"The Wire" vs. CRM Support
Receiving support for a CRM can be a bit like watching the TV show The Wire. You’re sure that what you’re seeing on screen is of the highest quality, yet you’re unable to follow exactly what’s going on.
Learning how to use a powerful CRM for the first time can be daunting enough without any additional language barriers and it doesn’t matter how good the software is if users can’t understand how to use those awesome features.
Which brings us nicely back to The Wire – The TV show is generally held aloft as “The greatest of all time” but most find it an incredibly hard watch due to the thick Baltimore accents and complex dialect.
...CRM support requests in the world of The Wire might read:
"We're ON THE SHELF, MOUNTING UP for A DUNKER of a CRM. Enlighten us on a customer's 10–29 and send a quote, so we can OUTTIE 5000? YOU FEEL ME?"
(roughly translated: We're in the office and ready to use your wonderful CRM. Could you please tell us how we can check a customer's record and send them a quote? Then we can all go home on time. Does that all make sense?)
Like The Wire, UtilityClick may or may not be “The greatest of all time” (we think it probably is…) but thankfully we take the “Daphne from Fraser” approach on language.
When choosing something as integrated as a CRM you need to ensure that the company you choose can speak your language. Not just during the sales process when everything is rosy but when things get serious and concise support is vital.
That’s why we’ll get you started by talking to you and your team with terminology they’ll understand. What’s more, we offer phone support FREE with every subscription – real people, speaking your language, available when you need it most.
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The Lost Arc Of Securing Your Data
As a broker, you know that securing your data is extremely important. From a data privacy point of view, this is obviously crucial but, in many ways, your data is your most valuable asset. It is your Intellectual Property and is what separates you from the rest of the pack. It should be your first and last crusade to keep it safe.
It’s more than likely that you are using a CRM system to manage the bulk of your data. These systems take on additional responsibility in the sense that they store all of your core business information, from customer data to financials.
For CRM systems, it is imperative that they have the necessary security measures in place to ensure that your data is well protected.
Here we look at the main security requirements that should come as standard when choosing a CRM system you can trust:
Reputable Hosting:
When using a CRM, your data is entered through a front-end web app and then stored in a database. If this is a cloud-based application, a provider outside of the company managing your CRM system will host the environments that the data is held within.
It’s important that a credible provider is used for hosting so that suitable security protocols are in place. Providers such as Microsoft and Amazon are good bets.
Single Tenant Database:
If you are using a CRM system, it’s a certainty that lots of other companies are too. If your data is stored on a database, you ideally want your data separated from other companies.
If it isn’t, then if you ever need your data rolled back, the CRM provider may not be able to do this as they would have to roll back all data within that database, affecting other companies. Also, it increases the chance of cross-contamination of data (your data appearing somewhere where it shouldn’t). Single Tenant Databases give you peace of mind that your data is stored on its own independent database.
Encryption At All Levels:
Unfortunately, there are hackers in the technology world who attempt to gain access illegally to system databases. Encryption is in place to ensure that, if this were to happen, your data is unreadable.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) should be set against the web app you are using to protect your data against unlawful visitors. The data stored in the database should also be encrypted (at-rest) and the data should also be encrypted when it moves from the database to the web-app (in-transit).
Password Lock-Out:
Hackers or an untrustworthy employee may try to log into the system by using your username or email address and trying to guess your password. Hackers use something called Credential Stuffing, where they’ll use automation to guess your password multiple times.
The best way to protect your business from these types of behaviours is to put a limit on the number of times a password can be guessed incorrectly before your account is locked out. 3 opportunities tend to be the industry standard.
It may be frustrating for your team if they are continuously getting locked out but this is much preferred to your data being vulnerable to attack.
IP Filtering:
One of the great benefits of cloud-based applications is that they can be used anytime, anywhere. However, it may be that you don’t want your team using the system at home. There may be no need for them to do this.
Where this is the case IP Filtering can help to ensure that only a pre-selected list of IP addresses can gain access to the system outside of your office location. For example, just your management team.
And that barely scratches the surface...
Our UtilityClick system has been built from the ground up with security in mind. We have invested heavily in our system to ensure that industry standard technologies are used to protect your data.
In brief with UtilityClick you have:
Microsoft Applications
Microsoft applications being utilised for optimum data protection.
Isolated Databases
An isolated database so your data is stored separately from other broker data.
Data Encryption
Data encryption applied at all levels to ensure that your data is only readable by our Software.
Account Monitoring
Account lock-out where multiple unsuccessful password submissions are made.
Restrict By IP Address
IP Filtering to provide flexibility on who can use the system outside of your office.
If you would like to see a demo of our system and understand more on how your data is protected within our PRO CRM system, feel free to get in touch and we’d be happy to show you around.
Could a CRM give you pleasure?
I’m going to hazard a guess – you, the reader, have once felt some kind of strong emotional response while:
- Watching a movie
- Listening to a piece of music
- Gazing at a work of art
…but probably never while online, confirming the purchase for your favourite detergent?
Let's take a step back for a moment...
Apple
Whether you love or hate their products, there's no denying their success.
Their ginormous resurgence over the last couple of decades hasn’t come from creating the best hardware but by how it makes a user feel.
