Good communication

on 25 Jan 10 by Cheryl

Good communication routines keep you in touch with your partners in business:  your customers, your suppliers and, of course, those who care about you.  Without it, you are only ever reacting rather than being proactive about what you can do to to improve the effects of whatever your partners are experiencing.

A CRM gives you tools which can help you to be that proactive business partner.  

Think about what makes you buy...and apply that to what makes your customers buy from you...is good communication part of it? Developing and activating good communication routines takes time away from running your business, I hear you say.  Yes, it does, but don't be so focused on the present and the minute that you forget to think broadly and for the future. 

A CRM is a time effective tool that can assist you to maximise your precious time so that you have more time to spend with those who love you.

Find out more about CRM software.

Novice CRM'ers

on 26 Oct 09 by Cheryl

If you have never used a CRM in your business processes it can take a little time to navigate your way through.  A new customer of ours who in starting a new small business has decided to implement Leopard CRM early in her start-up process rather than later down the track.  Her CRM journey is interesting to follow as initially she was not totally sure how best to manipulate her data in this new environment to get the most benefit. 

While she understands the principles of tracking sales against time, customers and budgets, she has always done this either manually with good old fashioned paper and pen, or with the more updated spreadsheet method.   As her customer base grew in the first few months she found both of these methods very cumbersome and time-consuming for many of her first customers wanted repeat business and this meant constantly repeating and transferring parts of her data between different spreadsheets. There had to be a better way!

Her research led her to investigate Leopard CRM with our 30 day free trial. She tells us now that while it took some effort to transfer her customer information and past sales data into the program it has been a learning experience that she feels was very worthwhile. Initially, she had some problems with realising that dates do matter as this is a major mechanism in being able to track your past sales and to forecast your future sales. Again, another learning experience when she had to go  back through her past sales data and enter in the Closed Sales dates. Like magic, suddenly all her generated reports in the Sales function magically appeared!

So if you are new to using a CRM take some time to to fully investigate the power that is available to you. In the long run, a CRM like Leopard will save you time and therefore money, give you an improved understanding of your business operations, and enable you to track your customers' engagement with your business.

Find out more about CRM software.

CRM and qualifying your choice

on 14 Oct 09 by Cheryl

When considering incorporating CRM software in your business processes, you should be asking yourself some qualifying questions:

• Does the system do what you, as the client, thought it would do when you bought it?
• Does the system allow you, as the user, to accommodate your needs in an easy and intuitive fashion?
• Is the system easily configured to allow changing circumstances?
• Does the system place significance on your value as a client by providing a mechanism for you to give your feedback or to request new features?
• Is the system easy to use even for your staff who may not be comfortable with computers?

These might be simple questions but they assist you to differenciate between CRM offerings.  If you can confidently answer 'Yes' to these then you are well on your way.  A worthwhile and valuable CRM systen should be a CRM made easy.

Find out more about CRM software.

New Support Documentation

on 09 Oct 09 by Dan

We've just released some new technical support documentation on the website.  Right now we have documentation on adding contacts, creating sales leads and importing data into Leopard CRM.

We're planning on adding more documentation over the next little while, particularly on some of the more complex features of Leopard CRM.  If you'd like to be kept up to date on any changes, just subscribe to the RSS feed that is available from the support page.

Find out more about CRM software.

Discovering more Leopard

on 29 Sep 09 by Cheryl

“ In business, there will always be obstacles and problems along the way. Being tough will enable you to work through them without becoming worn-out or negative. In fact, you should expect problems. That will save you the time wasted on surprise or dismay when they surface. Never giving up is courage. Courage is the opposite of fear. Do not allow fear to paralyze you. Mark Twain put it well: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.” Donald J. Trump from Solutions @ Work ezine (MCEI, April 2009).

I have been immersing myself in CRM, cloud computing, sales as a service, twitter and, of course, blogging. Without even leaving my desk I have been able to taste something of the world's knowledge bank on all these terms. Leopard CRM certainly taps into the internet's power and remote accessibility opportunities but it also is a web-based tool by which businesses can help to deal with "obstacles and problems along the way." If being tough about problems, as the quote from Donald J. Trump puts it, will keep you from becoming worn out or negative and that you would be better served by expecting problems than not, then early consideration of good quality tools and applications would surely help you in this endeavour.

