SalesChief for Pivotal CRM 6.0: Overview, Part 2

This week we’re continuing our overview of SalesChief for Pivotal CRM 6.0 users, a powerful business and data analysis tool that enables sales and marketing executives to access the functionality of QlikView in order to gain insight into performance, pipeline breakdown, marketing ROI, lead analysis, and more. Today’s post looks at just a sampling of features that make the interface intuitive, flexible, easy to use, and effective for users from the first time they log in.

As we mentioned in the post two weeks ago, SalesChief can be accessed directly from a dedicated tab within the Pivotal application, which has been directly embedded into Pivotal’s SmartClient framework. From there, users can select from four main tabs that cover Sales Performance, Opportunity Analysis, Marketing Effectiveness, and Lead Analysis.

SalesChief maintains a unified template for visual consistency in the user interface throughout the application and within all four primary tabs. For example, the Sales Performance tab in SalesChief automatically positions date dimensions across the top of the page, and aligns sales representatives and other dimensions vertically along the left margin. Opening the Opportunity Analysis, the user can see that additional dimensions are available. But in all cases, this template can be configured to reflect how users want to see data in order to best fit their unique use cases.

SalesChief also uses a specific color scheme that visually guides the user into a better intuitive understanding of what they’re looking at. For example, green highlighting represents a selection (or multi-selection). For example, selecting a sales representative’s name highlights it in green, and that selection is also carried over to the top left-hand box on the screen. A green dot now also appears in any of the tabs in which there is applicable data related to the initial selection – in this case the sales representative’s name.

This ‘applicable data’ is highlighted in white. For example, looking at the sales rep’s data, white highlighting might show the months in which they had sales or the industries they sold into. Conversely, all of the elements that do not apply (in this case, months in which no sales were made or industries that were not been sold into) appear in grey highlighting.

Moving to the Opportunity Analysis tab from Sales Performance, the user will notice that the selections they just made in Sales Performance are automatically carried over. Users can selectively clear one or more individual sections within the tab, or they can affect a wholesale ‘clear’ using the button on the top menu bar to return to the original state, before any selections were made.

Users can also leverage forward and back buttons just as they would in a browser to access chronological selections, and can change display details on the fly using a simple toggle. For example, units of measure can be changed instantly from a dollar value to percentage breakdown. Similarly, the ‘fast change’ option allows the format of visual data representations to be adjusted on the fly – for example changing from a pie chart to a bar graph or block diagram.

These are just a few of the intuitive, flexible, user-friendly aspects inherent to SalesChief that make it useful to users from the moment they log in through Pivotal. It’s also important to remember that for every KPI in the software, there’s built-in ‘Export to Excel’ and print capability and that makes getting data out of the application as simple as one click. Tune in next week for details on insights SalesChief provides in a specific use case — a VP of Sales assessing and comparing the performance of sales team members.

For details on SalesChief, we invite you to download the SalesChief data sheet on our Resources & Downloads page, or to contact any member of our Pivotal consulting team at info@tokarasolutions.com. You can also feel free to contact Tokara’s VP of Business Development, Mark Fillingim, directly at +1 972-719-0213.

SalesChief for Pivotal CRM 6.0: Overview, Part 2

Tokara Redefines Partnership in Pivotal 6.0 Upgrade for Kantar Retail

A hallmark of Tokara Solutions’ success as Pivotal CRM consultants has always been their focus on providing the highest level of Pivotal expertise coupled with an unflinching commitment to engaging with clients in a true partnership model. A recent upgrade to Pivotal 6.0 for Tokara client Kantar Retail illustrates both the value clients derive when ‘partnership’ is more than a marketing buzz word and the reasons Tokara extends it to every aspect of consultant engagement.

As a global consultancy providing insight and transformational growth solutions to leading blue chip brands and companies around the world, Kantar Retail makes powerful use of its Pivotal CRM solution, and fully understood the tangible benefits the company would see with an upgrade to Pivotal 6.0. Combining the best attributes of superior interface design with substantially increased functionality and ease of use, Kantar Retail chose Tokara Solutions as their partner in transitioning to Pivotal 6.0.

In working through upgrade details with Tokara, Kantar Retail wanted to ensure its own internal team was fully engaged and knowledgeable on all aspects of the software so the company wouldn’t need to rely heavily on external teams for future development requirements they might have. Customizing the engagement around the client’s requirements, Tokara fully integrated Kantar Retail’s technical team into the upgrade effort, providing side-by-side training and assigning appropriate tasking to team members, effectively leaving the team not only with a superior CRM product, but also with the knowledge and skills needed to maintain and further customize the solution moving forward.

