Nimble wins 2010 Willy award for SAAS SOHO

   

Nimble CRM has been awarded the WILLY  award by Rich Bohn of SellMoreNow.com. He is excited about the promise of this new CRM program in the burgeoning world of Social CRM. 


Sellmorenow has been reviewing and rating CRM systems for many years. See what they have to say about Nimble. 


Sign up for a Free copy of Nimble Contact

2011: The Year Social CRM Goes Mainstream

INC. on line presents an interesting look at what's to come in the CRM (customer relationship management) arena in 2011. As we've commented recently, one of the biggest challenge or opportunity for businesses will be how to participate in the social networking phenomenon. 

Most of the business folks we've spoken with have very little understanding of this new world. 

A major focus of Tech.Sell's efforts in the new year will focus on Social CRM and how to gain from this movement. 

The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management recently held a three-day course called "Managing Customer Engagement Using Social Media and CRM." The course included sessions on measuring the value of customers, the ROI of social CRM, and driving user adoption with change management. It's a sign of things to come.

"The changing corporate culture

"The challenge is that most companies have been wired from the ground up to operate in a world of company-controlled communication, and they're simply not equipped to engage in conversations. But, the rules have changed," says Greg Gianforte , founder and CEO of customer experience solutions provider RightNow. "To be truly conversant with social customers, companies are rewiring their operations to be more customer-centered, more relationship oriented, and more transparent. They're collaborating across departmental silos, working beyond the capabilities of traditional CRM tools, and weaving social into business as usual. " Read More....

Interested in Social CRM? Get a hands on copy of the new social CRM app Nimble Contact

Coming Soon to Social CRM - Nimble

Social CRM is a rumbling volcano, that we believe will be a major story and direction enhancement for many companies during 2011.  

How do you tap into the social networking scene? Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and so many more. This is a world where you deal with people talking and updating daily! No more dead data, from some imported mailing list? It's a lot like when e-mail was new and there was a thing called the internet and they had these silly web page things. Remember? 

We've been watching a program called Nimble. It's a whole new approach to CRM from the social networking perspective. Nimble is the brainchild of Jon Ferrara, co-founder of GoldMine. Jon is a true visionary and after taking time to raise his young family and enjoy life, he's back with a new passion - Nimble CRM. 

Here is a quick snapshot of Nimble, there will be more to come in the weeks ahead...

Nimble is a social relationship management solution that expands on the traditional notion of customer relationship management by transforming your entire community into business opportunity. It does this by leveraging the best of customer relationship management, social media and communication tools to engage any individual no matter where they are talking.

Nimble elegantly combines contact management, activity management, sales and marketing automation, traditional and social media communication tools, and collaboration features into one affordable Web-based solution. 

Unlike bloated CRM systems, Nimble is designed for simplicity. Its easy-to-navigate interface is based on decades of practical relationship management experience and has been intentionally developed with intuitive screens to get you up and running easily, and to find business-critical information in a single mouse click.

With Nimble, the heavy lifting is done for you. Connect Nimble to any social network (Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, IM, Skype and more) and Nimble will unify all your contacts and empower you to send or receive messages. It also automatically searches social media sites, identifies interested prospects and ranks those individuals according to their business potential. Once key information is identified, fully integrated collaboration tools allow you to share that information among those who need it most in order to accelerate sales, marketing and support processes. And as a Web-based solution, you can rest assured that your information is always accessible, no matter where you happen to be.

Nimble is designed to fit your needs. As an individual user, you will enjoy many of Nimble’s powerful features free-of-charge. As a small company, you can realize all of the benefits of Nimble’s product family for one low monthly subscription. And since Nimble is a Web-based solution, there are no costly IT infrastructures or yearly maintenance contracts – you simply import your contacts and you’re off and running.

In today’s social connected world, Nimble is simply the best way to grow your business.

For more info on, or to try Nimble, call us at 847-382-4500 or shoot us an email to join our mailing list. 

GoldMine ends support for Corp Edition 6.6 & 6.7

FrontRange Solutions, publishers of GoldMine software, has announced the discontinuance of support for  GoldMine 6.6 and 6.7 CE Corporate Edition: Details follow, but in our opinionthis is a timely move as the old technology is problematic on newer Microsoft OS. (Server 2008, 64 bit systems, and Windows Vista and 7). If you are still running an old CE system, call Tech.Sell at 847-382-4500 for details on some move up promotions. Take the tax savings this year and start the new year off on a positive note. Get complete details on GoldMine PE. 