I rather liked this quote and I thought it was worthy of being printed out and stuck on my office wall.  Life is far too short to have time wasted on surprise or dismay.

Find out more about CRM software.

Meeting a Leopard in the night

on 25 Sep 09 by Cheryl

I have just come on board with Leopard CRM and what a really fast education I've had to do regarding my knowledge of a CRM. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to learn something new in delivery techniques and to improve my technological knowledge.

If you're anything like me you may say hesitantly, "what is a CRM?" The fact is this is something that many of us have used in business for a long time. It's a way of tracking our customers, our sales, and our ongoing relationship with these two things in our business.

My other initial thought was, "what's so special about Leopard CRM?"  We're looking at an online delivery that gives us remote access on a monthly subscription basis without a large capital investment in software. But that's not what makes it special -  it is the team at Leopard. They are passionate about the work they do and everyone has a very personal investment into making this opportunity successful not only for themselves, but for their customers. I think this passion and this determination is rare in the cold world of business but it effectively contributes a strength, robustness and integrity to Leopard's CRM. It makes the product shine.

Find out more about CRM software.

Leopard CRM Subscriptions Available Soon

on 26 Aug 09 by Dan

Well, Leopard CRM v4 has been available for trials for a few weeks and so far we've had a great response in trial signups.  We're currently working on making paid subscriptions available, which should be ready soon.  There may be a few extra little features coming also, but I won't give too much away about that yet :)

Please feel free to sign up for a free trial if you haven't yet, and don't forget to send through any questions that you have once you start having a look around.

Find out more about CRM software.

Management Software

on 17 Aug 09 by Dan

In talking about Leopard CRM, the website mentions a lot of "managements":

Project Management
Case Management
Sales Management
Marketing Campaign Management
Contact Management

But what does it all mean?  Well, when using the term "Management Software" we mean something special.  At it's core, Leopard CRM is designed to help you manage your business.  Now, for some people, "business" could mean more sales, better customer service, or the delivery of projects.

We understand that software is not the be all and end all, software is a means to an end, and we're OK with that.  We view CRM software as a tool for business.  So, when we use the term Management Software, what we really mean is software that helps you get the job done.

Find out more about CRM software.

Leopard CRM v4 Released!

on 29 Jul 09 by The Leopard Software Team

We're excited to announce that free trials are now available for version 4 of Leopard CRM!  Version 4 marks a giant step in the evolution of Leopard CRM, providing even more gains in efficiency for businesses worldwide.

Version 4 introduces some exciting new features to Leopard CRM including:
 - Case Management, easily track customer service, technical support and similar incidents
 - Email Integration, increase customer service levels and reduce double entry
 - A new look and feel, making this the easiest to use version of Leopard CRM we've ever done
 - A new Project Management system, including a new user interface and task methodology

To sign up for your free trial, just head over to http://www.leopardcrm.com now.

Kind regards,
The Leopard Software Team

Find out more about CRM software.

Version 4 about to be released

on 28 Jul 09 by Dan

We're excited to announce that trials for version 4 of Leopard CRM will be available from 12PM Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST), Wednesday 29th July 2009.

We're thrilled to see how version 4 has come together and we're sure that you'll love the new features and improvements to the system. Enjoy!

Find out more about CRM software.

Version 4 less than 1 week to go!

on 22 Jul 09 by Dan

All of us here in the Leopard Software offices are putting the finishing touches on the new version 4 of Leopard CRM.  We're all very excited as version 4 has been in development for just under 12 months.  It's been a long road as it's required a full rewrite of Leopard CRM from scratch.

Next week will see the introduction of free trials, new pricing, a new user interface, and new features and functions.  We can't wait to see it all come together!

Find out more about CRM software.

Hosted CRM - Information at your Fingertips

on 07 Jul 09 by Dan

One fantastic advantage of using a Hosted CRM system like Leopard CRM, is that your information is available instantly to other people within your organization.

