Sage CRM Builder Reimagine how you use CRM in your...

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Sage CRM Builder Reimagine how you use CRM in your business sagecrm.com/sagecrmbuilder

Transcript of Sage CRM Builder Reimagine how you use CRM in your...

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Sage CRM Builder Reimagine how you use CRM in your business

sagecrm.com/sagecrmbuilder

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Contents

Manage your products

and equipment

P27

04Oversee key

business projects

P34

05Implement your next

business project

P41

06

Manage your

next company

event

P5

01Organize a training

course

P13

02Track your

competitors

P20

03

Introduction P3

Creating your new business module

Conclusion P47

Why Sage CRM Builder P4

Additional resources P48

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Your business is growing.

You need new ways of increasing productivity, you

want your company to become more efficient and

you’re looking for a better way of organizing key

business processes.

Fortunately, there’s a solution.

Sage CRM Builder is one of the most powerful and

flexible tools we’ve created.

Our customers are using Sage CRM Builder to plan

events, organize training courses, track

competitors, manage products and equipment, and

to oversee and implement key business projects.

And Sage CRM Builder is helping them save time

and money.

We want to share our customers’ experiences of

using Sage CRM Builder with you, so you can adapt

Sage CRM to fit the needs of your business and

experience these benefits for yourself.

Introduction

In this eBook, we showcase six business modules

built by Sage CRM customers. In each example, we

present several challenges our customers faced

prior to creating a custom module with Sage CRM

Builder.

Then, we provide you with a step by step guide to

creating these business modules to help you apply

their success to your business should you face

similar challenges.

Finally, we highlight the key benefits of each of

these six real-world custom modules so you can

decide what to build first.

Let’s get started.

bit.ly/SageCRMBuilder

Adapt & Extend Sage CRM to manage any area of your business

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Introduction

Why Sage CRM Builder?No technical skills required – a user friendly, drag

and drop interface means anyone in your business

can create new modules for their individual

requirements.

Anywhere access – you can drive productivity and

build what you need wherever, whenever by

accessing Sage CRM online.

Affordable - If you’re a Sage CRM Professional

Edition customer, you already have access to Sage

CRM Builder as part of your monthly subscription.

Fully customizable – The power of Sage CRM

Builder means you can personalize everything on

your screen so it fits with the way you work.

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01 Manage your next company event

Event module

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Manage your next company event

Events module

Most businesses organize several important

events throughout the year. Typical events

include office parties, business meetings,

workshops, partner meet-ups and even

conferences.

These events involve a number of common

tasks including:

•registrations

•venues

•costs

•speakers

•signage

•accommodation

•travel

If you’re organizing an event, we understand you

also face additional tasks like: budgeting;

sourcing suppliers; managing bookings and

equipment; organizing entertainment and

hospitality; and keeping track of changes to your

event.

Using multiple tools, like email and spread

sheets, can hinder your productivity and cause

more inaccurate data. For example, if you rely

solely on spread sheets, your teams may find it

more difficult to collaborate on key information

about these events. These tools can also make

it more difficult for customers to report on an

event and evaluate what worked and didn’t

work.

Creating an Events module with Sage CRM

Builder can help you manage these tasks.

The challenge

01Do you have an upcoming company event, like a

party or conference?

Have past events sometimes run over budget?

And is it difficult to manage registrations and track

attendees at these events?

Our customers overcame these problems by

creating an Events module with Sage CRM Builder.

In this section, you can find out how to build this

type of module and plan your next successful

event.

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Events module

Building an Events module with Sage CRM

Builder will enable you to manage all tasks for

your event from one location. You can use the

Events module to track registered attendees,

and assist an event planner with organizing the

event.

Using an Events module in Sage CRM, you

can:

•view basic information about an event, such as duration, contributor information, event sessions, and event materials

•view information about the venue at which the event is held

•track the number of registered attendees to determine the required resources for the event

•send information emails to past attendees about the upcoming event

•set up a workflow based on the completion of various event management tasks

•set up a workflow to automate post-event follow-up and feedback

•create groups and reports about attendees, including the number of event sessions they attended, to help with your pricing or reward policies

But before you create your new module, it’s

crucial to know what information you want it to

track and how it’ll interact with other modules in

your system.

