CRM UK - the official blog of the CRM specialists at TSG

Free Spindle Webinar

Concentrix, in association with Draycir, is hosting a free web demonstration of Spindle Professional  on 20^th April 2010.

Spindle Professional, from Draycir, is a document distribution package that can automatically email, fax, archive, print and even bar code your documents all at the touch of a button; reducing the need for expensive pre-printed stationery; postage costs and manual filing and retrieval of documents.

Key Benefits of Spindle include:

- Dramatically reduces costs: Documents are delivered by fax or email

- Intelligent delivery : Spindle professional knows what to fax, what to email and what to print

- Flexible : The software automatically adds terms and conditions and seasonal or promotional messages

- Saves money and wastage: Uses plain paper instead of pre-printed stationary

- Emails and Archives: Documents are sent and stored as PDF files

To register for the web demonstration or for more information, please contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected].

Date: 20^th April 2010

Time: 10.30am

Duration: 40 Minutes

How do you manage B2B customer enquiries?

In a B2B environment, effective and efficient lead management is one of the key benefits CRM software delivers.

When asked how they manage customer enquiries, the response to this question is often: "they are passed to the sales team". And this can mean everything from being forwarded by an email, added to a spreadsheet, a verbal message, or even a note left on someones desk! And once this happens, how do you know that they actually get followed up? Is there any process for entering the enquiry into a database? If not, what happens if the person who began handling the enquiry is off sick one day? Can you track the progress of the lead? If you don’t know the answer to these questions, or the answer is no, this can have negative implications on the company as a whole.

Unfortunately, it is common in businesses with no CRM system for enquiries not to be followed up. Many get lost in the sales and marketing process. However every lead which is wasted is in effect throwing away potential for your organisation to make money. It is therefore critical that processes are put in place to ensure that every enquiry is dealt with.

Through implementing a Customer Relationship Management solution, you will automatically be provided with a structure and a process for managing enquiries. Modern CRM systems such as Microsoft CRM and Sage CRM contain this lead management straight out of the box. CRM solutions also provide a method of control in the form of a leads management section. The leads management section provides a structured way to respond, track and process incoming enquiries.

For more information about how CRM and lead management can help your organisation please click here. Alternatively contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected] 

CRM - Providing retailers with a competitive edge

Retailing in the UK has never been so tough. There are high-streets up and down the country with empty units and other shops advertising their closing down sales. So in tough times, what does a retailer have to do to ensure they make it to the other side of the depression?  Well, CRM and Business Management Solutions for retailers may provide the answer.

What is Customer Relationship Management?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is all about building relationships with existing customers at the same time as attracting new clients. Properly implemented CRM software will provide retailers with one centralised location to store all information about customers, suppliers and competitors. It will reduce duplication of effort and ultimately improve the productivity of an organisation.

What benefits will CRM bring to retailers?

The benefits if implementing CRM software in the retail sector include:

- One centralised source of information

- Improved communication

- Streamlined internal processes

- Improved level of customer service

- Increased competitive advantage

- More targeted Marketing Campaigns

How much does implementing a CRM system cost?

Implementing a CRM solution doesn’t have to cost a fortune. The cost of a CRM system depends on a wide variety of factors, and there are solutions available to suit almost every budget. CRM is available on either a hosted or an On-Premise platform. Typically the hosted CRM platform is used by smaller  retail companies who do not require a high degree of customisation. Whereas, On-Premise CRM solutions are typically used by larger retailers with more complex requirements and who require greater flexibility and control.

Concentrix is a UK independent CRM specialist. Concentrix takes a product agnostic approach to supplying software and provides best in breed solutions including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage CRM and FrontRange’s GoldMine.

For more information about CRM or how CRM can help retailers please contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

Do you use Sage 50?

Have you ever thought about upgrading? Well it’s a great time to do it now!

Concentrix is offering 10% off Sage 200 licenses when you upgrade from Sage 50! But you need to be quick; the offer only applies for a limited time.

So what is Sage 200?

Sage 200 helps automate and bring together all the key processes in each area of your business: from marketing, sales and customer service, right through to finance, operations, projects and a whole range of other activities. So, rather than having to run separate unconnected pieces of software to manage different areas of your company, you can control all activities from within a single software suite. Essentially, Sage 200 will help you improve knowledge and communication across all points of your business, improving productivity as well as profitability.

Sage 200 is a highly robust solution. It’s also highly flexible, with modular and industry specific applications to manage information and processes throughout your company – whatever business you’re in.

There are two modules which come as standard. These are:

- Sage 200 CRM

- Sage 200 Financials

Other modules available include:

- Sage 200 Commercials

- Sage 200 Project Accounting

- Sage 200 Construction

- Sage 200 Manufacturing

- Sage 200 Point of Sale

- Sage 200 Wholesale and Retail

- Sage 200 Business Analysis and Forecasting

What benefits will Sage 200 bring?

