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Elite Network of Certified Freelance Experts
5 min read
The customized reporting system for a cleantech industry. The project's goal was to improve sales management on a global scale, a regional level, and across multiple technologies and products.
Stefan Behrendt
Certified SoftwareSupp CRM Expert
3 min read
The project assumed introducing changes to the backend of the store placed on the e-commerce platform. The work of the Shopify expert was to create the access of the Privacy Policy to the website user.
The customer contacted us with a specific problem. Namely, he needed to make modifications to his website built on Shopify. The goal was to display the checkbox for permission to the processing of personal data. The expert’s job was to make changes to the code in the Shopify theme. The project consisted in completing two specific tasks in order to solve the technical problem related to the change of the e-commerce platform theme. The client cared about the time because the personal data management regulations require specific page settings. Immediate aid made it possible to maintain the dynamic pace of development.
The client is the owner of an online store built on the e-commerce platform - Shopify. The shop, Policzona-szama.pl, sells food and kitchen equipment. The website also includes cooking recipes and various guides.
I am a web developer hired to solve this problem. I have over ten years of experience in the IT industry. I have already completed 57 projects on my account. Among the software that I use in my daily work, I can distinguish AWS, Sharetribe, WordPress, Magento, and many others.
The problem with the visibility of the Privacy policy and terms checkbox appeared after changing the Shopify theme from Expanse 1.3 to Expanse 2.0. During this project, knowledge of the use of the Shopify platform and proficiency in HTML coding was required.
My work for the customer Policzona-szama.pl consisted in adding a function to the backend causing the display of information on the GDPR (Privacy policy and terms). PHP modifying function has been implemented in the store's contact form.
To accomplish this task, I also had to make a change in HTML CSS in the graphic theme of the store.
Information on the Privacy Policy has been prepared for mobile and desktop versions by adding dynamic content. The changes introduced in the theme are consistent with the style of the store.
Often, details or small elements have key importance from the perspective of the recipient of the website. It is worth paying attention to them because they can affect the whole assessment of the presented product.
For most corporate websites, the inclusion of a privacy policy (or at least an information clause) is a duty. It is because personal data is collected via the form. The provisions set out by the European Parliament and the Council (EU) force the addition of the GDPR to the website and the redrafting of the content of Privacy Policies into more detailed ones. The privacy policy is a document whose purpose is to collect crucial information regarding the protection of privacy. When providing personal information during filling in the contact form, the customer must be informed that the website administrator has the right to store the data. It means that every website with a contact form has to give its visitors the possibility to read the Privacy Policy and Terms.
The client decided to cooperate with us because he could commission us to perform individual tasks. In case of any necessary changes to the website or technical problems, a dedicated specialist can be hired on-demand. During creating a project, tasks are automatically transferred to the project board. Thanks to this feature, hired freelancer could go to work immediately.
In this project, the regulations forced additional measures that the customer could not cope with on his own. Within 2 hours, the expert solved the problem, and the client could take care of business development and customer service. A similar situation arises in the event of sudden bugs on the website. In order not to lose sales opportunities, it is worth taking care of them immediately. SoftwareSupp freelancers can support you in the expected timeframe. In our global network of experts, we can find the best match in your business hours, or if needed, we can even provide you coverage at a specific time of the day.
Our experts are required to communicate the course of the project weekly. It gives the client a complete picture of the work carried out.
The presented comments are part of the project board available to the client. It is how freelancers report that a certain stage of their work has been completed. Or, as in this case, they provide information on how much work they need to complete the task. Transparency of communication and quick response of freelance enable efficient implementation of the assigned tasks. The client also receives a communicator on the platform at his disposal, where he can negotiate details. The project board shared with every client is a complete project management tool.
Krzysztof Wojciechowski
Certified SoftwareSupp Web Developer
9 min read
Well-optimized business processes and customization of CRM systems have an impact on the conversion increase. Check how the certified experts helped the company form a real estate industry improve its sales results.
This project was to implement a CRM system for a real estate company. The company is called Place4you, and they help clients sell and buy flats. They offer services including market and price analysis, offers preparation, marketing, and negotiations. The Pipedrive system was introduced to help them organize sales processes, standardize the customer base and streamline their work. The company counts around 40 employees.
System customization is theoretically a permanent element of every project involving the implementation of a CRM system. However, depending on the industry and the specificity of the company, the requirements are very different. According to the research conducted based on cooperation between LeadResponseManagement.org and Indsiedesales.com, the consistency of the response speed with the increase in conversion has been confirmed.
The main problem for the client was the conversion. Many clients were left out after filling the contact form. It was the result of underdeveloped business processes and the lack of a unified system for different departments. One of the problems arose due to communication obstacles between the call center and the salespeople. The lack of automation meant that a significant part of leads was not kept and turned into customers. It was due to the fact that after the lead's initial conversation with the call center, the person taking care of the lead was not assigned. In a situation where the seller was not involved, the leads were lost. This caused difficulties with the conversion results. Additionally, among the people working in the call department, a significant decrease in motivation was observed because of no noticeable work results. Thanks to the introduction of Pipedrive in the company, people from the call department got an accurate picture of who the lead was assigned to and at what stage it is - it influenced the increase in conversion in both the sales and call teams.
