THE STORY

Welcome to read the story of Salesbox CRM

This story is written for all of you who are interested in why Salesbox CRM was started. Why it is important for us to challenge what we have come to call the CRM Status Quo, in a number of fields. You will also get a glimpse of how we see the future and what we want to achieve as a company. We hope you enjoy this story and agree with us on most things we touch hereafter.

When Apple introduced iPhone to the market back in 2007, it was a big change. When Henry Ford invented the mass production of cars, the market was perhaps thinking of faster horses. The mass produced car was revolutionary. The Apple and Henry Ford stories are two examples that inspired us in the pursuit of change. In 2014 we want to change the whole way of thinking and acting within CRM.

When we began work on Salesbox CRM, we considered every element that defines a CRM. We longed for something mobile, intelligent, social and at the same time affordable for small and medium sized companies. We wanted a CRM that gave us true proactive sales support, such as automated budget gap analysis, progress automation, sales activity automation and true social collaboration. We challenged ourselves to find the best, most forward-looking way possible to create each and every one of them. When we put it all together, the result was something entirely new, something radically different from any CRM before it, something that provides an extremely powerful argu-ment against the status quo. We believe it is the way the CRM was meant to empower, your way!

For the first time in history, a CRM is created for you as a salesperson, not against you. For the first time, it’s easy to use, easy to get started with and you want to keep on using it. Not because someone tells you but because you want to.

We have to warn you though; this rest of the story is sometimes a little bit provocative but hopefully inspiring and fun. It will focus on five different areas we believed were important to challenge within CRM.

> Mobile> Intelligent> Social > Affordable> Off the shelf

Welcome to change the future, by start creating it today! Enjoy.

Kind regards,

Andreas LalangasChairman and Founder of Salesbox CRM

THE BEGINNINGWith over a decade in IT and Sales in different roles like field sales, Key Account manager, Sales Director, Company Owner etc. We have seen the problems with CRM and sales from the different roles and different perspectives. One thing we’ve noticed; the same ability that makes a successful sales person also makes that same person bad in administration and structure. Very few people are good at both. Therefore we want-ed to create a system that helps sales people focus, prioritize, analyze and structure their work days, so they can focus on what they are good at and hopefully like, selling. Most sales people don’t see the value for themselves with the CRM at hand, frankly because the value isn’t there. If you don’t see the value for yourself in something, you stop doing it after a while, right? That sales people actually like and see the value in using a CRM for themselves, is crucial for how successful a CRM implementation is in an organization.

The traditional CRMs were never designed for sales people by sales people; they were mostly designed for management and boards to get control over sales and the business. We wanted to create a CRM for sales people, not only management, one that brings true value to the individual sales people. The hypothesis is that if the input becomes easy, the output in form of reports and performance meters becomes more accurate. With more accuracy the trust for the information analysis provided by the CRM will increase. More accurate reports will in the end give the business ability to make better decisions and hopefully create better results.

We also saw how many in sales were focusing too much on processes and workflows to increase sales. Processes are good, don’t get us wrong, but processes only work fine when you have 100 % control over the entire chain. The problem with sales processes and workflows is that you are not in control. Our experience was that in most cases it’s more important to actually perform the activities than in which order you perform them. Therefore we missed a CRM that gave you the opportunity to focus more on the activities rather than in what order to perform them.

To change this situation we first tried to discuss the problems with several of the tra-ditional CRM providers, to try to make them realize the problems and perhaps change their products to align more with solving these problems. The response was, how can we put it, non existing, the complete lack of understanding was striking. Then we decid-ed that if we wanted a change, we had to do it ourselves. If you want a change in your life, who is the first to look at, yourself, can you do anything about it? Do it, otherwise stop complaining or worrying, right?

We also noticed that the CRM market had been stale for so many years. What is offered now is basically the same as for ten years ago, with some minor updates, mostly focus-ing on look and feel. There haven’t been any major changes or innovation in CRM for the last 20 years. Perhaps the biggest change was Salesforce’s decision to only deliver in the cloud. That was good but it still doesn’t provide any new values for a business compared to other CRMs. It was time that someone started to challenge what we call the CRM Status Quo. It is a big challenge but at the same time very stimulating. The ability to make a difference for so many people is an empowering feeling.

