There is a lot of discussion around data security issues concerning Software as a Service (SaaS). Questions are raised as to where the data is stored, how physically safe it is, who has access to it and how secure is it i.e. what happens if the host server goes down. These are all legitimate questions, as the whole field of SaaS is comparatively new. I think we need to step back a little and take a look at the bigger picture. The questions mentioned and fears raised seem to be more of an issue of the fear of something new, something unknown. The safety offered by an on-premises solution has been shown to fail on occasion, as seen by several high profile cases over the past years involving laptops stolen from the NHS, USB sticks that have gone missing in the post, and lost computer disks to mention just a few examples.
Concerning data security in cloud solutions, Graham Anderson made reference to the matter in a highly entertaining manner with this blog post on weak passwords. We all know how hard it is to remember any number of additional passwords on top of pin numbers not to mention the birthdays of your nearest and dearest, but nowadays they have simply become a part of life you can’t avoid. A point worth mentioning – birthdays you can keep in a diary, pins and passwords preferably not. But a little research into password security might make for sobering reading and will certainly help when advising colleagues and members of your organisation as to how important safe passwords are, particularly if your mum’s maiden name and your place of birth are common knowledge! An on-site database may be at risk from a break in, but information contained in your SaaS solution is just as likely to be stolen if your lock and key ie password is easily breached.
Sales pitch: Data security is one of the cornerstones of our business and we at OpenCRM are well aware of this and do our best to ensure that your hosted CRM solution is safe. To find out more about our secure data centres please refer to this article on our website http://www.opencrm.co.uk/why-host-your-crm-solution.html
Ahh if only there were such a thing. I spend several hours per day using the web. Whether professionally or in pursuit of my own interests I click onto hundreds if not thousands of sites per month. There are plenty of websites I love and admire - content, layout and navigation being obvious contributing factors. But there are many more with the potential to be great but fall way short of the mark! Here are five ways I can think of on keeping a site interesting
1. Getting to the point. If I don’t know what the website is about within the first seconds of looking, my interest starts to wane. The next site is only a click away.
2. Simplicity. I like to find what I am looking for quickly and easily. If I am determined to find something then I will persevere and search a site from top to bottom, but it won’t make me want to visit that site again.
3. Usability. Chances are if the site launches with a video or other flash, I’ll not bother! Everyone in the cyber world knows someone savvy enough to build you some flash graphics so it is anything but impressive, and slows the whole process down. And if the site launches a media player choosing to blast out music the user may like then chances are I will be closing that window as quick as possible!
4. Speed. If the site takes too long to load, forget it. This is often linked to my point above, if a site is loaded with intensive, interactive and often superfluous graphics it slows the process down.
5. Content and design. Oh yes there is that as well! Content comes first I suppose, if the information is interesting enough I will overlook poor design. But a fantastic colour scheme, layout and use of font and imagery will have me coming back for more. A site that engages its readers has won half the battle
And of course if I enjoy the site in question, chances are I will bookmark it, become a regular visitor and ultimately invest in the products on offer.
Sales Pitch: We hope that you find our OpenCRM site informative and easy to navigate. Our website has recently been rebranded and relaunched, with our CRM software solution just about to go live and benefitting from a new design, new features and greater usability.
I found this article that I wanted to share with our readers. It covers a topic that is quite interesting especially to those of us who want to set the right tone with potential clients and clients.
How do we start an email - Dear, Hi or Hey ?
Take a look and see what you think Click Here
Sales Pitch : in OpenCRM (premier hosted CRM software solution - yes that us) you have a Greeting field that can be set to always reflect the style of writing that you want to convey to your contacts. This is an automated field and allows you to set your defaults formally or not as you see fit.
I have recently been following a number of articles on the topic of customer service. Although it seems like a very self-evident concept it will always remain subject to discussion.
It is quite incredible during this period of economic downturn that companies aren’t investing more in customer service. Whether this comes in shape of a friendly flight attendant, fast and efficient shop service or good post-purchase support, the UK still seems to lag when it comes to service with a smile. Surely that smile or thank-you mail won’t break the bank and can only be beneficial in terms of customer satisfaction. Yet often enough it seems complacency is still rife and companies sit back and expect the customer to pander to them. As well as front of house help issues, there are ways in dealing with problems behind the scenes, potentially identifying and ironing out problems before they arise.
We ourselves are faced with the challenge of both selling a product which incorporates customer service, and providing assistance to clients of our own. As a result, we can apply what we learn from those needs to our product.
With OpenCRM we provide you with effective tools to manage your service issues. Using the Helpdesk module you can view, analyse and hopefully resolve any issues quickly and painlessly. The History Tab available is there for you to view the evolution of the issue from cause to resolution, and remains on your system in order to target and eliminate future repetition.
As well as providing our customers with this Help Desk feature we take Customer support seriously ourselves. We listen to our customers and we try to deal with any issues quickly and professionally. We don’t make any promises we cannot keep. And believe it or not, even though you can’t see us through the phone, we insist on service with a smile!
Recent news concerning the losses faced by the HMV group came as no surprise to me. Aside from online buying, downloading and an increasing interest from supermarkets in the music and media market, HMV no longer has any high street competition. I believe this has led to them letting standards slip, offering a poor range of goods at non-competitive prices.
The CRM market couldn’t be more different. It seems each day as we work here we are made aware of more and more companies offering a CRM solution for sale. This makes us ever more conscious that customers out there have a huge choice and with a little research will find the CRM solution that is optimally suited to their needs. Far from being a hindrance to us here, this is the best incentive we could have to keep our product fresh, flexible and competitive.
Just as in the CRM market, I wish there were more companies still vying for space on the high street media market, that way I would no doubt be able to find something to buy on the shelves of the high street stores.
Sales pitch: At OpenCRM we listen to the specific needs of every potential, new and existing client and try and implement as many suggestions as possible into our system. This enables us to provide bespoke options for a particular client whilst adding a further tool which we can incorporate into OpenCRM.
One of the benefits of your CRM system is contact management, giving you the benefit of having all the contacts and contact information you need at your fingertips anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.
The first line of customer care will always be satisfaction – ensuring that customer needs and orders are fulfilled as quickly, reliably and professionally as possible. But with advanced use of your CRM system you can build on these foundations and take your customer satisfaction to beyond expected levels and make a real impact on your customer loyalty.
As the name of CRM suggests customer management is also paramount and a useful offshoot of this is customer care. I’m talking about making your customers feel valued and in turn encouraging loyalty as a sense of affiliation to your organisation or product develops. Linking customers to specific product groups means you can inform them of any developments, new product releases or make them special offers. Using templates you can also easily create and send to specific customer groupings questionnaires or similar marketing tools which serve the dual purpose of making the customer feel a part of the product as well as giving you the required feedback. There is a fine line between “befriending” customers and becoming an intrusive pest, but here common sense should be the guiding line.
As the general concept of what constitutes a “friend” shifts towards describing a virtual relationship as much as anything else, there is no reason why you shouldn’t harness this and use your CRM as a tool to maintain and service your client base and bring them closer into the loop.
Sales pitch: At OpenCRM we strive to develop a close relationship with our clients. We value clients’ input and opinions and these often provide us with inspiration when taking on further development projects.
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