In this project, we implemented the CRM system from scratch. We adjusted the individual elements of the system so that the implemented software met all customer specifications. The project was completed in less time than expected. The implementation of the tasks set at the beginning took less than 27 hours. The remaining hours can be used for additional support in refining the system for new requirements.
Time of completing the project: 26,5 h
Due to the specificity of the project and customer requirements, two experts participated in this project. They complemented each other in terms of skills. The combination of these two experts made it possible to provide the highest quality service.
Kamil managed communication with the client. He supervised the flow of information. Kamil was responsible for the analysis of business processes and advising on specific optimizations to increase the performance of the new application. He also created analytical dashboards. Kamil was also an architect of integration with the website. On the other hand, Sebastian's main task was to code the application on Azure.
We focused on configuring Pipedrive to meet the requirements of all departments. The scope of the project changed throughout the work. After starting the work, the client resigned from many elements that initially seemed useful to him. We helped the client not only in the technical field but also in business. Some existing processes could be significantly simplified and modified to increase the efficiency of employees' work. Together, with Place4you employees, we have introduced many changes.
According to CSO Insights, only 33% of sales representatives' working time is spent on active sales.
Thanks to the automation of manual tasks and ordering of sales processes, the company wanted to maximize the potential of its sellers. Automation affects not only the speed of work but also the quality. Activities are planned and pre-designed. The implementation of the CRM system makes it possible to achieve consistency with the activities of individual employees from different departments and standardize the messages sent.
At SoftwareSupp, we are aware that sometimes some changes may appear on the assumed plans and projects. When establishing the project, the scope of the project and the tasks of the expert are determined. However, it does not mean that they cannot be modified. Oftentimes, after consulting with a specialist, the client decides to reduce or increase the scope of work. During the work, the expert marks in the project board the task's status and the time allocated to its execution. It means that in the event of a reduction in the number of duties or their change, funds may remain in the customer's account for later use. In such situations, customers use the remaining budget for support, team training, or additional implementation. We believe that the transparent display of budget information leads to better fund management of the project. The project board allows the client to check the account balance anytime he needs it. In the video below, we explained how the budget is settled.
The company struggled with the problem of unstructured work. Because of no single source of information on specific clients, some of them were inadvertently ignored and lost. The CRM system was implemented precisely to collect all current details and arrange them by assigning a customer or project to individual representatives from the sales department. The client indicated that due to the lack of CRM, they are losing customers, which results in losing money.
A conversion is the performance of the desired activity by a potential customer. It is about interacting with a website or business. The action that counts as the conversion is the purchase or order of services. Various factors have an impact on the increase in conversion. It depends on the industry. The most common ones include the efficient work of the company's employees or a well-designed website that intuitively guides the client to perform a specific activity.
Another difficulty was the ineffective flow of information between the internal call center department and salespeople. For this purpose, Pipedrive has been properly configured so that the leads from the call center are directly assigned to the salesperson. By specifying the settings, now the manager can browse every transaction and thus is able to control all sales processes. It has a positive impact on the increase in conversions in the company, the quality of customer service, and the effectiveness of the activities of call center employees. People working in the Call department received access to the database of the leads. It increased their involvement and improved the results of the work.
Experts designed a deal creation automation path. The form visible on the website has been linked to the appropriate section in Pipedrive. As a result, all customer's data is stored in one place and properly prioritized.
Each SaaS implementation will differ from one another. Customers have different requirements depending on the industry and other business factors. The element distinguishing this project was integration with distinct lead sources and business process consulting. Usually, experts advise only on the usage of the application itself, its functions, or assigning specific fields. During this implementation, we helped the client determine the stages of handling leads.
The client received a personalized tool that will improve the work of the company and increase conversions. Although there is no suitable ready-made software available, an entirely new system has been built for the needs of the project. The introduced automation shortened the handling of individual processes in the company. To create it, it was necessary to design a suitable environment first to enable good performance.
Kamil, a hired expert, became a part of a Place4you team. Thanks to his experience, knowledge and entanglement, he helped the client redefine business processes. In addition to the well-prepared system, the client also received analytical support. The client added co-workers to the platform who had an impact on the course of the project and participated in training courses conducted by CRM specialists. Project management in companies is often influenced by even a few people from different departments. By adding employees, you have a better chance to achieve a decent effect in a shorter time by transparent communication.
The real estate industry, like any other, has various characteristic elements. In this case, the company cooperates with sellers and buyers, and it has a specific list of portals that it works on. The effort in this area was to create automated emails for particular platforms. Place4you publishes its clients' offers on 25 portals. Templates have been created for each of the supported services, such as OtoDom, etc. It was built based on the analysis of each of the websites' requirements.
