MS Dynamics CRM 2011 – The Come Back Kid
WOW! I am eating my words. Some of you who know me also know that I’ve been a certified MS Dynamics CRM consultant since it hit the streets in 2002. Needless to say I wasn’t a fan until now.
Eight years ago seems like yesterday now.. I recall the pains of v1.0 and honestly thought this could be Microsoft’s biggest failure. Let’s just be honest here, v1.0 was probably the worse hunk of junk ever published with the Microsoft label. Vista and ME at least were functional.
Version 1.2 wasn’t much better. A program that clearly wasn’t on the same planet as all the CRM systems out there it just seemed impossible to recover. I often questioned why even continue. They could have just bought another successful package and put their name on it (aka Oracle). None the less, it was a product that was extremely difficult to install and configure let alone a product that actually helped manage customer relationships.
About 2006… MS CRM v3.0 hit the streets. They did away with v2.0 since it took so long to get a version out. Marketing genius! Here we have a first generation product that was SO BAD… they had to SKIP version numbers to help the public realize how much of an improvement they made. I was able to help a number of clients achieve very modest success with v3.0. Unlike the first 2 releases, this product wasn’t a nightmare to install. The UI still wasn’t as good as the others. The so-called Outlook integration was ironically one of the worse out. However, it worked at least 90% of the time! A step up for 40% of the time… so hats of for at least making the software work.
Version 4…… ah yes.. We finally have a game! Although still severely behind other notables in the market space (Salesforce.com, Saleslogix, Netsuite), signs of a come back began to surface. Much better UI components and other key features that help users achieve success. By this time, I was into other products and watched from the sidelines. I began to see positive reviews instead of negative rants! Still a few major holes, but something I could live with and would actually recommend.
In pops v5 or MS Dynamics 2011
Is this Cloud CRM thing for me?
If you’re an IT person reading this, prepare yourself to be offended.
Cloud doesn’t equal better! Let’s just put that out there first. Because its the new wave and buzz word floating around everything assumes new equals better. Often times it does… but in the case of CRM…. not so fast sly one.
It is a fancy term to say your data will have foster parents, but you have visitation rights. The push for cloud comes as many IT directors are slow to get off their butts to implement new software for their user base. New software equals new drama for them. Often times the IT person is a third party company that is just too busy to help or the client is too small to work with a CRM Vendor.
If you have a very large in-house group of users (40+) and your data integrates with other in-house systems. Cloud is probably NOT the way to go. However, if you have nothing and your IT Director is slow to make a move. Cloud maybe a good first step. This action could prove successful in getting other non-crm committed managers to buy-in to what you’re doing. Its 2011 and the internet speeds are great and reliable, but still a cause for concern when mission critical data is outside your walls.
Also there is the myth about cost. Cloud is not cheaper despite what any marketing materials you may have read. Most companies say you have a lot of money on hardware and start-up costs. Well, hardware is not that expensive and most CRM packages will run on what you already have. Your first year on Cloud will cost you more than on-site software.
So when could Cloud be a good fit? If you are a virtual company with no other IT infrastructure. Cloud based makes obvious sense. You don’t have an IT person to turn to for setup and installation nor do you have a place install the software if you did. If you’re a start-up department in a large company with a completely different customer base than your parent company. The speed in which you can start is much faster on cloud. These types of departments get treated like double-step children. Not going to get any love from IT. You’re in a “just make it happen” type of situation.
So long story short …. if you need it fast and cost is not an issue. Cloud is for you. If you need it to run a large group of people or to keep cost lower, on-site is probably for you.
Top 10 CRM Software Systems for Small Business
Ok.. I created a list for Mid-Market businesses. What about small and microsize businesses? Before I go and my two cents on this subject let me explain what a small/micro size business is to me. A small business is 5 to 20 employees and a micro is under 5. A friend of mine Donna Amos has created a term called solopreneur for those who work a one man/woman band.
- SugarCRM
For small businesses this is truly a great tool with a low cost.
iReports and MS SQL Server
Ok… So this really was not easy. If you google this you’ll find a bunch of crap that doesn’t work.
How to get iReports 4.x to work with Microsoft SQL Server 2008?????
Here’s what I did.
1) Downloaded the JDBC Drivers from Microsoft.
2) When you unzip it it will give you 2 .jar files. These are the core code.. the rest is just a waste of digital space.
3) If you’re on a x64 machine you need the sqljdbc4.jar file.
4) Paste this into the directory you install iReports under ireports\libs\
5) Restart iReports
Then it will work! If this doesn’t comment here… I’ll help you. DO NOT!! copy both files like I did. LOL it won’t work! That was my problem. I need the x64 file. No where in the document did it explain this.
Top 10 CRM Systems for Mid-Market
Before you go and bash my list this my opinion based on 15 years experience and working directly with hundreds of clients and evaluating tons of packages.
