When is a CRM more than a CRM? When it's WORK[etc]

As a busy, often time-poor Mekon (and a new father) I thought I would share my thoughts about a CRM that has helped to shape my business processes and streamlined the way that I work.

Just a little background, we are a small web and software development company in Adelaide, South Australia and have been operating for over 10 years. We have a fairly wide client base and work with private companies, not for profit organisations and the public sector. We have built a huge variety of sites – ranging, for example, from online sweet shops, to full scale websites for the Barossa Council (a region that produces some of the world’s best wines).

We use open source software in our development work, Orchard, NopCommerce, Zurb Foundation, so we are used to dealing with well-designed and intelligently thought-out applications.

However one thing that we always struggled with was centralising all our client information – from quotes, to meetings, Support To-dos and project management. Previously this data was spread across a variety of applications and servers, which required a lot of juggling and organisation. It was frustrating and really hindered our day-to-day admin procedures.

Enter WORK[etc] http://www.worketc.com/

So you might be thinking.. What is WORK[etc]?

Well, it's a CRM first and foremost, but yes we all know that acronym and it’s often at this point most of our interest wanes. We have all used CRMs before and usually they either cumbersome, rudimentary and awkward systems to use – or alternatively the most complex, over-engineered pieces of software that you would have to have the IQ of Stephen Hawkin to use.

WORK[etc] is a breath of fresh air in this respect. I have always believed that the key to great software is making the complex seem simple. In my use of WORK[etc] I have never once wondered, "how do I do this?" or "I wish I could link this to this!"

The main reasons that we opted to go for WORK[etc] was our previous system of storing company information and our business processes and workflows were handled by a number of applications. The data wasn't centralised and this 1) slowed people down when collecting all the facts together 2) sometimes prevented staff from doing their job “Oh I can’t get on the L: drive again!!”

Also our project management system wasn't integrated with, for example our support system. Making it tough to tie project information and task-lists together. 

  

We also have staff that work from home, but getting access to some of our internal systems always proved to be a tricky business. With our previous systems consolidated into WORK[etc] and on the web it was easy to resolve a lot of these issues. Furthermore the user interface is so simple and intuitive that getting staff trained to use the replacement was a breeze.

The first thing I do when logging into my WORK[etc] account is check on my To-dos, just to see if any new tasks have been added (I’m alerted by email of any new tasks but this has become force of habit anyway).  

This is my Launchpad for the day – first off:check priorties, see if any notes have been attached to my projects or To-dos and then plan out how I am going to spend the day. By the time I have finished my first coffee my day is set out in front of me – although that might seem a simple thing, it’s been a big impact on my productivity and has really enabled me to focus on the tasks that will help the business first. In this respect, WORK[etc] is my own personal PA, organising my workload in a way that I struggled to do previously.

WORK[etc] has literally saved the day on a few occasions – one of the most important ways for myself personally is the centralisation of all our client data. As a result of the whole company being able to use the CRM efficiently we have found that the other developers, support and sales staff store all the technical details about clients against the client details.

This might seem so obvious, but in all other organisations I have worked this information is either locked away so securely you need to be strip-served to gain access – or it is scrawled on a dog-eared coffee stained scrap of A4 that has been passed around the office more times than the biscuit tin.

We had a major issue when a site was down, but the two devs that worked on it were out of office (one of leave, one was having a baby!) however within seconds I had all the details and was able to jump onto the VPS and resolve the issue. Almost every day I get asked to look at a server issue, website problem with a client I have never even heard of.. but now it’s a few seconds search within WORK[etc] and I’m flying to the rescue.

As an Englishman who has immigrated to Australia, I am enjoying seeing a lot of the new country I now live in. It's great to know that I don't have to ensure I have everything backed up to my laptop if I want to go down the coast for the weekend, or exploring the wine regions of Adelaide. As long as I have the internet, I have my office! I can even check my task-list on my tablet enjoying a cup of coffee in the sun.

I am looking forward to the new updated Android version of WORK[etc] as I think this will prompt a phone upgrade – well there always has to be a reason doesn’t there?!! 

In short, I'm a fussy Mekon that doesn't usually like a lot of things that humans have created - but  I would have to recommend WORK[etc] as it's changed the way we work (and play!)

David McGarry, Adelaide, South Australia.