When the leads pass between the various stages of the funnels, tasks are automatically created with a predefined deadline for completion. As a result, sellers can easily stay in constant communication with customers. In the real estate industry, regular contact is significant. It helps to build trust and effective sales results. The system guides the seller through the sales stages, reminding you about specific steps. The introduced automation is of particular importance for new employees because it enables them to achieve their first successes at the beginning of their work in the company. It has a positive impact on the employee retention rate in the company.
In this project, Pipedrive has been integrated with a dedicated application on Azure. Using the C Sharp (C #) language, we used the Microsoft Azure environment to create an application that allowed the client to automatically generate leads in Pipedrive based on emails coming from real estate services after the user completes the website's contact form. Integration with e-mails was the most time-consuming. It consisted in linking the form on the website with Gmail. The integration was carried out for 39 users. During the project implementation, we conducted training courses for employees. The training sessions were mainly focused on explaining the use of Pipedrive and applications on Azure. Among the additional project components, we can also distinguish integration with Pipedrive Caller. In this case, we recommended using the mobile app. As a result, the convenience of customer service among employees has been increased.
The client wished to build four sales funnels. As a real estate agency, they are an advisor for the seller or the buyer, depending on the situation. Whereby first and second funnels presented the process of selling and cooperating with the seller and buyer of the property. The third funnel, on the other hand, concerned the call center. It described the sequence of steps taken from the initial contact via call center to transfer to the seller. The fourth was a description of the process of servicing fo leads from outside sources. Sales funnels show the automation of tasks assigned to a specific sales stage. In the real estate industry, the company must be prepared to operate with the client who wants to buy and the one who wants to sell the property. Depending on the source of customers, the seller's tasks differ. The general process for selling a property through an estate agency is outlined below. A well-prepared sales funnel should contain specific, key, and detailed information about the activities to be carried out. In the prepared sales funnels for Place4you, there are, among others, reminders about sending a specific SMS, documents that must be collected at a given stage of sales, information listed that have to be provided to the customer at every level of cooperation.
Pipedrive Insights has been activated. It allows the creation of reports and analyzes. It is a very useful tool, which enables to observe the effects of work and create personalized summaries of projects. Connecting with lead sources allows verifying those that bring the best results. What's more, gathering knowledge about where individual clients contact us from empowers us to plan future activities in detail. Lead sources have been properly grouped. The company now has a clear picture of where customers come from and can effectively measure sales results. After tool implementation, Place4You knows which leads appeared after visiting the website or calling the telemarketing department and which came from outside sources.
Thanks to our experience and good relationship with the client, we were able to work out their new business process together.
SoftwareSupp experts used their extensive knowledge to advise the client on the best solutions for him, ideally using the possibilities offered by the CRM system. The refinement and customization of the software enable the maximization of effectiveness in this area. Here you can find another article regarding improving sales results by CRM implementation.
Kamil Hudaszek
Certified SoftwareSupp Data Analytics Expert
5 min read
Cold Outreach Email sequence in A/B versions prepared for the Australian market. The goal was to invite partners and grow business. Expert shows the benefits of using ZOHO and describes the project's implementation.
It is a leading and award-winning CRM service that helps 250,000 businesses in 180 countries convert more leads, engage with customers, and grow revenues. Zoho CRM has a remarkable range of features. It can be tailored to the needs and size of a business. In sales, marketing, and customer service, it is primarily used to increase efficiency. It provides ways of identifying customers, scoring leads, and following up on quality prospects. Using Zoho CRM for sales and marketing, you can generate reports and analyze data that optimize your sales and marketing processes. The application lets you maximize commercial opportunities, automate email and SMS communications, monitor sales, and set up meetings. Additionally, it functions as a database of customer information. In one place, Zoho CRM unifies marketing, sales, and customer service activities and streamlines people, processes, and policies.
Marketing via email is one of the most commonly utilized methods for attracting new and existing customers. Email campaigns can be created, sent, and tracked using the Zoho Campaigns platform. When Zoho CRM is integrated, you can easily create a mailing list with all your leads or contacts.
Zoho CRM has a module called Campaigns that will help you plan any marketing campaign for your business, not just email campaigns. In CRM's in-built Campaigns module, you can analyze responses to emails sent using Zoho Campaigns.
Integrating Zoho CRM & Zoho Campaigns allowed the client to automate its marketing processes. The company developed a content management system designed to facilitate business users to create websites easily and develop complex web apps quickly. Many companies from a wide range of industries use their system, including JP Morgan, The Council of the European Union, Streetwise, and Mercedes Benz.
1. Requirements analysis
2. Email sequence confirmation
3. Template creation
4. Workflow setup
5. Training & Transition
6. Go Live Assistance
Project completion time: 11h
My experience spans the IT industry, but I have specialized a great deal in customizing Zoho into enterprise systems. Since I began my career 10 years ago, I've completed 62 projects. I can easily customize the software to fit a client's needs. Moreover, when you work with me, you can be assured of my support in making decisions regarding the functions you require. An expert like me, whose credentials are verified, guarantees quality service.
