Setting up the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Report Authoring Extension for Dynamics CRM Reports

Allen Dsouza — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:31:45 +0100

Microsoft Dynamics CRM uses SQL Server Reporting Services to generate reports for CRM data. If you have the need to modify or design your own reports, you will need to first make sure you have the software that helps you design and publish reports. The software I am referring to is the Microsoft Business Intelligence Development Studio aka BIDS.

Once you have it installed, you will be able to create SSRS reports. In order to however connect to Dynamics CRM, the BIDS software will need ...

Technology Advisors, Inc. Receives SugarCRM’s Top Channel Partner Awards at SugarCon 2013

Mary Craddock — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:42:42 +0100

Technology Advisors rose to the top of SugarCRM's Channel Partners shortlist and was named 2012 Most Valued Global Partner and 2012 Most Valued Partner in North America at SugarCon 2013 in New York City. Technology Advisors was selected based on our commitment to the Sugar suite of products as evidenced by major joint customer wins, as well as overall new business revenue. Each year the awards are given to one SugarCRM partner.

Sugar’s EVP of WW Field Operations, Glenn Cross said, “Th...

SugarCRM Gold Partner Technology Advisors Announces SugarCon 2013 Sponsorship

Mary Craddock — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:32:22 +0100

Technology Advisors is a Silver Sponsor of SugarCon 2013

Technology Advisors Inc, a Chicago metro-based SugarCRM Gold Partner, announces it will be participating as a Silver Sponsor in SugarCon 2013 in New York City, April 8-11. SugarCon is a three day customer event hosted by SugarCRM, the world’s fastest-growing customer relationship management (CRM) company.

With a focus on consulting, customizing and integrating SugarCRM for customers, Technology Advisors will be showc...

Just Released - Getting Started with SugarCRM Version 6.x for the Amazon Kindle

Mary Craddock — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:45:03 +0100

A Training Book for SugarCRM End Users

Today, we are excited to announce the availability of Getting Started with SugarCRM Version 6.x for the Kindle. Published by Technology Advisors, Inc. and endorsed by SugarCRM, it’s the first in the SugarCRM Foundation Series, available on Amazon. The electronic book provides end users with comprehensive and in-depth instruction for SugarCRM – the leading, open source Customer Relationship Management application. Through step-by-step i...

Just released - Getting Started with SugarCRM Version 6.x: Interactive Edition on the iBookstore℠

Mary Craddock — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:56:22 +0100

Today we are excited to announce the release of Getting Started with SugarCRM Version 6.x: Interactive Edition on the iBookstore℠. Published by Technology Advisors, Inc. and endorsed by SugarCRM, it’s the first in the SugarCRM Foundation Series. The book provides end users with comprehensive and in-depth instruction for SugarCRM – the leading, open source Customer Relationship Management application. With interactive quizzes, how-to galleries, and videos, it guides sales, marketing, and suppo...

How to Rescue a Failed CRM Implementation

Mary Ann Pekara — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 04:00:00 +0100

Over the past decade many studies have highlighted CRM implementation failures. Depending on whom you've asked, and when you've asked them, CRM implementation failure rates have ranged between 18-70%.

In most studies, failure simply means falling short of expectations.

Michael Krigsman, CEO of Asuret, and expert on IT system failures, highlights three big reasons CRM implementations go wrong on his popular ZDNet blog.

Failure #1: Installing technology withou...

Taking CRM to the Next Level

Mary Ann Pekara — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 04:00:00 +0100

Congrats! Your sales team is successfully leveraging your CRM system to manage their leads, develop their pipeline and increase sales. But what happens after the sale?

What happens when the order is placed?
When the order is shipped?
When the services are delivered?
When the invoice is sent?
When the money is collected (or sometimes when it isn't)?

What happens when the customer has an issue?
When they want a different product or more services?

Before Choosing a CRM Solution, Compare Your Options

Mary Ann Pekara — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:00:00 +0100

Back in April I wrote a handful of blogs about CRM Selection and things to consider when going through the process. On top of all those things you need to sit down and think about/analyze, you need to look at several different CRM solutions to determine which one meets all of your needs. Likely there will be some that you can immediately toss out and a handful that will make it to your final round.

Sometimes the most challenging part is where to start. How do you know which solut...

Marketing - Zeroing In

Mary Ann Pekara — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

In a blog last week, I talked about some basics of email marketing which should be used in conjunction with the idea of zeroing in that I want to talk about today. When creating your messaging there are 3 key areas you should zero in on:

Audience
Purpose
Message

Conceptually, these are pretty straight forward but it is surprising how many people do not sit down and tackle these areas before creating and executing upon campaigns.

Audience: to whom, or for whom, you are writin...

Negative Messaging Marketing

Mary Ann Pekara — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

I'm very curious as to people's opinions on using negative messaging in marketing. I generally try to avoid it at all costs but know of at least one person that really believes in it. Have you used negative messaging? Have you seen results?