Sage 200 will bring a number of benefits to your business as it:

- Is specifically designed for mid-sized businesses

- Integrates your key business processes

- Helps improve efficiency, competiveness and customer satisfaction

- Provides a quick return on investment

What is the alternative to Sage 200?

Concentrix takes a product agnostic approach to providing ERP software and provides Microsoft Dynamics NAV in addition to the Sage 200 Suite.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is Microsoft’s leading Mid-Market business management solution in the UK.  The latest version, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009, is a highly flexible, intuitive product which, when properly implemented, will structure your entire organisation to quickly deliver real, significant and measurable gains across your business. Concentrix can customise Microsoft Dynamics NAV so that is suits the exact requirements of your organisation.

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics NAV, or upgrading to the Sage 200 Suite, please Contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

How to achieve competitive advantage in the food industry

Like all industries in the UK, the food industry is highly competitive. All companies are aiming to enhance profitability by increasing customer numbers and reducing costs. So, how can you achieve a competitive advantage?

The key to the development of any successful relationship lies in excellent communication. However in the context of an organisation this can be difficult. There are often differences in the way that people store information; this will normally vary between departments. For example, some will hold data in paper files, others will use a number of different spreadsheets and there will be a few who store all information in their heads. However, this unstructured manner leads to gaps in knowledge which can lead to the delivery of poor customer service, resulting in custom going elsewhere.

This is where Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) can help. CRM is all about building relationships with existing clients at the same time as attracting new customers. CRM provides a central place to store information about customers, suppliers and competitors alike.

CRM brings several advantages to companies in the food industry including:

- Improved communication – between staff as well as between the organisation and customers through targeted marketing campaigns.

- Administrative tasks are made much easier through automation

- Increased staff efficiency and effectiveness through streamlined processes.

Concentrix has helped several companies in the food industry to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. And provide best in breed solutions including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage CRM and FrontRange’s GoldMine.

For more information about Concentrix or how CRM software can be used in the food industry, please contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

Can Microsoft Dynamics NAV deliver benefits to Sales and Marketing teams?

The short answer is yes.  Microsoft Dynamics NAV is often thought of as a tool for accounts and manufacturing staff, but it brings real benefits to sales and marketing staff as well.

The current economic climate has made business tough for a number of organisations. However, there are ways to make it easier.

So how can you help your organisation?

Generally speaking the organisations which are doing well at the moment are those which have strong relationships with their customers, excellent internal communication and a solid foundation of knowledge.

Developing good communication and knowledge can become difficult. However, there are a number of solutions on the market which can provide these benefits. Concentrix is an independent Business Solutions Specialist and provides best in breed solutions including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage CRM, Sage 200 Suite and Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

What is Microsoft Dynamics NAV and how can it help?

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is Microsoft’s leading Mid-Market business management solution in the UK. The latest version, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 is a highly flexible, intuitive product which, when properly implemented, will structure your entire organisation to quickly deliver real, significant and measurable gains across your business. Microsoft Dynamics NAV has built in tool and features which can help improve the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of both sales and marketing teams.

Benefits of Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Microsoft Dynamics NAV will bring a number of benefits which will help improve the effectiveness of sales and marketing teams. First and foremost, it includes a contact management solution which enables you to store all information relating to customers centrally in one location.  With one centralised location to store information, staff knowledge will be enhanced. This means that customers are likely to receive a better customer service and are therefore more likely to become loyal.

Other benefits include:

It enables you to stay connected while mobile – Microsoft Dynamics NAV allows you to create and manage information and directly within Microsoft Office Outlook no matter where you are. It then synchronises the information with Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Provides a central source of information – Microsoft Dynamics NAV allows you to access customer information whenever you need it.

Provides reporting tools – Which enable you to quickly and effectively analyse performance

Helps staff work together – Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides a centralised source of information which improves employee knowledge.

Build a loyal Customer Base – Microsoft Dynamics NAV enables you to keep all information about your clients in one place, which will improve customer service and ultimately create customer loyalty

For more information about using Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Sales and Marketing, please contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

CRM UK Guest Blog Post - This recession is killing me (??)

Here’s a guest post by Concentrix Senior CRM Consultant John Odell:

This recession/economic downturn (call it what you will) is killing me. The "problem" is that we are so busy! Nice problem to have, indeed. And now that we in the UK are (apparently) coming out of downturn things will only get busier and 2010, and 2011 already looks hectic (for all the right reasons).

Over the past few months many businesses that had reigned in spending have started to re-initiate projects. There is a sense of relief that conditions are improving and businesses that have survived and strengthened realise that now is the time to consolidate and proactively attack their market. For CRM and ERP specialists, this means more work as business system such as CRM, finance and ERP are crucial enablers to growth and "aggressive" sales and marketing activity.