The solution

01

Identify the information you want the module to

manage. For example, you could:

•include a detailed description of the event

•display the start and date and time

•track the number of attendees

•categorize the event type

•view information about the venue at which the event is being held

•track the progress of event tasks

•list all companies that will be represented at the event

•list all people who will attend the event

Next, identify how the data in your new module

interacts with data that’s already in Sage CRM. For

example, consider how Events relate to a Company,

Person, or Venue:

•an event can have many companies in attendance, and a company can attend many events

•an event can have many people in attendance, and a person can attend many events

•an event is held in one venue, but a venue can host many events

For more information about relationships, please

read the System Administrator Help.

Step 1: Gather your requirements

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Events module 01Once you’ve gathered your requirements, you can

create the Event module using Sage CRM Builder.

You’ll find it in Administration| Customization |

Sage CRM Builder.

Step 2: Build your new module

Give your module a name, a description, and a new

icon.

Then, specify how it interacts with Company,

Person, and Venue.

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Events module

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01Choose the Sage CRM features that your

module will use. For example, you want to

include event tasks and follow-up in workflows.

Because you want to include a long description

of the event, create a multiline text field. Create

a date and time field to record the event start

date, and create a multi select field to track the

planning tasks.

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Events module 01Finally, to display lots of related information about

the event in one place, drag all the new fields and

tables onto the Events summary screen.

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Events module 01When your new module is built, an Events record

might look like this….

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Events module

Creating an Events module with Sage CRM

Builder reduces the amount of time and

resources it takes to organize an event.

You can use your Events module to:

•capture contact information

•manage registrations and attendees

•log correspondence and record notes

•track timelines and stakeholders

•manage speakers and sessions

•create workflows for managing event items

•build reports for evaluating your event

If you build an Events module with Sage CRM

Builder, you are one step closer to organizing

your next successful party, workshop or

conference.

The result

01

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02 Organize a training course

Training module

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Organize a training course

Training Course module

Training courses form an important part of any

business that spends time keeping the skills of

employees up to date.

Managing a training course means keeping on

top of areas like

•venues

•students

•trainers

•resources

•communications

•administration

•scheduling

Without a tool to keep track of these areas,

business people organizing training courses can

become over-burdened by various lists and

spread sheets related to these courses. It’s also

difficult for team members to collaborate on

documentation related to these training courses.

Our customers overcame these challenges by

creating a Training Course module.

The challenge

02Is your business concerned with keeping the skills

of its employees up to date?

Do you spend time organizing training courses for

people in your company?

Would you like a more efficient way of organizing

communications, documentation and resources for

your training?

In this section you find out how Sage CRM

customers created a Training Course module and

kept their courses on track.

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Training Course module

If you build a Training Couse module using Sage

CRM Builder, you can manage courses and

information about the venue and students. And

you can use the module to manage bookings,

track registered attendees, co-ordinate trainers,

and to sell future courses.

Using a Training Course module in Sage

CRM, you can:

•view information about the venue at which the course is held

•get an overview of registered attendees and see what other courses they’ve already attended, to identify future sales opportunities

•track your sales of training courses to help determine quotas and forecasts

•automate the booking and administration of your training courses

•run reports to discover your most popular training courses for marketing purposes

•set up a basic workflow to monitor different stages of the course, such as Planned, Fully Booked, and Complete

•send reminder emails to registered students about start dates

But before you create your new module, it’s

crucial to know what information you want it to

track and how it’ll interact with other modules in

your system.

The solution

Identify the information you want the module to

manage. For example, you could:

•view a photo of the trainer

•view details about people from different companies who attend the course

•track the number of places on the course and the cost of the course

•categorize the type of training provided by the course

•include the training course in workflows and reports

Next, identify how the data in your new module

interacts with data that’s already in Sage CRM. For

example, consider how Training Course relates to

Person and Trainer:

•a training course can have many students, and a student can attend many courses

•a training course can have one trainer, but a trainer can run many training courses

For more information about relationships, please

read the System Administrator Help.