Case in point – A common question hurled at Apple customers might be:
"Why would you pay $3,000 for something that would only cost $1,000 for the PC powered equivalent; you absolute buffoon!?"
It’s a fair question (minus the buffoon) and the answer was found by Steve Jobs and his team back in 2001, with the release of the original iPod.
They posed a radical question – What if Apple’s ultimate goal wasn’t (like their competitors) to increase profits. Instead, what if their primary goal was to give consumers pleasure from buying and using Apple products? Then the profits would take care of themselves.
It’s a discovery that has shaped many products since.
By replacing archaic clicking actions with more natural gestures, giving the user a feeling of goal completion through touch, or simply adding visual flourishes or animation when moving between processes.
If you can create something that feels natural and gives emotionally positive feedback when used, we as human beings will feel connected with it. If done right it will trigger chemical reactions within the brain, known as pleasure.
Which brings us nicely back to your CRM.
If you are using a CRM to manage your day-to-day business, you’re likely interacting with it more than you interact with your own family. As such, shouldn’t it be as pleasurable as possible to use?
We’re humbled to hear the positive feedback we get from our customers about how nice our system is to use but we know there is always work to be done.
Just like Steve, at UtilityClick we take user experience very seriously and continuously improving the UX is very much part of our roadmap. Over the next few months, we’ll be making even more improvements to ensure that our customers days are that little bit more pleasurable.
Get in touch below if you’d like to be the worm in our apple.
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As a sequel to our previous time travelling Insights article, we look now to the present and see how code automation has helped build reliability and intelligence.
If you’ve read part one, you’ll be aware that so far this year we’ve released a whopping 680 upgrades (that’s in the first 6 months of 2020 alone). These range from all-but-invisible performance tweaks, or minor bug fixes, right up to huge modular extensions (like our recent addition of the Water module).
This number of deployments is by no means unusual for us but they do require a significant resource in man and machine power prior to release; specifically when testing.
This is why we have invested so heavily in building an automated testing machine for the future.
Ultimately, we’ve built something that
can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear and it absolutely will not stop. Ever...
Until any potential bugs have been found and tested.
Our Process
Once an upgrade has been coded and signed off by our developers, it enters the testing phase where:
As Miles Dyson or Skynet can attest, it is, of course, impossible to ensure 100% certainty for any technological release. However, with these measures in place, we’re able to mitigate against issues way above the norm and look to provide a seamless transition between versions T-800 and the T-850, and the T-1000 and the T-3000…
The future has not been written. There is no fate but what we make…
So if you’d like to experience a future where you can run multi-site tenders, monitor sales opportunities and forecast commission payments, please ask for a demo.
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Where we're going we don't need roads
We know what you’re thinking...
..."Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me you built a time machine...out of a DeLorean?"
Yes, yes we have.
Back then we felt we were in a unique position, having experience of both software development and brokering energy. We knew the software we wanted to build didn’t exist and we were confident others in the industry felt the same.
We worked harder than Biff cleaning his manure filled car, to get that first version of our CRM released (and probably smelt worse too). But we were very aware that that was just the beginning.
Fast forward and...
...if my calculations are correct,
so far this year we’ve released over 1000 upgrades to the UtilityClick system (that’s in 2020 alone).
That number may seem heavy but it’s by no means unusual for us. Each broker is different and we know we must constantly adapt the system to stay current.
Take a look at the release timeline below, detailing our most important updates:
Our Timeline
Major Features Added To The UC CRM
You may think that approaching a CRM to ask for a specific feature to be built just for you would result in a…
..."Why don’t you make like a tree and get outta here?"
response.
But we are a little different – we recognise that our customers drive our platform to be better and so we review every customer suggestion seriously.
Over the past 5 years, throughout this process, we’ve onboarded a team of world-class developers that are excited to be continuously building ingenious new features for our customers – Even if…
...I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. Your kids are gonna love it.
Don’t see a feature you require? Not all elements are listed – contact us to check.
If there’s a useful feature that doesn’t exist within UtilityClick, there’s a very good chance we’ll build it.
Come back stronger with a free trial
Ok, maybe we’re not quite 100% “back on the street” just yet and there has been more ‘Tiger King‘ than ‘Eye Of The Tiger‘ but there is an undeniable feeling of momentum building.
If we’re looking for positives from this enforced hiatus then there has never been a better time to self evaluate how we could all be better. It’s time to put the gloves on – the road back has begun.
We’d like to invite you to use this time and take advantage of a free trial of the UtilityClick CRM. No obligation.
Maybe you have lots of dead leads that could be re-worked, unclaimed commissions with suppliers that need chasing, or even a mass of spreadsheet data that needs to be cleansed.
Take a free trial
and you'll see how:
Our Lead Management Module will help you work those opportunities in a new way.
Our industry-leading Commission Module will allow you to identify and claim unpaid commissions.
We'll help you tidy your data so you can hit the ground running when things get back to normal.
If, after the trial is over you decide that UtilityClick isn’t for you then there’ll be no questions asked. Until then, take a look and see why we think UtilityClick will help rise you up to the challenge of your rival.
