Tuesday, January 30, 2007

CMS STREAMLINES STRUCTURAL'S EXTERNAL INTERACTIONS WITH CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS

BACKGROUND: Structural is a worldwide manufacturer and supplier of composite pressure vessels. Founded in 1954, Structural has worked to exploit the new technology involved in fiberglass product manufacturing. By developing a patented molding process, which revolutionized the use of small pressure vessels in water treatment markets, Structural rapidly became the word leader in the production of pressure vessels made from composite materials. This technological leadership led to an expansion toward larger, commercial-sized vessels as well as to other markets where engineered plastics and composites could help provide improved product performance.

PLATFORMS: Microsoft SQL Server is the database, Microsoft Windows NT Server is the server and Microsoft Windows 95/98 is the client operating system.

PROBLEM SOLVED: Disparate groups in Structural's front office were using various contact managers, such as Act!, GoldMine and Simin, for their account management needs. Structural could only use its contact managers to record simple information on an individual level with no collaboration among other users. Structural needed to replace its contact managers with a network and Internet customer relationship management (CRM) solution that would enable all users to collaborate and communicate company-wide. Structural also needed a front-office solution that could be easily integrated with its back-office enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and customized to meet its advanced CRM strategies.

PRODUCT FUNCTIONALITY: Client Management Software (CMS) from ON!contact has streamlined Structural's external interaction with prospects and customers and its internal communication among its sales, marketing and customer service departments. Users and teams of users can now collaborate with each other on projects, marketing campaigns, sales opportunities, quotations and customer service. The configurator functionality of CMS enables Structural to create, execute, track and collaborate on product quotations for prospective and existing customers. Structural's remote sales representatives plan to utilize eCMS, ON!contact Software's new Web-based CRM solution, available in December 1999.

STRENGTHS: CMS is extremely flexible ? Structural could easily integrate it with its ERP system; customize it to meet specific CRM needs; synchronize information from Structural's corporate headquarters to satellite offices and field users throughout North America, Europe and Asia; and implement it company-wide to unite sales, marketing and customer service functions in one application suite.

WEAKNESSES: The current CMS application is not entirely Web-based. However, eCMS will be available in December, 1999.

SELECTION CRITERIA: CMS was selected because it is a company-wide system, has the ability to synchronize globally to satellite offices and field users, has high functionality and was easily integrated with Structural's ERP system. The major advantages CMS has over other products is ease of customization, ease of integration with back-office ERP systems and ease of facilitating global synchronization to satellite offices and field users.

DELIVERABLES: Structural uses CMS to create direct mail campaigns for new business prospects, provide existing customers with better service through greater access to service history and assign sales representatives to new accounts based on territory and postal code. CMS has been particularly helpful in configuring quotations. Integrating the CMS application suite with the ERP system enabled Structural to compile and execute over 1,339 configured quotations in just 16 months, which generated more than $31,215,000 in business.

VENDOR SUPPORT: Prior to implementation, ON!contact Software equipped Structural with a project manager to serve as the key contact throughout all aspects of the implementation. Since implementation, ON!contact Software has consistently been available for support needs and onsite demonstrations of new versions of CMS. ON!contact Software frequently contacts Structural, as it does with all customers, to survey them on customer service issues that may need immediate attention or improvement. The best part of working with ON!contact Software is the company's responsiveness. To stay completely accessible, ON!contact Software provides toll-free telephone, e-mail, Web-based and remote diagnostic support.

DOCUMENTATION: ON!contact Software's user manuals are comprehensive and easy to follow. The manuals are filled with illustrations that clearly outline every function of the application suite.

Monday, January 29, 2007

How to Launch New IT Consulting Practice

In the new era of internet marketing the problem of severe competition comes into the first position. If you look back into 1990-th you will find high tech companies using traditional sales techniques: purchasing local and regional businesses contact lists, making cold calls and then trying hard sales closing techniques, such as "selling to the top" - IBM style, selling to VITO (very important top officer), etc. It did work those old days. We would dare to announce that these days are gone and these techniques are now obsolete.

We launched Microsoft Business Solutions VAR business nationwide without any money/investment in 2002 and now we are present in major US business metros, have international satellite offices in Brazil, Russia and Europe.

