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

Concentrix exhibits at Technology for Marketing & Advertising

Concentrix will be exhibiting with Sage (UK) Ltd at Technology for Marketing & Advertising. The event takes place at Earls Court 2, London on 12th - 13th February 2008, and focuses on digital, data and CRM solutions for marketing, media and advertising professionals.

Technology for Marketing & Advertising has over 200 exhibitors and a variety of seminars and classes covering CRM, Data and Digital marketing. There's also a networking bar, and plenty more...

Concentrix will be focussing on Sage CRM and SalesLogix, but whatever you're enquiry, come and see us on stand G28. If you are interested in attending Technology for Marketing & Advertising, it's free and you can register here.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Screenshots

The latest version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM (version 4.0) is now available, and to show what the new version looks like, we’ve put some Microsoft Dynamics CRM Version 4.0 screenshots on the Concentrix website. There’s at least one screenshot from each of the main sections of the programme, however if you would like to see a specific area or screen please get in touch. Or to really get to grips with the programme, you can of course contact us about a free, on-premise trial – all free trials of Microsoft Dynamics CRM will now be of version 4.0.

There’s more details about the main features of the software, what’s new and other information in a previous blog article about Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 here.

Upgrading FrontRange GoldMine

During January 2008, Concentrix has offers on upgrades for customers using GoldMine Standard Edition and GoldMine Corporate Edition.

For GoldMine Standard Edition users, if you upgrade to GoldMine Corporate Edition or GoldMine Premium Edition – you’ll be able to buy additional licences at the same price as the upgrades.

Similarly, for businesses using GoldMine Corporate Edition who are looking to move to GoldMine Premium Edition – you’ll also be able to buy additional GoldMine Premium Edition licences at the same price as the upgrades.

So for companies using GoldMine as their CRM application, this makes January 2008 a great time to upgrade and bring real benefits to your business. Note this is a time limited offer and ends on January 31^st.

For more information about this upgrade offer, including full prices and costs of GoldMine Corporate and Premium Edition licences, please contact us.

There’s also an earlier GoldMine related post here.

FrontRange Solutions produce the GoldMine suite of CRM products. These consist of GoldMine Standard Edition (effectively discontinued), GoldMine Corporate Edition (aging but still being supported by FrontRange), GoldMine Premium Edition (released last year and a significant step forward) plus GoldMine Enterprise (for mid-market and enterprise scale solutions).

Opening Times (including suppport) over Christmas

During the Christmas period, Concentrix will be open (including access to CRM support services) as follows:

Monday 24th December 2007

09:00 - 15:00

Tuesday 25th December 2007

CLOSED

Wednesday 26th December 2007

CLOSED

Thursday 27th December 2007

09:00 - 17:00   

   

Friday 28th December 2007

09:00 - 17:00

   Monday 31st December 2007

09:00 - 17:00

Tuesday 1st January 2008

CLOSED

Wednesday 2nd January 2008

08:00 - 18:00

Remember, if you need help or support with your CRM system at other times, you can log-in to our Self-Service Portal via the Concentrix website. The will give you 24/7 access to:

• Your current and historical issues
• CRM Product Support News
• Our CRM Knowledge Base
• Latest version, build and hotfix information about Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the FrontRange GoldMine suite of products, Sage CRM and Sage SalesLogix

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Concentrix!!!

Taylor Made Technology

Here’s an important announcement about Concentrix and Taylor Made Technology.

Since our formation in 1999, Concentrix has grown from a two-man operation to one of the UK’s leading independent Customer Relationship Management (CRM) specialists. Building on this success, Concentrix has acquired Taylor Made Technology (TMT), one of the largest suppliers of IT solutions in the East Midlands.

Like Concentrix, TMT is a fully accredited Sage Business Partner. TMT’s key focus has been back-office business software, hardware and networking operation. They will bring a significant client base to Concentrix, gained mainly through personal recommendations.

The acquisition of Taylor Made Technology (TMT) means that Concentrix now offers software, hardware and supporting services to cover nearly every business process within a company. It also makes Concentrix one of the UK’s largest resellers of Sage software, and will enhance our delivery of other products as well.

The skills-sets within TMT and Concentrix complement each other perfectly and make a powerful combination. This means we’ll be delivering significant gains to our customers.

For now, TMT will continue to operate in their existing offices in Glenfield, near Leicester. They will still very much be the same company with the same staff. There will be no immediate effect on TMT’s terms and conditions of trading.

Concentrix and TMT are now able to help businesses improve efficiency and productivity at every stage of their workflow, not just at the customer interface. We can provide software for sales and marketing through to HR and accounts. We’ll also provide hardware, IT network and infrastructure, along with training and ongoing support. In other words, Concentrix and TMT will now be a one-stop-shop for complete business solutions.

There's a press release about the Concentrix acquisition of TMT here. If you would like further information about this acquisition or more details of the services we now offer, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Come and see us - and talk about CRM!

Starting in January, come and visit our offices and have an hours consultancy for free! Once a month, we’re holding an “open house” to discuss any issue regarding CRM or business process improvement. It’s not just with our Sales and Marketing staff either – you can come and discuss any issue with anyone in Concentrix that you would like to talk to.

If you’re a Concentrix customer (or anyone else for that matter), just give us a call in advance and come and see us.

You can use the hour however you like. You could go through a support issue with our support team, discuss technical issues with our developers, talk to one of our sales team about upgrading your CRM system or even catch up on the latest gossip with our HR/Admin team. You can pretty much use the hour as you wish and with any of the members of our staff.

