WORKetc - More than CRM
Updated April 09, 2015
WORKetc - More than CRM
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Team
Modules Used
- All
Overall Satisfaction with WORK[etc]
TechHelp is a partnership of Idaho's three state universities that does consulting work and major projects with manufacturers, food processors and inventors across the state. Because our consultants are geographically disperse and work for different universities, our data and business management processes were all over the place. WORKetc in conjunction with Google Apps, gave us the opportunity to create ONE database of clients, partners, media, legislators...that we use to manage our business end to end. With WORKetc we manage the entire client engagement process from first contact through the sales process, proposals, contracts, project management, invoicing, and reporting. WORKetc integrates with Google Apps/Gmail allowing us to "attach anything to anything". We can add contacts to WORKetc from a gmail, attach a gmail to a contact, project, invoice...attach Google Docs to projects and on and on. The WORKetc app puts all info from WORKetc at our consultants fingertips in the field.
Finally, good luck finding better product support. I know my WORKetc support people by FIRST NAME!! It's not that I need them that often, but when I do, I know that Craig or Steve or Laurie are there for me via email or 15 or 30 min support call.
Finally, good luck finding better product support. I know my WORKetc support people by FIRST NAME!! It's not that I need them that often, but when I do, I know that Craig or Steve or Laurie are there for me via email or 15 or 30 min support call.
- WORKetc integration with Google Apps and ability to attach anything to anything is of tremendous value to our consultants.
- Support - WORKetc support people are accessible, knowledgeable and helpful.
- The integrated nature of WORKetc gives us the ability to manage our business end to end.
- WORKetc is committed to continuous improvement and is always unveiling new features and improvements.
- I am hesitant to sync contacts between Gapps and WORKetc. I played with it a bit and found it confusing. I can see what the intent is but think the feature could be a bit more intuitive.
- Ability to add client info to central database has improved our ability to communicate with clients
- Above situation has allowed us to increase attendance at events which has led to increased consulting engagements
- Use of WORKetc Webforms has given us the ability to have our clients add themselves to our database when they need help automatically triggering a lead and new contact.
My team demoed every major CRM on the market and came away confused and disappointed. Our sister centers in all 50 states are using a variety of CRMs to manage their businesses. None of them are completely happy. We think WORKetc has the potential to be a near perfect solution for us and our sister centers.
Using WORK[etc]
15 - All staff at TechHelp use WORKetc including marketing, sales, admin, consultants, management, interns, student employees. Our staff members do consulting in lean manufacturing, six sigma, new product development, product design & prototyping food and dairy safety, exporting and innovation engineering where we help companies develop meaningfully unique ideas for new products, markets, messages, services and business models.
3 - We hired an older student with IT experience to help us with the initial install of WORKetc. He moved on and we now manage the system with the marketing manager, business manager, administrative lead and executive director. We do not have a dedicated IT person on staff and find WORKetc is intuitive enough for "lay people" to learn how to mange most aspects of the program. Fantastic WORKetc Tech Support is instantly available when needed.
- Immediately add contacts from Gmail to WORKetc
- Tag contacts in WORKetc so that we can fine tune our communication with clients.
- Move a client engagement along from first contact to lead, sales process, quote, contract, project, billing and reporting.
- We created WORKetc "Webforms" for each of our 4 primary areas of client engagement and can now direct clients to complete a Webform when they need help.
- The above process creates a new contact and automatically assigns a lead to the proper team in our organization.
- The Webform also captures information that is used by our consultants to prepare for a client meeting.
- Perfect our use of WORKetc to completely manage our business end to end
- Make better use of the project module by creating and using templates for the various types of projects we manage
- Learn more about the reporting function so that we can more easily produce reports for the organizations we report to
Evaluating WORKetc and Competitors
Yes - WORKetc is replacing a system that was built inhouse called "TechTrak" that has a FileMaker back end. I would say TechTrak is used primarily as a place to collect project expenses and income and to track invoices. It is not linked to any other system in our organization. We had been flying blind on the front end sales process and manually taking data out of TechTrak and re-typing it into Quickbooks.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Third-party Reviews
We loved that the product was not to "sales oriented" as most CRMs are and that it was more of an end to end business management system that our field consultants could use to manage client engagements from beginning to end. We also thought the price was very fair given the depth of the product's functionality.
I think we did all we could do at the time. Our problem was that the system we were looking for, WORKetc, was not around or in major use when we first began evaluating systems. In addition to reading reviews and demoing products, we had the luxury of asking our 50 sister centers around the country what they were using and how it was working for them. We learned that most struggled with the same issues that turned us off to major CRM players...too salesy, too dense, too complicated, poor support, too expensive, limited functionality....
WORKetc Implementation
- Implemented in-house
WORKetc Training
WORKetc Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
No - Basic support is so good that there is no need for premium support. Because of this, we will not hesitate to pay WORKetc to help us create some unique invoices and reports.
Yes - Yes. Normally the same day.
I know that WORKetc is there for our team when needed. Occasionally we need to bring some team members up to speed on certain features. It is easy to schedule a group training session with WORKetc support where a live person is able to answer questions that are specific to our use of the product.
Using WORKetc
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- The WORKetc "widget" that integrates with Gmail is OUTSTANDING. I can easily add contacts to WORKetc and attach anything to anything right out of my gmail inbox.
- A WORKetc Project becomes a veritable file folder that can contain ANYTHING related to that project including emails, attachments, files, appointments, discussions, notes...
- I love that WORKetc is integrated from end to end and will allow us to use one system to manage every aspect of a client engagement from first contact to invoicing.