My professional experience comprises a strong background in product management and development for SaaS and enterprise technologies, and I enjoy working on all aspects of those areas. Knowledgeable in information technology applications, management of business intelligence, and implementation. Extensive experience with customized solutions designed to meet customer needs, improve efficiency, and increase productivity. I help to create and adopt systems from the ground up to meet client requirements.
Our Client requested a Cold Outreach Email Sequence that would be tested on A/B versions to determine which email received the most attention and conversions. In this Sequence, they were targeting the Australian market and inviting partners to grow their business.
An article of a partner, Webcoda, was a source of the first set of emails served. The entire list was set up as workflow automation which the team can trigger by syncing contacts from CRM.
Zoho CRM can be easily customized to suit the needs of any type or size of business. Modern CRM Systems- Start-ups and large companies utilize CRM tools such as Zoho CRM to increase sales, marketing, and customer service efforts.
The Zoho CRM application helps B2B companies manage their sales operations. From managing customer contact information to monitoring payments and reporting. They can use it to create a common platform to keep their vendors, partners, and stakeholders in sync. Customer life cycles in B2C companies are typically shorter and they require solutions that are direct and easier to use. Lead management, instant surveys, marketing automation, etc., help B2Cs proactively approach their customers.
As a result of features such as: workflow management, advanced analytics, territory management, and sales and marketing automation, Zoho CRM helps salespeople spend less time on mundane tasks, spend more time on their customers, and unify their operations across multiple geographies.
It's easy to identify, nurture, and follow up with quality leads with Zoho CRM. Consequently, you don't waste time and resources on prospects who are unlikely to become customers. Defining and building efficient processes for your business will help your team remain productive. As you execute processes, Zoho CRM helps ensure that standards are being followed. The analytical and reporting tools in Zoho CRM help your decision-makers manage and react to market trends so they can make better decisions. Data collected by Zoho CRM is protected by top-notch physical and digital security measures. No matter where your team is based, Zoho CRM mobile ensures that they always have access to important CRM data. Field sales agents can research nearby customers or make quick trips to busy customers on the fly. In addition to customer histories, Zoho CRM holds information regarding similar issues faced by other customers so your team can resolve customer inquiries as quickly as possible.
Email automation requires the creation & review of HTML templates, the establishment of workflows, testing, and training. The company would like to reach out to a larger number of customers while adhering to GDPR compliance and letting their customers know that they are now available in Australia. Currently, customers' setup is nonstandard, manual, and unable to track and manage leads. With automation, the customer became uniform, trackable, and efficient.
Lead nurturing and engagement - Send the right kind of emails to onboard, nurture, and move your contacts into your CRM system. Zoho Campaigns allows you to implement each of these steps based on audience interaction, increasing your chances of retaining them. When creating email campaigns it is worth to consider running AB tests for specific market which is possible to configure with a tool like Zoho.
Automation of everyday activities brings results almost immediately from implementation. Since the training was carried out, the employees got to know all the features and gain information on how to use them in practice. Reaching new markets is never easy. However, with proper tools and preparation, the company's development is possible. Moreover, the client's saved time for performing tasks manually.
Software customization requires knowledge and experience. Divya specializes in adapting Zoho to business systems. Assuming that 1 hour a day is spent on repetitive activities among employees, the client will quickly get back the cost spent on the project. Hiring a Divya for this project cost the client $ 600. Considering that the average manager earns $17 / h, the investment in email automation will pay off after around 1.5 months.
Divya Sundaraju
Certified SoftwareSupp Zoho CRM Expert
5 min read
The customized reporting system for a cleantech industry. The project's goal was to improve sales management on a global scale, a regional level, and across multiple technologies and products.
About the client: Pacific Green Technologies Group is becoming a world leader at providing sustainable cleantech solutions: renewable energy, clean water, clean air, and efficient use of electricity. These solutions help solve climate warming, green energy, and resource scarcity challenges.
Scope of the Project
Duration of the project: 10 days
Stefan specializes in digital strategy/transformation, digital marketing & sales (along the entire customer journey), and product management. He has over 20 years of experience in process management within different organizations, from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations, serving both B2B and B2C customers. He is an advocate of intensive communication to understand the client's needs. Cooperation for him always begins with understanding customers, market, technology, and competition.
During the project, he drew on his profound knowledge of sales processes, reporting, and implementation of CRM tools like Pipedrive or Salesforce.
Through focused work with Pacific Green Technologies, the respective dashboards and reports were developed.
When implementing standard SaaS software like Pipedrive, the key is to understand the structure of individual reports and an analytical approach to the problem. My experience in the green energy space helped to understand those needs and advise the client approaches to generate additional insights. Due to the short time frame for implementation, the project needed to be completed with efficient operation and cooperation skills.
Within ten days, the reporting tool was customized to meet all customer requirements. Within the project, I have conducted the following tasks:
Now, the generated reports and dashboards are used by regional managers and account managers for sales management and onboarding new employees. One single source of data and a unified visualization for the performance evaluation enables the development of measures and sales activity plans. Efficient communication between departments in the company - based on a single source of truth from Pipedrive CRM-data facilitates efficient and effective sales operations. Connecting a CRM with a custom report solution can help you understand a 360 degree view of your leads based on your custom attributes (e.g. sales activity mix).