Below we would like to share our techniques

1. Internet Marketing - in contrast to the old believe that you can cheat out internet search engine and place your web site on the top position, we state that this is virtually not possible. But the paradox is in the fact that internet is the major marketplace. So - you have to spend most of your sales efforts on the internet. There is no direct answer about the preferred method - all the methods should contribute and be tried out

2. Concentrate on your product line - your customers and prospects should see and recognize the expert in you, reading your publications. In our case - we stake on Microsoft Business Solutions Products: Microsoft Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Navision and Microsoft RMS. We are publishing ezines on the weekly basis and trying to keep our forum answered on the daily basis.

3. Create your partners and subcontractors network - when you are small and short of resources the best you can do to speed up your expansion is to partner with other market players who could help you open the door to new prospects and close the sales.

4. Pay your people and subcontractor - There was popular technique of trying to negotiate down the price and do not pay in time. This game is not good, but it is acceptable in the case of huge corporation. When you are small - you can not play this card - your partners will not do business with you in the future.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Another CRM System Overview

eCRM Overview

eCRM — Internet customer relationship management — is an extension of activity we refer to today as customer service. If you are in business, any type of business, you are already involved in customer service.

You're engaged in customer service, for example, if customers or constituents contact you by any means to ask questions. You provide customer service by giving them the answers they need. Another side of the industry is technical support, where customers contact a company to get technical information about using a product or service.

In this section of the RightNow Web site, you can learn about Web-based or online customer service — eCRM — and why RightNow is positioned in the industry for superior service. When you go online, customer service becomes a whole new animal. If you understand the whats and whys of the industry, you can make better business decisions and appropriate eCRM product purchases.

Ideal CRM System

Sales & Marketing Overview

Many times a company has a product or service that is really great but somehow doesn't end up being as profitable as hoped, or planned. We analyze products and markets as opportunities from our own unique perspective.

All activities listed below can, and should be, identified as part of a whole process. Selling is the process of moving the product out the door and exceeding plan. It's also about listening and understanding, identifying, and making the fit where it maximizes profit. We endeavor to provide sales and marketing solutions encompassing all aspects, or subsets, as desired.

Market Analysis

In this process we identify the product/service being sold/used, what/who it's being sold to, it's uses, the economics of it all, macroeconomic forces, lifecycles, situation assessment, plan of action, benchmarks. Results include valuable data gathering and observations, reports, conclusions, and recommendations.

Market Development

Identification of markets and qualified prospects, generation of sales leads, brand development and marketing.

Marketing Material & Content

Generation of marketing materials in print, and electronic media.

Sales

Development of contracts, and closing the deal.

Project Management

Managed implementations. Verification of contract terms, development of project milestones, follow-through.

Territory Management

Care and feeding of strategic and non-strategic market segments.

TRACKWeb CRM (V 6.0)

  • Scalable
  • Completely customizable
  • Easily configurable
  • Intuitive to use
  • Fully web-based
  • Complete e-CRM solution

Soffront TRACKWeb CRM V 6.0

Soffront is a rapidly emerging leader in the e-CRM market, offering sales force automation help desk management, defect tracking, and knowledge management solutions for companies of all sizes. More than 45,000 users and over 2,500 corporations worldwide, including several Fortune 500 companies, have selected Soffront's products to meet their software needs.

TRACKWeb CRM is a set of four tightly integrated components: defect tracking, help desk management, sales force automation, and knowledge management. These fully web-based components can be used individually or as a completely integrated turnkey customer relationship management solution, which enhances communication and collaboration across all your business units to bring effectiveness in strategic decision making and creating focus on the customers' needs.

You may end up paying the same amount of money for implementing a product that only performs a single function. In order to meet your other business needs, such as, help desk management, customer management, marketing and sales automation, you may have to deploy three or more different products that do not interact with each other. Thus, you may end up paying three times as much as TRACKWeb CRM and settle for much less functionality. TRACKWeb CRM on the other hand, offers an all-in-one enterprise solution for all your business requirements. TRACKWeb CRM helps you build one source of data for defect tracking, help desk, sales automation and Knowledge Base. Thus, all the data is cohesive, all the applications communicate with each other, there is no data redundancy, there is no need to manage three separate databases, and you get comprehensive business reports. Now, you do not have to train your IT staff and users on three different software applications. There is a single data repository to manage and there is no need for client-side installation--simple is better.

The TRACKWeb CRM application has been built from the ground up by harnessing the latest web technologies to provide you the most robust solution available within the industry--the solution which is 100% customizable and 100% web-based. Since it is completely web-based, your customers, partners, or employees from all around the world have immediate access to key information via a Web browser.