So finally why did we go for choosing Apple as the technical and commercial platform for our brand new CRM and not do like everybody else, go broad and general? First of all, we don’t believe in satisfying every individual walking in a pair of shoes, simply because we can’t. Everybody needs to make choices in life; this was one big, impor-tant choice for us. Our conclusion was that we wanted to create something completely new, not seen before, and what better company to align with than Apple? They have changed several industries over the years; music and mobile phones are two areas. That we, ourselves, were hardcore Apple fans didn’t make that decision any harder, if you know what we mean. We also believe that Apple’s way of doing things, combining all technical parts into one homogeneous experience for the user, is both appealing but also necessary if you want to create something that brings true value to you as a user. We wanted to do the same within CRM and then we needed to build native for the underlying platform, to be able to use all the nice features provided by the platform. When building for the web you create so many unnecessary constraints and obstacles for yourself. We didn’t want to do that. We set out to create the best user experience ever within a CRM. We also wanted to give as much value as we possibly could to you as a user, so you will be able to love your CRM rather than hate it. We also believe strongly that to be successful you need to focus, that applies to us as well. That’s why we had to make a choice and we did exactly that.

MOBILEWould you like to be

able to update your CRM as often as possible? Do you

feel that it is too hard, complex or useless with the current CRM at

hand? Then you are not alone, that’s how most CRM users feel. Wouldn’t it be valid to update the CRM directly after your meeting, after your phone call, while waiting on the train, flight, bus, or at any dead time moment you have during the day, without opening a computer? Have you missed a CRM that is integrated into your IOS’s Mail, Calendar, Dial function, Camera and Map functions? Do you believe it would benefit you, if you only needed to add infor-mation once? If you agree with us on these matters, then you see the benefits of using a truly mobile CRM.

Do you remember the days when you couldn’t use your e-mail in your mobile phone? Probably not, we humans tend to adapt to new behavior quickly and forget how it was before. We can tell you that for us it was horrible, after a day in the field it was easily 50 – 60 emails to handle, either in the office or back home after dinner. Who would like to go back to that situation? We don’t. Today most of us in the field handle emails as they arrive during the day, regardless where we are, during dead time moments. It could even be in places we don’t want to mention in writing, but we’re sure you know what place we mean. One important matter with this similar situation is that when it comes to handling emails during the day we take it for granted but at the same time accept to not have the same possibility in other tools we use in our business, like the CRM. What if we could have a CRM supporting us like that? What if you could handle all those small administrative tasks in your CRM while in the field? Do the administration in a fraction of the time you spend today and also during time you don’t do anything else, time that is just wasted because it is dead time.

How can a mobile device support me more than a PC/laptop? One big difference between a mobile device and a PC/laptop is that the mobile device collects so much more information automatically than a PC/laptop ever can. A mobile device can provide the information automatically for you, instead of forcing you to give the input. We got this question so many times; how can you only release a CRM for mobile devices? We have so much information to put in to our CRM is a common statement. The question we ask back is WHY, why do you need to put in all that information. Isn’t it smarter to let the device collect that same information for you instead? A truly mobile CRM should make it easier for you, not harder. You need to question how you work and interact with your current CRM; it doesn’t have to be like that. There are other ways possible, just look around the corner or above the horizon, its there, we promise you. The only thing we ask for is seeing things a little bit different.

By seeing things differently, you gain so much more and have a much better life. We wanted to create a truly mobile CRM fetching as much of the information for you so you don’t need to. One that is easy to use and built for mobile from scratch, not something transformed from something completely different.

As a provider you can’t just transform a web-based system to mobile and communicate that you are mobile CRM provider, no, no, it doesn’t work like that. To become a mobile CRM provider you need to build for mobile from scratch, and use all available mobile features to make life easier for your users. As a provider you need to rethink how a user interacts with your system. The user, in this case you, needs to realize that you don’t need a spaceship system with hundreds of input fields or a terminal worthy of a NASA space travel surveillance center. We all have to rethink, that’s the point of change. If you want to keep on sitting in the office in front of the surveillance center, then mobile isn’t for you, but hey, then perhaps sales isn’t for you either? Sales is done with clients, at the client’s premises, not back in your office in front of a screen focusing on filling hundreds of information fields, that’s just facts, but we know you already agree with us.

