Implementing CRM Solutions Without A Staff Overhaul

I came across David Taber’s article in CIO titled “The CRM Talent Shortage: Here, Now” and agreed with some of his points, but there were some things he said that struck a chord with me. The article talks about how there is currently a shortage of CRM talent, and due to the fluctuating economy CRM professionals are hard to come by.

According to Taber, “there’s [an] increasing demand for external staff and consultants.” He also says that the vacant openings include “system administrators, operations types, data analysts, and power users.”

I have to say, I disagree.

Before you even look into outside support for you CRM solution, before you even consider implementing a CRM solution, you need to find a CRM that is easy to use. You can’t waste valuable time and money dealing with a complex application.

Ease of use allows for a smooth user adoption experience. CRM is all about having information available, easily, and right at your fingertips.

A point Taber mentioned that I do agree with is about growing your own talent.

“Grow your own talent, investing a junior technical person to give them CRM and business domain knowledge.”

I’m going to take this point one step further and say that not only should your CRM solution be easy to use, it needs to be easy to learn. Complex tasks should be limited. Yes, your organization should have a trained professional on staff or readily available for support needs. However, education should not stop with the initial introduction of the CRM solution. Your organization should provide ongoing CRM education to make sure the CRM application is being used to its fullest potential.

Make sure you review all of your options before selecting a CRM solution. Don’t just assume you need an entire team to maintain your organization’s CRM. Implementing an easy to use, easy to learn CRM will help you quickly and efficiently train your current team to help streamline your business processes, without wasting valuable time and resources.

CRM SaaS Exhibit at Boston ACG Conference

CRM SaaS Exhibit at Boston ACG Conference
EquityTouch® CRM to Be Exhibited at ACG Conference

Boston, MA, June 3, 2010 - Touch Ahead Software, developer of EquityTouch® CRM, will be exhibiting at the June 9 & 10 ACG Capital Growth Conference in Boston. Touch Ahead Software has attended past ACG conferences, both locally and nationally. One of these includes the recent 39th Annual ACG InterGrowth Conference in Miami Beach, Florida, which took place from May 4-6.

The ACG Boston Growth Conference takes place annually and attracts the private equity and alternative investments industry. The conference consists of guest speakers and networking opportunities. When exhibiting EquityTouch® at past ACG conferences, Touch Ahead received a great deal of positive response from attendees.

John Binda, Director of Sales, left, and Nancy Keddy, Co-Founder & CEO, right

John Binda, Director of Sales at Touch Ahead, says he is looking forward to Touch Ahead being a silver sponsor for the upcoming ACG conference. He says, "This event gives us a huge opportunity to showcase EquityTouch®, since it is designed specifically for the alternative asset community, whose members will be attending the conference, as well."

Nancy Keddy, Co-Founder and CEO of Touch Ahead, is also thrilled about the event.
"I look forward to connecting with the many successful deal makers and finding out what is on the horizon."

Binda and Keddy are not the only ones excited about the upcoming Boston conference. According to Co-Founder and CTO Tim Lasonde, "ACG is a great place to connect with experts in the deal world and get an understanding of what is happening in our economy. I am interested to learn what companies are using to get deals done in this new landscape."

Touch Ahead just released an updated EquityTouch® 2.1 on Friday, May 21. This update included the ability to use keyboard navigation in search results, color coding, and advanced relevance sorting. Touch Ahead is constantly coming up with new ways to improve user experience, which is another reason to get excited about what is to come at next week's ACG conference.

About Touch Ahead Software LLC
Touch Ahead Software is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions company, focused on providing unparalleled benefits of advanced technology to the alternative asset community. The benefits include higher user satisfaction and increased deal sourcing productivity by utilizing user-friendly collaboration tools, as well as a dramatically reduced cost of ownership and time for implementation. Touch Ahead Software is the developer of EquityTouch®, the premiere deal CRM service for the financial industry and other specialized industries. For more information, please visit http://www.touchahead.com.



Press Contact
Cathie Briggette
Touch Ahead Software LLC
(p) +1 866 960 9301
(e) cmb@touchahead.com

Touch Ahead Software Releases Updated EquityTouch® 2.1

Touch Ahead Software Releases Updated EquityTouch^® 2.1

Popular CRM deal sourcing application receives update; including Keyboard Navigation in Search Results, Color Coding, and other enhancements.

Boston, MA, May 26, 2010 – Touch Ahead Software, LLC released EquityTouch^® version 2.1 this past Friday. EquityTouch, a customer relationship management (CRM) software application is unlike other CRMs on the market in that all transactions or communications are recorded as “Touches” that are then easily referenced to multiple companies or individuals. Ideal for Private Equity and Venture Capital firms, EquityTouch allows users to easily organize and chronicle the deal cycle.

Founder and Senior Partner, Nancy Keddy says that the updates provide additional functionality and ease of use. “EquityTouch makes you feel like you are using an application locally, yet it is on the web.” The newest version contains multiple program enhancements such as Keyboard Navigation, Color Coding, and Advanced Relevance Sorting. “These additions give users a more efficient method of working through their data, making them more productive,” says Keddy.

EquityTouch 2.1 Updates Include

• Keyboard Navigation in Search Results
• Users can now use the keyboard arrow keys to navigate search results.

• The feature offers ease of use, eliminating the need for multiple mouse clicks. Users can move back and forth with simple keystrokes.