TRACKWeb CRM provides a vital communication link that connects your sales, customer support, product development, and marketing function to your customer. TRACKWeb Defects, TRACKWeb Help Desk, TRACKWeb Sales, and TRACK Knowledge Base are all designed to work in concert for enhanced collaboration and information sharing across functional areas.

Soffront's products are very well known within the industry as being the most customizable and easy-to-use, and Soffront still holds ground on these two core competencies. With the introduction of version 6.0, Soffront has set a new milestone for easy-to-use and truly customizable web-based sales automation solution.

TRACKWeb CRM is now easier than ever to use, and simple enough to customize by your own staff. TRACKWeb CRM offers an intuitive user interface in conjunction with common Web navigation styles--virtually eliminating the product learning curve. Most frequently used actions and recently visited records are always accessible on the Speed Bar. TRACKWeb CRM also offers single click access to setup action, queries, and reports.

Robust reporting capability built into the TRACKWeb CRM help monitor, manage and communicate the effectiveness of the sales organization. The application includes several predefined, easy-to-modify text and graphical reports and offers full functionality to create custom reports. The application allows you to create forecast reports and standard or ad hoc reports over any time period. Both text and graphical reports can be exported to any Microsoft Office applications, such as, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, for presentations, analysis and executive reporting.

TRACKWeb CRM is offered with industry standard templates as an out-of-the-box solution, and also gives you full customization ability. In this industry, where most products offer limited customization ability, but claim to offer fully customizable application, the question to ask is, "Who can customize the application, and how much can be customized?" TRACKWeb CRM is the only customizable product that can be easily customized by your own IT staff--end-to-end. If you have limited IT resources, Soffront offers full consulting services to tailor the application to meet the unique requirements of your organization. And since the product is easy to customize, the job is done quickly and cost effectively.

Contrast this with other products that are either not customizable, have limited customizability, or offer proprietary technology that require extensive programming and hefty consultation fees to make the product usable for you. When you need to adapt the product to the changing requirements of your organization, the other products that may initially seem less expensive, actually end up costing much more in the long run.

SOFFRONT SOFTWARE, INC. ANNOUNCES TRACKRULES

Soffront Software, Inc. today announced that it has added a new product to its family of tracking software. TRACKRules, a flexible rule definition system, is currently available to extend the power of TRACK and TRACKWeb. TRACKRules allows a system’s administrator to define complex conditions which activate both mail notifications and field updates, thereby ensuring proper maintenance and execution of business rules, process flow, and communication.

"This product was designed and made available because many of our large customers worldwide expressed the desire to extend the power of our tracking databases to include the ability to define and execute complex rules and triggers based on an action or non-action," said president of Soffront Software. Inc. "Their demand for a complete and flexible rule definition system has led Soffront to develop TRACKRules."

TRACKRules features include:

• an easy-to-use interface for defining complex rules,

• the ability to base rules on present as well as past data,

• an interface for starting and stopping the rule checking system,

• an interface for viewing and printing details of all rules, and

• a notification capability using cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail, and Internet mail.

TRACK is used by thousands of companies worldwide to track and manage all aspects of development and technical support, thereby solving the problem of haphazard reporting and tracking of software and hardware problems. TRACKWeb is the first web-enabled, customizable defect tracking tool that allows developers, vendors, customers, and users to easily access and submit defect information and feature requests through their web browser, such as Netscape Navigator™ or Microsoft Explorer™.

"TRACK software is the only product available in the industry that will allow customers to view, edit, query, report, email, change history, and customize via the Internet or Intranet on multiple platforms," explained Soffront Software's president. "Now TRACK products, which are known for their flexibility and ease-of-use, have even more features that improve and increase usability."

TRACKRules is currently available and is priced at $1,995. TRACKRules server runs on Windows 95, Windows NT Server/Workstation. It requires TRACK for Windows/95/NT and supports dBaseIV or Microsoft SQL Server databases.

TRACK 4.0 is an easy-to-use database that provides a tool for organizations to rapidly enter a comprehensive record of a defect and the description of the environment in which the defect occurred. The database is then used to keep accurate, detailed records of all aspects of the defect throughout the entire process of fixing it.

TRACK client runs on Microsoft Windows, 95, and NT; and the server software can be installed on all Windows and OS/2 supported networks. dBaseIV is included as the default database and can support hundreds of users. Additionally, TRACK server can be installed on a LAN and can be connected to a company’s existing Microsoft, Oracle, or Sybase SQL databases. Multi-user network and floating licenses and site licenses are available. TRACK 4.0 is currently available and sells for $595.

