Book Image

Implementing SugarCRM 5.x

Book Image

Implementing SugarCRM 5.x

Overview of this book

SugarCRM is a popular customer relationship management system. It is an ideal way for small-medium business to try out a CRM system without committing large sums of money. Although SugarCRM is carefully designed for ease of use, attaining measurable business gains requires careful planning and research. This book will give you all the information you need to start using this powerful CRM system. It is the definitive guide to implementing SugarCRM. Whether you are wondering exactly what benefits CRM can bring or you have already learned about CRM systems but have yet to implement one or you're working with SugarCRM already, this book will show you how to get maximum benefit from this exciting product. It demonstrates how to install SugarCRM and also how to get the most out of it by customizing it and integrating CRM into your organization as per your needs. Focused on the needs of the enterprise, this book provides a solution-driven approach for both business and IT specialists to get the most from this powerful and popular Open Source application. It begins with a general discussion about CRM. You will then learn the benefits of such systems, and then explore SugarCRM and its unique value. You will then go through the guidelines for installing and making deployment selections that are set out alongside information for identifying, planning, and applying customizations. Training guidelines and ongoing administrative tasks will be discussed as you progress further into the book. A brief overview of SugarCRM 6.0 is provided at the end of the book.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Implementing SugarCRM 5.x
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
Preface

Which business activities will be a part of your CRM?


As you approach the process of implementing a CRM within your business, one of the more important decisions you must make is the application scope of your CRM. You must make a high-level choice as to your philosophy about your CRM—are you using it uniquely to manage the sales process, or do you see it having a major role in your overall approach to business management?

You need to examine the following lists of capabilities, and decide which of these you will implement in the CRM implementation for your business—at least for the initial implementation phase:

  • Sales force automation and lead tracking

  • Calendaring and activity management

  • Sales pipeline tracking and monitoring

  • Tracking of service calls

  • Web-to-lead capture

  • Document management

  • E-mail

  • Integration with other systems, such as your accounting solution

  • Reporting and analytics

Depending on the nature of your business, some more advanced and useful capabilities to include within your CRM are...