by  gordonramsaysubmissions

A last month I wrote a post explaining about the different types of CRM.  A recent client project made me realize that I had left a few “flavors” off the menu.

This client is a marketing firm that wanted to implement a system that kept track of customer/prospect interactions and  client projects – customer relationship management (CRM) with project management (PM).  This was a new flavor.  They want to track contacts thru the sales cycle to proposal and then when a proposal was won, track the activities required to complete the proposed project.  What businesses would need this functionality?  Any business that performs multi-task activities for a customer – marketing and design firms, architecture and engineering, builders and remodelers, attorneys and CPAs.  The list is quite large and definitely includes technology consultants like myself!  So I updated the graphic from that last post:

Which tools support this kind of functionality?  Definitely the big names do – Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  There are specialty niche products like Clients and Profits which is geared towards marketing agencies.  Then there are applications with broad functionality that can appeal to wide range of small businesses.  These include WorkEtc, Solve360, ZohoCRM and Zoho Project along with a host of others.

What came out of the evaluation I did for this client?  First, we choose Solve360 for their business and we’re implementing it now.  I also now have my eye on WorkEtc. for my next CRM, for when I outgrow Batchbook (which I love).

The price points and functionality vary and the list of companies here is far from exhaustive- it is worth getting some help evaluating these tools to determine which is right for your business.  In this article I talk about some of the success factors.  Get with your technical advisor to find out more.

It appears that a) a lot of small business owners don’t know what “cloud computing” is and b) regardless of whether they know or don’t know they are wary of it. In this post I will clearly and simply explain what it is and hopefully clear up some of the myths and misunderstandings about cloud computing.

Wikipedia defines cloud computing as “cloud computing” is Internet- (“cloud-”) based development and use of computer technology (computing)”. Clear as mud, huh? This is simplest way I can think of to explain what cloud computing is: if you are doing something without installing hardware on your computer or a computer on your local network, you are involved with cloud computing. A great example is email – if you use Gmail, Hotmail, AOL mail, Yahoo mail or anything similar you are using cloud computing. You are using computers and programs that live in the cloud we call the Internet.  Facebook, Youtube, Flickr, Twitter – yep, all in the cloud.

But what does this have to do with business, especially small business?    Essentially it means that as a small business owner you have lots of opportunities to choose whether to buy software (and likely hardware) or choose a vendor to supply services virtually over the Internet.

What are some concrete examples?  What about (lists not inclusive):

• file storage and sharing.  You can buy and install  file server and connect it to your network or use a cloud-based solution like Egnyte, Dropbox, Google Docs or Box.net
• email.  Too many examples to mention, starting with our friends at Google.
• accounting.  Good old friends Quickbooks can be run online as well as newcomers like Freshbooks
• CRM.  Salesforce.com is a pioneer of cloud computing; other entrants to the fray include Batchbook (I talk about them here), SugarCRM, Zoho and Highrise
• Word processing and spreadsheets.  In this post I talk about Google Docs, Zoho and the like
• Document Management.
• Reporting and analytics.
• and the list goes on and on.

What are the pros and cons of using cloud computing?

1. It can be fast and inexpensive to get started.  Whether you have a new business or an existing business, using a cloud-based solution can dramatically cut down the time to get up and running and reduce your initial capital outlay.  If your business needs change rapidly, using cloud-based solutions allows you to add features quickly or even move to another solution more easily.  On the flipside, as your business grows you may find that the capital outlay of in-house applications is less expensive than ongoing costs of a cloud application.  You should always read the fine print and make sure that you can easily retrieve your data and move it to another provider should you outgrow your first choice or if you are unhappy with the service you are getting.
2. Your systems and data are easily accessible.  Wow, this is a big one; think about it, you can access your data from anywhere, anytime.   Using the business center in the hotel where you are vacationing and want to check your Quickbooks?  No problem!  Your salesperson drops their pc in the lake?  Don’t worry, their contact information is safe in the CRM system in the sky.  Cloud-based applications support virtual offices and working from home “out of the box” so to speak.  Downside?  You only have access to your applications and data thru the Internet.  No Internet access?  Internet down?  Have a slow internet connection?  All of these can affect, in some cases dramatically, your access to your business information.  As a business owner you have to weigh the risks of not having access to the costs of controlling your own access (and remember, if you don’t have electricity you are likely SOL anyway).
3. Your information may not be secure.  On one hand, it may not be secure in your office either.  Is it backed up regularly and is that backup in an offsite location?  Is it on a computer or server that is secured properly on the Internet?  Is it physically secure from theft, natural disaster, etc?  Many small business owners don’t pay attention to these factors, making their systems and data LESS secure in their own office than it would be anywhere else.  Most of the companies that provide cloud-based services have shelled out a lot of dough to make sure their systems are secure, safe and stay up.  That said, not all of them do it the same way or in the same degree.  As a small business owner you should sit down and assess the level of risk you are willing to take and with which kinds of data.  Then, as you look into cloud-based applications, make sure you understand each suppliers security precautions and service level agreements.
4. You can concentrate on your business, something you are probably pretty good at.  You can leave the care and feeding of computers and systems to the highly trained and compensated personnel that work for the service providers.  It can be distracting and expensive to maintain technology; most small businesses are better off spending their energy and money somewhere else.