TRACKWeb 4.0 raises technical service and support to a higher level by providing better access to information, product knowledge, and defect fixes from the Internet or Intranet. TRACKWeb allows Intranet users to access the database using Macintosh, UNIX, and others with a Web browser. The customer receives real-time confirmation that the defect is being worked on, along with additional status information, as it becomes available.

TRACKWeb 4.0 client runs on Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer and TRACKWeb server runs on Microsoft NT Server or NT Workstation. TRACKWeb 4.0 server is currently available and is priced at $1,995. TRACKWeb clients are priced at the same price of TRACK 4.0

Soffront Software Inc. is a leading supplier of software database programs designed to track all aspects of your development and technical support such as bug reports, code changes, test cycles, support calls, releases, documentation, and system configurations. Founded in 1992, the company designs, manufactures, and markets TRACK, TRACKWeb, and TRACKRules software. More than 20,000 licenses have been sold to organizations worldwide to solve their tracking and analysis needs. The company sells its products through a direct sales force and distributors in the United States and Canada and through an international network of value-added resellers. Soffront is funded by private investors.

Keeping Track With TRACK for Windows

The Enterprise Standard Database
For Tracking Bugs, Feature Requests, Calls And Much More

  • If you want to fulfill your obligations to your customers, you need to keep track of all of their problems, complaints and requests.
  • If you want to improve your product, you must keep track of everything that goes wrong, so that you can be sure that you have fixed it.
  • If you want your projects to succeed, you have to keep track of what everyone is supposed to do and how well they are doing it.
  • If you want to improve your development process, you must learn from the past, and constantly improve what you are doing.

TRACK is a very powerful and robust client/server database that will help you to keep track of all these details. TRACK will make sure that everyone knows what's going on and what they're supposed to do about it. TRACK will be able to monitor virtually everything you need to know to succeed.

Although TRACK was developed as a bug-tracking system, Peter Coffee of PC Week said that he preferred the term "quality assurance support system." That's because TRACK is not only used in developing new product, but because it is used throughout the product's life. Every complaint and every customer request can be used to improve your product if you have an effective system like TRACK.

It doesn't matter how large your organization grows to be. TRACK can streamline communications and problem solving need in the largest multinational corporation located around the world. TRACK automatically and effortlessly connects the right people associated with development, quality assurance, release control, project management, engineering, sales, technical support, training and public relations.

More than 12,000 corporate customers worldwide have selected TRACK after thoroughly analyzing their alternatives. Unlike other systems, TRACK is flexible, uses industry standard databases and is backed by Soffront's unparalleled technical support.

A Ready-To-Use Package That You Can Easily Customize

To start using TRACK, all you have to do is install it. Right out of the box, TRACK's built-in screens will help you keep track of most of the details that you need. You'll be able to enter details about defects, your system configurations, the customers, who's going to fix the problem, the progress being made and much more. The default data fields and forms are all that you will need to immediately improve the way you handle bug reports.

However, as your need changes, you will want to keep track of many other details. TRACK makes it extremely easy to create custom fields, forms, views and reports to capture and communicate any additional data that you need. The powerful Form Layout editor allows you to create, place, size and align fields with a point and click interface that minimizes administrative overhead. Then in a single step, TRACK updates the database, queries, and reports to fit your new customized structure.

TRACK is so easy to customize that you will eventually use it to keep track of almost any detail that is relevant to your business. TRACK provides eleven different field types, which can be calculated fields, or which can automatically notify other users, for example. TRACK has the power to establish one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships between records on different tables with a linking button.

TRACK can therefore be used as a central repository for keeping track of ALL your information about customers and the products you are providing for them. TRACK will help you become far more customer-driven by linking your development, quality assurance, help desks, training department, technical support specialists, sales department and users for the life-cycle of your products.

Customizing TRACK will give you more control over your data entry, security, distribution and use than building an in-house system which you must maintain and enhance. In fact, the people who appreciate TRACK most are those who have previously written and maintained their own in-house systems.

A User-Friendly Product, Easy To Use At Every Level

Our goal in designing TRACK was to create a product that hundreds of people in an organization could use effectively without even reading the documentation. Customers tell us that we've succeeded.

