Any Service Providers Using a CRM
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For a very long time we, NTG, did not use formal CRM for anything. We looked into it from time to time and a few times gave it a try but it was never very popular and did not catch on. The closest that we ever got to having it really work was when we had a big push to use SugarCRM about four years ago. SugarCRM was not bad but it took a lot of effort to make work and it was very confusing for everyone.
Recently we moved to MS Dynamics CRM for both CRM and ticketing. Not sure about how I feel about the ticketing portion but the CRM portion is working really well and everyone is quite happy.
We have implemented vTiger for customers before too. but we didn't find it to be that exciting, it is a fork of SugarCRM.
A lot of people turn to SalesForce but that seems very expensive for this industry. What are others doing?
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@scottalanmiller To be honest, Salesforce is good but I don't personally care for it that much...
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We use the CRM module inside Autotask. It has been a huge help in managing our clients and those relationships from a single window to include tickets, sales opps, projects, equipment, billing, contracts, etc..
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Fun fact - SugarCRM was part of the inspiration for the name Spiceworks. They wanted to do something fun like SugarCRM. Sugar...Sugar & Spice. Spiceworks.
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@Nic said:
Fun fact - SugarCRM was part of the inspiration for the name Spiceworks. They wanted to do something fun like SugarCRM. Sugar...Sugar & Spice. Spiceworks.
That is really weird! Lol.
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@Nic said:
Fun fact - SugarCRM was part of the inspiration for the name Spiceworks. They wanted to do something fun like SugarCRM. Sugar...Sugar & Spice. Spiceworks.
Well that's a little tidbit I didn't know...lol
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Having some sort of CRM is nearly a requirement in order to grow business without missing out on leads and opportunities. Whether it's Dynamics CRM, built into your PSA, or even making a ghetto CRM in OneNote, not having a system in place can lead lost leads and dropped balls on open items.
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We've tried working without one from time to time and it was a disaster. CRM is definitely important.
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i need the discipline to use it
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@Hubtech said:
i need the discipline to use it
Or the greed to use it. If you're trying to move on everything and keep stuff from slipping between the cracks, the greed will eventually motivate you. At some point, it'll hit you when you realize that using CRM to track your leads could have landed you that x thousand dollar gig. it'll also give you the visibility to realize that the lead you're chasing isn't nearly as hot as some of the other opportunities you have in the fire.
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We have an in-house CRM (but we are a telecom, so we need a CRM.) As an MSP depending on size a CRM might be very nice. NTG I would think you would be big enough to need a CRM. Keep all of the customer contact information organized.
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@Chamele0n said:
We have an in-house CRM (but we are a telecom, so we need a CRM.) As an MSP depending on size a CRM might be very nice. NTG I would think you would be big enough to need a CRM. Keep all of the customer contact information organized.
We are. We have MS CRM for real CRM duties. And we use MS CRM for a customer ticketing system. And we use ManageEngine for our internal ticketing system now.
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I setup GFI Service Desk last night....i'm not really feeling it. It doesn't seem to have a spot that you can create a new project unless i'm blind. come on ya'll sling me some crm/proj management ideas
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@Hubtech said:
I setup GFI Service Desk last night....i'm not really feeling it. It doesn't seem to have a spot that you can create a new project unless i'm blind. come on ya'll sling me some crm/proj management ideas
Have you looked at Autotask lately? It handles CRM, tickets, and projects.
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looked at service desk....not more than tickets integrated into gfi. not interesting iMO. will check out autotask
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Our company deals with residential and small business clients. Definition of small business in my world: "one man shops, mom & pops, and businesses that have no server and usually less that 15 workers"
I used to use Business Contact Manager for Office (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/what-is-business-contact-manager-for-outlook-HP010262568.aspx) for many years. Of course I also ran my shop on Office Accounting 2007 software (after demoing the 2006 release).
Now I use I use RepairShopr for my tech CRM and WHMCS for my marketing/web design CRM along with ZenDesk.
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@technobabble I had never heard of your hosted repair shop CRM before. An interesting product. Might be perfect for your business model. Very cool.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@technobabble I had never heard of your hosted repair shop CRM before. An interesting product. Might be perfect for your business model. Very cool.
I started using that and WHMCS in October and haven't looked back. RepairShopr also has been updating their product almost monthly adding user requested features and they have fantastic tech support!
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@technobabble said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@technobabble I had never heard of your hosted repair shop CRM before. An interesting product. Might be perfect for your business model. Very cool.
I started using that and WHMCS in October and haven't looked back. RepairShopr also has been updating their product almost monthly adding user requested features and they have fantastic tech support!
They would be a good company to have representation in a community like this.
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