What You Really, Really Want!

CRM Customer Survey 2016 Report

It’s important to us that our customers feel part of what we are looking to achieve with our CRM and have a voice in the development. Collecting feedback is not just lip-service, we want our customers to be partners in our journey and vice versa.

I don’t think we realised just how important this was until quite recently at our inaugural User Conference in May when we got the chance to meet many of our customers for the first time. The sense of community was something we really hadn’t expected yet it was probably the most powerful experience of the day! So taking this forward, we hope that collating feedback and reporting on it will help develop this spirit.

Last month we ran our annual CRM Customer Survey to get direct feedback from our customer base on everything from our performance through to how our customers are finding business growth at present. The data collected provides essential information for running SpotlerCRM in terms of understanding who our customers are and how our CRM performs to meet their needs.

The survey results have now been analysed with conclusions drawn and recommendations put forward on how we should act upon the insight with considerations for our product, service and marketing.

What’s Changed From Last Year

Overall, the results were not dissimilar to our 2015 CRM Customer Survey yet small changes can be seen that are helpful in tracking change. For example, we can see how the CRM Customer Support Hub, introduced in September 2015, has been a success in enabling customers to easily find the information they need, in an easy-to-understand format. However, there is still some information that is not reaching all CRM users. Our new CRM Version 5, due to be launched later in the year, will help address these issues by providing “pull-out” Help Drawers on each CRM screen with advice and tips on all the features and, where appropriate, tutorial videos.

The survey data, cross-referred against our customer database, also shows a trend towards slightly larger organisations that are finding the SpotlerCRM a solution for their business needs and an increase in use across non-English speaking nations. This suggests that the scalability of the CRM is improving, and a recent development to make the system compatible with special characters has been successful.

Support Success

In addition to the success of the Customer Support Hub, the survey highlights the achievements of our Customer Support Team. The quality of our free support is a key element of our CRM product so your feedback here is very helpful.

Fortunately, it’s all positive and many customers posted comments praising Chris and his team for their help. Particularly interesting are the comments we received from many of our US customers stating that despite the time zone difference they are continually impressed with our service.

Since January 2016 our Sales & Marketing Team has also been active in supporting CRM best practice with regular webinars and tutorials. The introduction of more advanced subjects has been well received with record numbers attending our webinars on using the Marketing tool, managing the sales pipeline, and running reports. Even our CEO, John Paterson, has been getting involved with a monthly webinar on customisation. Feedback suggests that further subjects might be introduced to help get the most from the CRM.

Areas to Address

But we are honest people and recognise that not everything is as we would like it to be. Issues with the optimisation of the CRM for mobile devices is a frequent gripe, as is the complexity of the integrated Marketing tool.

Mobile users will be pleased to hear that our CRM Version 5 has a new modern user interface (UI) that automatically adjusts to give you great visibility of your data and quick access. It’s not an app but the full version of the CRM neatly packaged to give you access to the most important features. You’ll also be able to telephone your clients directly from the CRM using your smartphone and view Google Maps in the customer record.

Development of the Marketing tool is a bigger project. We are looking to simplify the tool for small business users and create a limited version that just gives email marketing without campaign management. We will be looking to make the email editor more user friendly and provide ready-to-go design templates to work with. This development is scheduled for the first quarter of 2017.

Version 5

Our CRM Version 5, due to be launched later in the year, will take care of many of the development requests highlighted by the 2016 survey. The new version has a slick modern UI with easy customisation, drag and drop customisation on the dashboard, advanced search functionality, Google Maps and much more. But best of all is that the new CRM Version 5 platform will enable us to make speeder developments in the future. Read more about Version 5 and watch a video preview.

Once again, thank you to everyone who took part in the survey and for your great comments. It will be interesting to see how your feedback changes in another 12 months!

By the way, the draw for the 6 bottles of Chablis was won by Samantha Capes from Workplace Advice Group Ltd. Congratulations Sam!