At Concentrix we find ourselves in this same position. We have continued to grow throughout the last two years as many of our competitors' businesses have failed. Only this week a rival near to our South West office has closed their doors, and we have been able to swiftly engage with and pick up many of their former customers - providing them with the support they need for their systems and adding more growth for us at the end of what, for many, has been a "difficult" year.

I have noticed that more and more people that I'm seeing are buying in to one of CRM software's key strengths: data aggregation. This where CRM gathers information from other business systems and: presents a single customer view for sales, marketing and customer service staff; identifies cross-sell opportunities; enables detailed segmentation and highly targeted messaging by marketing; provides a single source and tool for analysis and reporting. If you like a buzzword, then the one for this is "leveraging" - squeezing all the value out of your data.

As for keeping busy and growing through tough economic circumstances, my opinion is that you need to be a little bit better than your competition and work a lot harder and a lot smarter. We can help with the latter, so please get in touch to find out what we can do to help...

And if you are looking for a job in a growing company helping people to improve their businesses we are always recruiting good people to meet the demand - please check out our career opportunities by taking a look at the Concentrix Job Vacancies ...

Concentrix Customer Surgery

The next Concentrix Customer Surgery is on Wednesday 14th April 2010 and we would love you to come!

The Customer Surgery gives existing Concentrix customers the opportunity to spend an hour with one of our CRM, Accounts or Business Solutions Specialists completely free of charge. You can ask our team about anything ranging from your existing system, to software upgrades, tips, advice and future developments.

Date: 14th April 2010

Location: Concentrix Ltd, 20 Granite Way, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire LE12 7TZ

To book your place, either email [email protected] or call Rebecca on 01509 410500 by Monday 5th April.

Please note to attend the surgery you have to book a place first.

CRM for the Education Sector – Concentrix Release New Case Study

In the UK, the use of CRM in the education sector is growing. As well as helping with marketing to prospective students and improving communications during the admissions process, many colleges are using CRM in areas such as employer engagement, train to gain, alumni programmes and helping towards accreditations such as the training quality standard. In many cases it’s these factors that are really driving the CRM projects forwards.

Concentrix has worked with many institutions in the UK education sector to help with their CRM projects, including colleges, universities and supporting organisations, and has a long list of satisfied clients. To illustrate how these projects typically work in practice, we’ve recently released a case study of CRM in the education sector, describing how Concentrix and Bradford College turned around an ailing CRM project into a highly successful system which is delivering significant benefits.

When Concentrix started working with Bradford College, which is one of the largest Further Education Colleges in the UK, the college already had a CRM system. However the project, which originally started with another business partner unrelated to Concentrix, had got off to something of a rocky start. The new case study describes how Bradford College appointed Concentrix as their new CRM business partner, and how the project went on to improve employer engagement, streamline the colleges internal processes and provide a solid, reliable CRM system. T

The Bradford College case study is one of a series of CRM case studies from Concentrix, and the second focussed on CRM in education. While Bradford College used GoldMine Premium CRM software for their solution (they started with GoldMine Corporate Edition, but after investigating the college's requirements fully, Concentrix recommended they upgrade), we have also released a case study on Microsoft CRM in Education. This case study describes how Darlington College successfully deployed Microsoft Dynamics CRM help them engage more effectively with the local business community, streamline internal processes and increase competitiveness against other training providers. The system also helped Darlington College towards an outstanding Ofsted report.

If you’re interested in CRM in the education sector, there’s also an article in CRMsoftware blog which you may want to read: From Employer Engagement To Student Alumni, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Is Delivering Proven Benefits To The Education Sector.

If you need any further help, advice or information about the use of Microsoft CRM or GoldMine software in the UK education sector, please don’t hesitate to contact Concentrix.

Concentrix Sage 200 User Group

Due to high demand, the morning session of our Sage 200 User Group is now full, so we are running an afternoon session as well.

The User Group will be held at our head office in Mountsorrel, Loughborough on Wednesday 10th March and provides the perfect opportunity for existing Concentrix Customers to:

- Ask questions about any aspect of Sage 200

- Meet and network with other Sage users and Concentrix Customers over lunch

- Find out about Sage 200 Business Intelligence

- Get an introduction to Fixed Assets for Sage 200

We will be joined by Scott Gibson from Sage and Sarah Vickers from Sicon and there will be a free buffet lunch provided (for both the morning and afternoon sessions).

Date: Wednesday 10th March 2009

Time: 12.30 p.m. to 3.00 p.m. (Lunch 12.30 p.m.)

Venue: 20 Granite Way Mountsorrel, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12 7TZ

To register (we need you to register beforehand) or for further information, please email [email protected]  or call Rebecca on 01509 410500.