For example, Leopard CRM is designed to be a central part of your daily work.  If you're manaing a sales team, you like to keep up to date on how the deals are progressing.  Leopard CRM gives your salespeople an integrated system where they can record everything about your customers, sales leads, and any upcoming deals.

As you work within Leopard CRM every day, all of your team's data is instantly available for you to work from.  You can respond quickly to problems or opportunities as they appear. 

Old style CRM systems forced you to wait for syncing issues, or forcing your team to perform certain administrative tasks. Hosted CRM systems by design provide you with information as soon as it's entered by your team.  Since Hosted CRM is a relatively new concept, some businesses may have never experienced this kind of flexibility in their everyday CRM systems. 

Implementing Leopard CRM into your business could provide some dramatic new changes to how your business operates and responds to opportunities.  These kind of changes could easily give you the edge over your toughest competitors.

Find out more about CRM software.

Hosted CRM - Online and Available Anywhere

on 07 Jul 09 by Dan

Sometimes people ask me, what is the difference having a CRM system hosted online?  Usually I would explain how Hosted CRM is just like using a web page, for example, searching for a contact is as simple as searching for something in Google.

Well, it occurred to me today that there is one more important advantage of Hosted CRM systems - you can access it anywhere, at anytime, with just a web browser.  I've just recently started using the new iPhone 3GS as my phone, and I've really loved being connected to the Internet wherever I go.

It came in handy the other day when a friend mentioned that it was someone's birthday that very day.  I quickly pulled out my iPhone on the spot and sent them a happy birthday message via Facebook.

This is a great example where Hosted CRM can be used to solve a similar problem.  Let's say you're on the road, away from the office, and you remember something important that relates to a client relationship.  Right then and there, you can jump online, login to your Hosted CRM system, and add your notes.  This ensures that you won't forget it, and it'll be there to remind you when you're next looking up your client.

Find out more about CRM software.

An Update on the New Version of Leopard CRM

on 16 Jun 09 by Dan

    I have some exciting news.  The new version of Leopard CRM will be available for trial on 29th July 2009, and it will be branded version 4.0 instead of the original version number 3.0.

The final touches are going into Leopard CRM right now in preparation for the launch.  It's been something that we've all been working towards for some time, so everyone at the Leopard Software office is very excited that the day is nearly here.

New screenshots will be posted on the website soon, so stay tuned for more information as it's released. 

Find out more about CRM software.

Version 3 Design Sneak Preview

on 17 Nov 08 by Dan

We've decided to give you all a sneak preview of the new version 3 which is almost ready for release.  Below is a screenshot of the project screen showing the new graphic design and the new interface.  The screenshot is scaled down a fair bit, but hopefully it's clear enough to get the general idea.

Remember, to be notified on the release of version 3, send an email to sales@leopardcrm.com.

Find out more about CRM software.

Version 3 Coming Soon

on 18 Oct 08 by Dan

We've been hard at work creating version 3 of Leopard CRM.  We've tackled version 3 with the following goals in mind:

• Increased automation.  Since Leopard CRM is web based, we've wanted to bring a real ease of use to the core Leopard CRM system.  All versions before v3 didn't have much in the way of automated administration.  This meant that to sign customers to a trial system it had to have some manual intervention.  We've designed version 3 so that customers will be able to sign up to a trial immediately through the website.
• Creating an API.  Alongside the first goal of automation, we've taken advantage of some new development tools to add an Application Programming Interface (API).  This will provide some great features for customers including the ability to integrate CRM data with your website.  We're also paving the way for future features like synchronization with other applications like Outlook, iCal and the Apple Addressbook.  It's unlikely that the API will be available with version 3.0 as more testing will probably be needed, but it's on the way.
• New and improved pricing.  We've been thinking hard about how to not only make Leopard CRM better, but we've also been looking for ways to make our pricing and plans more accessible for customers.  We've decided to transform our plan structure so that all customers can take advantage of Leopard CRM's feature set.  We think that we've nailed the balance and found a great solution that will work for micro, small and medium sized businesses.
• New interface design.  W've also worked hard to make Leopard CRM easier to use across the board.  This has meant a total rehaul of the interface with new icons and graphics.  We think it looks great and have had some positive responses from everyone who's seen it so far.