GoldMine 9 offers a totally new user experience

From Greg Anderson, Global General Manager of FrontRange Solutions; 

The purpose of this letter is to provide our partner community product and support information for GoldMine Solutions 6.6 & 6.7 customers.  The industry standard of supporting software applications is to support the past two application version releases from the most recent version release. FrontRange Solutions and GoldMine products have far exceeded these industry standards throughout the past.  FrontRange Solutions is announcing our plans to discontinue support for GoldMine Solutions 6.6 & 6.7 releases.  As our ongoing commitment to GoldMine customers, and to allow for a smooth and orderly transition off GoldMine Solutions 6.6 & 6.7 releases to a more recent version of GoldMine, FrontRange Solutions will continue to provide customer support for GoldMine Solutions 6.6 & 6.7 releases until December 30^th 2011.    

A customer communication letter will be sent to all GoldMine Solutions 6.6 & 6.7 clients.  We encourage you to help your GoldMine Solutions 6.6 & 6.7customers migrate to the latest GoldMine product release in order to gain powerful business benefits.  These products include:

GoldMine Corporate Edition 7.6

- The Quintessential, award-winning contact management tool designed for businesses that need robust functionality, low total cost of ownership, with uncomplicated integration and configuration capabilities.

GoldMine Premium Edition 9.0

- Provides complete CRM customer lifecycle features, including Relationship Management, Sales & Marketing capabilities, as well as, complete Customer Service and Support functionality.  And, a newly designed user interface provides an enhanced end user experience based on the latest user interface standards found in the market today!

GoldMine Corporate Edition clients currently on maintenance are able to upgrade to the latest version GoldMine Corporate Edition 7.6 at no additional cost. 

GMCE clients currently not on maintenance have options for upgrading to the latest releases of GoldMine.  Please read below for more information.

Because GoldMine 6.6 & 6.7 customers have been key to FrontRange Solutions success, we are offering a one time only promotion for these customers to upgrade to GoldMine Premium Edition. This promotion is only for our GoldMine Solutions 6.6 & 6.7customers.  Please contact Tech.Sell for promotional details at 847-382-4500.

Top Ten Things You May Not Know About GoldMine Premium Edition 9.0

Join Paul Petersen of FrontRange Solutions to learn the  Top Ten Things You May Not Know About GoldMine Premium Edition 9.0  We interviewed GoldMine Premium Edition (PE) 9.0 users to find out the positive impact PE has had on their business. Join me as I share our findings. GoldMine Premium Edition has been a hit since it was introduced approximately two years ago. Premium Edition has been a huge difference with its new powerful dashboards, superior Outlook integration, Windows 7 and 64 Bit support, and much more GoldMine Premium 9.0 can serve organizations' CRM needs better than ever. Additionally, as the year comes to the end, I would like to remind you that now is a great time to finalize your decision - the Section 179 deduction for computers and pre-packaged software is the highest it has ever been and the depreciation option the fastest its ever been ... but it expires on December 31, 2010. I look forward to showing the benefits of working with Premium Edition as well as answering your questions.   Date: Thursday, December 9, 2010 Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time Register Now. If you have any questions call 1.847-382-4500 for information.

Building the Ultimate Sales / CRM System with GoldMine 9

Recently a potential client came to us looking for the "complete" CRM solution.

In a time when the majority of prospects just want to know "how much for the software?", period. Not how to use it effectively, just buy some software and hope to fix a problem. I found this very refreshing, a company who actually had the vision of a CRM system that would deliver results that could help build their entire company. 

They expressed a desire to do what it takes to be successful in CRM. (Apparently they had tried and failed four time in the past 10 years). They also wanted a premise based system that they could control themselves and avoid the ongoing subscription payments of an on-line. They called Tech.Sell because they wanted a partner with experience to guide their program.

So here is what we put together and why. 

Solid Contact Management - GoldMine Premium delivers a very solid, out of the box contact manager, featuring; easy customization, instant search from any field, shared calendar, history, linked documents, the ability to build targeted lists of contacts on the fly. Integration with MS Office and particularly Outlook. The interface was redesigned 3 years ago and we find the need for training has declined significantly. It's a very natural environment. 