Step 1: Gather your requirements

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Training Course module

Once you’ve gathered your requirements, you can

create the Training Course module using Sage CRM

Builder.

You’ll find it in Administration| Customization |

Sage CRM Builder.

Step 2: Build your new module

Give your module a name, a description, and a new

icon.

Then, specify how it interacts with Person and

Trainer.

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Training Course module

Choose the Sage CRM features that your module

will use. For instance, it may be useful to display the

training course in personal and team views, and to

link files and attachments to the training course.

Because you want to view a photo of the trainer,

create an image field. You can also add a radio

button to record the number of places on the

course, a cascading lookup field to choose the type

of training, and a currency field to set the price.

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Training Course module

Finally, to display lots of related information about

the course in one place, drag all the new fields and

tables onto the Training Course summary screen.

When your new module is built, a Training Course

record could look like this….

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Training Course module

Using your new Training Course module, you

can view and manage every aspect of your

training course. This means your business can:

•save time and reduce errors by storing training documentation in one central location

•track the costs of your training courses

•become more productive by streamlining labour intensive and administrative tasks

•improve efficiencies by managing internal and external training resources including venues, trainers, equipment

And, most importantly, you and your team can

spend less time organizing training courses and

more time delivering them.

The result

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03 Track your competitors

Competitor Tracking module

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Track your competitors

Businesses today need tools that help them stay

ahead of their competition. They need an

understanding of their competitors’ strengths

and weaknesses and an ability to monitor their

competitive position in the marketplace.

Our customers said competitor tracking can be

difficult because their information is sometimes

stored in multiple locations. Some of our

customers also highlighted keeping this

information up to date as a challenge.

If you’re encountering these challenges, you can

use Sage CRM Builder to create a Competitor

Tracking module and manage key information

about your competitors from one place.

The challenge

03Do you spend time evaluating the strengths and

weaknesses of your business?

Would you like to be able to build detailed profiles

of your competitors?

How much additional revenue could you generate if

you knew how your products compared to your

competitors’ products?

In this section, you can learn how to create a

Competitor Tracking Module that will help you make

more informed business decisions.

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Competitor Tracking module

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A Competitor Tracking module built with Sage

CRM Builder can help you understand your

advantages and disadvantages relative to your

competitors. And you can use this module to

estimate business opportunities and threats and

make more informed business decisions

Using a Competitor Tracking module in Sage

CRM, you can:

•gather profile information about your competitors

•build a view of your competitors’ background, key personnel, product offerings, finances, and strategies

•conduct a SWOT analysis on each competitor.

•use the detailed knowledge of competing products for marketing purposes and to pursue new sales opportunities

•run a report to view opportunities that you and your competitors are pursuing

•allow your sales team to view opportunities that specific competitors may be pursuing in a particular region

•store key strategy information, such as the effectiveness of a competitor’s advertising, distribution strategy and costs, new product strategy, and existing strategic partnerships

Before creating your new module, determine

what information you want it to track and how

it’ll interact with other modules in Sage CRM.

The solution

Identify the information you want the module to

manage. For example, you could:

•record a competitor’s name and address

•view the number of employees in a competitor company

•calculate a competitor’s annual revenue

•gather information about a competitor’s main product

•populate SWOT analysis fields including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

•generate a list of sales opportunities that both you and a competitor are pursuing

•save a competitor’s advertising campaign information, published annual reports, and published strategy documents

Next, identify how data in your module interacts

with data that’s already in Sage CRM. For example:

•a competitor can be associated with one company, but a company can be associated with many competitors

•a competitor can have many opportunities, and an opportunity can be pursued by many competitors

For more information about relationships, please

read the System Administrator Help.

Step 1: Gather your requirements

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Once you’ve gathered your requirements, you can

create the Competitor module using the Sage CRM

Builder.

You’ll find it in Administration| Customization |

Sage CRM Builder.

Step 2: Build your new module

Give your module a name, a description, and a new

icon.

Then specify how it interacts with Company and

Opportunity.

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Choose the Sage CRM features that your module

will use. For instance, you may want to link files and

attachments to Competitor.