I think one of my biggest issues with negative messaging isn't the message itself; it is what someone potentially takes away from it. For example, when I'm reading an email or a webpage, certain words and phrases are bound to pop out at me and then ...

Email Marketing Basic Tips

Mary Ann Pekara — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

Email marketing is common place. We are inundated with marketing type emails on a daily basis, both in our work email accounts, as well as our personal email accounts. If you're a marketer, like myself, you're also sending these marketing emails out to your prospect/customer base. Because we receive them so much, we know are very aware of what it is like to be on that end of things. This poses the never ending question, how do we get people to open our emails and take the action we want ...

SugarCRM 6.5 is now available!

Mary Ann Pekara — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

Over the past few months, I've been talking about the new features and benefits coming to us in SugarCRM 6.5 and the wait is finally over! The new version, jam packed with changes to the user interface, calendaring and advanced configuration tools is now available.

For a recap of the new release, check out my previous blogs:

SugarCRM 6.5 Enterprise Benefits discussing extended SugarLogic business process capabilities, additional support for IBM software and hardware and man...

Tracking Lead Sources with CRM

Mary Ann Pekara — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

If you are like most small and mid-sized businesses, your marketing efforts and lead generation strategies are diverse and distributed. Webinars, trade shows, direct mail, events, white papers, email blasts, telemarketing ... and a dab of social media mixed in.

Measuring the results of "what's working" and "what's not" is the key to optimizing your marketing spend and accelerating your return on investment (ROI). But how do we get a better understanding of what's working and what...

Why You Should Consider Going To Sage Summit This Year

Mary Ann Pekara — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

Every year people decide whether or not they'll go to their CRM vendor's customer/partner conference. Sometimes we can't afford to take the time off work so it is not realistic but if we can afford the time, here are some great reasons to attend this year's Sage Summit, August 12-14 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, TN.

You've made the investment, get more from your Sage solution
Solve real business problems
Get answers to your questions
Achieve hard...

Salesforce to SugarCRM Data Migration Demo

Mary Ann Pekara — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

A little while ago, a discussion and demo were held showing how easy it can be to do a data migration from Salesforce to SugarCRM, using Starfish ETL™. You can watch the full recording on the Starfish ETL™ website, CRM Migration: Salesforce to SugarCRM, but I wanted to take a couple minutes to talk about the benefits of the Starfish ETL™ data migration and integration tool.

Starfish ETL™ was created by Technology Advisors, Inc. (TAI) to...

User Adoption - The Key Is What's In It For Me?

Mary Ann Pekara — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

If you are like many companies, you likely have multiple system stakeholders -- executives, management, and front-line employees (main end users) that have some level of interest and ownership in your CRM system. Each of these system stakeholders has one primary question in mind: "What's in it for me?"

Important keys to maximizing user adoption are gaining a clear understanding of each stakeholder group's needs, maximizing the benefit for each of them in the CRM system's design, and th...

Analyzing Lost Deals

Mary Ann Pekara — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0100

With everything stored in your CRM database, you have the ability to have better visibility into the "touch points" of your sales process. Most good CRM applications are designed to capture win-loss data in cases where the prospect is willing to give you a reason as to why you did not win the sale. This extremely valuable information can then be combined with built-in win-loss reports to help you determine which stage you lost a deal and why.

Are you losing sales in the last stage of t...

SugarCRM 6.5 Enterprise Benefits

Mary Ann Pekara — Wed, 30 May 2012 04:00:00 +0100

Last week I talked about the benefits of Sugar 6.5 for the end users and now I'd like to take a brief look at the enterprise benefits Sugar 6.5 brings to the table.

Sugar 6.5 has extended SugarLogic business process capabilities, including easier formula building and dependent related fields. Using SugarLogic is easier than using macros in excel making it the easiest and most user friendly CRM system to configure around your business processes.

Sugar 6.5 provides additional supp...

SugarCRM 6.5 Benefits to the End User

Mary Ann Pekara — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:00:00 +0100

With SugarCRM 6.5 getting ready for its general availability release next month, many users are wondering whether or not they should upgrade. With each release comes new features and benefits, but you need to take a look at what really matters to your organization and your users. I haven't seen any reason why you should not upgrade to Sugar 6.5.

Here's what we have seen:

Sugar 6.5 delivers a better user experience. It pulls together a cleaner interface that ...

Workflow in SugarCRM

Mary Ann Pekara — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:00:00 +0100

The final of the 3-part SugarCRM Marketing series hosted by Technology Advisors and echogravity, featured SugarCRM Workflows. Brian Jameson, of echogravity, showed the group, step-by-step, how you create workflows in SugarCRM. Many organizations are currently using workflow within their CRM system, but many are not. Workflow management can have a serious impact on your business by:

Automating the creation of Sales tasks
Producing real-time lead notification and lead assignment
Managing l...

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