WORK[etc] Web App Blog

Daniel Barnett [2012-02-13]UPDATE:We're now taking registrations for the beta

We have a lot of updates in development and as luck would have it, it seems they’ll all be out in the same week.  So rather than breaking prolonged blog silence with a single, monstrous post outlining all the new features and enhancements, I thought it best to start leaking and tweaking as it all starts to come together.

Anyone that has read my Road Map post knows that we are engaged in a huge overhaul of WORKetc Sales and CRM module, centred on the following:

• Daniel Barnett [2012-02-07]Contact Lists.  Saved Views (new name!)  Essentially the ability to save an instantly refreshable, complex search of your contact list.  Show me a list of all my contacts in San Francisco that have purchased my product in the last 12 months.

• Universal Custom Fields.  A central place to create and manage custom fields and more visible access to custom fields in contacts, sales, projects and support cases.

• Sales Activity Templates.  Create a series of steps and business rules to manage (and automate) your sales process; including drip email marketing.  On day 1, send customer introduction email.  If positive response, then assign to John Smith to make phone call.  If no response, then wait 3 days and send follow up email.

• Custom tables.  Anywhere in WORKetc where we use a table, users will be able to decide what information they want to see on a table and in what order.  View custom fields in your customer support list; choose what sales data to display on the leads screen.

The reason why these have all been in development for a few months now is they are all closely related and all required some other pieces of the puzzle to be complete; most notably instant search (completed) and granular permissions (almost complete).

Saved Views...

As touched on above, saved views are groups of contacts defined by the variables you selected and then saved as a view.  The view is then instantly available via the contacts page and is of course refreshed in real time; add a new contact that fits the criteria and that contact will show on the list.

This is how the interface is shaping up:


Creating lists is as simple as selecting which critera to include or exclude.  A summary of the search string is displayed on the floating right hand panel and results can be previewed as you continue to build out the search.

So in the example above, we are creating a list of priority customers, that are based in the USA, who are already tagged as a Sales Lead or and have Dan as their Account (Sales) Manager and who currently have an ongoing (active) project.  As a good sales manager, Dan might use this list to make a monthly courtesy call to his priority customers.

Contact lists is shaping up to be a massively powerful and when you think about WORKetc being more than just CRM, but in fact a complete business management tool, a stack of interesting potential uses come to mind.  For example:

• List all customers who have purchased a particular product from your business, then use that list to cross sell them a complimentary product.
  
  
• List all customers who are tagged with a custom tag "late payer" and who currently have an overdue account and sort by age of receivables.  Assign an employee that list to stay on top of.
  
  
• List all customers with an active project, assign to an email list and email those customers your office hours for Christmas.

Does anyone else have any ideas how this could work for them?  Please post a scenario in the comments below so we can make sure we get everything covered before rolling out the beta!

Jobs going:  Support and UI Design

I'm looking for an awesome customer support person based on the East Coast of the USA (or in the same timezone).  Ideally you'll be a WORKetc customer and probably run your own IT or software business in the past.  Please get in contact with daniel@WO**etc.com

Also looking for a user interface designer who really does specialize in UI.  This will be a long-term, ongoing contract position to help us progressively tighten up WORKetc.  Ideally you'll already be a WORKetc customer.  Please get in contact with daniel@WO**etc.com

Now let's hear some Contact List scenarios!