Because you want to describe competitor

strategies, add multiline text fields for Advertising

Effectiveness and Distribution Strategy and Costs.

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Finally, to display lots of related information about

your competitiors in one place, drag all the new

fields and tables onto the Competitor summary

screen.

When your new module is built, a Competitor record

could look like this….

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A Competitor Tracking module built with Sage

CRM Builder offers several key benefits. You

can:

•estimate where your business and products stand relative to competitors, and respond accordingly

•manage documentation that helps you understand your competitive advantages and disadvantages over competitors

•build out detailed profiles of your competitors using a SWOT analysis

•evaluate whether your sales team are losing out on important deals against your competitors and then make improvements to the sales process

Most importantly, a Competitor Tracking module

gives you a means of evaluating your

competition and making more informed

business decisions.

The result

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04 Manage your products and equipment

Equipment module

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Manage your products and equipment

Businesses that manage valuable products and

equipment need access to key information such

as:

•serial numbers

•service history

•customer support cases

Businesses without a central resource for

managing products and equipment have to

spend time verifying serial numbers, cross-

checking services histories of their equipment

and following up on customer support cases.

If you sell products or equipment that require

support and after sales service, creating an

Equipment module can save you time and make

your day-to-day business life more efficient.

The challenge

04Are you the type of business that handles, rents or

sells valuable products and equipment?

Do you provide after sales care and support for this

equipment to your customers?

Is it sometimes difficult to manage the service

history and customer support cases for your

products and equipment?

Our customers solved these business problems

and provided better customer support by creating

an Equipment module in Sage CRM. In this section,

you can find out how to create this type of custom

module with Sage CRM Builder.

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Equipment module

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An Equipment module can track serial numbers

and details about products such as machinery

and small technological components.

You can use this module to track equipment

service history and link to customer support

cases. And because engineers and sales people

have access to the same data, you can optimize

your support and maintenance offerings, and

capitalize on selling equipment add-ons to

existing customers.

Using an Equipment module you can:

•track equipment from the installation date, through maintenance milestones, to get a clear picture of upsell and service contract opportunities

•use all available service history and product information to deal with customer cases in a prompt and effective manner

•set up a workflow to automate the management of equipment maintenance processes, so engineers receive relevant notifications

•share information between your engineer and sales teams to increase awareness of customer needs and potential solutions

Before you create your new module, establish

what information you want it to track and how

it’ll interact with other modules in Sage CRM.

The solution

Identify the information you want the module to

manage. For example, you may want to allow

engineers and sales people to:

•view a photo of the equipment

•view contract information

•set up reminders to contact customers about replacing or servicing equipment

•track equipment installation and service history

•link to customer support cases

•identify potential up sell opportunities

Next, identify how data in your new module

interacts with data already in Sage CRM. For

example:

•many customer cases can be logged against each piece of equipment. A case is specific to just one piece of equipment

•each piece of equipment is linked to one company. A company can have many pieces of equipment

•there are many opportunities for selling support contracts, maintenance contracts, or add-ons for each piece of equipment

•each piece of equipment is linked to one contact person. Each contact person can have lots of equipment

For more information about relationships, please

read the System Administrator Help.

Step 1: Gather your requirements

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Once you’ve gathered your requirements, you can

create the Equipment module using Sage CRM

Builder.

You’ll find it in Administration| Customization |

Sage CRM Builder.

Step 2: Build your new module

Give your module a name, a description, and a new

icon.

Then specify how it interacts with Cases, Company,

Opportunity, and Person.

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Choose the Sage CRM features that your module

will use. For instance, it may be useful to run reports

on equipment service history, to view groups based

on equipment, and to upload invoices and other

documents related to equipment.

Because you want to view a photo of the

equipment, create an image field. You can also

create fields to record the contract type, contract

expiry date, date of installation, and replacement

date.

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Finally, to display key related information about the

equipment in one place, drag all the new fields and

tables onto the Equipment summary screen.

When your new module is built, an Equipment

record could look like this….