• Color Coding in Search Results
• Company search results can now be configured to be color coded based on Company Type.

• The Color Coding option is available under the Administration section.

• Advanced Relevance Sorting
• Companies with the exact search string in their name or alternate company name will be placed at top of the search result list.

• The results are then sorted by where the search string appears in the Company Name.
  

Current EquityTouch users automatically received the update. Any technical questions/concerns can be directed to Touch Ahead Support via email (help@touchahead.com) or phone (1-866-960-9301).

For additional information on EquityTouch or to request a demo, please visit http://www.touchahead.com/equitytouch.html.

About Touch Ahead Software LLC

Touch Ahead Software is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions company, focused on providing unparalleled benefits of advanced technology to the alternative asset community. The benefits include higher user satisfaction and increased deal sourcing productivity by utilizing user-friendly collaboration tools, as well as a dramatically reduced cost of ownership and time for implementation. Touch Ahead Software is the developer of EquityTouch, the premiere deal CRM service for the financial and other specialized industries. For more information, please visit http://www.touchahead.com.

Press Contact

For more information, please contact:

Cathie Briggette

Touch Ahead Software LLC

(p) +1 866 960 9301

(e) cmb@touchahead.com

Touch Ahead Releases EquityTouch™ Update

We are pleased to announce that we have made some changes to EquityTouch™ to reflect client feedback and suggestions, as well as part of our initial planning.

We have added some new features to make EquityTouch™’s user-friendly views even easier to use. We have also implemented a bug fix. The following is an outline of what we have done to enhance the EquityTouch™ experience.

*Please note that clients do not have to take action to implement any changes. All updates are made by Touch Ahead Software.


- Different Color Schemes for Search Type. The search panel has been color coded to make it easier to identify what you are searching for. When searching for ‘People,’ the search panel is now green.


When searching for 'Touches,' the search panel is now orange.




- Ability to Expand Touch Notes.

- Advanced Search Options Added.
In the ‘Touch’ section of the Advanced Search you can now specify date ranges. Your options are ‘Last 7 days’, ‘Last 30 days’, ‘Last 90 days’, ‘Last Year’, and ‘Future’.
Also, the ability to search within your groups has been added.

- Primary Contact and Website Listed in Banner

- Ability to Remove a Company from a Group from the Company Summary tab

- Keyboard Shortcuts Added
‘Ctrl-Y’ now opens up the Advanced Search.
‘Ctrl- >’ now opens the Touches tab.
‘Ctrl - <’ now opens the Summary tab.

- Touch Editing Restricted. You can now limit who edits touches.

- Generate Report for Touches.
- Company Export to XLS Modified
- Estimated Revenue Now on 'New Company' Form
- Ability to Go Directly to the Touches Tab from Search Results
- Asynchronous Load of Touches tab. Incomplete touches now load separately from complete touches.
- Feedback Link
- Cursor Default. When logging into EquityTouch your cursor will default to the Company Search bar.

- Bug Fixes:

• Pop Up Eliminated. When saving a new touch.
• Default for New Person. When adding a new person, his/her phone number no longer defaults to the company phone number.
• Document Upload Touch Creation. The touch that automatically gets created when you upload a document will now be assigned an initiator of the active virtual user.
• Passed Lead Bug. When creating a touch of type “passed lead,” the company associated with the touch is the company passed.
• Passed Lead Bug. A bug was causing an error to be thrown when this touch type was saved. This is fixed.
• Email Bug. When the functionality to send email to external recipients is turned off, it now does not affect the ability to send email internally.
• Email Bug. Touch type is now the first item in a touch email subject.
• Search Bug. Can now search for companies with double quotes in their names.
• Touch Bug. Touch notes now indented correctly.

Why the Popularity of SaaS is Increasing

Chances are you have frequently heard about SaaS (Software as a Service) in the media, and how more businesses are adopting it for their CRM models. You may feel unsure about adopting SaaS, or confused about SaaS getting so much attention. Here are the key reasons for the hype:

• Total cost of ownership (TCO) is lower than if you were to use on-premise CRM
• In-house IT is no longer relied on/called into action to fix your CRM (can allocate your IT team’s efforts elsewhere)
• Easy maintenance
• Faster and easier implementation of the CRM - the system is quickly up and running by someone else
• An outsourced IT team with expertise specific to your software will fix your problems, as well as take that weight off your shoulders/save you time.
• Pay as you use the software
• Increased data security
• Customization available to reflect your unique business operations

Written by Melissa Cocks

Businesses and Their CRM Changes

There are many reasons why you may be dissatisfied with your business' on-premise CRM software. One of the common complaints is that the software requires companies’ in-house IT teams’ frequent and costly attention. The time and effort that your in-house IT team puts towards maintaining on-premise CRM solutions could be directed elsewhere to increase the productivity within your business.

Additionally, like many business owners, you may become frustrated by software that limits your ability to integrate key company contact information with other applications and devices. A trend in today’s CRM software market is Blackberry compatibility. When you’re on the go and need to update or access your contact information, it’s frustrating if you’re unable to do so.

It’s also important to make sure your
CRM solution fits your needs. Many companies take a while to actually change their CRM software. People tend to fear unfamiliarity, especially when they do not feel they have time to learn the ins and outs of a new system. The solution to this is to have your software tailored to your business operations and needs. This way, you can still have features that you are accustomed to, and you can also add new features that would make doing business much easier for you.

Written by Melissa Cocks