For the life of me, I can’t seem to figure out how in the world any CRM is supposed to be useful. I’d heard Suite was supposed to be a head above the norm, but I’m not seeing it. The absurdity of CRM software is that they usually don’t do anything. You still have to do all the same work you would otherwise do without them. But often times, you end up doing extra work, because you have to take the added step of inputting everything into the program, and your work pace is slowed by having to use a laggy online system. I can click through windowed directories and drag-and-drop files 5 times faster than an online CRM can load pages. Data entry for the sake of data entry is a waste.
For all the alleged configurability Suite is supposed to offer, it’s all only skin deep. From what I can see, Suite is designed to use the same decentralized lateral thinking as any other CRM. It doesn’t really provide organization, merely recollection. And there’s no substantive improvement in retrieving that data. In fact, data would be retrievable much more easily by using a centralized digital file system on a hard drive. Ultimately, it seems that Suite demands that you modify your workflow to be compatible with its own thought process, if you will, which tend to be over complicated.
But I’m willing to be convinced I’m wrong. Has anyone figured out a way to get Suite to actually perform work? Or is the appeal simply to have a pretty UI?
At first, yes all CRM systems are similar but with Suite to make bespoke enhancements is just a few clicks and you can completely change the SuiteCRM workflow to suite your needs.
With SuiteCRM you can create workflow and automation
Take the basic concept of SuiteCRM process
Lead
Account
Contact
Opportunity
1 - Rename / Hide Modules you do not need
2 - Go through the modules and strip out fields you don’t need (simplify input)
3 - Start small, Grow Big
We have found SuiteCRM has impacted on our sales funnel and process to follow up on leads within a specific product or interest and the right person is following up
Everyone in the business knows what is going on, because the sync with Outlook and telephone calls users can instantly see where a client is in our process.
From one central record I can see Calls, Meetings, Quotes, Contracts and Invoices for any Client
Users can create as many custom reports for any module and you can get live reports on your homepage dashboard / scheduled email
Other than the obvious our clients use SuiteCRM for
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Tasks
I can create tasks for my staff and email notification - Scheduled reports for “Tasks due today” / overdue tasks
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Email Marketing / Event management
Easily create email templates with logos, images and content to be sent to Contacts
-
Maps
Saving longitude and latitude (google API) into Accounts the Maps plugin allows you to quickly see accounts in a certain area
If you go into a CRM with the mentality that it is useless, it will be useless
It is what you put in, you will get out
Dude, you obviously haven’t discovered workflow.
I’ve been using CRM’s for 20 years this friggin thing is awesome.
Some tips:
- Get your clients to enter their own info via web forms.
- Set rules for email marketing
- Use workflow to automate all sales tasks
SuiteCRM basically just tells me what to do everyday. Who to call, what to talk about, where the client is in my selling cycle.
You have to put some thought into setting up your selling system. NO CRM will do that for you. It’s simply a tool to automate and track it.