The final product should be ready soon.  If you'd like to be notified when the new version is released, just send us an email to sales@leopardcrm.com and let us know.

Find out more about CRM software.

Extended Sales Reporting for Version 2.1

on 06 Aug 08 by Dan

We've been hard at work developing the new version of Leopard CRM which will be v2.1.  One of the major features that will be introduced is some extended sales reporting features.

Leopard CRM does a fantastic job of giving you an easy interface that allows you to comfortably work with it everyday.  We're aiming to bring some powerful reporting that will show you exactly where your sales opportunities are coming from (or not!).

The goal is to provide ways to see sales totals across regions, staff, teams, geographic location and similar categories.

We're really excited about this release as this feature is the result of feedback from our customers.  We have always intended to grow Leopard CRM in response to customers using it in the real world.  This means that the product is effective and delivers great value for customers, instead of it being a hurdle to overcome.

It ends up that we're quite good at it, and we love doing it, so what could be better than that?

Find out more about CRM software.

Press Release: Finally, CRM Software that isn’t Boring

on 27 May 08 by Dan

Leopard CRM, a beautiful, fresh, red rose in a world of drab, corporate CRM competitors.

Melbourne, Australia, May 23rd, 2008 -- Leopard Software, a company overly passionate about CRM technology, have released their new product: “Leopard CRM” - http://www.leopardcrm.com.  Born in the land “Down Under”, Leopard CRM aims to have small business owners everywhere sitting on the beach, soaking in the sun as their business leaps to a new level in automation and efficiency.

“Without small business, the world would end as we know it” quips the Founder of Leopard Software, Dan Harper.  “Small business breathes new life and innovation into the global business community, but there is a cost,” Dan warns.  “Small business owners all over the world are stuck being a slave to their business, just as they were slaves to their bosses in their previous lives.”

One of the most difficult transitions for a small business owner is to move from working “in” the business to working “on” the business.  Even small business owners that are successful in making the transition can still suffer from sleepless nights wondering how on Earth the business will meet the next challenge.

Leopard CRM is designed to bring clarity to small business owners, bringing them a wealth of information about the business that they may have never seen before.  Leopard CRM manages many functions of a small business including: sales pipelines, marketing activities, customer history, shared calendars and document management.  Leopard CRM’s management of these core business areas provides the small business owner with important and timely information, assisting with future planning and current decision making.

“We’ve also made sure to make Leopard CRM accessible to the small business” Dan Harper notes.  “Small business owners want the latest technology, but in an easy to use package at the right price.”  Keenly aware of these factors, Leopard CRM was designed to be as easy to use as possible.  Users can access information through a simple web based user interface, and all systems are hosted online so small businesses don’t have to worry about purchasing and maintaining expensive server equipment.

Visit http://www.leopardcrm.com for more information.

About Leopard Software:
Leopard Software is a company passionate about software and using it to transform small businesses all over the world.  They are masters of automation and efficient business systems.  Dan Harper, the Founder of Leopard Software, has been a CRM and IT expert for over 10 years.

Contact:
Dan Harper, Founder

Leopard Software

http://www.leopardcrm.com/crm/contactus

Find out more about CRM software.

Welcome to your new CRM System!

on 23 May 08 by Dan

In a recent release, we've added a welcome screen.  This screen is seen the very first time that you login to your CRM system.

Because Leopard CRM is designed for an international audience, we needed something that would help users setup their system for their own local use.  One prime example for this is with timezones on the shared calendar and appointments functionality.  The Leopard CRM servers are set to UTC time, so to ensure that your reminders arrive on time, a timezone needs to be specified.

Another great feature of this new screen is the ability to import your data.  Because importing and exporting data is an administrative function in an CRM system, it's "hidden" away in the Admin section of the system menu. Now, when you first login to your new CRM system, you can import your data straight away.  This really helps to get you started and using the power of Leopard CRM as soon as possible.

If you have any ideas for how to enhance and improve Leopard CRM, we'd love to hear them, just send us an email from the "Contact Us" section of the website.

Find out more about CRM software.

