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

Are you using Sage 200 to its full potential?

As a result of the current economic climate, many organisations are looking for methods of improving their efficiency and effectiveness. But, with tightened budgets and reduced head count this can be more difficult than anticipated. However, if you are an existing Sage 200 user, the ideal solution could lie within the software you already have.

Sage 200 consists of two foundation modules, these are:

- Sage CRM

- Sage Financials

While the majority of companies use the Sage 200 Financials modules, the CRM modules are often not given a second thought. However, implementing a CRM system does not have to be difficult and done properly CRM will bring real benefits to your organisation, especially in the current economic climate.

Through using Sage 200 CRM you will:

- Reduce duplication of effort

- Decrease errors through reduced data import

- Provide more consistent Customer Service

- Improve Management effectiveness through powerful measurement and reporting tools.

So how can you get CRM working for you?

Concentrix is currently offering existing Sage 200 customers half a day of free training on Sage 200 CRM to get them up and running.

For more information about Sage 200, Sage 200 CRM or the half day of free training on Sage 200 CRM, contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

Tableau 5.0, Bigger and Better than Before!

Tableau, the leading provider of Business Intelligence and Visual Data Analysis Software has recently released an updated version. The next generation of Tableau Software - Tableau 5.0 is faster, more secure and easier to manage than ever before.

Tableau 5.0 has more than 60 new features across four main themes including:

- Active views & dashboards

- Authoring rich experiences

- New data options

- Server Scalability and performance

So what are the benefits of the latest version?

Well, all the new features are designed to improve the user experience, enabling you to ask better

questions of your data. In addition, it will enable you to obtain better answers to questions based on the

information you’ve found from the data.

Essentially, Tableau will provide you with a clearer view of what is happening within your organisation,

enabling you to plan for the future – something which every organisation, irrespective of size or sector

needs to do.

What makes Tableau even more appealing is that you do not need to be technically minded to use it. If

you can use Excel you can use Tableau!

Concentrix is a key distributor of Tableau in the UK, and can connect the software to the live data in your

Data Warehouse, CRM software, accounts system, marketing software, Excel spreadsheets or any other

source.

For more information about the new features of Tableau 5.0 and to find out how Tableau can help your business, contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

Sage 200 User Group

The next Sage 200 User Group for existing Concentrix Customers will be held at our head office in Mountsorrel, Loughborough on Tuesday 15^th September.

The User Group will include special guests Scott Gibson and John Hulme from Sage UK as well as Tom Bevan from Draycir.

The user group will provide 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

Get an introduction to Credit Guardian (a new credit analysis product from Draycir)

Discuss Business Intelligence for commercials with Scott Gibson

Find out about Sage 200 Reporting Enhancements from John Hulme

We will also include a free buffet lunch

To register* or for further information, please email [email protected] or call 01509 410500.

Date: Tuesday 15^th September 2009

Time: 09.30 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. (Registration 9.00 a.m.)        

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

And of course if you need any further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Sage 200 for the Construction Industry

Faced with a slowing market, increasing competition and falling sales, the construction industry is probably not one of the best to be in at the minute. However, it is not all doom and gloom, help is at hand with Sage 200 Construct and Sage 200 CRM.

So what is Sage 200 Construction?

Sage 200 Construction is an integrated solution which connects all the main functions of a business. Sage 200 Construct is a comprehensive construction management solution which has a wide variety of features to make construction projects highly efficient, effective and profitable. For example, Sage 200 Construction easily generates materials, purchase orders and delivery notes, and tracks sub-contractor insurances. It handles enquiries from their initial receipt to producing quotes, and all information can be transferred into contracts, with no rekeying of data.

How can Sage 200 CRM help me?

Sage 200 CRM is included as a foundation module in the Sage 200 suite. Sage 200 CRM enables organisations to manage customer facing activities: synchronising sales, marketing and customer service across all points of contact.

In some construction companies there are problems in efficiency and effectiveness which are brought about by the fact that there is important customer information held in different places, including on a number of spreadsheets, on different peoples lap tops and in people’s heads.  This can cause significant problems for an organisation as it will significantly reduce efficiency and effectiveness. What’s more, it can lead to varying levels of knowledge throughout the company, resulting in the level of customer service an individual receives being completely dependent on access to information which the person they speak to has.