The open days will be held on the first Friday of every month, you can call in any time between 9.00 till 17.00 at our offices in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire. Just make sure you book in advance and let us know what time you’re coming!

CRM Training Courses

To help our customers, and the general public, get the most from their CRM systems, we’re providing regular CRM training courses in the New Year. We believe that CRM training is a key component of the successful implementation of any CRM system. It helps maximise the value of investment, and our training packages enable users and administrators alike to realise the full potential of their CRM software.

Training will be available for GoldMine Corporate Edition, GoldMine Premium Edition, Sage CRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Crystal Reports and QuoteWerks. Different levels and areas of training will be available to suit everyone’s needs. All the courses will be held in the training suite at our offices in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire. If you have enough people in your company we could come to your premises, but we recommend learning off-site at our offices as it helps you meet training objectives without disruption.

More information about our open courses, including dates and fees, are available at www.concentrix.co.uk/training

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0: Free Trial Update

Maybe it’s because it’s the end of the year, but there’s been significant interest in the free trials of Microsoft Dynamics CRM over the past couple of weeks. So, unless you really need to begin a trial in December, we’ll probably start installing the software for any new trials in January.

There’s a good incentive to wait until January though. Because of the imminent release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4 (or Titan), we’ll be using that for the trials, not version 3 as previously. Apart from using v4 rather than v3, everything else about the trials remains the same.

Whatever version you would like to try and whenever you want to start – if you’re interested in trying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your company, the sooner you contact us the sooner we can book you in.

There’s more info in a previous article here, or full details of the trial are on our website here: Free trial of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

What’s the price of a CRM system?

The price of a CRM system is more than the cost of the CRM software and IT to run it - there are a variety of other factors you need to include. There’s a new article on the Concentrix website called “So how much does a CRM system cost?” which discusses what you need to consider to when estimating the price of implementing a CRM system.

To summarise, before starting a CRM project there's usually three main areas of costs to look at:

The software costs: these cover the price of CRM software licences and the price of CRM software maintenance.

Professional Service Costs: these are what you or your CRM solutions provider need to get done to get your CRM system up and running. Professional service costs in CRM projects include a number of variables: everything from defining the project to hardware and training.

Cost of support: the price of keeping your CRM system going, which will include things like user support, access to a helpdesk and so on.

How much of each area you use, and therefore how much the total CRM system costs you depends on your business requirements. After defining your business requirements, developing and working through a project scoping document will help you accurately define costs.

Working out CRM software costs is usually straightforward as they have a clearly identifiable unit price.

The professional services are harder to quantify and are where working out the price of a CRM system gets more involved. Typical issues which affect the complexity of a project and hence the level of professional services you require include:

§   How far from ‘out of the box’ functionality you intend to go and the level of system configuration required

§   Your data – how much is there? What format? Is it clean?

§   The sophistication of your reporting requirement

§   Training requirements

§   Your existing IT infrastructure (hardware etc)

CRM system support costs depend mainly on your solutions provider, the complexity of your system and number of users, and what level of support you choose,

As well as costs, an independent CRM specialist can advise the most appropriate CRM software to suit your business, how it will fit into your existing systems, how it will integrate with other business software, your budget and much more.

“So how much does a CRM system cost?” goes into more detail about all the issues you need to consider when assessing the price of implementing a new CRM system. But of course, talking to and independent CRM specialists such as Concentrix will save you time and help make sure you’ve taken everything into account when budgeting for a CRM project!

Read the full article…

Choosing between On-Demand CRM and On-Premise CRM software

A fundamental choice for any CRM project: use on-demand CRM software, or have CRM software installed at your business premises?

On-demand or hosted CRM software is readily available and there are many different brands. On-demand CRM solutions can seem a good call in terms of convenience, price and initial outlay. They usually run using monthly contract costs, they’re quick to set up and don’t often need extra hardware to run.

So why do people bother installing on-premise CRM software? It’s a bit like whether you want to rent a flat or buy a house. Renting a flat – straightforward, no ties, small deposit, good monthly rate. Any problems call the landlord - along with all the other tenants.

Or choose to make an investment. Set it up the way you want, make it work for you, let it evolve with your company, have room to change or expand, and provide a good ROI. On-premise CRM software is more adaptable to your company’s needs, has better functionality and is ultimately in the hands of your IT staff. A strong initial reason for many companies for choosing on-premise CRM software is control of data (it’s stored on your system) and control over your software.

Though many businesses have taken up on-demand CRM, Concentrix has often seen companies moving from on-demand to on-premise CRM solutions. Sometimes it’s a natural progression. However we have also had companies approach Concentrix because they had taken up an on-demand CRM solution elsewhere and found it was not the right choice. Although on-demand CRM may be a good fit for a while, it can soon be outgrown and is often limited in what it can achieve. Costs can also start to creep upwards, making an on-premise CRM solution more appropriate.

Concentrix offer both on-demand CRM software as well as on-premise CRM software, although the majority of our business is through on-premise CRM solutions (we also have business partners we’ll refer companies to for certain hosted CRM solutions if we feel it’s the right solution for the customer).

So what’s the best choice? Clearly mapped business requirements produced at the early stages of your CRM project, allowing room for growth taking into account likely business trends, will go-along way to answering the question. As will a discussion with an independent CRM specialist.

More information about choosing an on-demand CRM or an on-premise CRM solution in this article: Is On-Demand CRM right for your Company?