Workbooks CRM

Avantages

Support: Workbooks have a very strong and capable support team which really helps outweigh any of the slightly frustrating areas of the CRM. They are very quick to respond via email and very few problems taking longer than a single phone call to resolve.

Capability / Flexibility: The system is extremely flexible. It allows a huge amount of different areas of the business to be logged, controlled and reported on. Some CRM systems can deal with lead tracking and customer tracking, but Workbooks very easily deals with this as well as all financial areas of the business sales orders, invoicing, purchasing and more.

`Single Platform: linked to its flexibility, Workbooks, with the introduction of the Web Insights and Email Marketing platforms is able to deal with a contact end to end, from warming a lead up, to delivering a product once they have become a customer and then their journey via support and account management.

Reporting: The reporting engine is so powerful that you can create virtually anything you can think of. I have only found one thing when creating reports that I wasn't able to do, even then it was a nice to have.

Once you understand how the platform works, it becomes an invaluable tool.

Inconvénients

Capability / Flexibility: Although this is in the pros, it is not without its frustrations. The flexibility of the platform, in particular 'how' you make it fit what you need, also makes it difficult to understand. It is not immediately intuitive to customize and if you add modules after using it for some time, (like the advanced security) it can be extremely painful.
Some areas of the platform seem overly convoluted and often either need the help of their support team (who are excellent) or sometimes a consultant which comes at extra cost.

Reporting: Again, as the reporting engine is so powerful it creates its own downside due to being unintuitive and even with some understanding difficult to understand. You cannot simply open a new blank report and create even simple reporting without having some idea of the logic behind how it works. A number of other CRM's allow you create 'general' reports far easier due to a more simple interface but they lack the power.

I think there are areas where the platform could be easier to use and therefore create some frustrations but if you are aware that you need to have training and understanding in how the platform works first, you will have a versatile and powerful tool for your business.

Avantages

The configuration is simple and straightforward and yet at the same time is really powerful as you can easily add report cells, meaning that it gives a much broader view of the client.
I like the mapping module and again you can customer this to show the information that you need as a business.
Integration with Web Insights and Gatormail plus the workflow means that you have a platform that offer marketing automation.
Easy to set up new users but also very secure, if you use the the security features.
The service offered by the support team is second to none - always patient, exceptionally knowledgeable and always solution oriented.
I could not do my job without Workbooks

Inconvénients

Need to make sure that you do not use Internet explorer, especially with the gator mail add-on as it is then very slow but runs brilliantly on other browsers.
The knowledge base is good but if would be helpful to have printable pdfs of the pages so that you can use them as manual when printed out

Avantages

Workbooks allows our company to capture data and record the sales progress of our enquires through to order. It also allows us to create marketing campaigns and be able to understand the response rate of our campaigns. The reporting aspect of the workbooks is also very powerful and they run as live data which enable us as a business to monitor growth and orders as and when the data is created in workbooks. As a cloud based system this system allows are external users to have access to the workbooks system no matter there location.

Inconvénients

I would like more ability to be able to change layouts of PDF's so I can make changes as and when the business needs it.

Avantages

The flexibility of Workbooks allows us to edit and format the system exactly as we want it

The system is easy to navigate and has helped us introduce a more standardised way of working across the business.

Integrating into GatorMail means that Workbooks becomes more powerful. We now have a true single customer view that includes all marketing contact as well as website activity of our members. From this information, we are able to automate marketing campaigns triggered by this intelligence.

Inconvénients

The importing tool is good and fairly intuitive for simple tasks but there is a lot of data work that needs to be done beforehand.

Importing orders can be awkward and it takes a fair bit of trial and error to get the mapping of existing data to fit into the system correctly.

Reporting takes a bit of time to master but once you've done this, it becomes a key part of the systems everyday usage.

Avantages

Workbooks is easy to pick up. It was the first database I have ever used, so I was worried that I would not be able to use it well. I was wrong, and have been able to fully grasp all of its functions. Everything is clearly laid out, and where I do need that little bit of guidance, the Support team are always happy and willing to help. The different Record Types allow me to navigate easily around the database, and the Reporting function is brilliant. Gone are the days of tirelessly amending spreadsheets in Excel! All the information that I need is in Workbooks exactly where I need it.

Inconvénients

In an ideal world, I would be able to use the Search function to search by Id. As System Admin, I use Ids far more than I do references due to importing. That being said, it is still simple to find a record based on their id by using filters within the Record Type.