Implementing a CRM system will bring significant advantages to a construction company as it will:

- Reduce duplication of effort

- Provide one centralised databaseReduce the likelihood of error

- Reduce the paper chain

- Provide access to real time information which can be used to make business critical decisions.

Concentrix has a number of customers in the construction industry and subsequently understands the needs of companies which operate in this sector

For more information about Sage 200 Construct, Sage 200 CRM, or any of the other products and services provided by Concentrix, please contact us on 01509 410500, alternatively email [email protected]  

Concentrix redeploys Sage 200 for Inside2Outside, a leading manufacturer of outdoor canopies

Although Inside2Outside already had a Business Management Solution in place they needed a solution and more importantly a supplier who was capable of understanding their requirements and facilitating their needs.

As a leading manufacturer of outdoor canopies and the only canopy manufacturer concentrating on the education sector, Inside2Outside needed a Business Management Solution and more importantly a supplier who was capable of understanding their requirements and facilitating their needs.

Inside2Outside chose Concentrix as their preferred partner as their professional approach gave them the confidence that they were capable of understanding and interpreting their needs.

Concentrix provides the best in breed solutions including Sage CRM, Sage 200, Sage SalesLogix, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and FrontRange’s GoldMine. After assessing Inside2Outsides requirements Concentrix recommended Sage 200 as the best fit solution.

Sage 200 is perfect for organisations that need a solution which can be customised to fit their exact business requirements and integrates across departments and sites.

The sage 200 suite redeployed by Concentrix has enabled Inside2Outside to:

- Significantly reduce duplication of effort through a single, centralised system

- Provide employees with a complete overview of customers

- Improve efficiency, effectiveness and profitability

- Improve management information

- Facilitate better customer service

- Streamline business processes

To download the case study in full, click here.

For more information about Sage 200 or Concentrix, please contact us on 01509 410500 or email: [email protected].

How to Make Sure Sage 200 is Safe

Imagine if your IT systems were physically damaged or destroyed by, say, a fire, a flood or serious storm damage to your building.  How long would it take to rebuild your critical business management systems, such as Sage 200 from scratch?  Any downtime can be disastrous, especially in today's climate. 

None of us like to think about it. But it makes sound business sense to be prepared for the worst. Good planning could help you get your systems up and running again quickly and minimise the damage to your business.  What's more, with the influence of US regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, auditors are increasingly looking for sound Business Continuity Planning before they'll sign off your accounts.

Concentrix supplies a variety of products which provide Security for CRM, accounting or business management software, as well as hardware and IT infrastructure, to ensure it's safe from threats such as viruses, hackers, spam and data leakage. However, for the more physical threats you also need to do a little extra.

Sage 200 Back Ups

Your standard Sage Software Licence Agreement lets you copy your software CD so Concentrix can reinstall Sage 200 in the event of a catastrophe. It’s also important to make regular back-ups of your Sage data - and to check them frequently.

Sage 200 Disaster Recovery Licence

To make sure your Sage 200 Business Management solution and all the data held within it is completely safe, Concentrix also recommends getting a Sage 200 Disaster Recovery licence. This will give you all the back-up, security and peace of mind that you need.

The Sage 200 Disaster Recovery Licence is a special licensing option which allows you to legitimately run a full, active 'mirror' of your main Sage 200 system. So even if the worst should happen, your business won't suffer any damaging downtime. This back-up licence is available from Concentrix and is not dependent on the number of users that you have. We’ll work with you to develop and configure your back-up installation, using the appropriate technology, and make sure your Sage 200 system is really safe.

For price and costs of Sage 200 Disaster Recovery Licences and for more information on how it can protect your organisation, or for advice about security products for accounting, CRM or business management solutions, please contact your Concentrix account manager, or contact Concentrix direct.

Sage 200 news - Sage to Withdraw support for Microsoft SQL Server 2000 in spring 2010

Sage 200 2010 is scheduled for release in mid-Spring 2010. When it’s released, Sage will be withdrawing support for Microsoft SQL Server 2000.