Due to its rapid growth across its various sales-regions and multiple products/technologies, PacificGreen needed a sophisticated sales dashboard based on its CRM. It was implemented to efficiently manage their sales pipeline based on clear financial and non-financial KPIs using Pipedrive embedded Insights and Reports functionality.
Core project requirements from PacificGreen:
Reports need to be used by the head of sales, regional sales managers, and account managers to track sales progress across different projects and technologies.
PacificGreen decided to base its dashboard on Pipedrive’s reporting functionality since these dashboards and reports allow quickly gaining a visually driven overview of all relevant sales figures and KPIs. Additionally, reports allow to drill down to the single opportunity to achieve a 360° degree view of all deal-related figures and activities. Insights and reports allow creating reports based on standard and custom fields across the entire Pipedrive database. Results can be grouped, filtered, and monitored to reveal the most granular information within opportunities acquired sales volume by sales executive, deal conversion rates, etc.
According to Pipedrive data, only 2% of the first customer meetings end with the immediate sale. The remaining 98% of potential customers need to be followed up and nurtured through your sales process.
That is why it is important to create reports and analyzes which enable closing more deals.
By using CRM system, the head of sales can predict growth and detect deal-conversion issues. Reports make it possible to control activities and thus to monitor the effectiveness of the chosen sales approach. Using this tool augments daily work about which sales approaches are beneficial and which aren’t. Keeping track of PacificGreen’s goals enables to deliver against sales targets consistently. Overall, the use of CRM Insights and reports makes the sales process more effective.
PacificGreen was looking for extensive coverage of its sales activities across multiple regions via various Dashboards. First, a unified, consistent naming structure and uniform definition of KPIs and report-views with respective report configuration parameters across all dashboards were developed:
The project's goal was to provide worldwide sales management at PacificGreen Technologies with an up-to-date overview of global sales performance.
Therefore, the reports are based on sales-KPIs like a number of deals, revenue-forecast, etc. Additionally, the indicators had to be adjusted for different sales regions: North America, Eastern Europe, etc.
These dashboards were created for onboarding new account managers, deal tracking, and sales reviews between account managers and the head of sales. Management on such a large scale requires proper planning and monitoring.
PacificGreen is a company that serves different regions with a wide diversity of various technologies. Thus, the implemented system enables effective sales management on every type of market and across multiple technologies and products.
PacificGreen’s essential requirement was the immediate availability of a Pipedrive Expert and a quick implementation by a skilled consultant. The client needed a specialist who has a background in sales management and data analytics. PacificGreen hired Stefan via SoftwareSupp as a specialist who perfectly matched the project requirements. Multi-year experience in Green Energy, customer journeys, and sales management allowed him to understand assumptions quickly.
It also helped him to make recommendations for improving the existing KPI-reporting system. The entire planning, communication, and documentation during the implementation of the Pipedrive-reports and dashboards took place via the SoftwareSupp project platform, to which the client receives access after subscribing to an hourly plan.
Stefan Behrendt
Certified SoftwareSupp CRM Expert
8 min read
A detailed guide on data migration. Our expert explains the unusual elements of this process and what is worth paying special attention to. If you think about technological development, data migration is the first step to the goal.
We’re all well familiar with the concept of data migration. Yes, most of us recorded CDs with songs or movies to exchange them with friends back in the times where there was no Wi-fi in all public places, as it is nowadays. Yes, recording a CD is an easily understandable example of data migration but, probably, on a very small scale.
During the past 2 decades, the world has seen unprecedented technological advancement in all spheres. And so did the data migration process. Based on the observations of Gordon Moore, scientists concluded that there is a significant technological boost every two years. Systematic increase of computing power and internet connection bandwidth is related to Moore's Law. In this article, we will try to prove that data migration does not have to be a necessity but also technological development.
Data migration is the process of moving data from one location to another, one format to another, or one application to another. Generally, it is the result of introducing a new system or changing the location of data storage. A business factor is typically an application migration or consolidation where older systems are replaced or extended by new applications that will share the same dataset.
Nowadays, data migrations often start when companies move from infrastructure and on-premises applications to cloud storage and applications to optimize processes or transform their business.
The data migration process is very risky. If, after the process, we think that the data has been fully transferred and we stop using the original environment completely, then it turns out that something has gone missing somewhere, we will register its loss.
Kamil Hudaszek, Certified SoftwareSupp Data Expert
1. Pre-migration planning.
2. Project start. Identification of key stakeholders.
3. Definition of the quality policy and presentation of the project objectives. Establish a robust data quality policy management process and inform the company of project goals, including shutting down legacy systems.
4. Solution design. Defining what data to transfer and the quality of that data before and after the transfer.
5. Construction and testing. Code your migration logic and test the migration as a mirror image of your production environment.