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By building an Equipment module in Sage CRM

Builder you can:

•keep track of and share important information about your products and equipment

•enable your support and maintenance teams to work more closely together on after-sales care

•provide better customer service with access to your equipment’s full service history and related support cases

No matter what industry you operate in, you can

use Sage CRM Builder to create a central

resource for managing your valuable products

and equipment from any location.

The result

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05 Oversee key business projects

Project Management module

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Oversee key business projects

A project is a series of activities or tasks geared

towards delivering a new product or service

within a set time-frame.

Many projects run into problems like

•unclear communications between teams and stakeholders

•lack of appropriate documentation

•running over budget

•missed deadlines

•division over agreed project outcomes

Our customers said they need a tool for

overseeing key projects in their business. They

also said they wanted a tool that would enable

them to manage these projects from the point of

conception to completion.

If you have the same requirements, a

personalized Project module can help.

The challenge

05Does your business have multiple on-going

projects?

Have the teams in your business the tools they need

to collaborate and communicate on these projects?

Would you like a better way of gaining an oversight

over every on-going project in your business?

In this section, you can find out how to create a

Project module that will help you track project

milestones and deliverables.

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Project Management module

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By building a personalized Project module with

Sage CRM Builder, you can keep track of key

responsibilities and of dependent tasks and

owners.

Using a Project module in Sage CRM, you can:

•track projects’ milestones against sales opportunities, marketing leads, and customer cases

•track all of the people and companies involved in the project and benefit from any CRM information you may have already entered about them

•set up a workflow to automate your project evolution process, and monitor how much time a project spends in each stage

•support collaboration between your teams by assigning tasks to users and user groups

For example, if you have a construction firm and

need to keep track of large projects, you can

keep information about key dates, such as when

the tender will be released, by using a Project

module. Then, when it’s time to start tendering,

you can add the relevant companies,

opportunities and people to your project record.

A project isn’t just confined to the work of a

Construction company. In Sage CRM, a project

can be any large piece of work that you want to

track and manage.

This is a brief overview of what you can get by

building a Project module. You could customize

your module as much as you need using Sage

CRM’s screen and workflow customization

capabilities.

The solution

Step 1: Gather your requirements

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05Project Management module

Start by identifying the information you want the

module to manage. For example, you could allow

members of the project, product management and

sales teams to:

•see the project specs and scope

•see a picture or a proof of concept for the finalized project

•view contact details for all the people and companies involved in the project completion

•monitor the delivery date and project stage

•view all the sales opportunities that the project has generated

Next, identify the relationship between the data in

your new module and data in existing modules. For

example:

•the completion of a project can involve many Companies

•the completion of a project depends on many People

•an opportunity can lead to the creation of a project, but a project can also have many opportunities

For more information about relationships, please

see the System Administrator Help.

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Once you’ve gathered your requirements, you can

create your Project Management module using

Sage CRM Builder.

You’ll find it in Administration| Customization |

Sage CRM Builder.

Step 2: Build your new module

Give your module a name, a description, and a new

icon.

Then specify how it interacts with Company,

Opportunity, and Person.

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Choose the Sage CRM features that your module

will use. For instance, it may be useful to run reports

on your projects’ status and delivery, to view groups

based on a project’s contracting companies, and to

upload invoices and other documents related to

your projects.

When building fields for your Project module, you

can create a multiline text field, which is a great way

to add not only text, but also hyperlinks and images

into the same field. You could use this to write

about Project Specifications for example.

You can also create fields to record:

•the project type

•the project manager

•the team working on the project

•the delivery date

•the project stage

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Finally, when your module is built, this is what a

Project module could look like:

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By building a Projects module in Sage CRM

Builder, you can:

•gain an overview of the scope and requirements of your various projects

•keep track of your projects’ resources, costs and dependencies

•review your projects’ key deliverables, milestone and schedules

•ensure you have the required resources, people and budget for your projects

Sage CRM Builder gives you the tools you need

to manage almost any type of project from the

point of conception to completion. Next, we

explain how you can implement individual

projects using Sage CRM Builder.

The result

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05Project Management module

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06 Implement your next business project

Project Implementation module

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Implement your next business project

06In the last section, we looked at the benefits of a

Project module and how you can use this type of

module to see relevant details about your project.

