For client relations management, we really like Highrise by 37 Signals. But, instead of taking our word on how it can help you manage your client information, you are going to hear it straight from a small business owner.

We recommended Highrise to Andy Hayes of Travel Online Partners. After receiving daily OMG and I LOVE IT notes from him, we asked Andy to provide his review of this hosted CRM tool.

Why I Love Highrise

37 Signal’s Highrise has become the gold standard in the world of contact and customer management tools for small businesses and entrepreneurs – and for good reason. The tool is robust, feature-filled yet not scary or overwhelming support tool for any business that has a lot of customer contact. Here’s some thoughts and tips about why I love Highrise and why it’s now Make Way for Biz’s recommended CRM tool.

What Does It Do?

First, let’s cover the basics of what Highrise does. In essence, it is a:

• contact database, with ability to tag contacts with information such as how you met them, important dates, deals you’ve done with them, and tasks related to them
• deal tracking, to monitor and update all of your outgoing proposal work
• tasklist, which tells you what marketing-related tasks need done when
• “cases”, a flexible option for tracking customer support issues or queries

The whole system is web-based, so you can access it from any computer with an Internet connection. You can also share access with others by setting up multiple user profiles.

Highrise is priced on a tiered structure based on the type and amount of functionality you are using.

Why Do I Love It?

I love using Highrise because it keeps my marketing tasks and activities tightly structured, yet the system is flexible enough to accommodate the many types of project proposals I work with. Some specific points:

• The user experience and design of the tool is superb – it is probably a key differentiator, having seen other CRM tools. Navigation is swift and easy.
• The tasklist is very flexible, as you can choose to tag tasks to a week (i.e. “next week”), a specific day, or even just put “Later”. Highrise keeps in touch with you via email to ensure nothing slips past overdue.
• There is no fluff. Configuration is easy, and it has everything you need to track, without being bloated with bells and whistles nobody will ever use.

What’s Missing?

Highrise leaves little to be desired. The timezone feature isn’t always accurate when allocating tasks, and I’d love to see more options on the “Cases” feature so I could better understand how I might use it.

There’s also very little in the way of reports – for example, I’d like to be able to know the percentage of deals that we’ve won each quarter. Or create an excel spreadsheet of contacts to send Christmas cards to. Your data isn’t locked away in Highrise (at least your contacts, anyway) – but you can only export names in bulk.

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a tool to structure your tasks and activities around your contact list and the related proposal work, then check out Highrise. It might just be perfect for what you need.

Andy Hayes is the Managing Director of Travel Online Partners  (TOP), the go to resource for small businesses looking for help with online technologies like websites, blogs, and social media.

For more information, read Eliza’s post on How to choose a business software tool.

If you haven’t already done so, take a moment to complete our no obligation Free Business Assessment.

Poor Mike is tired and worried, and seriously considering throwing in the towel. He is ready to close the virtual doors on his business, and head back out into the 9 to 5 corporate world.

Fortunately, his wife spotted an ad for Make Way For Biz, and Mike sent us an email.

It contains one word: HELP!

Most of the time, we get a bit more information from our clients. But, it is normal to know something is not quite right with the business, but not know how to articulate it.

That’s perfectly okay. A few consultative email exchanges and we get a starting point.

Clearly it’s all their fault!

In Mike’s case, his biggest concern at the moment is the communication with his outsourcers, the Wondrous Widget Workers.

Make Way advises clients to start with a map, charting the major business steps that occur from the moment a job is firmed up with the client to the moment the final cheque received. This is where we suggested Mike start.

Mike, however, wanted to jump right to ‘fixing’ his outsourcers.

After all, he explained, they clearly aren’t very professional. And really, if we can’t fix them, then he is going to have to fire the lot of them. And then where will he be? Orders coming for Wondrous Widgets and no one to build them!

“Oh woe is me!,” wails Mike.

Slow down, Mike

“Not so fast, Mike”, we calmly respond. “Let’s walk through your processes and see if we can find a bottleneck, before we go lopping off heads.”

Through a couple of email exchanges, in which we ask questions and Mike responds, we came up with a high level map. Part of which is shown in this map.

This looks great. Everything seems to moving along as it should be. Except according to Mike it isn’t, so we need to dig deeper.

Getting to the root problem

The communication break down is between Mike and the Workers, so we drill down a layer.

Ah ha! Right off the bat we see a broken link in the chain.

“Mike, how does the Wondrous Worker know that there is an assignment for them?” we ask.

“Because it’s in the project management tool,” Mike responds, seriously doubting Make Way’s ability to think.

“Okay, how do they know you put it in the tool?”

“Because … oh! Well, they should be going in daily to check this. I just assumed they were constantly monitoring the job assignments.”

“Okay. What is your definition of ‘constantly monitoring’? Once per day? Three times per day? Every hour? What is your policy on this?”

“Well, um …. “

Process problem not people problem

Turns out, after talking to the Wondrous Widget Workers, one of them checks the assignments once daily, another one hourly, and another one every day or two when he remembers.

It’s not that the Wondrous Widget Workers are unprofessional. It’s a matter of communicating procedures and expectations.

How does Mike do this? By taking this process and figuring out all the steps that happen to complete it.

What’s up next?

The exciting world of work breakdowns. Don’t  miss it!

Tips for improving your business

Often we focus on the people when something goes wonky with our business.  Nine times out of ten, it boils down to a miscommunication of expectations of processes and procedures. Fix the broken links, communicate the processes, and everyone is once again happy and productive.