New Website Design

on 28 Apr 08 by Dan

We're excited to launch a new version of our website today.  New content includes:

• Detailed CRM feature coverage which gives more information about what each feature can do.
• New pricing model introduced and now available online.
• Free trials and signups are now only one click away!
• Some new screenshots, particularly the new dashboard featured in version 2.0 of Leopard CRM.

Find out more about CRM software.

Sales Analysis Features Launched

on 08 Feb 08 by Dan

Our recent release for version 2.0 marks the launch of our advanced sales analysis features.  The design was originally announced in this previous blog post.

We've aimed to provide a user interface that always reports on how your sales pipeline is progressing.  This means that you don't need to run a specialised sales report to analyse your pipline, it's built right into the interface that you use everyday.

To see the end result, take a look at the screenshots or sign up for a free 30-day trial.

Find out more about CRM software.

New About Page

on 30 Jan 08 by Dan

We've just added an "About Us" page to the Leopard CRM website, you can read all about Leopard CRM and Leopard Software at:

http://www.leopardcrm.com/crm/about

Find out more about CRM software.

Web Based CRM Software

on 19 Jan 08 by Dan

Web based CRM software systems (like Leopard CRM), can give you a lot of advantages over traditional client/server models:

• No server infrastructure requirements
• Your fully featured CRM system is accessible from anywhere where you can get an Internet connection
• No need to manage server hardware upgrades
• No data backups to worry about
• The interface for web based CRM software can be as easy to use as as well designed web page, however, be on the lookout for interfaces that try to do things the wrong way, making things more difficult than necessary.
• Cross platform ability - switching to Mac? Upgrading Windows? No problem, as long as it has a web browser, your good to go
• Minimal data bandwidth use - client server models usually need to transfer additional information to the client, increasing network traffic.  Web based CRM systems act as a super-thin client minimising the need to transfer large amounts of data.

When web based CRM software is done well, it can deliver many advantages to businesses.  Some advantages are realised upon implementation, and some advantages are seen every year in reduced infrastructure costs.

Find out more about CRM software.

CRM Software Across the Organisation

on 14 Jan 08 by Dan

CRM software can be a powerful tool in business, but it is used to its maximum potential when it is designed to be used across the entire organisation.

From sales to marketing, to customer service, to finance, basically anywhere in the business where staff have contact with customers, or they have value to add.  I would say that most staff members within an organisation have value to add, value in this case is information.

To fully utilise CRM software, information that goes into the system is where part of the power lies.  The more accurate and helpful information that goes into a CRM software system, the more useful the system becomes.  Each staff member can give a unique view of the customer that helps to fully reveal the customer to the business.

The more that is known about the customer, then the more confidence the customer will have in your company.  The customer will feel heard, and the staff in your business will be a valuable resource to your customer.  Staff will be able to give very relevant advice on suitable products or services because the staff will know what challenges the customer is facing.

When designing a new CRM software implementation, think outside the box.  In the past, some CRM software systems focused on sales force automation, and maybe a little marketing thrown in the mix.  To really benefit from powerful CRM software systems like Leopard CRM, try to think about how it would benefit the customer and therefore the business by expanding the scope of the implementation.  Departments or teams that may have been overlooked in the past, may bring the perspective on the customer that becomes invaluable to the business.

Find out more about CRM software.

New Sales Analysis Features Coming Soon

on 07 Jan 08 by Dan

Update: The sales management features were launched with version 2.0!

We're currently expanding the functionality of our Leopard CRM software system with enhancements to the sales analysis and management features.  We wanted to add the ability to track sales data with finer detail.

The finer detail provides sales dollar amounts for closed as well as current sales leads.  The new sales data will provide projection abilities.

A picture speaks a thousand words, so here is an example graph that will be a core feature of the sales management functionality.

Find out more about CRM software.

Outgrowing Contact Management Software into CRM

on 29 Dec 07 by Dan

One of our customers for Leopard CRM is a small business who were outgrowing their contact management software.  Contact management software can be a great resource for small businesses in the early years.  Sometimes contact management is all you need, but you can outgrow it quite quickly.