The mobile device is also with you all day, from when you wake up until you end up in bed, in the night, correct? We set out to end the days when you need a computer or laptop to do administration! Just image that you can spend that time with your family, friends, making even more deals or anything else you prefer over sitting like today with tons of administration, just because your provider can not think a little bit around the corner and support your modern and mobile lifestyle.Why would you settle for less?

According to studies and our own experience, the best sales people always know exactly what to focus on and prioritize every day. They create their

own to-do-lists every night or morning, so when the workday begins they know exactly what to do. Most people working in sales don’t work like that; they get con-

sumed by a lot of other, not important, activities, that don’t bring them any closer to their goals. Therefore we saw an opportunity to help, to provide you with an intelligent tool that actually analyzes your pipeline and give you an automatic prioritized task list every morning for you to use. We wanted to provide a tool that also notified you when a prospect had progressed too little and too slow, according to your personal perfor-mance history.

Traditional CRMs can provide you with information about budget; net and gross pipeline values, how big the GAP is etc. But no one has, so far, provided an intelligent, analytical and proactive tool. One that actually, in real time, provides you with infor-mation about what the GAP means in reality and what it takes from you to bridge your GAP. There was a need for an intelligent and adaptive CRM that learns and adapts to your needs and situation, one that provide you with information like; Your GAP means you need to make these amounts of picks, calls, meetings, you need to focus on these prospects in your pipeline, you need to bring in this many new prospects above this level, you need to spend this many work hours every week during the rest of the meas-ured period, to reach your budget etc. Frankly, we missed an intelligent tool that helps you with these things.

The traditional CRMs don’t cover the most standardized economic and sales related reports a company needs. The result is that many use Excel to overlap that lack of support from the CRM. That leads to unnecessary and time-consuming extra adminis-tration. We wanted to change that. Why should you or your company be forced to wait to the end of the week or even the end of the month to see the state of your business? That’s information that should be at hand, anytime, anywhere and easy to access. Why should a CRM provider be allowed to cover its flaws and lack of understanding for your business needs? Why is it ok to hide behind words like “You can build any report you want with this tool”, If someone told us that we would say; Great! Then build it for us, as standard!

Companies and people function and work in basically the same way everywhere and most reports can therefore be similar. Why not provide you with reports that make it easy for you to see relevant business data? We mean forecasts on order intake, reve-nue, profit, workload, activities etc. We also mean to make it easy to publish and share on big screens so all colleagues can see it, in real time.

INTELLIGENT

We also saw a need to increase time for coaching. The problem with coaching is that it consumes a lot of time and can only be focused on one individual at a time. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a personal coach in the pocket instead, as a 24/7 complement? One that only focuses on you and that provides you with individual help, 24/7, and never shouts, gets angry, tired or sick? We call it the GENIUS. The GENIUS is about letting the CRM handle many of the detailed parts of your CRM. The GENIUS is about automat-ing the day-to-day work and helps you focus on sales. The GENIUS is about having a personal intelligent CRM-coach always guiding you and helping you through your days. The GENIUS is about making better reports and forecasts. The GENIUS is about making it easy to do the right thing for both sales and management. The GENIUS is about sup-porting sales in a completely new way.

Over the last years it has always struck us; why does every company build its own con-tact database. How many duplicates of a company and a contact exist in the existing CRM implementations, worldwide? We have wondered how many and why? Isn’t that strange, the same information that is public on LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media sites is protected like a state secret by many companies. Is it a secret what a per-son’s name is, what title they have, where they work, what the phone number or email is? We don’t think so!

Isn’t it the business relation that is secret and worth protecting? That is, how much a contact buys, how profitable that contact is, how our relationship to that contact and organization is. We missed a truly social and collaborative CRM where everybody, by crowdsourcing, helps to build and maintain a common, global, contact and organiza-tion catalogue. One where we share contacts and make sure the information is always up-to-date. We have all entered our current CRM and found outdated contact or organization data. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a situation where you know that the con-tact data is always fresh and valid? To know that you will always find the correct phone number, email address or where the contact works, and that it is updated automatically. Wouldn’t it be a good trade to give a few contacts away for the common good and re-ceive 100-fold or even 1000-fold back, in return? We would say that most people would find that a good trade. Instead of paying expensive providers for contact lists that aren’t even accurate. In a modern world speed is everything and a contact provider can never compete against the update speed of a global crowd. A crowd that has its own interest in knowing that the information is always up-to-date.

