Every CRM evaluation focuses on features.  But the product with the most features might not be the right product for you.  Features don’t cover things like cost, usability, look and feel, and user adoptability. 

Recognizing this gap, Steve and I decided to use our CRMTalk podcast to reach out to CRM vendors and ask them, “Why do you win?”.

In a series of corresponding blogs, I'll analyze what the vendors told us about their winning ways and comment on the truth behind their statements.

Hopefully this will serve as a guideline to readers on what vendors consider important. If the same things are important to you, it’s a sign you should consider them as a solution for your company. In part one of this series, we dive into SugarCRM.

Why SugarCRM Wins Customers

SugarCRM pointed to seven features that make them deal winners:

  1. Modern and simple user interface
  2. Quick to deploy
  3. Low TCO (total cost of ownership)
  4. Mobile SDK
  5. Advanced Workflow
  6. Hint for data enrichment
  7. Customer Journey plugin

Listen to the podcast.

Modern and simple user interface -- SugarCRM has spent a majority of the last several years reengineering their product to be simple to use.  Instead of trying to put every feature (including the kitchen sink) in the product, they focused on ease of use. If your focus is on core CRM needs, then there is no simpler CRM product on the market.  Most of the functions are one or two keys strokes away, which will improve performance and have a positive impact on user adoption.

sugar dashboard

Quick to deploy – SugarCRM is one of the easiest solutions to deploy.   A basic out-of- the-box implementation can be up-and-running in about a month.  We find that new SugarCRM implementations have the highest customer success rate and almost all of them are completed on time and on budget.   

Low TCO (total cost of ownership) – SugarCRM has a set of development standards for building out customizations that are not impacted by any upgrade.  Customers who choose the on-demand option have little to no additional costs beyond license fees and enhancement after year one.  Also, because of their quick deployment options, initial implementation costs are lower than most of their competition.  SugarCRM also has one of the best customer support programs for their enterprise licensed customers. This helps drive the cost down and customer satisfaction up.

Mobile SDK – One of SugarCRM’s unique features is their Mobile SDK.  This allows customers to personalize their IOS or Android mobile application to look and feel like a custom-built application.  SugarCRM customers can create a truly personalized field experience unburdened by features that were never meant for the field.  This personal experience can be delivered based on the role of the user.  For example, field service teams can have contact, route mapping, service tickets, signing, and parts ordering, while a field sales person might have access to contact information, appointments, activities, notes, and maps.  This maximizes the efficiency of your field employees.

Advanced Workflow -- SugarCRM advanced workflow tools allows for the automation of repetitive tasks.  The most common use is to enforce corporate policies by having those processes automated within the workflow tool.

sugar advanced workflow

Hint for data enrichment – One of the best new features of SugarCRM is their Hint product.  For a monthly fee, users get unlimited intelligence on contacts and accounts.  With simply an email and a name, Hint provides company name, addresses, phone numbers, and other insights available through social media, including items like news. 

Customer Journey plugin – Combining the Customer Journey with the advanced workflow gives SugarCRM ensures a consistent, uniform process is always being followed, which builds a more uniform customer experience. This helps improve satisfaction and hopefully translates into more sales.

customer journey

Listen to the full analysis of why SugarCRM wins deals on our CRMTalk podcast, found here. Then, stay tuned for our next installment in this series when Steve and I discuss Zoho CRM.

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