As a software consultancy, Volano is an expert on CRM systems. Any organization that needs to manage contacts and contact data, run targeted marketing campaigns and store contact specific information can appreciate the utility of a good CRM system. I would wager to say that in this data-driven age, CRM has become as popular a term in business as “e-mail” was in the nineties.
Unfortunately, many CRM systems were designed to cast a wide net on markets in need of contact management. As a result, so many features were created that the software’s complexity compromised the few key components for which it was designed to perform. The weight of these CRM systems are reflected in the cost which is often confusing and tiered out. The overly complex systems are often shunned by the very sales people for which they were intended to help. Managers then continue to lack visibility into the status of sales funnels. Sales people conversely manage much of their relationship management in their heads. This isn’t necessarily bad but makes for poor ROI on your systems, especially if your sales people leave.
Volano is a proponent of strong workflow management. Steelwool was designed to help good companies with a defined work process better manage the tasks critical to delivering on their brand promise. CRM systems lay out the opportunities and workflow management comes in when those opportunities turn into work. When a lead becomes a customer, that customer has work that requires tracking. Your people need to complete tasks, attach documents and they usually do it in a specific order, in queues. CRM systems rarely track work, nor do they prompt people to complete their assigned tasks. Do your people have the tools needed to efficiency manage work? Do you have visibility into the status of all of your projects?
It’s difficult sometimes to remember that the software tools you’ve invested in were purchased or made to help your people take care of your customers. You know when they’re working when you don’t think about them. Your customers are happy and you don’t take so much stress as a business owner home with you. Between the wasteland of contemporary business terminology – CRM, hashtags, ERPs, ETAs, ROI, etc…recall that often the most powerful differentiator you can have in your business is exceptional service. The question is, do your systems facilitate this process or get in the way?
March 15, 2023
Why continue to utilize a mess of spreadsheets to run your operations? We think there’s a better way. Here are the top 7 reasons you should switch to custom software.
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Wait. What’s the problem again? Several years ago I was working in Healthcare for a tech startup. At the time, healthcare systems could not bill patients until a chart was signed off and locked by a provider (MD, PA, or NP). The provider had to step through every single screen and check a box regardless […]
September 14, 2022
Why build software of our own? Any good story of a project starts with a problem that needs to be addressed. We work with many clients in the manufacturing vertical and during our time spent with them, we noticed a challenge with synchronization with their dealers. Much of the dealers’ in-office time was spent hunting […]
May 23, 2022
Is local the real secret sauce leaders deploy for a successful development project? Rod Smith, Volano Software Partner, and Co-founder defines the benefits of working with a local development shop.
March 25, 2022
Are you relentlessly passionate about every detail and every pixel when it comes to front-end development? We’re looking to add a Senior Front-end Developer to join our growing team. At Volano, you will work with a variety of clients and projects alongside a remarkable team of back-end and front-end developers, designers, and management to build […]
March 15, 2022
It was 8:00 am on a sunny morning in Hawaii in January. People were hustling to get to their typical morning responsibilities. Cars were on the highway commuting to work, school, and other destinations when all of a sudden chaos breaks out. People start to panic, kids have been thrust down sewers for safety, everyone […]