Salestrakr Blog

Browser Choices with Salestrakr

Salestrakr is a browser based product.  Today, that's how our customers reach their contacts and schedule on their mobile phones too.  Just yesterday I had a customer ask what browsers we support.  Easy.  All of 'em.  CRM is used at large and small companies.  Mac bigots and Windows stalwarts.  And even by Linux netbook users.  So, what browsers do we support?  Here goes:

• My favorite, Firefox (www.firefox.com).  Mac, PC and Linux.  The latest version is 3.0.11.  Perfect operation in Firefox.
• My next favorite, Safari (http://www.apple.com/safari/). Mac and PC.  The latest version is 4.0 on these platforms and it is much faster than before.  It has better Javascript processing, a plus for Salestrakr.  Safari for iPhone OS 3.0 is super fast and fully supported.
• Next is Internet Explorer.  PC Only.  But, the primary browser in the PC world (Vista and XP).  While we don't specifically architect for IE, we work well there.  Kudos Microsoft (and Salestrakr.)
• Blackberry Browser.  Has worked for a good while.  Latest browser is fine.  Works great in the Pearl and the Curve.
• Opera Mini is fully supported and available on a number of platforms including Blackberry, Nokia and Palm.  Smart phones are covered nicely.   

These are the platforms we know about and have tested.   Could there be more, sure.  Do sales reps use many more than these.  No.  But, we aim to be a great web application!  And given the list above, we're on our way.

Closing Can Kill Sales

I was reading through some sales articles and blog posts from the past six months.  I ran across this one from February of this year.  It was posted at Salesopedia and was an anchor for a podcast/interview with Jill Konrath.  Jill is a former star salesperson with Xerox and is now a consultant to companies who look to improve their selling processes.  AND, she hates to close.  She is always selling, caring about her customers and interested in making sure her products can benefit her customers.

This is interesting advice.  I've always respected those salespeople who are just interested and passionate.  They don't remind me of their quota or their end of the quarter deadline.  They just believe in their product and are ready when I am. 

Social Networking Tools for Business

Our customers have been asking us what else we use, besides Salestrakr, to keep up with people we know.  There are many places to go, some good, some not.  But, a few of them are now even known by folks at church, friends in the book club even the coaches of the kids soccer teams.  So, here goes:

1. Twitter.  Twitter is basically a 140 character blog with a very simple "networking" method.  Those Twitter blog posts are called "tweets".  When you are logged on to Twitter, you are either following people or are being followed.  As such, each refresh of your page shows your posts and those of the people you are following.  And if you don't like using the Web to participate in Twitter, you can use one of many client applications out there available for participating on Twitter.  These include ones we use at Salestrakr: Twitterrific (Mac, iPhone and iPod Touch), Nambu (Mac, iPhone), Tweetdeck (Mac, PC and Linux) and Twitterberry (Blackberry.)  BTW, our twitter ID is Salestrakr.  Our URL is http://twitter.com/salestrakr.  My personal Twitter URL is http://twitter.com/newbrew.  My personal Twitter posts are "snarkier" and, well, personal.  However, I can still tweet about Salestrakr in that personal stream of information.
2. Facebook.  Salestrakr has it's own Facebook page.  It's still new.  But, it's another place for the company to have a "face".  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Salestrakr/91233944770.  Once you have a Facebook page for your business, you van invite "Fans" from your personal Facebook list of friends.
3. LinkedIn.  Ok, Linkedin is really about people.  You link with people.  And your profile is searchable.  My LinkedIn profile is http://www.linkedin.com/in/steveyoungblood.  So, as long as I keep that profile up to date, people will know about Salestrakr.
4. Our Typepad Blog.  You're looking at it!  You can also though use Wordpress (either on your own server or at theirs.)  Wordpress and Typepad will "ping" other blog aggregation sites when you post to a blog.  Further, Google and Yahoo crawl blogs hosted at Wordpress and Typepad and make those sites available in their search results.  Ok, this is not REALLY social networking.  But, blogging is publishing information for people to consume.  Further, Typepad and Facebook work together to show Typepad posts directly on a Facebook page.

You need a good CRM.  But, you also need to use those tools out there that help you keep up with the latest information of your contacts. And help those contacts to keep up with you.

Integration with Parature

Thanks to some dedicated engineers, Salestrakr now offers instant integration of Parature's Help Desk Support Software.  Parature is the global leader in on-demand customer service software.  You'll need accounts at Salestrakr and Parature.  Beyond that though, only a few clicks are needed to show Parature help desk tickets inside of Salestrakr.  Further, changes made to contacts in Salestrakr are updated in Parature.

In the past, best of breed implementations meant heavy duty and costly projects to integrate multiple systems.  Not anymore though.  Web 2.0 development methods make it easy for two systems to easily and securely share information over the Internet.

If you've been considering going with another CRM due to the need to integrate salesforce automation and help desk functions, there's no need now.  Salestrakr and Parature give you the end to end CRM you want without having to sacrifice features or quality.

A bit more about Parature.  Founded in 2000, today Parature helps support more than 15 million end users worldwide. Parature is at work in a wide variety of organizations including national associations, leading educational institutions, gaming & interactive media, manufacturing, services, and technology companies.

Parature is the recipient of numerous industry awards and recognition including:

• 2007 & 2008 Product of the Year Award from Customer Interaction Solutions magazine
• Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America
• Washington Business Journal’s list of Best Places to Work for three consecutive years
• The Washingtonian Magazine’s Great Places to Work
• Software Magazine’s Software 500
• Northern Virginia Technology Council Hot Ticket Award
• SmartCEO Future 50

Please see their site for more information.  http://www.parature.com

Video Showcase of Salestrakr

The folks at TechDrawl recently showcased Salestrakr.  Take a peak.

Salestrakr from Celia Dyer for TechDrawl on Vimeo.

Accounts and Contacts

Salestrakr is a wonderfully "flat" system.  That is, the database was designed to support a limited hierarchy of objects, enabling a prettier user interface and a really fast system.  Well, some things just could not be avoided.  We really needed to be able to allow for the creation of an account which then in turn contained contacts.  So, we kept our fast and flat database and at the same time created an account/contact methodology.  Why let these words only tell the story.  Just view the screencast!