Email Management - Our world revolves around e-mail. Our client had experienced some major disasters using other CRMs but particularly Outlook. Some users had lost or corrupted their PST files and the entire history of emails was gone. With other users critical messages were only on a local machine and not available to the team. GoldMine has it's own internal email client which integrates with POP or IMAP servers. Emails are automatically linked to the history of the related contact in Goldmine. It also provides the same functionality through Outlook. Either way there are no lost e-mails. They are shared by the team and part of the client record. 

Marketing machine - Our client realized they were missing an opportunity to target market to their clients and prospects. They weren't really using email to follow up or "poke" clients and prospects. As a result they were losing market share. They occasionally did Snail Mailings, but these were so expensive and time consuming that campaigns rarely got off the ground. We showed them how their GoldMine system used a simple 4 step process to create their marketing machine. 1. Define the target audience, create a group or filter to lock in the recipients. 2. Create an email template in GoldMine including merge fields that personalize each message. 3. Click send to deliver the message to the target group. 4. Create an automated process, schedule follow up calls and further email contacts automatically. 

Sales Machine - After the message is sent, an ironclad system to track leads, forecast sales and manage the status of opportunities is critical. Amazingly, anywhere from 60 to 80% of leads never get followed up on. Combining a solid sales process built into GoldMine's opportunity manager, with solid reporting for reps and managers, can stop this "lead leakage".  Tech.Sell has added to GoldMine's built-in tools with the Selling Machine add on and reports. Manager and sales coaching increases the effectiveness of the overall sales buy-in. 

Reporting/Measurement - What gets measured gets done. Why put data in without getting anything out? 

These two statements are so critical to the CRM program becoming part of management practice. A solid group of reports will help steer the ship, create metrics to support objectives and pinpoint areas for improvement. In our GoldMine system, the chosen reporting tool is MasterMine. With over 120 prebuilt templates, it's not only easy to get info out, but it's easy for mere mortals to create powerful reports. Since MM exports data to Excel, the results are familiar to just about everyone. MasterMine is an add on to GoldMine but probably delivers the biggest bang for the buck. 

Phone integration  Combining the phone with the CRM program really adds a huge dimension to the program. We are recommending DialPad from W-Systems. It's a powerful integration that helps schedule and track calls, prep the user with client history, and even prompts for data to be captured and brought back to GoldMine for sales process and prospect tracking. Learn more 

Document management - Our GoldMine super system has two key document components. The first is the document library where all users share a collection of Word and email templates complete with attachments. These Ready to Go templates provide fast follow-up and consistent quality to communications. Part two lies in the automatic linking of all documents, attachments and related files to the appropriate contact record. All users can quickly access important files, attachments and quotes.  

Remote access / mobility - How to open the data and info channel to the remote user. Our system has two key components, IGoldMine and W-Mobile. IGoldMine allows remote users on Mac or PC to access the GoldMine system via an internet connection. They work in the full GoldMine and get immediate updates to the system. Part two is for SmartPhone or iPad users. WMobile provides a simple interface directly to the GoldMine system through the web browser of any mobile device. There is no syncing involved. 

A third option is GoldSync which provides a full free standing GoldMine system for users who need to access their contact data while an Internet connection is not available. They sync bi-directionally via the internet.


Quoting system - Our client has had a real problem managing quotes. They get lost, become outdated or have no built in tracking and follow up mechanism. We incorporated QuoteWerks into the system. Quotewerks provides a shared database for all quotes. It automatically links the quote to the GoldMine contact record, schedules a forecasted sales and opportunity, sends the quote via email and creates a follow up!  What else could we want?  How about linking between GoldMine and Quickbooks.  It's a sweet system. 

Training and coaching  - Finally, but of utmost importance, is the support to make sure the investment becomes part of the culture. That happens through training and ongoing coaching. Making sure that everyone gets it. Measuring results against key goals of the program. Pointing out the pitfalls. Helping the leadership team incorporate all the new technology based info into their daily processes. This support continues indefinitely. After the program is in place, we will participate in management meetings to make sure that new goals and programs are being supported by the CRM system. In most cases they can be. 

So there you have it. The CRM Super System built on GoldMine 9. We've gone far beyond just selling some software. Our client has added a new facility to their company. A new way of sharing information, connecting the teams, accelerating marketing, customer information and strengthening the sales process. 

For more information call us at 847-382-4500.