- Saleslogix
- Salesforce.com
- NetSuite
- SugarCRM
- SplendidCRM
- mySAP
- MS Dynamics CRM
- SageCRM
- ZohoCRM
- vTiger
Just because I rated it #1 doesn’t mean its a fit for your business. Like accounting packages they all have their pros and cons. For example, if you run a retail store or car dealership, Saleslogix is not the best option for you. It doesn’t handle B2C type businesses very well. What you need to do in just about every case is talk to a consultant (like me!) and figure out the the best CRM option for your business.
Lead vs Prospect
What is the difference? So many people get this wrong that it prompted to blog about it.
A lead and a prospect are too completely different elements. One could argue that a suspect and a lead or similar. I would tend to agree with that argument.
My simple definition of a Lead: A potential consumer who you are not sure is qualified to purchase your goods or services.
My simple definition of a prospect: A consumer who has is qualified to purchase your goods or services, but has yet to make a purchase.
This has nothing to do with time as some salespeople often think. If a person is not making a purchase today doesn’t mean they are not a qualified prospect. Let’s look a scenario where people often make mistakes.
Company a sells special widgets. Salesperson calls on this lead and finds out the lead just bought a special widget from a competitor and not in a position to purchase again for another 24 months. The salesperson then records this lead as “unqualified” in their CRM database. WRONG!!!!!!!! This bites so many people in the butt. This is a HIGHLY qualified prospect. Just because they didn’t buy from you doesn’t disqualify them. In fact knowing they are with a competitor makes it easier to market to them. You should already know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
Now what if you sold cars? Does this mean everyone who drives a car, which is just about everyone qualified? Not always. If you sold Class A luxury vehicles and your lead’s age is 45+ and household income of under $30K/year. Chances are they can not afford to buy that new BMW 750i. Even more so, you should not sell it to them. Now on the flipside… if a person who has a household income of $300K/year or more and you sell cars $9995 and under. They are not qualified and it would make no sense to try and make them a customer.
Now… I can hear the comments brewing about the last paragraph. What if? What if? There is always a trump card. If a person walks in and says I want that car here’s the money. You sell it to them and take the money. However, we’re talking about taking someone through the sales process not just a closed sale.
What should you do with all your unqualified leads???? Most people just mark them for dead. That’s one sad and twisted way of looking at it. First thing, Treat everyone as you would your best customer. Second, turn unqualified leads into powerful community influences/referral partners. That person who makes $300K/yr might have many friends or employees in need of cars under $10K.
So I am hoping everyone reading this article (all 10 of you…lol) will help me in getting rid of the term unqualified lead and clear up the confusion between a lead and a prospect.
How Reset A Password in SugarCRM 6.x
After a few hours of saying “I can’t believe this is not here”. I realized that a very elementry feature is missing from the SugarCRM administrator tool.
The ability to manually set a user’s password. Not sure if this is an oversight or just a bad design moved, but none the less SugarCRM 6.1 does lack this ability.
To reset or set a password in SugarCRM you will need access to the mySQL server database. The easiest approach in my opinion is to use the mySQL Workbench. You can use phpmyAdmin or simply a ssh connection to the server.
Once connected to the database you will need run the following sql statement replacing _newpassword & _username_ I have below.
update users set user_hash = md5('_newpassword_') where user_name = '_username_';
Hope this helps someone save some time.
Getting Started with CRM
What is CRM?
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. In past years others have referred to it as SFA (Sales Force Automation), however SFA is only one element of the total picture. CRM includes the areas of Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service within your company. It provides a 360 degree view of your customers relationship with your company.
Why does CRM concern me?
Great question and I get asked this many times. First, let’s compare this to an accounting system. Every business by now understands the full benefits of an accounting system and important role it plays in telling you the present and past tense of your business in order to make decisions and spot trends. However, what about the future tense of your business? CRM provides you with the outlook of the future, so you can change the outcome of the present.
CRM also provides you with a tool to help you retain key customers. Ask yourself these questions; when was the last time your sales team or yourself spoke with your top 10 customers? Do you have documented, from each employee, the history of phone calls, emails, letters and meetings every with each client? Do you have an instant view of your sales pipeline from all your sales rep? Do you know how many new leads/prospects you received this quarter and how many are now sales? Do you know how many deals you lost by each competitor and why? These are just a few questions that CRM can answer.
About the Author of this article.
Before I continue let me introduce myself. My name is Levar Berry, President/CEO of eDriven Solutions. eDriven solutions is a CRM consulting firm located in Cincinnati, OH. I have been in the consulting world for 11 years and have helped 2-man shops up to large blue-chip companies create successful CRM systems.
The advice I am giving you in this article is a small portion of what CRM is all about. I would challenge you to begin learning more on your own or contacting a consultant to help you along the way.
How to prepare for a system?
Establishing a working CRM system first starts with a level of discipline and behavior changes within your company. Unlike other software packages, it requires more than just installing and configuring a software package.
First and foremost you need to document how your business does business. This is usually accomplished by creating a workflow chart in Microsoft Visio. Once this is created a consultant/VAR can help you identify pitfalls that are fixed with a CRM system. The end result is new and improved workflow document used to select a software package.
How to choose a VAR.