For example, TRACK has powerful and intuitive search capabilities. With virtually no training, users can do an ad hoc search for the information they need directly on the current screen using the Query by Example method. With the Query Builder dialog, it's even simple to learn to build the most complex search expressions with wild cards and relational operators.

TRACK lets you automate the process further for nontechnical staff. As the TRACK administrator, you can create, save, and share custom queries and reports with any group of users. Any user who knows how to use Windows can effectively use TRACK with no further training.

Automatic Notification Eliminates Weak Communication Links

In most organizations, project coordination depends on regular and appropriate communication between people who are already too busy. It can be challenging to keep track of who needs to know what at every step. Poor management of communications can neutralize the work of the most brilliant engineer.

Included in the standard TRACK package is an E-Mail notification feature which can be used to coordinate the work of large organizations. By automatically notifying both local and remote users, TRACK replaces localized bug tracking systems in individual areas. In this way, it solves many of the communication problems that can arise between users that are separated geographically.

TRACK selectively notifies the right people about new bugs and important updates using its own mail system, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Mail, cc:Mail, or Lotus Notes. It even automatically checks for duplicate mail entries so that no one gets redundant notifications.

With TRACK, you will no longer be kept in the dark _ and neither will anyone else be. If you need to know, you will.

Create Powerful Presentations With Flexible Reporting Options

At Soffront, we realize that the power of the information you gather depends on how well you present it. So TRACK provides you with the right tools to present the facts clearly in the format that you need.

Right off the shelf, you can quickly produce, preview and print several useful predefined reports. However, it is also simple to target your presentations more precisely by customizing your report formats.

TRACK gives you complete control over which fields to include in the report, including query and sort fields. It does not limit you to any predefined set of fields, and you can arrange them in any way that suits your need. Then TRACK does the rest of the work, managing all of the design and formatting details with ease.

You can use TRACK, for example, to create reports that break down defects by severity, the methods used to find them and who found them. You can classify defects by the product or by the module within the product. You can use any field _ including your own custom fields _ to classify the defects.

TRACK's versatile reporting options include summary, tabular, detailed, graphical trend, and distribution reports. TRACK is integrated with Crystal Reports, a popular and powerful third-party reporting package. Finally, you can view multiple reports side by side for easier analysis.

Monitoring Change With Track and Your Version Control System

When combined with your version control system, TRACK keeps track of what went wrong, how you fixed it, what went right and other results of your development work. With this information, you can accurately forecast what you're going to do next and how long it will take.

TRACK integrates with several leading version control systems to track detailed information: MS SourceSafe, MKS Source Integrity, and Intersolv PVCS. It associates bugs with code changes, for instance, so you know which source-code files were modified to fix which bug. When you reopen a closed entry for reexamination, TRACK automatically retrieves appropriate versions of any associated files.

TRACK picks up where most version control and change management systems leave off in monitoring the development process and identifying patterns of weaknesses in the projects. This significantly shortens product development time and reduces defects in the product.

In addition, by recording exactly what happened during the development and testing of a project, TRACK substantially improves development forecasting. When you go into a planning session with hard statistics supplied by TRACK, it's far easier to accurately estimate how long future releases will require.

Track's SQL Interface Eliminates Size Limits

When you first try TRACK, you will be using its internal dBaseIV database. TRACK's database engine is fast and optimized, and can support well over 100 users in a LAN.

However, as your use of TRACK grows, you may want to interface with a SQL server, such as Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle. Or perhaps you may already have a SQL server system, and you may need to interface with it to protect your financial investment in it.

TRACK makes interfacing with various SQL servers effortless. TRACK's growing number of SQL Server support makes it an increasingly robust system that will continue to support your needs beyond the year 2000.

Simple To Administer

For the system administrator, installing TRACK is easy and straight forward. Setting up server and clients takes minutes, and setting up the license is done by entering the license number. You can install upgrades on the server and simply download them to client systems via the network.

It is also simple to import and export selected data to or from external databases or to regularly merge and synchronize TRACK data from multiple sites.

TRACK's security, based on granting user group permissions, allows you to control who has access to specific data items, who can delete records, who can submit changes and who can add values to a choice list.

Finally, TRACK enables you to easily monitor who is working on a given project and to estimate when it will be completed. At any given time, you can monitor which users are actively logged in, and it is easy to examine how users have changed a record in the past by viewing the record change history.

These features provide TRACK administrators with precise information about all aspects of the project's current status in a relatively effortless manner.

Try the Most Up-To-Date Demo Today -- FREE!