawing from this data, it can be concluded that amongst the group surveyed, the top three most important CRM features are ‘Ease of Use,' ‘Schedule Management,' and ‘Ability to Get a Clear Snapshot.'
Frequency of Switching CRM Software
30 out of the 57 companies (52.6%) who responded to the question "Have you switched CRM software within the past three years?" responded that they had not.
Usage of Business Information Services
It was found that 32 out of the 53 companies (60.4%) who responded to their question about using business information services (Capital IQ, Hoover's, Dow and D&B) do not use them.
Of the 21 companies that said they do use them:
o 18 (85.7%) said they use Capital IQ.
o The next most commonly used service was D&B, followed by Hoover's, Dow, Thomson Reuters, and others such as Manta, Merger Market, Capital Link, etc.
Data Views Used Most Commonly
After asking the companies about what they used most commonly for data views, they found the two most popular responses to be ‘contact information' and ‘deal tracking.'
Best-Valued Features
After asking the companies what features would be of the greatest value to them that they do not currently have, the two most popular responses were ‘user friendliness' and ‘integration.'
Written by Melissa Cocks
Touch Ahead Software LLC
75 Kneeland St., 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02111
866-960-9301
sales@touchahead.com
www.touchahead.com