A VAR is a reseller of CRM of products and services. Usually VARs carry more than one line of products, since it is not one package fits all. When choosing a VAR you want to look for a VAR that has experience in creating cost reducing profit producing systems. Often times companies choose based on technical ability, although it is great asset to have, it leaves the customer to figure out how the system to look. In the past I have this as the #1 reason systems fails. You want a partner not just a worker-bee.You want someone who knows how to get the full value out of system and speaks about revenue and profit versus operating systems and programming jargon.
How to choose a software package.
Choosing a software package can be tricky. All of the packages have their own pros and cons. My advice would be first choose a VAR and let them assist you in choosing the right package. They will bring their experience to table and help you understand the differences.
More expensive does not always mean better. Cheaper packages are geared towards a different group of people and can often times get the job done for small businesses. It all depends on what you are selling and how you sell it.
How to rollout a system.
Installing the software is the easy part. The more important part of the rollout is to have an effective training program. To be most effective, your training program should be spread over time so the user does not have to swallow the entire system at once. Having predefined homework assignments have proven to delivery great results.
Classroom training is 10 times more effective than over the internet training, and class sizes under 15 people helps ensure everyone gets their questions answered. The max time on training should not exceed 5 hours. I have also found that it is best to not exceed more than 90 minutes without taking a break.
How to monitor a system.
The key to any successful system begins here. Monitoring the system ensures that you are getting the result you attended to get in the start of your mission. The #1 and most effective way to monitor the system is to have automated reports generated on a regular schedule. This is usually accomplished by third-party software. In my past 11 years, I have found companies that choose not to automate their reports, usually have a dead system or end up with just a big expensive rolodex.
In the reporting you must hold your end users accountable for the information that put into the system. For salespeople this could mean having them update their sales activity in the system by Monday at noon for the previous week and have reports print on automatically and emailed to their manager at 1pm. In addition, I have seen how reporting can increase sales due to salesperson competition. Each week a salesperson can compare themselves to the other salespeople and most are encouraged to reach the #1 spot.
Summary
Again is this a very brief tutorial of how to get started with CRM. I would encourage you to seek more information or contact a CRM consulting firm. The most important thing to remember is that CRM done correctly will help increase the profitability of your business. It will give valuable information to help you make key decisions. If the future of your company is important to you, then you need to explore the use of a CRM system in your company.
Business Cards Suck
Business Cards Suck!
I was cleaning my desk and then it occurred to me. Business Cards SUCK! I mean what’s the point anymore? I have several business cards from the same person with a different look same info. What does that DO??? I threw them all away.
Back pre-1995 when most people still had roledex on their desks, it was sort of important. You give someone a business card so they can stick in their stacks of other cards. It was the only “database” many people had. Now, who has a roledex? Everything is stored in Outlook, Excel or hopefully…. a CRM database. Its all gone digital.
Now am I saying you should throw away all your business cards you have now? Of course not…… I am saying BURN THEM. They don’t do anything for you that your website, linkedin or other digital media doesn’t do for you. I was a networking meeting once, and a person once said they spent 6-months developing a new business card. OMG! Are you serious??? 6-months on something that is out-dated and serves hardly any purpose.
So…. what should you do?? I mean you have to give people you meet offline something right? Well…. it occured me that we should begin giving out EXACTLY what we want back. LEADS!. We should turn our business cards into LEAD cards.
What the heck is a Lead Card? Its a term I just created! Yes… credit me with the name ;) A lead card is the same size as a business card, BUT it contains an ACTION statement, Discount Code, FREE offer… something to get the person you hand the card to to make a move towards being a prospect for your business. This gives your cards VALUE. People will not throw away something that has VALUE to them.
For example… if you own a car wash. Your LEAD CARD should contain directions to your wash, hours and an offer for a discounted wash. This will get the person to do exactly what you want them to do. VISIT your wash. What about if you sell insurance? One might think a good offer is “Call me for a FREE quote”. Well, the truth there is…. Everyone knows you offer free quotes. Your offer needs to be a more unique and more meaningful to your prospects. Like “Watch this New Video Report on Insurance Scams” or “eBook: Are you under insured?”. Something that gets the person to THINK and be curious and take action.
We all do this… including myself. We can so caught up in explaining who we are and what we do.. instead of helping the client with the problem they are trying to solve. I swear if I see one of my business card that says “Serving the Area for over 20 years”. WHO CARES!?? Honestly, sometimes when I read it, that makes wonder if you still “got it”. I don’t like to call anyone out, but Accountants are the worse. 99% of the cards I’ve seen are nothing more than a resume or VERY boring. “John Smith, Smith Accounting…. 555-444-1212” (Blue-only letters) Yawn!. That doesn’t not make me want to call you or even be near you. A lead card could be as follows: “Bookkeeping is boring, but we love it! Try us out for 2 weeks and see if we can’t ease your boredom”. Something along those lines that ADDRESSES the PAIN your client is in. Again, we don’t care that you’ve been in business for 40 years. Some of your clients are not even that old.
I think I am onto something here. Be on the lookout for more around this topic. I welcome your comments.
Levar Berry's Blog 