I have quite the dilemma here. I will try to explain this the best way I can.
So I have been with a company for a while now and I am finally getting around to getting familiar with our metrics and other things we have available which led me to realize that we really don't have much and it turns out our CRM is Method Integration... Here is the dilemma...
When I first started out it was being explained to me that our CRM utility is a proprietary system, I beleived it at the time because everything was branded to look like that and I really was not impressed at all with the user interface and the data we are collecting. I then soon realized that anytime I needed any type of report or data from the system I had to go see our "IT" guy whos main job is to build and maintain this system. There is a website that has been setup that you login to and then hmm... it takes you to methodintegration.com followed by the path where "our software" is located.
I asked our IT guy who maintains this system for maybe some changes to the system so that we could track leads and opportunities and such in a better way.
I kid you not, his solution was to use hashtags in the notes of the contact. For example #lead in the notes section. This is when I really started to get concerned. So then I go to methodintegration.com and I see what appears to be a great CRM utility with all of these great funtions that we dont have.
Examples:
- Activities & Tasks
- Track Leads
- Gmail Integration (We use GMAIL)
- Opportunities
- Shared Calendars
- E-mail Campaigns
- Cases
All of these things are crucial to what my job is at the company and his solution was to use #hashtags?
I don't understand what this guy is doing and I know the owners have spent a lot of money for his time to "develop" this system over a couple years. The user interface he has put together is a real mess, the data hygene is bad and so I am just really trying to figure out what is going on.
He has some things built like follow up calls, and you can select if the record is a potential customer or not and some other things. But in the grand scheme of things it really falls short as a CRM.
Can anyone give me some insight on what is going on here? The data I need out of this to do my job isn't there and I don't know where he is going with this.
When I confronted my manager about the fact that we need a better CRM utility her response was that it was "IT Guys" baby and that the owners have put thousands and thousands of dollars into the system for him to develop it and that one day they will market it and sell it to other companies? I couldn't beleive my ears. I know that we are paying for users so how do we sell someone elses software??
I hope I have provided enough information so that you know where I am coming from. Any insight anyone may have to help me clear this issue up would be greatly apreciated. I know what it seems like to me but I could be wrong but if it is what I think it is I need to bring my manager and the owners back to reality.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I am anxiously awaiting any responses.
Thanks,
Dexter