The Often Overlooked Functionality

In a recent manager's meeting here at TempWorks, we discussed what should be key pieces of development in the upcoming months. One item that was a good topic of conversation was a dashboard feature.

Often our sales reps here at TempWorks hear a phrase that is similar to, "If you had a dashboard, it would be a fully functional CRM (customer relationship management)... like Salesforce". This always causes me to crack a smile because the further the conversation goes on, the more apparent it is that the prospect has a firm grasp on the idea that a dashboard is simply a way to present data that is contained in the database itself.

TempWorks does have a 'fully functional' CRM and does track the same information as a Salesforce CRM does. We simply don't display the information the same way, i.e. through a dashboard. We use reports that can display the same way, but allows you to select your criteria when generating the report.

This brings up the second type of prospect/client. We have some companies that partner with TempWorks, but still purchase a second CRM for 'increased functionality'.

Why would a company want to increase the cost of their software expenses, and have two separate systems that don't talk to each other? It's because of the often overlooked functionality and the trend that Salesforce.com created.

However, let's look at Salesforce.com (ticker: CRM). They are the leader in the CRM software as they can work with any industry and were one of the first people to really market cloud computing as one of the top benefits of their company. Salesforce.com is not a bad company as their revenues are growing around 30% or more a year, but their stock shows different signs and investors are not impressed with the increase revenue.

During the recession, CRM rose 130% in 2009 and 79% in 2010. So far in 2011, they less than 7%. The reason here is that Salesforce.com is not profitable. They just released a statement saying that they were just even last quarter and that they expect to lose money the rest of the year.

Salesforce.com created a product that wasn't an innovation in functionality, but rather an exploitation in delivery of their product. The trend was picked up by companies big and small.

TempWorks has had a CRM within its application for the past decade. It is integrated with our product, it doesn't cost extra, and it contains the same information as your Salesforce.com product. If the data is displayed the same, ask us and we can give you what you want. Everything is connected all in one place, and you don't have to incur more cost than you need to purchasing a stand alone CRM.

If you're still concerned about your sales team and the ability to track their activity and using a new application.... Contact our sales team and ask to see TwMobile. It's the most user friendly piece of functionality a sales rep can use. The best part of it is that it is all done through a smart phone. 651.452.0366 or sales@tempworks.com .

Okay, so I admit it...

I was speaking with our CEO, Gregg Dourgarian, and we were talking about different marketing channels. It reminded me that it has been more that 5 months since my last blog post. So... I admit it. I'm not the best at updating my readers as to what is going within TempWorks and more specifically about the sales here.

To give me credit, somewhat, it has been a busy couple of months. Myself, our President, and our sales team have been running around the country for the better part of 2011. I personally traveled every other week from January 4th- May 15th. Besides having one of the best 1st quarters in company history (TempWorks is on track, once again to beat last year's record for number of client we partner with in a calendar year), the other positive of this is receiving all of the feedback from our customers.

One of the things we put into place is re-creating the position of "Account Executive". This position will help us ensure that we are in more constant contact with our current clients, as well as provide a dedicated project manager to all new implementation, upgrade, and customization request. This will help the sales rep and the implementation department to ensure we are providing the best in class service for everyone and every request.

Our development team is working on some exciting new feature for Enterprise and some exciting new web modules as well. We are currently working on our latest release for 'Web Center 6' are planning a great new unveiling at Staffing World 2011 in New Orleans in October.

In terms of some sales thoughts and idea; Gregg, David, and myself discussed over lunch how to expand our products and services. We certainly have some great idea to help TempWorks be innovating in the immediate months and years, but I wanted to try and get feedback from you readers as to what we can incorporate into our services and product offering that you would like to see. Any thoughts?

Feel free to reply to this post, otherwise you can contact me at casey@tempworks.com!