6. Execution and approval. Demonstration that the migration is compliant and that the transferred data is fit for business use.
7. Decommissioning and monitoring. Shut down old systems.
In the 21st century, companies and businesses do not only move workloads to new or upgraded physical storage systems or servers. Cloud computing allows storing any information online, which has plenty of benefits. For instance, you can access data from any device anywhere in the world. No wonder that more and more companies shift to SaaS (Software as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) models.
In addition, more and more businesses shift to an online model with employees working from different countries around the world. Thus, it’s much more convenient to store all data on the cloud rather than keep all the servers in one place. The same goes for companies and businesses physically located in one country but sell their services and products in other countries and markets. Modern cloud implementation tools make the data migration process fast and efficient, with almost no risks of losing any information.
Data migration happens for a variety of reasons. It can be modernization or expansion of the existing applications and storage systems or introducing new software. If the company decides to implement a centralized database, it will also need to transfer all the current information to new storage. The same goes for moving IT infrastructure to a cloud. No matter, it is happening on the internal system level or the external one - all these changes cause data migration. One more common reason for migrating data is merging and acquisition. It appears when one business merges into another one- their data should be transferred to the mutual storage system. Moreover, increasing data security has also been recognized as a good cause for data migration.
CRM systems allow storing and tracking customer data, such as lead information, customer interactions, purchases, etc. With the help of the CRM system, an organization can manage all this data more effectively to build better relationships with clients and generate sales. If your company has never used a CRM system or wants to shift to a more advanced one, you will need to start a data migration process. Within this, all the information on your clients will be moved and structured in the CRM system.
Data migration is a kind of step forward. It is about awareness and willingness to develop. Systematizing duties, automating processes, and organizing data are the basis of effective management. As we wrote earlier, the implementation of CRM in the company internal system increases work efficiency. Here we want to emphasize that apart from the fact that it is an indispensable element of CRM integration, it is also a part of the development puzzle. After all, the database is a knowledge base. Customer data, documents, internal company information - these are crucial components of the company operations. That is why it is worth taking care of security and proper data storage.
Data migration is often connected with business management. The process of data portability is not only about moving information from one storage to another. Indeed, it has to do with systematization and the organization of data. So, what’s the connection between data migration and business management? To put it simply, data migration allows companies to manage and understand all the processes better. No matter whether you’re introducing an improved storage system for your customers’ information or want to boost sales, data migration can be a solution for both these problems. How? Further, we’ll talk about CRM (Customer Relationship Management) implementation. SoftwareSupp has extensive experience in CRM implementation for different companies and businesses.
Now, we will explain the difference between data migration, data integration, and data replications. All these processes may seem pretty similar at first glance when, in fact, they all serve different purposes and require unique approaches.
Data integration is the process of merging two or more data repositories into one. It means that various information- types or information formats will be stored together. Contrary to data migration, where all information is transferred from one storage to another in the same format.
Let’s imagine data migration as a one-time and one-way journey. During this process, the information travels from its original storage or location to the new one. After this process, the primary storage is usually abandoned.
Data replication is a continuous process during which the information is periodically transported to the target location. The original source of information is never deleted or abandoned. Both the original and target locations serve as backup. If the data source is no longer needed, data replication turns into a data migration process. At the same time, data replication can be a part of the data integration process that was described above.
Let’s briefly go through the benefits of a CRM implementation:
All in all, a CRM system gives structured and organized information on current sales funnels and daily tasks. A CRM implementation can boost any business revenue because it provides statistical data on clients and improves the mistakes and gaps in the sales process and marketing strategy.
Data migration can be divided into the 6 most common types. However, some of them can be combined to enhance the process as a whole. Below, we’re providing more details on all 6 types of data migration.
This one happens due to the storage equipment upgrade. The information is moved from one physical storage medium to another one. Examples of such data migration can be digitizing paper documents or going from mainframe computers to a cloud storage system. In both cases, the storage technologies become more advanced.
Databases are where the data is organized and structured with the help of the database management systems (DBMS). Database migration involves transferring data to a new DBMS.
This one is needed when an organization changes the application software or vendor. The key issue here is the difference in data formats and types. It’s crucial to preserve all the information when moving it to a new application. Such application migrations often require data information to fit in with the current software.
It is a data movement from an on-premises location to a cloud environment. Information can also be transferred between different cloud environments. SolarWinds Report on IT trends stated:
No wonder that in 2021, a cloud solution is a must for a successful business.
This type of data migration has to do with business applications and information on all business processes. Business process migration to a new environment is usually driven by business optimization or merging and acquisition.
To put it simply, a data center consists of servers, computers, storage devices, network routers, and other similar equipment. The role of the data center is to maintain the most important applications with the help of data storage infrastructure. When an organization conducts data center migration, it means that- it can be transferred from one physical location to another or from one piece of equipment to another.
With SoftwareSupp, you can go for different types of data migration. Depending on what are your needs, you can choose to migrate a platform (as shown below) or import data to CRM.
