So many companies, particularly in information technology, have moved to a subscription model in large part because the recurring revenue model is so attractive both from a cash flow perspective, in part from a business valuation perspective, and, most importantly, it is what Wall Street and Venture Capitalists are valuing most these days. The downside…
We have done a few HubSpot to Zoho migrations in recent weeks and we thought we would share some notes on some of the challenges and pitfalls to avoid. Migration of Contacts, Deals and Company records are pretty straight forward. That data can be simply extracted from HubSpot and loaded into Zoho. Like every data…
Here is, yet another, CRM we have been using lately and some of the limitations that drive us crazy around here. SuiteCRM is an open source branch of Sugar CRM (get it! Suite sounds like sweet and sweet is like sugar.) Some years ago Sugar CRM was an open source CRM package and then the…
All packaged software has limitations that result from either legacy code and legacy decisions (so called “technology debt”) that are either not in line with a particular user’s needs or by a whole industry’s needs. Bitrix, like other packages, is in the same situation. There is no real support, you must use a “partner” to…
Good Lord! Zoho does it again with a product that basically works, but has so many little things wrong with it that it becomes so very frustrating to use. There are so many bugs and poor design features in this product, none that I can find that are central to what it is trying to…
“What do you think of Acme CRM? I hear it is the best thing out there and is designed the way we sell!” Pluleeze! Just take a deep breath. Even though I have been in this business for years, I can’t tell you the number of times in a given month I still hear someone…
Every packaged software system has arbitrary limitations. In this, Zoho isn’t unique in this regard but as a market leader, I don’t think there are enough candid evaluations of factors that really can make an implementation more difficult than it needs to be. Overall, I really like Zoho but there are just a few things…
We have run into a bunch of clients lately who ask questions like this: “Why can’t I attach Opportunities to Leads?” “I am using Contacts for my Employees and partner Contacts, not Prospects, how do I do an Email campaign?” “How do I attach sales history to Leads?” The answer to all of these questions…
Customer Success Management (“CSM”) Systems are a relatively new software category that is finding particular traction with SAAS and other subscription based revenue model customers. What these systems do, is manage the post sale implementation and ongoing customer usage of the system or services with the idea of identifying issues and risks of customer retention (non-renewals)…
There are two old adages that elected officials should never forget: voters have long memories about issues that affect them personally and that all politics is local. These adages are why we are finding a lot of governmental officials are investing in highly customized CRM systems for managing their interactions with their constituents. Whereas CRM…