Bottom line? My take is that most of the cloud-based applications are good, safe and secure and are getting more so every day.  While you should certainly thoughtfully assess your individual needs, especially where accessibility and security are concerned, I believe small businesses should seriously consider cloud-computing for many of their needs.  Determining where it makes sense and how to transition your applications should be part of your technology plan.

How do YOU feel about the cloud?

Photo attribution:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/8769295@N07/ / CC BY 2.0

I thought I’d start a regular feature (maybe bi-monthly) about the software tools and services used at Clearly Simple Solutions. Of course, there are caveats to this, namely that this post reflects what I use and think is cool at a  specific point in time. What seems like the perfect tool today may not fit the bill tomorrow and I may already have a new favorite. You never know.

I’ll kick off the feature with my current favorite, Batchbook. Batchbook is a “social crm” (the company’s moniker, not mine) from Batchblue. I’ve been using it 6-8 weeks now and so far so good.

How did I chose it? I wish I could say I took copious notes at the time I was reviewing the options, but I didn’t. Personally, I cared about a few things:

• ease of use

• ability to import and export contacts

• to-do list management

• ability to keep track of communications with contacts

• some simple way to do campaign management

• low cost

• web-based

Of course, even though I was looking for a tool for my own business, I was on the lookout for tools that would work well for my small business clients as well. So I discovered a funny thing about CRM tools for small businesses – there are a lot of good ones. I felt like there were a lot of viable choices.  Many small business are successful with Highrise, ZohoCRM, SugarCRM or one of the other major contenders. What it came down to was, well, personality.  What I mean by that in this case is how was combination of design, functionality and support suitable so using it isn’t a chore?  In my case, Batchbook fit the bill.  The site and the tool had the right feel, the right vibe and the right level of functionality; not too little (some are barely more than contact list), not too much (in some the sales and marketing features made me cross-eyed).  I haven’t used the support directly myself yet but the forums and FAQs are easy to use and suggest friendly, quick customer service.

What do I like?

• It was easy to use right away.  For me, reading instructions is what you do after you can’t figure out how to do something.  I very rarely have to read instructions for Batchbook.
• The error messages, when you get them, are clear.
• It is easy to find things.
• Nothing is “in your face” or shouting at you.
• It is way easy to import and export contacts.  You can also add contacts by just forwarding an email to Batchbook.
• I love the social media connections; for each for my contacts I can monitor their Twitter activity, LinkedIn and other social outlets.
• Although I have way too many contacts for the free version, the next level up is attractively priced.
• And the tags and supertags are way cool – anything you can’t do somewhere else you can do with them.  Finally, it integrates well with Mail Chimp which was a pleasant surprise.

What could be better?

• Well, it could be faster, for a start.
• If you add a contact with tags it is two steps instead of one.
• Reporting could be seriously juiced up – I know I am a reformed software engineer but how can you do good queries with no parentheses and no ability to search for null or empty fields?
• What is up with no Facebook integration?

Other than those small quibbles, so far so good.  Not only do I like the tool, I have recommended it to a few friends.  The folks at Batchblue don’t know me from Adam so this is an unbiased opinion.  Tools like Batchbook are ideal for small businesses.

What do you use for YOUR small business?