In this section, we will look at a different type of

Project Module that allows you to gain an overview

of important tasks as you implement your project.

These include:

•project details

•the delivery date against the project’s current stage

•remaining tasks

With your new Project Implementation module you

can access your customers’ contact details on the

same screen, and link to tasks, opportunities and

customer support cases associated with the

implementation of a project.

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Project Implementation module

01 02 03 04 05 06

Step 1: Gather your requirementsStart by identifying the information you want the

module to manage. For example, you may want to

allow members of the project, product

management, sales, and customer support teams

to:

•monitor the project’s current stage and planned schedule

•get information about the estimated costs for the project

•view your customer’s contact details from the project record

•view sales opportunities and/or customer support cases associated with the project

•see a list of all the tasks necessary for the completion of the project, as well as a Duration and Due Date for each task

Next, identify the relationship between the data in

your new module and data in existing modules. For

example, how does Project relate to Company,

Person, and Opportunity and Case?

You should set up the following relationships with

core Sage CRM entities:

•the implementation of many Projects can involve many Companies

•a Project Implementation can be linked to many Opportunities

•many People are involved in many Projects.

•a Project can have many Tasks

For more information about relationships, please

see the System Administrator Help.

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Once you’ve gathered your requirements, you can

create your Project Implementation module using

Sage CRM Builder.

You’ll find it in Administration| Customization |

Sage CRM Builder.

Step 2: Build your new module

Give your module a name, a description, and a new

icon.

Then, specify how it interacts with Company,

Opportunity, Case and Person.

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06Project Implementation module

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Choose the Sage CRM features that your module

will use. For instance, it may be useful to run reports

on projects status and delivery, to view groups

based on a project’s unfinished tasks, to upload

meeting notes and other documents related to the

projects, and to set up workflow and notifications to

keep everyone on track.

When building fields for your project, you add a

start date and end date field for the implementation,

currency fields for Estimated Cost versus Actual

Cost, a multiselect field for Status, and a text fields

for comments and notes. You could also add

related entity tables for Tasks, Opportunities,

Customer cases, and Customer Details.

Finally, to display lots of related information about

the course in one place, drag all the new fields and

tables onto the Project Implementation summary

screen.

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When your module is built, this is what a Project

Implementation record could look like:

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Sage CRM can help you keep track of the

various phases of a project and send your team

more relevant notifications.

And your module can help you keep track of

sales opportunities and customer support cases

linked to your project.

Using a Project Implementation module in Sage

CRM, you can:

•implement a technical project, which involves product installation, delivery of service, training, etc. for customers and partners

•complete a project for a client

•track internal projects within your company

This is a brief overview of what you can achieve

by building a Project Implementation module.

You could customize your module as much as

you need using Sage CRM’s screen and

workflow customization capabilities.

The result

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06Project Implementation module

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At Sage, we understand every business is different.

We created Sage CRM Builder so you can

customize Sage CRM to fit the unique requirements

of your business. But Sage CRM Builder isn’t just

about customer relationship management.

It’s about becoming a smarter type of business.

In this eBook, we demonstrated six real-world

examples of modules our customers created using

Sage CRM Builder.

Our customers around the world are using Sage

CRM Builder to manage events, organize training

courses, track competitors, manage products and

equipment, and to oversee and implement key

business projects.

Conclusion

And, they are saving time and money.

If you follow the step-by-step guides in this eBook,

you can use Sage CRM Builder to manage any area

of your business and seize new opportunities.

Now it’s your turn.

What will you build?

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Experience the power of Sage CRM Builder

Sage CRM Builder

Adapt

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The Sage Group plc is a leading global provider of business management software to small and medium sized companies, creating greater freedom for them to succeed. Sage understands how and why each business is unique. We provide products and services that suit varying needs, are a pleasure to use and are secure and efficient. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and entered the FTSE 100 in 1999. Sage has over 6 million customers and more than 13,380 employees in 23 countries covering the UK & Ireland, mainland Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, Asia and Brazil. For further information please visit www.sage.com.

© 2014 Sage Group Plc.

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