(Photo Illustration by Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Most software companies don’t have the budgets of Microsoft and Google to spread the word about their products and that’s a big challenge for them. It also represents a missed opportunity for companies that could benefit from these applications if only they knew about them.
So allow me to help. Here are seven software applications and platforms that can work with – or instead of – your customer relationship management system and I bet you’ve never heard of them. I have no relationship with these organizations other than my customers who benefit from their products. But I do intend to recommend them.
Consider for workflow automation Process Street. Starting at $100 per month for a team, the application provides an easy way to create workflows for any process within a company and ensure it’s automated with reminders and alerts, along with progress tracking and statistics. It integrates with over 3,000 applications and uses “low code/no code” tools to enable anyone with a little technical experience to develop a custom solution tailored to an organization’s needs.
Use for a great cloud-based database Air table. This application – which starts at $10 per seat per month – is like a spreadsheet on uber steroids. You can create an unlimited number of tables first, then bring in data from multiple sources, build custom interfaces, and combine your data with automation to speed up your processes. You can even use it as a standalone CRM by using one of the many ready-to-use templates provided by the company. I have many clients who love this platform because it is so easy to set up and flexible to customize.
Consider moving large amounts of data from multiple data sources to your desired destination (a CRM system or another database). five-tran. This powerful database tool can fetch, load and replicate data from over 200 cloud applications. This is an advanced tool that can also provide marketing and customer analytics and is popular with both Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure developers.
There are many good cloud-based communication platforms, but both small and medium businesses struggling with spam calls would be very interested in Cloudli. This is a communications platform that provides Voice over IP (VoIP) phone services combined with AI to block spam calls. It also has excellent business SMS features, carrier-grade VoIP connectivity, and even digital fax capabilities (and yes, some industries like healthcare still do). Prices start at $25 per month for two users.
Running a non-profit? Then you might want to consider Bloomerang as your primary CRM. This cloud-based platform starts at $99 per month for 1,000 contacts and has excellent tools to facilitate online giving and payment processing, as well as the ability to build an extensive marketing and integration donor database that integrates with many other nonprofits and for-profit platforms.
Managing credit risk is critical, especially when you’re running a business in a slowing economy. Using Nuvo can help your sellers minimize this risk before an order is placed – and a commission is denied. Nuvo offers a one-stop shop for credit applications. During your sales process, a prospect fills out the form you designed and – using its internal workflow – Nuvo will perform the due diligence. And your business saves time and money by avoiding all the printing, scanning, emailing, faxing (did I mention some companies still do?) and uploading. It has a simple capture system for important company information, resale certificates, trade references, bank details, electronic signatures and personal guarantees. The service uses data from more than 10,000 financial institutions to report on potential credit issues ranging from overdraft history, regulatory red flags, and available lines of credit. Prices are custom.
One last little app I have to include here is CountThings. It’s not exactly a CRM thing, but it’s pretty cool. Why? From your mobile device, you can take a photo or video of your inventory (rods, tubes, logs, wood, seeds, plugs in various shapes…you get the idea, right?) and the app will quickly count them for you. It’s not always perfect, but the company promises that using its templates and with its available support, the application will continue to improve. And once you reach a certain level of accuracy, the app can save a lot of time in the counting process, ensuring your inventory is correct and your sellers know what they have in stock. You can purchase monthly or 24-hour licenses.
Am I right? Ever heard of these applications? I bet you didn’t. Are they helpful? I bet they are. And hopefully this year you can use some of these technologies to increase the productivity and profitability of your business.