Office 2011 for Mac Be Aware

Just a quick note for any mac users who are thinking about upgrading to Office 2011. There are some generally cool features see them here, but if you spend the extra money $130, for the Home and Business version see the details here, be aware that there is a big difference in Outlook.

Outlook is the primary reason to spend the extra money for the H&B version, BUT it doesn't work with any version of exchange other than 2007. Which also means you must be running a 64 bit OS on your server.

So if you don't have a Exchange 2007 or 2010 server save the money, forget the Outlook and stick with your old Entourage or use Mail on your Mac.

Get more out of your GoldMine CRM - MasterMine!

We've been a Solutions Partner for GoldMine software for 16 years now. In that time we've seen 1000s of GoldMine or other CRM installations. One of the biggest wastes of money is that people buy CRM software without a plan. 

They know they need it but aren't sure how to apply it's power to their business. So they install the software and use it like a glorified Outlook. You know address book and shared calendar. 

They put stuff in but rarely get anything out. 

So here you have this very powerful tool, just waiting to help you grow your business, manage your team and touch more customers and prospect and NADA!  it remains a pretty dormant piece of software. What to do? 

Let's think about getting data out of the application, not just putting it in. That means reports. 

Of all the reporting tools available for GoldMine, MasterMine is tops!

It pulls data from any part of GoldMine and creates pivot tables. (I know that might sound scary) but even I figured out how to do amazing things with the data within a very short time. 

You start with over 100 prebuilt templates and off you go. You can create charts and graphs, if you are a fan of that sort of thing.

But most importantly you have instantly taken that address book and calendar and turned into a management information tool of amazing proportions. There are some other bonus features, like you can instantly create groups out of your data. That means you can email them or schedule calls or assign them to an auto process. 

Here's a great little video that's worth a watch. 

If you have more questions or want to see a demo with your actual GoldMine data call or write us. 

You can also learn more at our website. 

• Quickly find bad data, click-through to GoldMine and update records and fix it! Using MMUpdater
• Includes dozens of prebuilt templates to get you started - Click here!

Leveraging the Microsoft Outlook Integration for Productivity Gains  The GoldMine Microsoft Outlook Integration provides users a preview of GoldMine information directly from Outlook without having to switch back and forth between the two applications. GoldMine information is not only viewable, but users can drill into GoldMine records for edits or further business follow-up.  This powerful integration helps improve user adoption and knowledge sharing across the company. See how you too can realize these productivity gains.  Thursday, November 18, 2010 11:00AM - 12:00PM Pacific Time Topics will include: GMPE 9.0 Outlook integration - Calendar features: Benefits users who use Outlook as their day-to-day activity management application, and improves visibility so users can report on these activities for better CRM activity reporting Schedule appointments, meetings, and tasks in Outlook and link them to contacts, opportunities, projects, and cases so they are viewable in GoldMine Show GoldMine contact information and related records when viewing activities in Outlook Centralizing Customer Information GMPE 9.0 Outlook integration - Email features: Benefits include ease of use when delivering and receiving email communications, and improves email / information visibility and knowledge sharing amongst team members Link messages from Outlook into the GoldMine database so they are a visible part of the contact history Use GoldMine email templates in Outlook to personalize messages and improve productivity Send messages between GoldMine users that can be read in Outlook or smartphones Show GoldMine contact information and related records when viewing emails in Outlook GMPE 9.0 Outlook integration - Other features: Benefits users by allowing them access and views into both the Outlook and CRM paradigm without having to switch back & forth between applications, andallows clients to administer the process & data better between the two applications View / navigate to other GoldMine records from Outlook Synchronization between GoldMine and Outlook, including support for recurring activities, so your GoldMine calendar is accessible in Outlook and on your smartphone Thursday, November 18, 2010 11:00AM - 12:00PM Pacific Time This webinar is sponsored by FrontRange Solutions.  FrontRange Solutions manufactures GoldMine Software used by more than 130,000 companies and over 1.7 million users worldwide to optimize sales, marketing and customer service performance. To find out more information regarding GoldMine Solutions contact Tech.Sell or call 1.847.382.4500 to speak with a consultant.  Visit www.techsell.net/goldmine to learn about the benefits of GoldMine CRM.

Copyright © 2010 FrontRange Solutions USA Inc. - All Rights Reserved

5675 Gibraltar Drive, Pleasanton, CA 94588, TEL.: 800.776.7889

SCRM? Social CRM - It's a whole new ballgame!