Microsoft withdrew mainstream support for Microsoft SQL Server 2000 in early 2008 and is due to withdraw 'Extended Support' in 2013. Under extended support Microsoft will only commit to release security updates and will undertake no design changes or other development. In addition existing users will be charged for support from Microsoft.

Microsoft released SQL Server 2008 in April 2008. Sage’s development policy for Sage 200 is to only support the current and prior release of this database platform with its software applications therefore from the 2010 release Sage will support Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 only.

Sage recommends customers use Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard as this is required for those customers utilising business intelligence, and it is the latest version.

For more information about how this may affect your business, or for any other enquiry about Sage 200, please contact your Concentrix account manager.

Free trial of Credit Risk Analysis tool

All decision makers within a company would like to think that they know their business inside out. However, the reality is that often decisions are made using out of date information which exposes a company to more risk than was ever anticipated.

There is now a way to make more informed business decisions. Credit Guardian from Draycir is a software application which is installed on a user’s computer and downloads credit risk and company information from Experian. The software provides users with a real insight into the risks which their business is exposed to as Experian data is overlaid with their own businesses account information. In addition it also provides companies with information about their customers and suppliers trading patterns.

Credit Guardian also makes spending hours analysing company information a thing of the past, as it does it for you. Credit Guardian is effectively a business intelligence solution, which focuses on credit risk analysis, in fact at Concentrix we believe that the best way to describe Credit Guardian is as a cross between a business intelligence and credit analysis tool.

Concentrix has a close working relationship with Draycir and supplies Credit Guardian in addition to the following Draycir products:

- Spindle Professional – Helps you business to create the right impression at the same time as reducing costs significantly.

- Credit Hound – Software which automates and streamlines the processes involved in good credit control, enabling you to collect money quickly and easily.

We will be adding more information about Draycir products provided by Concentrix to our website shortly.

To try Credit Guardian for free, all you need to do is click on the following link and enter our partner code*. www.cguardian.co.uk/concentrix. Alternatively to find out more about Credit Guardian, Spindle Professional or Credit Hound, contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

*The partner code should appear automatically, but if it doesn’t, please contact Concentrix and we’ll provide it.

 

 

CRM Solutions for the Printing Industry

Like the majority of industries in the UK, the printing industry is extremely competitive and is often ultimately driven by price. What’s more, advances in technology mean that competition is no longer purely UK based.  You are probably thinking, “Well, when competition is so fierce, how am I going to win any business?” Well, the answer may well lie within a CRM or ERP Solution.

CRM software can help printing companies by:

- Providing a centralised location for all customer data – improving the transparency of customer information

- Reducing duplication of effort

- Empowering employees with knowledge

- Increasing management reporting ability

All of these benefits will significantly improve a printing company’s efficiency, effectiveness and ultimately the level of customer service which they provide.

Concentrix provides the best in breed CRM solutions including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage CRM and FrontRange’s GoldMine.

More than CRM

Another option which printers can consider in the attempt to improve their efficiency, effectiveness, customer service and ultimately profitability, is an ERP solution. Concentrix provides the Sage 200 suite, which is a mid-market ERP solution. Sage 200 helps automate and bring together all the key processes in each area of a printing business, so rather than having to run separate unconnected pieces of software to manage different areas of your company, Sage 200 enables you to control all of your main business processes from within a single software suite. In other words, Sage 200 is a fully integrated business management software solution. 

To find out more about CRM or ERP solutions, contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

Growing through the "bad times"

Welcome on board to two new Concentrix players, Matthew and Pascal. Both join our Operations Team as Microsoft Dynamics Specialists - probably the fastest growing area of our business.

Despite the doom, gloom and rainy summer weather, Concentrix is continuing to grow, following a strategic growth plan and successfully seeking out new and exciting projects and raising standards across everything we do.

In particular, as Microsoft Dynamics CRM gathers momentum as a market leader, our acknowledged expertise and excellent track record with Dynamics CRM is bringing more and more business to our door.

If you are looking for ways to improve your efficiency and effectiveness please get in touch and we will be happy to discuss how we may be able to help.

John Odell - CRM Consultant