SOOOO apparently I am good at what I do. I went to head office on Monday last week and they now want me to turn what I do into a manual and train every other agent in the country. They also want me to find the best online software solution to connect the country for referrals, quality control, and inter-company communication.
This is MUCH easier said that done...
I have extremely specific criteria I want in one of these, but finding one that provides it is not easy. And then add in the necessity of branches and its like -say what?
I get the email version of a funny look I think.
"No sorry our program is designed for SMALL business's and does not support branches."
I didn't really realise that small business's had to stay that way... Don't most companies start out small but hope to grow? I hope mine will grow. If I was using a program that met all my needs then suddenly I decided to franchise it, but had YEARS of data and found the program was no longer able to meet my companies needs I would be fairly ticked off.....
SO the list so far is:
http://www.workflowmax.com/
This program is amazing, and cost effective. It did everything I wanted from a software program EXCEPT support branches! It also has an excellent set of videos that takes you through the entire program, how to use it and lots of extra little features. One of the things I loved about it was that you could place all your own branding onto the site, so it looks professional and clean.
http://www.zoho.com/
Zoho is a great set of applications, and would do everything I wanted but the thing I did not like in the end was that you really had to double or even triple enter data to make it work. You may use the CRM (customer relations management) the project manager, the contact manager the calendar, and even others, but they dont really seem to communicate with each other. Correct me if I'm wrong! One thing I DO like is that there is a creator application, so you can basically create your own forms and things according to your companies needs, unfortunately to really try it out you have to pay. I am not prepared to spend money just to test something out.
http://www.worketc.com/
This is meant to be a one stop shop for all your business needs, it covers contact management, project management, invoicing, customer relation management. It also incorporates a support desk application which can be used for inquiries and issues too. I like that you can connect email to it, and send emails from the application that the customers can answer and they will appear in your dashboard for viewing when they log in. I also like that you can place some branding within the system so people see your logo etc when they log in and that you can give customers the ability to log in to see their own jobs. It may not support branching as such but it does support company contacts and you can create your own tags. You can also sign contacts up to mailing lists which is great if you want to have a newsletter or similar to send.
A few I have heard of but not yet fully explored are:
https://www.salesforce.com/au/
http://www.netsuite.com/portal/products/netsuite/main.shtml
http://www.greentree.com/
There are literally thousands of these out there. Every one is basically the same in the end, but there are differing features for each that mean it works best for different types of companies.
I am really excited about the new responsibilities head office are wanting me to take on, but at the same time a little nervous. I don't want to take on more than I can handle, and I am seriously hoping to avoid FULL time until the twins are three. But at this point I may be wishful thinking. I am even more excited about making more money!!
xx The Ramblings of Another Mother
No comments:
Post a Comment