Says Ginelle Davidson, MIS Director at Kantar Retail, “There’s no question the Tokara team has solid expertise in Pivotal CRM – but the added component that makes working with them entirely different is that their expertise comes with a commitment to partner in whatever way is best for that client. In our case, internal development teams worked side-by-side with Tokara’s consultants in a ‘train-the-trainer’ –style setup that prepared us to walk away from the upgrade not only with software we know we’ll see real ROI from, but a product we’re really able to ‘own’ in terms of future development needs we might have. It also meant our upgrade happened faster and with substantially lower cost than would have been the case in a more traditional implementation scenario.”

Says Shawn Grant, President and Founder of Tokara Solutions, “As a baseline, we ensure our Pivotal consultants really are the best in the industry – most of them have 10 to 15 years of experience with the software across a range of industries. But as one of the most specialized Pivotal Premier partners worldwide, we’re committed to more than just the expertise – we’re truly focused on making sure our clients see real results from their technology investment. This means that in every engagement, we’re looking at what ‘success’ means for that specific client, and how we can customize our model and our interactions with them to make sure they see the business results they need while also viewing Tokara as almost a part of their own team over the long term. We’re redefining what it means to be a ‘partner’ in the software industry because we think what results is a win for everyone.”

For details on Pivotal 6.0 upgrades or any of the CRM offerings of Tokara Solutions, please visit tokarasolutions.com or contact Mark Fillingim, VP of Business Development, at 972-719-0213.

Tokara Redefines Partnership in Pivotal 6.0 Upgrade for Kantar Retail

Ask the Expert, Part 2: A Firsthand Look at Pivotal 6 Upgrades

As you may know, as a follow-up to our recent blog series on Pivotal Upgrades and the tangible benefits businesses can expect from an upgrade to Pivotal 6, last week we heard from Bruce Biron, Managing Consultant at Tokara Solutions. Bruce shared some of his thoughts on why a Pivotal upgrade is such a game-changer for clients who engage him and his team. Last week’s post focused on the enhanced ‘look and feel’ that impact nearly every aspect of user productivity. This is what he had to say this week on features and functionality you can expect with a Pivotal 6 upgrade.

“One thing that’s immediately apparent in all the enhancements we see in Pivotal 6 is: it’s all about the end user. And one of the ways this focus becomes immediately clear is in productivity enhancements – for example, the integration between Outlook and Pivotal 6 is completely seamless. So if your end users spend most of their day in these two systems (which many end users do), it’s not only easier to work in these applications that are now so intuitively and comprehensively integrated, but it also saves each user an enormous amount of time (increasing productivity) and ensures every critical piece of data is saved and available everywhere it needs to be. This is one of the pieces of functionality in a Pivotal 6 upgrade that users just can’t stop talking about.

Another Pivotal 6 upgrade feature end users love is Dashboards. As just one example, let’s take a look at a Sales Dashboard, which provides the sales executive with specific portals displaying critical information in different types of graph types as well in list format. Again, the combination of functionality and interface is intuitive, aesthetically appealing, and truly ‘friendly’ – all designed to facilitate the user’s own individual workflow so that both individual productivity and corporate ROI are maximized. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”

Tune in next week for Bruce’s thoughts on how Pivotal 6 enhancements affect development requirements and add access and flexibility for clients engaged in a Pivotal 6 upgrade.

And remember, you can still register for the year’s pre-eminent Pivotal event, Aptean Edge, May 13-15, at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Register to find out everything you’ve wanted to know about how a Pivotal upgrade can provide impressive return on your software investment, making your business more productive, competitive, and profitable. For details on any of the benefits outlined here or other elements of Pivotal support, please contact a member of our Pivotal consulting team at info@tokarasolutions.com.

Ask the Expert, Part 2: A Firsthand Look at Pivotal 6 Upgrades

Ask the Expert: A Firsthand Look at Pivotal Upgrades

As many of you know, we’ve recently focused our blog series on Pivotal Upgrades and the tangible benefits businesses can expect from an upgrade to Pivotal 6. Then we realized, ‘Who better to tell us about this than someone who works every day with companies upgrading to Pivotal 6?’. So for the next few weeks, we’ve asked Bruce Biron, Managing Consultant at Tokara Solutions, to share some of his thoughts on why a Pivotal upgrade is so compelling to clients who engage him and his team. This is what he had to say.

“My entire career has focused on implementation of complex CRM applications in a range of vertical industries, so I feel confident in saying first and foremost: Pivotal 6 is simply a superior product in every way. It combines the best attributes of ‘look and feel’ with functionality and ease of use that make it a product users love and companies see real ROI from. So from my standpoint on the front lines, there are a number of elements clients really rave about – we’ll start with ‘Look and Feel.’.

Everything about the look and feel of Pivotal 6 is designed with the user in mind. The interface is intuitive, aesthetically appealing, and truly ‘friendly’ – engaging the user to the point that this application becomes his/her central workspace. Whether you’re considering the streamlined navigation or feature-rich task bars, you immediately have access to everything you need to do your job in one centralized, well organized place – all designed in a way that facilitates the user’s own individual workflow.

