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

New version of Sage CRM coming soon....

Concentrix consider Sage CRM one of the best CRM products available. It’s won numerous awards, and recently (9th October) Sage CRM won the Business Software Satisfaction award for On Premise CRM. The Business Software Satisfaction awards are based on feedback from people who use the programmes in real life, as opposed to journalists or panels of judges. The users rate each programme on value for money, ease of use, functionality and reliability. And Sage CRM won the On Premise CRM category.

The key differentiators of Sage CRM are its broad functionality, the flexibility it provides by being browser-based and its deep integration with Sage ERP systems. This integration means it can connect the front and back office, automating key business processes and providing visibility and control right through businesses. It’s also easy to use and promotes best business practice, which results in high user adoption rates.

The latest version of Sage CRM is Sage CRM version 6.1, due for launch in November 2007. Sage CRM version 6.1 includes a variety of new features that will be of interest to new and current users of Sage CRM alike. System administrators as well as regular users in sales, marketing or customer service roles will benefit from the new features, which include:

§ Support for Microsoft Vista and Office 2007

§     Tighter Microsoft Outlook integration

§     Additional data management and customisation functionalities

The additional data management and customisation functionalities include calendar user interface enhancements, field deletion capability and more efficient management of quotes and orders.

General information about Sage CRM is here. For more information about Sage CRM version 6.1 please contact Concentrix.

Concentrix are a fully accredited Sage Business Partner.

Free trial of Microsoft Dynamics CRM

At the end of August this year, Concentrix began offering free trials of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to UK companies. We’ve just had our first serious enquiries and will shortly be installing the software for two companies so they can start their free trials.

The free trial offer got off to a fairly slow start. We had a couple of enquiries requesting that we send Microsoft Dynamics CRM on a CD or offer a download. Unfortunately, we don’t have a demo version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and it is not an “out of the box” solution. We’re not offering the hosted or on-demand version either, but a full, unrestricted on-premise, trial. So, we need to look at business processes and configure the system to suit the company it’s going in to. Then we need to check everything works properly and provide some user training. It takes a couple of days: one day for one of our consultants to go in to the company and understand how things are done (ie business processes), and another day for a technical expert(s) to install the software, configure the system and train up key users.

From the Concentrix point of view, the free trials offer has risks attached. Two days worth of skilled staff time for a start. However, we like Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Earlier versions may have been lacking in some respects but now Microsoft have got it right. So we hope the time, resources and costs we risk by offering a free trial of Dynamics CRM will be outweighed by the fact that most companies who try it will like it, and buy from us. Hopefully with our other CRM services as well.

For those who are interested, the details are here: Free trial of Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Welcome to the Concentrix blog!

Welcome to CRM-UK, the blog of Concentrix Ltd. Concentrix is a leading independent Customer Relationship Management (CRM) specialist based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, right in the heart of the UK.

The Concentrix blog will provide:

§   Opinions, news, information and updates on CRM from a variety of different angles. We hope the blog to be of use to sales, marketing, customer service, technical, IT and management staff. In fact, anyone with an interest in CRM. Because Concentrix is independent, i.e. we’re not tied to any one CRM product manufacturer, we can provide product agnostic opinion.

§   An insider’s point of view. Different people from different areas of Concentrix will contribute to this blog: not all content will come from marketing or PR staff.

 

§   Important news about the development of Concentrix for customers and stakeholders. Concentrix has been extremely successful over the past few years, undergoing carefully planned expansion. This is set to continue, with further developments in the pipeline. We’ll post the important stuff here.

Meanwhile, here are some recent CRM articles that probably would have gone on our blog (had it been live at the time), but went on our website instead.

• On demand CRM? (on demand or hosted CRM vs on premise CRM)
• CRM Case Study - Alltruck plc (a new case study)
• CRM for the Public Sector
• 15 day-to-day benefits of CRM