In the last few months I've become very aware that the old paradigm of CRM is changing, in a very big way.


The monstrous growth of Social Networking has created a force that can't be ignored. You can't just store a bunch of data on customers and then send them email blasts inviting them to your boring website that hasn't changed in 2 years.
The prospects and customers are out there communicating with each other, and perhaps your competitors on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, blogs and wherever. The internet has become an instant realtime network, for shopping, comparing, asking questions, getting answers, reading reviews and more.


There are hundreds of millions of people on line everyday, all day tweeting and texting and communicating. So if we sit at our desks or in our cars and aren't in this tidal wave of communication, we are missing something...BIG!


I'm not sure that we can quantify what that something is right now, but it's big. These social channels represent a mind boggling tidal wave of data. Topics, questions, info and a lot of mundane "I'm having my third latte", "I'm bored" and "yada yada" crash by, but folks are picking out the topics they are interested in. Then they follow those topics or the people or companies that send them. Then a relationship created by the customer begins to form and at that point it needs to be tracked and subtly monetized. If the prospect likes the info or relationship they may buy what you are offering. They may follow, they may "share", they may review. It happens with a click and that click spreads to one or 10,000 other devices (computers, phones, mobile devices, ipads, etc.) just like that.


If you haven't been paying attention to this paradigm shift, it should either be making you very excited or very nervous.


So how do you adapt to the new social world? How do you get your business or ideas or value proposition in front of the audience?


Do what I've done. Get company pages at FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Plaxo. Start a blog at Blogger or WordPress. All this stuff is free. You will be pretty amazed at the number of "friends" and followers you can accumulate.


After you get a feel for the social sites, tell your customers that you are there. Put links on your web page and email signatures.


In the near future, we'll be sharing info on SCRM and a program called Nimble, which tracks the social interactions of your contacts. But for now, if this is new, take off your shoes and socks and dip a toe in.


BTW, you can follow us by clicking any of the little logos under this posting.

iPad vs. MacBook Air - Hands on with the MacBook Air 13

The new Macbook Air arrived yesterday and I've had several hours of "hands on" time. Here are my observations and comparison to the iPad. ...

Ipad vs Air

Feel, fit, finish: It is a very solid machine. the aluminum unibody is like a rock. It's brushed aluminum finish looks and feels great. It's 2.9 pounds vs 1.9 of the iPad is very reasonable, particularly compared to a 5.5 pound full size laptop. Keyboard feels great, but I really miss the back lighting on the keyboard. Buy a little USB light to use in the dark. Typing on the MBA vs the Ipad is much more sure and solid. Touchpad is very large and has more gesture capabilities than I have time to figure out. 


Screen: Nice clear and bright, actually it can be too bright if turned up all the way. The new 1440x900 resolution is great. Gives you the same real estate of a 15" macbook pro and the fonts are not too small for senior viewers. 

Side view 

Speed and storage: Amazing! My MBA has 128 GB of Flash storage and I upgraded the Ram to 4GB ($100). This is a very fast machine. I haven't noticed any lag time at all no spinning beach balls. From a complete shut down it takes 15 seconds to fully boot. From hibernation it's instant on. lift the lid and you are working. Vs. the iPad, it's equal ground. 


Ports: 2 USB ports is better than the old 1 port on the prior MB Air. I'd still recommend a little pocket port hub. I have a Belkin 4 port so now USB ports aren't a problem. I bought a USB ethernet adapter and that works great to get on the office network. The Wifi is easy and fast also. The display port is the same as my unibody Macbook Pro so I can use the same adapter at home or the office without an additional purchase. 


Battery: Steve Jobs promised 7 hours of surfing time. I'm going to guess about 5 in normal use. Still pretty good. 


Air vs. iPad? : For business or general use the MBA is the clear winner. Still little and light but with no cons. iPad wins for reading books, web surfing, and apps that are touch screen oriented. THE MBA runs all Mac programs including office and will run Windows with Parallels or VMWare. And don't forget printing. At this point it is quite challenging to print anything from an iPad. When Apple ads "apps" to the Mac (within 90 days) the skinny MBA could really dent the iPad decision. 