Any broken chains in your business? We can help you find them and create a solid link of business processes. Contact us today. Or fill out our free no obligation assessment .

“What does Make Way do, Eliza?”

“Well, we do process mapping, project management, and admin support.”

“Uh-huh. But what do you do?”

“Well, for process mapping, we map out all your business processes from the second you get a client enquiry, to the second you cash that final cheque.”

“Uh-huh. Um, why?”

“Well, because …..”

And on it goes.

The trick is to make it relevant to the client, so that they can see how the service will benefit them.  They need to have the services put in context to their own needs.

In order to put Make Way For Biz in context for you, I’m going to tell you a story over a series of posts.

What can I say? There’s Irish in my blood; I love to spin a yarn.

Welcome to the (Mis)Adventures of Mike.

Mike is a completely fictional. And yet he is not, in that he is a collection of all the trials and tribulations we face as business owners. Which means, at the start of our story, Mike is quite a sad and pathetic creature. But hey, I hold the pen on Mike, so I get to do what I want to him. And right now I am going to heap a whole bunch of business sorrow on him.

Who is Mike?

Well, Mike used to work in the corporate world, but became disillusioned and decided he no longer wanted to work for The Man. So, he started producing Wondrous Widgets and selling them online after putting in a full day at the office.

To Mike’s surprise and delight, Wondrous Widgets caught on, and he was able to quit working for The Man. And three years later, he is still selling Wondrous Widgets. Heck, he is selling so many Wondrous Widgets he now outsources work to three Wondrous Widget Workers.

But something odd has happened along the way. Mike is starting to feel the exact same way he did about his corporate job.

He’s putting in long hours in front of the computer, to the point where his family refers to him as The Lump. He’s frustrated because his Wondrous Widget Workers are missing deadlines. And he’s worried because clients are starting to complain about missed deliverable dates.

Our despondant hero is seriously considering throwing in the towel and going back to work for The Man.

Fortunately for Mike, he has a very clever and supportive wife who saw an ad for Make Way For Biz. She’s convinced her husband to contact us to see if he can get back the passion for his Wondrous Widgets.

Will Wonderous Widgets cease to exist? Will Mike be donning a suit and heading back out into the marketplace in search of a job?

Make sure you come back for the next (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Process Mapping.

Are you feeling a bit Mike-ish? Fill out our Free Assessment to find out which aspects of your business might need some special attention.

A search in wikipedia for project management tools brings up a comparison of 74 options. And there are certainly more than that.

It is a daunting task trying to figure out which one to use.

You start by first asking yourself if you even need to purchase a tool.

Oh, tools are fun and sexy. But they cost money. Not only to purchase them, but in time invested learning to use them properly.

I love analogies, so let’s compare looking for a software tool to shopping for a car.

Can you use what you already have?

Maybe you don’t even need a car. Can you walk everywhere? Take the bus for the most part? Hop on the commuter train?

Chances are you can run your business very nicely with the tools you already have available. Everyone has access to the google suite of email, calendar, tasks and docs for online access. Or the Microsoft suite of Word, Excel, and Outlook if you can work offline.

Granted, it takes longer to walk to the store. And it is inconvenient having to juggle all those grocery bags on the bus. So, for the sake of efficiency and convenience, you decide you want a car.

A pretty basic car will get you from here to there with plenty of room for your groceries.  So, now you need to do some further analysis.

What is your skill level?

Can you drive a standard? If not, you are better off with an automatic car. You can drive right out of the dealership and not stall the car once.

Do you have a lot of experience using software tools? If not, the tool you choose needs to be extremely user friendly and intuitive to use. Otherwise, you are not going to be able to use it right away.

What do you absolutely need?

Okay, you’ve established the base price for your car and now it’s time to add the features. What do you deem a necessity?

I live in Canada and our summers can get up to 40 celcius with the humidex. Trust me, I consider air conditioning a necessity!

Do you need to work offline with your software tool, because you frequently find yourself not able to connect to the internet? Then your software tool better have offline abilities.

How much money are you willing to spend?

Finally, you need to decide what you are willing to pay for verus what you are willing to still do with one of your free standard options.

Canadian winters can be downright freezing. Up to minus 50 celcius with the wind chill factor. Heat in the car is standard issue, but when I purchased my car I insisted on heated seats. I was willing to pay for this.

I wasn’t willing to pay for the heated side mirrors. I have to get all bundled up and scrape the ice and snow off the car anyway.  I was willing to  scrape the side mirrors.

Are you willing to pay for a project management tool to record time against tasks? Or are you happy to keep track of time spent in a spreadsheet?

What makes you happy?

Once you figure out your skills, needs, wants and budget, you significantly narrow down your tool options. After that, it’s a matter of what looks good to you.

My husband was steering me towards really angular long hooded cars. They just made my blood run cold. I’m all about sleek and sexy, and fell in love with the Volvo C30. The exact same features as the other cars, but it came down to I knew I would love driving it.

And you need to know you will love using your software tool. Otherwise, you won’t use it, and your tool will quickly become … well … useless.

To sum it all up

In summary, when deciding upon a software tool to help you run your business

1. decide if you really need to purchase one in the first place
2. be honest about your skill level
3. determine your ‘must haves’ based on your needs
4. determine your ‘like to haves’ based on your budget
5. buy what feels right to you

And remember, a tool is just that. It is not necessary to run your business. But it can help you do your work more efficiently.

If you need help determining your business software tool needs, Make Way For Biz is happy to help. Contact us today.

Make Way For Biz uses 5pm to manage their projects. We are pleased to recommend their software to our clients.