Development Update - May 2022
This month:
You'll have seen that over the last 6 years, here at UtilityClick we have added many and varied types of useful features to our software. However, this last month has seen what promises to be the most important from a social and ecological standpoint.
We're all very proud and energised to be focusing on a new Carbon Reporting module that we hope will allow you to offer your customers a service that's above and beyond anything they've experienced before. Whatever your thoughts on climate change, it's clear that being more focussed on our environmental footprint has to be good for everyone, so developing a tool that has the potential to make such a difference is a real privilege.
Read on to hear more about this and the other bits and bobs as we look at the dev releases from May...
Carbon Reporting Module
This new module will allow you to record all carbon emissions generated by your customers and their staff. Using a variety of different emissions criteria you can report on elements such as energy usage, travel and accommodation. You can then present the results using our beautiful reporting suite.
This is a stage one release and we have many improvements planned over the coming months (including releasing it into the customer portal so your customers can add and track results themselves). For now, we'd like to invite volunteers to try this new module and feedback on their progress. Please contact your account manager if you'd like further information.
Other bits and bobs...
We've also added the following other bits and bobs...
Restrict Access to Cloud Documents
When uploading associated documents to a customer within the PRO CRM you can now select which user level has access to view. Useful if the contents of the document are confidential.
Built for: PRO CRM
Inactive Date For A Site
Within a customer site, you can now elect to set it as "Inactive" and record a corresponding date. This is solely for administration purposes and will not affect any associated meters or contracts.
Built for: PRO CRM
Recycle Dead Leads By Campaign
We've added an option to our very useful 'Recycle Dead Leads' tool that will allow you to recycle any dead leads that are associated with a specific campaign.
Built for: PRO CRM
Commissions Export Optimisation
Requesting exports of a considerable size can take time and in some extreme instances could cause the request to time out completely. We've optimised the SQL code so that exports from our Commissions module are now completed up to 5 times quicker.
Built for: PRO CRM
Additional Value Types for Bespoke Water Charges
When managing a bespoke water charge within the Procurement module you can now select from an additional two value types - 'Per day' and 'Percentage of annual spend'.
Built for: PRO CRM
LOA Reporting Functionality Added to Dashboards
Using the Customer Rankings dashboard, you can now view and filter customers by any LOA expiry date (and within any given date range). Useful when reporting against any upcoming expiries.
Built for: PRO CRM
Restrict Access to Activities
We've amended restrictions around the Activities module so that a non-super admin user can only see activities for which they are either the owner or had the activity assigned to them. E.g. They cannot see activities just because they are the Account Manager of the Customer.
Built for: PRO CRM
Days At Deal Status
We've added a new piece of information to the "Deal Status / Last Deal Status Change" column within the Pipeline module. You can now see how many days a deal has been sitting in its current stage. What's more, you can check the 'History' of any deal to review deal status changes, the date it was changed and who changed it.
Built for: PRO CRM
New "PAY ON RECEIPT - SPLITS" Payment Profile Added
We've developed a new payment profile for when you need to show forecast and actual commission information based on team splits. This is useful when you need the commission applied to the split amount, not the total contract amount.
Built for: PRO CRM
That’s it for this month.
Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!
Learning From Napster & Metallica
Back in the year 2000, you'll likely recall how the rock band Metallica took out their frustrations on the music sharing platform, Napster. They brought a lawsuit against the company that effectively brought Napster to its knees and removed it from our computers.
Turn the Page and in its place, a savvy Steve Jobs took that idea, added some legality and developed the process into the multi-billion dollar practice of instantaneous music purchase & delivery that we know today.
Cue our Sales Director, Andy Hunter who recently likened this digital revolution in the music industry to that of the current situation with energy suppliers and their difficulties in adapting to digital.
He wrote:
"Energy Suppliers that don't fully embrace digital will get left behind. Just like within the music industry - It took a Napster inspired Steve Jobs to create a digital solution that felled major players who were resistant to change. Suppliers that refuse to automate will go the same way as Virgin Music and HMV."
Suppliers completely embracing digital is a (Lars Ulrich) drum that you will undoubtedly have heard banged many times before, but this time it appears to be different.
At UtilityClick, we're having more conversations with suppliers on this subject than ever before. There is undoubtedly a shift in focus following the multitude of events over the last two years, not forgetting of course OFGEMs strategic review that looks to affect commission transparency, due October 2022 (UK only).
So how can we all play our part?
Brokers, Suppliers and UtilityClick
We need to come together.
Energy Brokers:
We hear you - You want automated tendering, you want better communication, and you need suppliers to catch up with your digital processes.
Suppliers:
We know your desire to become lean. You need automation in place to react to the ever-changing market.
Connect with us. Tell us where you struggle, and what you need - We then can work with you to build it.
What is UtilityClick doing?
We've already started. In 2022 we're investing hugely in building smart automated portals for TPI customers and the suppliers themselves.
There is a massive desire from us to be part of this radical change in the energy industry and we need your input to make it happen.
You might say, Nothing Else Matters.
Further reading...
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