Managing CRM
This manual covers configuring and managing the customer care modules, namely Leads and Service Requests with the additional benefits of associated Activities.
Leads
Leads are your prospect customers, when a lead is created it’s assigned a pipeline with the predetermined stages it must progress through until it’s either won or lost. Leads can have a status of Open, Won or Lost.
Navigate to CRM > Leads
Select the pipeline to view the Leads for. Leads are visible in either Kanban view or List view, switch between the views using the icon in the top right-hand corner.
By default only Open Leads are visible on the summary screen, add a filter to see Leads in other states too (i.e. Won or Lost).
Creating a new Lead
As a minimum provide the mandatory fields including the pipeline which will determine the stages that the Lead will progress through. The title must be unique, and a Lead can be linked to a Contact after it has been created.
Managing a Lead
Select a Lead from the Summary screen.
Linking a Lead to a Contact
Once a Lead has been created, it can optionally be linked to a Contact. Edit the lead, locate and select the Contact.
Progressing & Regressing a Lead
To progress a Lead select one of the next stage in the pipeline, alternatively, to regress a Lead select one of the previous stages in the pipeline.
Progressing and regressing a Lead can also be done from the summary screen using the hamburger icon to drag-and-drop the request to the desired pipeline stage.
Closing a Lead
At some stage the Lead will reach the end of the pipeline where the user will need to specify if it has been won or lost. A Lead in either Won or Lost state can be reopened again using the Reopen option at the end of the pipeline.
Service Requests
Service Requests are customer requests submitted either by a back-end user or a Contact via an app or portal. CRM.COM helps you log, track and manage your customer’s requests quickly and efficiently.
Navigate to CRM > Service Requests
Select the queue to view the Service Requests for. Service Requests are visible in either Kanban view or List view, switch between the views using the icon in the top right-hand corner.
Creating a Service Request
When a Service Request is being created it’s mandatory to provide the queue, relate it to a Contact and provide a description of the issue.
Contact Services
If the contact is a subscription service member, and the Service Request is being raised for a particular service, then select the +Add Services option to specify the service.
Categories
Multiple categories can be defined for a single Service Request.
Charges
Any applicable charges can be stated on the Service Request, the Contact will only be invoiced for these charges once the Service Request has been closed and marked as resolved.
Assign Owner
The owner is the person (a system user) to whom the Service Request will be assigned to, search and select from the list provided. If not assigned, then the Service Request will by default be assigned to the logged-in user.
Managing a Service Request
Select a Service Request from the Summary screen.
Progressing & Regressing a Service Request
To progress a Service Request simply select the next stage in the queue.
To regress a Service Request select the previous stage in the queue, the user will have to provide a reason for regressing.
Closing a Service Request
Close a Service Request by selecting the Close button either from the summary screen or from the Service Request screen itself. The user will be prompted to specify if the request has been resolved or not, if resolved, then the Contact will be billed for the itemised charges on the Service Request, if not resolved then no charges will be applied.
Progressing and regressing a Service Request can also be done from the summary screen using the hamburger icon to drag-and-drop the request to the desired queue stage.
Activities
An Activity is a task that can be scheduled to take place for a Contact, a Lead or a Service Request.
Navigate to CRM > Activities to view Activities which have been created.
Select to view the Activities for a specific activity type, use the predefined filters or search by name.
Activities appearing with a Pending status are still open. The following actions are available once an Activity has been selected:
Complete - The Activity has been fulfilled
Cancel - The Activity is no longer required
Delete - Remove the Activity (e.g. created by mistake)
Creating an Activity
Navigate to the relevant Lead or Service Request and select it, click on the options button in the top right-hand corner of the screen, select Create Activity and proceed to complete the Activity details.
When - Select the scheduled date and time for the Activity
Where - If the Activity will be taking place on-site, then optionally select one of the Contact’s addresses
Automations can be configured to automatically create an Activity for a specific queue (refer to the Platform manual).
CRM Settings
Navigate to Settings > CRM to configure the necessary CRM settings if you will be using Activities, Leads or Service Requests.
Leads
Navigate to Settings > CRM > Leads
Pipelines
Define the pipelines and stages that a Lead progresses through during it’s life cycle from start to finish, there is no need to include the Won or Lost states as these are assumed at the end of the pipeline. Multiple pipelines can be created and one of these will be selected and assigned to every Lead upon creation by the user.
Use the hamburger icon to drag-and-drop the pipeline stages, thus re-arranging them in another order.
Activating a pipeline
A pipeline must be activated in order to be made available for use.
Lost Reasons
Define the reasons why a Lead may have been lost. The user will be prompted to select one of these reasons whenever a Lead status is changed to Lost.
Service Requests
Navigate to Settings > CRM > Service Requests
Queues
Queues define the stages that a Service Request will progress through until it’s closed. Multiple queues can be defined, and one of these must be assigned to each Service Request when it’s created.
The New and Closed stages exist by default and it’s not compulsory to define any additional stages if not required. The New stage will be automatically assigned to a Service Request upon creation, and Closed is always the final stage where a request terminates. A description and colour code must be provided for each status.
Once a Queue has been saved, 3 additional options are available to the user:
Edit alert times for queue
Edit completion times for queue
Configure application settings
Edit alert times for queue
Configure alerts to notify users when a Service Request has not progressed from the New stage yet. The alert times can vary depending on the priority of the Service Request.
Notifications for overdue progression will appear as below on the Service Request.
Edit completion times for queue
Set how long a Service Request should take to be completed from time of creation based on it’s priority.
Closure dates are calculated and shown as below on the Service Request.
Configure application settings
If you will be allowing your Contacts to create Service Requests themselves for this queue (using another platform such as an app or portal), then you will need to enable the Self Service is feature and complete the following information:
Classification - define the classification option available to Contacts to select for their request
Resource - set the system user to whom the requests of this queue will be automatically assigned to
Default priority - set the impact and urgency to calculate the priority of requests assigned to this queue
Default tags - select the optional tags to be assigned to all requests of this queue
Numbering Schemes
Select the numbering format for Service Requests. Each new Service Request will be assigned a sequential number based on the given format.
Priorities
Set up the model to be used by the system for prioritising Service Requests. Select the priority based on impact/urgency combination.
Impact - represents how important the request is for the customer
Urgency - relates to how quickly a resolution must be provided
Categories
Define Categories to classify Service Requests, categories can be defined in a hierarchical structure, and a Service Request can be assigned multiple categories.
Closure Reasons
Setup the closure reasons that will be available to the select from, if a Service Request is closed without being resolved.
Activities
Navigate to Settings > CRM > Activities
Activity Types
Define classifications to be assigned to newly created Activities. Provide a name, description and an optional colour.
Reference Material
You may also find it useful to refer to the following manuals for further reading in relation to CRM.
Platform
Refer to the Automations section.
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