Not much difference 

For Windows users: One note I'll add. If you are a Mac user and use Parallels or VMWare Fusion to run Windows, you may have to wrestle with wasting 30 or 40 GB of your Flash "hard drive" with your Windows. I loaded my Windows 7 image on the internal drive as well as a 4500 RPM pocket drive and a 7200 RPM external drive. Amazingly the best boot up time was 2:15 on the internal drive, the 4500 external was about 3:30 and the 7200 was 3:00. So bottom line, Windows is a dog! Put it on an external drive and don't waste the space on your air. Probably the best bet if you travel is a notebook USB portable 7200 rpm drive. 


As an additional note, I've been running Windows 7 and the fan has been on all day... Hmmm. 

New MacBook Air -where does it fit?

Yesterday Apple announced their update to the MacBook Air. It was the first major remake of the Air in 2 years. Apple says they took everything they learned from the iPhone and iPad and put it in a Mac. They said it's the future of the laptop. It's available in both 13.3' and a new 11.6" versions. Of course I ordered one. (not available at the Apple store yet.)

Here's what's new and exciting:

• Thin and light- .68" at thickest spot .11" at thinnest. 2.9 Lbs. for the 13.3 and 2.3 for the 11.6" version. I ordered the 13.3" - the iPad weighs 1.5 lbs.
• No hard drive- completely solid state flash memory= instant on. I ordered the 128 gb model a 256 gb is also available.
• More ports 2 USB versus 1 on previous model. THey added a SD Card reader on the 13.3.
• Lower price- the low end is $999.00. mine was about $1500 with 4 gb of ram.
• 7 hours of battery life

I've owned a MacBook Air for about a year. I also have an iPad. There is an ongoing comparison at our house about which is better. I go with the Air over the iPad for these reasons.

1. The keyboard - the iPads on screen keyboard is not for any kind of serious typing, especially is your a lousy typist like me. 
2. The ability to run real applications versus scaled downed lite versions.
3. The ability to multi-task, though this is coming to the iPad in Nov. 
4. The ability to print!
5. Flash - I don't care if Steve Jobs hates Adobe, but it's a pain to keep missing content because the iPad doesn't run flash.
6. I think the ipad is a little hard to hold and work with.

My MB air is scheduled to arrive by October 28. We'll see if it can rival my MacBook pro for "my only mac" rights.

Would you spend $300 more for a 11.6" screen Macbook Air full computer with a keyboard and the above benefits vs. an iPad with 9.7" screen and the above shortcomings? Get all the details here

Think Before You Upgrade...

It's very tempting to upgrade your PCs or server to the latest greatest operating system or upgrade your MS Office Suite to 2010.  However make sure your existing software is compatible before taking the leap.

If you do not have the most current version of GoldMine, you could be asking for some challenging issues.  For example, GoldMine v8.5 is not technically compatible with Windows 7.  We have seen it work, but if you have problems, FrontRange won't support you, even if you are current with your maintenance contract.  Officially Windows 7 has not been tested with GoldMine v8.5 and therefore not compatible. Also be careful with 64 bit. Only the latest version 9.0 officially works with 64 bit. IGoldMine does not run or load on a 64 bit server.

GoldMine's integration with Microsoft Word will not work with Office 2010.  We are beta testing the latest update for v9 that will be compatible with Office 2010.  However, a release date for that new build is not known.

So, don't just take the leap - call us first.  We can tell you what will or won't work with your current GoldMine.

DialPad The long awaited GoldMine Voice/Phone Connection

W-Systems has created an awesome and cost effective solution that addresses the need to connect many Voip or Tapi compliant phone systems to GoldMine. It's called DialPad!

Since the early days of GoldMine, when integration to the modem on your desktop the ability to call contacts right from GoldMine has been a great feature. Unfortunately computers today are modem-less and the current SIP integration in recent versions of Goldmine has been somewhat of an enigma.

We've been trying DialPad with Skype, and I am very impressed. The following screen shots give you an idea of the simple yet powerful interface that makes it easy to increase caller productivity while filling in the important blanks in GM.

Enjoy the walk through below....



Start with your call list, pulled directly from GoldMine.
Dial from here or double click to open up the Call Out screen.




The Call Out screen lets you enter notes, complete the call, schedule a follow up, 
go to the GoldMine record, play a pre recorded file, and even record the call. 
Check out the Survey Fields on the right. You can include any fields from GoldMine 
for your caller to update right from DialPad.




Instant targeted call lists! The groups tab connects with contact groups from GoldMine. 
There's the list, click to call, enter your notes on this targeted list!