You’re the one who decides on the timeframes of the project, how much you want to pay, and what you need from us. Our task-management tool allows you to track all the tasks and communicate with the professionals involved directly.
Our network includes CRM, web, integration professionals, and many others. When it comes to data migration, you can work with such data analytics experts as Kamil. He has extensive experience in analytics but also in website development, API, and automation.
Regardless of what type of data migration works best for the company, there are two approaches for moving information. Let’s have a closer look:
The name of this strategy says: all data is transferred at once during a limited time. One significant disadvantage of this approach is that all live systems go down during the data migration process. For instance, if any service is updating their mobile application by implementing the “Big Bang” approach, their users can have issues if they use mobile apps at the same time. However, one of the main benefits of this strategy is that data migration does not take long (usually up to a few hours). Thus, a company can plan and prepare a downtime and warn both the clients and the employees to prepare everybody for a smooth transition.
This strategy cannot be implemented at once but is divided into phases. Both old and new systems run in parallel to ensure access to all the applications during the data migration process. The information is transferred continuously with almost no downtime for all the systems.
All in all, the first strategy is less expensive and easier to implement. Because all changes happen at once, the risks of a failure skyrocket too. “Trickle” migration, in its turn, is costly and more complicated to perform because the two systems are running simultaneously.
There are three distinguishing phases in the data migration process:
In some cases, one more stage is added. It’s called the preparation stage. The ETL process is the same. No matter if an organization chooses a “Big Bang” or “Trickle” migration strategy.
Let’s see what an ETL process looks like based on a real-life example. Here SoftwareSupp experts had to set up a Pipedrive and conduct data migration for a luxury travel agency.
On the screenshot below, you can see the following stages of the ETL process:
The data migration process isn’t an effortless thing that companies perform daily. It’s a pretty challenging procedure that can have serious consequences if something goes wrong.
We’re briefly talking about some risks and challenges to keep in mind during the data migration process:
The database migration should be carried out by an experienced specialist. It is a large project requiring expert knowledge, and if properly conducted, it does not bring any risk. It is a business technology update process. Finally, modern business focuses on the following technology.
With SoftwareSupp, your data migration process is at minimum risk. We know how to move and optimize information to benefit your business. With a large pool of dedicated experts in different industries, data migration becomes a natural process that will result in better access to information, flawless performance, and a profound understanding of how your business works.
Kamil Hudaszek
Certified SoftwareSupp Data Analytics Expert
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7 min read
The Ultimate Guide to Lead Scoring: methods, benefits, and implementation. The goal is to convert the lead to a customer.
Not all leads are the same, and that’s ok. But how do you know which ones will turn in customers? The answer to this question is vitally important for the successful and fruitful marketing of any business. No matter if it’s a small local shop that goes online or a large company selling its services worldwide. That’s why today we’re talking all about lead scoring - a system of classification leads.
Lead scoring is important to qualify how near the lead is to our ideal buyer and wherein the buying process is the lead situated. Lead nurturing is all the actions and efforts to move the potential client through our buying process stages. The goal is to convert a lead to a customer.
Carla Rodriguez, Certified SoftwareSupp Sales Process Improvement Expert
Lead scoring is a crucial practice in inbound marketing. It’s the process of assigning attributes to each lead you’re generating for your business. Usually, these values are converted to numerical points, so it’s easier to compare the results of each lead. To put it simply, lead scoring looks like a race: those prospects that score the highest number are the closest to make a purchase.
Lead scoring usually comes in when the company starts making more money and generating more and more leads. At this point, you should be able to differentiate between prospects who will unlikely turn into customers not to waste your resources.
With SoftwareSupp, you can hire Carla to integrate lead scoring into your sales strategy.
Let’s now look in detail at the pros of lead scoring to understand better how it works.
After lead scoring, you have a clear picture of your leads at the moment and know how many of them will likely convert into clients. Consequently, you understand where and how you should improve your marketing strategy.
Lead scoring shows specific issues that need to be fixed. In such a way, you don’t spend money on marketing and sales randomly. Indeed, you invest in those strategies and approaches that will bring visible results.
With lead scoring, you can see at what exact stage of the sales process each prospect is. It’s much easier to sell to leads that are ready to make a purchase and, as a result, generate more money for the company.
There are two ways you can do lead scoring. Let’s have a closer look at them:
This method is based on pure data analysis. You count all the scores your lead gets based on the given attributes and receive a specific amount. Depending on this number, the prospect can either pass to the next sales stage (if it turns out to be a prospective customer) or still has to gain the necessary score. The threshold (number of scores needed) for the lead to convert to the client is agreed upon by the marketing and sales teams of the company.
This approach appeared later than the traditional lead scoring method. Predictive lead scoring became possible, to a great extent, due to machine learning and AI. It works based on an algorithm: the approximate score of a perfect prospect is calculated based on the company information and big data. Then, all the incoming leads are scored against this calculated score of an ideal lead profile. It helps to determine which prospects are most likely to convert into customers.