Created using Visual Studio, even form design is engaging and intuitively laid out, as this screenshot of a Company Form illustrates. ‘Look and feel’ sounds like we’re talking about something subjective and artistic, but the truth is that when clients see screens like this they understand immediately the difference superior ‘look and feel’ and interface design will have on how efficiently they can get their jobs done.”

Tune in next week for Bruce’s thoughts on Pivotal 6 features and functionality that delight his clients who are embarking on a Pivotal upgrade.

And remember, you can still register for the year’s pre-eminent Pivotal event, Aptean Edge, May 13-15, at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Register to find out everything you’ve wanted to know about how a Pivotal upgrade can provide impressive return on your software investment, making your business more productive, competitive, and profitable. For details on any of the benefits outlined here or other elements of Pivotal support, please contact a member of our Pivotal consulting team at info@tokarasolutions.com.

Ask the Expert: A Firsthand Look at Pivotal Upgrades

Pivotal CRM Benefits

Pivotal CRM Benefits

Know What a Pivotal Upgrade Means for You: A Look at Pivotal Analytics

When we provide Pivotal consulting to clients, one of their primary goals is always to empower their team members to know more about their customers so they can engage with them more profitably. At the same time, we see first-hand the range of business benefits that result when our clients move to the latest version of the Pivotal CRM platform and applications. Today’s post covers the common ground between these areas and provides some detail around the enhanced customer insight that comes with a Pivotal upgrade in the form of the robust Pivotal Analytics module.

At its core, Pivotal Analytics allows clients to gain maximum benefit from their investment in Microsoft in the form of CRM analytics based on the Microsoft Business Intelligence Platform. The module provides users with a toolkit that allows them to efficiently and effectively analyze customer data and make better and faster decisions around how, where, and when to engage with these customers to maximize relationship, revenue, and profit.

Using an industry leading OLAP engine (Microsoft Analysis Services) as well as a robust server-based reporting solution (Microsoft Reporting Services), the customization tools that come in Pivotal Analytics are simple to use, provide a range of deployment options, and ensure a vendor-agnostic front end that can be used with virtually any business intelligence viewer.

And of course, standard requisite sales and marketing analytics come out of the box and ready to use, ensuring teams are up and running without delay, beginning to experience the full benefits of the module’s functionality almost immediately.

So whether our clients choose to implement the complete suite at once or incrementally by module, the bottom line around Pivotal upgrades is the same: the results for our clients’ businesses is often dramatic. For more information Pivotal upgrades, Pivotal Analytics, or other elements of Pivotal support we provide, please contact a member of our Pivotal consulting team at info@tokarasolutions.com.

Know What a Pivotal Upgrade Means for You: A Look at Pivotal Analytics

Think Outside the Office: What a Pivotal Upgrade Brings to the Mobile Salesforce

As a Premier Pivotal partner, the seasoned team at Tokara Solutions provides the full range of Pivotal support and consulting services our clients need. But as we’ve noted in previous posts, there is almost no area of Pivotal support we encounter that can ultimately make more of a difference to our customers’ success than the Pivotal upgrade. This week, we’re taking a look at why a Pivotal upgrade may provide exactly the tools your business needs to empower your mobile salesforce.

Almost irrespective of the industry segment your business is in, there’s no escaping the fact that today, mobile is everything. So business software that seamlessly provides mobile users the tools they need to do their jobs outside the office can make the difference in how competitive, and ultimately how successful, a business is. With a Pivotal upgrade, mobile users are able to benefit from the enhanced reliability and performance the latest versions of the software provide, enabling them to be as productive outside the office as they are inside.

As many of our clients already know, Pivotal Mobile Sales™ delivers a fully functional mobile CRM solution. In addition to accessing robust CRM functionality outside the office, mobile users can access the prospect, customer, and product data they need to do their jobs, even when they’re not behind a desk.

And what about administration? Using Pivotal SyncStream™, it’s as simple as a single-click client install package for mobile as well as office users, effectively reducing both the complexity of deployments and the administrative costs associated with them. Pivotal Mobile Client synchs in the background as soon as users in the field connect to their corporate network, so they can maximize productivity, even during the synchronization process. And say goodbye to resource-heavy updates that require users to be in the office — Pivotal’s mobile synchronization sessions also send out any necessary data changes, application updates, and service packs/hot fixes.

So whether you’re taking advantage of Pivotal’s tight integration with Microsoft Office applications or its ability to provide comprehensive CRM functionality to your business’ mobile users, it’s clear that the Pivotal upgrade can provide impressive return on your software investment, making your business more productive, competitive, and profitable. For details on any of the benefits outlined here or other elements of Pivotal support, please contact a member of our Pivotal consulting team at info@tokarasolutions.com.

Think Outside the Office: What a Pivotal Upgrade Brings to the Mobile Salesforce