The basic function of contact management software is to have a place to keep all of the contact information for each of your customers.  This can be information like name, address and phone number.  Other information about customers can be either stored in staff members brains, or some other creative way.  As the business expands, the methods can become even more creative as the limitations of contact management software are met.

The customer I mentioned was actually using some customised fields within their contact management software to track customer purchase history.  They would enter codes into a customised field when the customer purchased something from the business.  This creative method actually worked for quite some time, but eventually, they realised that a proper, fully featured CRM software system was needed.

Along with the contact management software, the business kept other information in spreadsheets, folders and word processing documents.  They had a big bookshelf in the middle of the office that held printouts of their customers sale information that everyone needed to reference.

By moving to Leopard CRM, the business was able to computerise customer sales information and expand the limited information that the contact management software allowed them to track.  This meant that staff could now access customer buying history with a few clicks of the mouse, as well as minimise data entry mistakes and expand their marketing opportunities.

Overall, this has meant that the business has gone on to the next level in size and revenue.  Although a simple contact management software solution can work for a small business, its limitations are soon felt, and without looking into alternatives like CRM software, the growth of the business could suffer.

Leopard CRM aims to bring businesses into the next level of growth in sales and efficiency.  Ask us how by contacting us at sales@leopardcrm.com.

Find out more about CRM software.

CRM Video Updated

on 07 Dec 07 by Dan

Although we released the overview video yesterday, it wasn't perfect.  The video was encoded using Quicktime, but for some reason it was requiring you to download the entire video before you could watch it.

Today we've updated the video with a Flash version.  This now looks to be working as intended and the best thing is, it's half the size of the Quicktime version!

Find out more about CRM software.

Leopard CRM Overview Video

on 06 Dec 07 by Dan

We've just created our first video showing an overview of Leopard CRM.  The video is approximately 10 minutes long and gives a really great walkthrough on how easy Leopard CRM is to use.

You can find the videos in the videos section of the website.

Find out more about CRM software.

Leopard CRM 1.4.0.1 Released

on 06 Dec 07 by Dan

Leopard CRM v1.4.0.1 was released today, changes include:

• User interface fixes for Internet Explorer v7

All customers will be upgraded throughout the next week.  Please contact support@leopardcrm.com if you have any problems.

Find out more about CRM software.

CRM Software for Small Business

on 05 Dec 07 by Dan

Being small in business can have major advantages.  It can take a long time to change the direction of a large ship, but a small boat can move about with agility and speed.

Traditionally, CRM software has been complicated, inflexible and it could only turn like a large ship.  Traditional methods of software development have helped to build over-complicated CRM systems.  Large corporations, with their difficulty in changing direction, have embraced CRM philosophies that are in line with their existing culture.  The big CRM vendors need their own large corporations to develop such over-complicated software, so they speak the same language as their large customers.  Because of this, CRM vendors have mainly focused on selling CRM systems to large corporations.

The CRM scene has been operating like this for a long time, and during this time, the small and medium guys have missed out.  However, they don't miss using the same software.  Why would a small, agile boat try to use big, over complex navigation systems designed for large ships?  They wouldn't (it'd probably weigh enough to sink their boat!).  So small business carried on as usual, and CRM vendors carried on developing complex and inflexible software for complex and inflexible organisational cultures.

I have worked with small and medium businesses for many years, and I've always enjoyed working in a culture that is agile and flexible.  I focus quite a bit on the customer, and if I see a business missing customer needs, I'm grieved.  If a business is missing a customer, then the customer is unhappy because they don't get to enjoy the whizz-bang widget or service that the business is selling.   The business is ultimately unhappy because their business is not growing as they would like.

That's why Leopard CRM is all about transforming small and medium business.  Our CRM software enhances the strengths that small and medium businesses already posess.  Leopard CRM is designed to be agile and fast, in development, and in every day use.  The purpose is to make small and medium businesses faster and more adaptable to challenges.  With help from Leopard CRM, businesses can react to marketing opportunities faster and with more accuracy.

This kind of enhanced agility makes a happy business with happy customers, and that's what we ultimately aim to deliver through Leopard CRM.

Find out more about CRM software.