Let’s now move to the criteria based on which you can assign attributes to your leads. These are called lead scoring models and will vary depending on the type of your business and target clients. Each company has to decide which models work best for them to convert leads into customers. One more essential factor here is how to gather the necessary information from your potential clients. Usually, it can be done by analyzing the questionnaires they fill in on landing pages. Here are the most common metrics that can be used for most businesses:
This factor means a lot in understanding who is a buyer persona for the service you provide and what he wants. If you’re selling to a specific category of customers (students, for example) or deliver only in one area, give points to all leads that fit in. It’s quite unlikely that people older than 40 will purchase goods for students or those living in France will become your clients if you only deliver products within Germany.
How prospects interact with the company’s website tells a lot about where and how they can convert into clients. When leads are getting familiar with your business, they can take the further actions:
You can assign as many points as you want with each value depending on the type of your company and marketing funnels. In total, the picture can look like this:
What pages and how many times do leads visit before becoming customers?
What offers and how many of them do your leads download?
The type of web pages and the number of visits are the indicators of what content and marketing techniques work best to turn leads into customers.
Email subscription looks like a solid decision to get to know more about the services the company provides. Thus, you can give more points to the website visitors who sign up for the newsletter.
The actions we discussed in the previous part are not the same as engagement. Engagement defines how long the leads are consuming your content (for instance, how much time they spend reading blogs or emails).
The general rule is that the more time a lead stays on the website - the more likely they’ll become a client.
Check if your leads react to your posts on social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc). If they are engaged with your brand on social networks, it shows how interested they are in your services. Did they like or repost anything? Give them a few points for this activity.
For Versabox, SoftwareSupp expert introduced a system integration with lead sources and lead acquisition tracking. In this project, leads were qualified in the BANT methodology. Lead tracking was implemented via ActiveCampaign. Thanks to this, the client has the opportunity to monitor lead sources through marketing campaigns. The Scoring system has been based on attributes and activities.
These are the funnels through which prospects get to know about your company and services. The most popular lead sources are:
Start with your buyers’ journey and look at their first point of contact. It will help to analyze what content and lead sources are the most effective for sales. Some web pages, for example, will raise leads' interest in your product, while others can leave them unresponsive.
Of course, for each business, the importance of each particular lead source will vary. To be more precise, it all depends on your target audience. Let’s say, you’re selling to zoomers mostly. No wonder that investing in radio and developing this lead source will be ineffective as teenagers rarely listen to it.
So, how lead scoring looks in practice? We’ll explain based on the BANT framework that is used by most sales teams in all industries all over the world.
BANT stands for budget, authority, needs, and timing, and all of them are used to qualify leads. A common practice is to consider a prospect viable if they satisfy at least three out of four BANT criteria. We’re cracking all of them below:
Find out whether the lead can afford the product or service you’re offering. Learn all about their budget and flexibility when it comes to money. You can also think about special pricing if you really want to keep the lead and let them continue with the buyer’s journey. However, if your prospect is not ready to spend enough funds on your product, it’s better not to invest time, effort, and resources to move them to the next sales stage.
Is a lead in charge of making decisions and purchases? Or are they simply looking around and gathering information about what’s available on the market? Or do they need to consult a group of stakeholders or other team members before finalizing the deal? If the lead does not have enough authority, you might be wasting your time. Try to discover who’s a real decision-maker and make them part of the sales process. In such a way, the chances of successful purchases will increase significantly.
Does your prospective customer really need your product or service? Ask them about the challenges they’re facing and issues they’re seeking to resolve. If your product cannot solve this problem, don’t push the sales process further. .
Are your leads ready to make a purchase within the next few months or they will only do this in a year? It’s not worth hunting your prospects down and pushing them into buying something if they have no such intentions. On the contrary, you can pause the sales process a bit and communicate with them later. One more tip here would be suggesting a time-limited offer to create the feeling of urgency. Thus, leads will be more motivated to make a purchase in the nearest time.
In other words, it’s the process of building and developing relationships with your leads throughout each sales stage. We’re now talking about lead nurturing because it’s a complex approach that includes lead scoring. It’s important to understand that you cannot push a lead to purchase your services all of a sudden. Conversely, you need to guide them carefully during the whole sales process and nurture trusting friendly relationships. Even if a purchase doesn’t happen, such a lead will still have positive experience with your company and can come back in the future or recommend you to friends/family/etc.
All in all, lead scoring is not the only tactic to keep in mind to generate sales and boost your revenue. Lead nurturing also includes:
All of these are interconnected and when combined all together bring tremendous results both for your business and clients.
In SoftwareSupp, we focus on the individual approach to each project and every client. That’s why we offer a wide range of services to choose from (website building, custom software development, marketing automation, and more) all provided by dedicated and passionate professionals. We are aware of the importance of the transparency of the information provided and the security of funds. That is why we conduct transactions through the ESCROW system hosted by Stripe. During the project implementation, the funds are kept as a deposit in a secure account and transferred to the bank account only after completing the tasks. Thanks to this, you only pay for the work done.
Carla Rodriguez
Certified SoftwareSupp Sales Process Expert
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