Need a little refresher on the customer before you call?  Click the history button and there is a
complete history of all the call notes from GoldMine!

At the end of the day, click the Call Log tab for a complete listing of all the calls any user made. Includes time of call and a direct link back to GoldMine to check notes and updates.

This is one very cool program! It's new and depending on your phone system it may take some tweaking, but once in place, WOW!. 

DialPad costs $295 per user for a one time license fee, plus 20% annual maintenance. Set up is additional. 

If your interested give us a call at 847-382-4500.  Download literature here.

Five Hidden Costs in Switching CRM Programs

Some changes are painless and enjoyable, like a new car, new furniture or a new puppy. Some are not, like changing spouses or CRM programs.
Sure that good lookin' young thing might seem enticing, but before you make your move it's important to consider the consequences. OK, I'll get off my cougaresque analogies here and just stick with CRM changes.
If you use your CRM program as an address book and calendar then you can probably switch with little damage. That's kind of a good news bad news thing. GOOD NEWS that you can switch painlessly, BAD NEWS because your CRM program should be a core of your business, and instead it's just a different colored address book and calendar. If that's the case, you should check our list of what you should be getting from a CRM program. Switching will not solve your problem. You'll spend a lot of money and have the same problems. If your CRM program does play important roles in your company, then you should think carefully before you hop in bed with a new program.
Here are some of the biggest and most costly factors. Not just for immediate expense but for long term damage to your business.

1. Data migration - Look closely at what data will be migrated to the new program. Contacts are easy, calendars probably with a sync through Outlook, but what about history, linked documents, additional contacts, EMAILS attached to contact history records, knowledge base entries, etc. The cost to even partially convert data from one platform to another can easily be tens of thousands of dollars. And if, and when it's all moved, what will you have gained? BTW make sure to find out what is involved in getting all of that data back out in a year or two!
2. Hidden costs - In the beginning, the costs you look at are cost per license, maintenance costs, training and installation. But the biggies are customization, report writing, data migration. One extremely well known on line CRM provider has a stable of consultants who charge $200 per hour just to show up. 
3. Reports and measurements - If you are using your CRM program, you are putting a lot of info in. Hopefully you are getting business critical reports out; Pipeline, neglected contacts, completed and scheduled activities by rep, reports on types of customer groups, to name a few. Will your new program provide the info you run your business on? Exactly? Make sure. 
4. Learning curve - If you finally have the majority of users using the program, don't assume that they will all migrate smiling into the new CRM. Most people resist change. Make sure there is something in it for them. Make sure that you have all the customized pieces together before you change or you will be dragging your users through a quagmire of "bug fixes". We've seen successful programs crash and burn
5. Training - If you make the change, invest in training. Logically, you switch CRM programs because the change will offset the cost and add to your bottom line for years to come. Sin #1 is save money by not training everyone to use the system. ...Doesn't that sound silly?  But it is the most common reason for failure. 

Stop! & Think before you switch!

There are a lot of other considerations, including switching for the wrong reasons, like i need it sync with my blackberry. Or, gee it's only $50 per month, (for the rest of your business life, also see items 1 & 2 above.)

Got a good or bad switch story? Add a comment below? Need a little advise, give me a call. 

What's important in a CRM system

Frequently the focus of a new CRM purchase is about the software. Web based vs. premise based? How does it sync with my Blackberry? 

Yet in the process of trying on potentially dozens of “solutions”, clients may forget what brought them to start looking in the first place. We’ve put together a list of recommended business benefits you should expect from your CRM investment. Keep these in focus before and after you buy. 

One more piece of advice... don’t buy anything if you aren’t going to invest in on going training for your users and coaching for your managers. If you need some help, give us a call at 847-382-4500. We’ve done this about 900 times. 

Minimum CRM expectations

•Manage customer information

oCustomer details

oActivity and communication history

oDocuments

oEmails

•Planning and scheduling activities

• Easily enter notes 
• Easily create follow up

•Marketing to identified contact groups

•Speedy and enhance sales communications

•Forecast sales

•Incorporate and follow a sales process

•Opportunity management – with full details

•Manage key exception dates

oMissed follow ups

oNeglected contacts

oExpired contracts

•Shared data with all co workers who touch customer

•Easily access customer data

•Management measurement tools-reporting

•Automated processes and workflow