SOCIAL

For us sales have always been about collaboration and teamwork. Therefore we found it strange that so many of the traditional CRM providers completely forget to focus on that. Such a simple thing to be able to work together on a single prospect can be hard. To be able to tell how much of the order value should go to each participant on the prospect. Therefore we also missed collaboration capabilities in the traditional CRMs, both internally and externally. Most companies are forced to collaborate outside their CRM. Again, Excel, folder structures and email are wonderful tools, but they weren’t de-signed for collaboration. Collaboration support is about letting the system handle the communication letting you collaborate on your terms, when you have time. It’s about tracing who is doing what, sharing and distributing tasks, asking for help. It’s about teamwork and letting the best suitable person on the tasks. It’s about knowing the state of relation with your contact.

How many times have you wanted to get help on a prospect, contact or organization, from a colleague? You left the meeting with the client and called a colleague, in many cases we guess they didn’t answer. It’s hard to find a slot where two business people are availa-ble, ad hoc, at the same time. Wouldn’t it be better to just pop an Ask for help message from your phone, stating what you want help with, when and on what prospect, contact etc. and give your colleague the opportunity to accept or decline when it suits him or her?

Have you ever worked with external partners? If you have, then you most likely know how difficult it can be to create good common follow up routines. Routines that work for both partners and don’t create unnecessary extra administration. How many places should a sales person be forced to enter the same information, on paper when taking notices in a meeting, in their own CRM, in Excel or in partner’s CRM? Everything just to create the necessary underlying report information to management and the board? We just ask the question; can’t that be done in a more intelligent way? Why shouldn’t you, your colleagues and your partner company be able to work, see and update the same prospect? Why shouldn’t you all be able get that same prospect into your own respective pipelines and company forecasts, without all the hassle that comes with traditional CRMs? This is a typical example of unfocused work that doesn’t get you any closer to your target. With Salesbox we wanted to contribute to a better, more effective and fun way of working, together. One where you can focus on sales rather than creating duplicates of the same information.

One of many questions we asked ourselves before we started Salesbox, one that also became more and more annoying was; Why is it so expensive, time consuming and hard to get a CRM in place? We just thought what is it that makes people willing to spend so much money and time on something that gives so little back? Especially if you are a small to medium sized company were every dime counts much more. The an-swer was there are too many that have too little motivation to change the current situ-ation. Have you asked yourself the question; am I prepared to pay up to 10 times more for the same or even less value? Most people would say no, we know we wouldn’t. We guess you would say the same.

We wanted to do the same as IKEA did for the furniture industry, H&M for fashion clothes or Henry Ford for mass-produced cars. We wanted to create an affordable CRM that is available for anyone, regardless of company size, a CRM that anyone can afford. We also wanted the price to include everything, the system, training, modules, no hid-den costs were allowed. We did not want to create a price model that is as complex as a physics exam. We wanted something that came packaged with true value for you and an experience beyond expectation. Everything with a price so low that you think it’s not true.

Our motto is, a CRM should be affordable, easy to buy and easy to get started with.

Have you ever thought about how unique your needs are, for real? Most business people say, we are so unique, but hey, are you? Isn’t that just something some say as a default answer without really thinking and going to the bottom with the true needs? What is it that is unique, really? Isn’t it your targets, how you work, your numbers, who you do business with, your strategy, your segmentation etc.? We think so. Does that mean you have a need to build or tailor make your own technical solution? Does that mean you need expensive consultants analyzing “your” situation, just to implement the same thing they just implemented to your neighbor? We don’t think so. So many are doing it just because, they have always done it in that way.

AFFORDABLE

OFF-THE-SHELF

Before IKEA people and companies did order tailor made furniture, most don’t any-more! Still, they get something fairly unique at home. Another example, did you know that Fiat has produced over 2.000.000 Fiat 500 and none of them is the same as the other? A standard car that becomes unique because of the combination of standard features. Shouldn’t it be the same with CRM? You buy an off-the-shelf CRM that pro-vides you the possibility to handle your unique needs as standard, without hefty price tags from the provider or consultants.

Have you wondered why so many only focus on technical capabilities when it comes to CRM? Telling you that, now you can become your own software provider. We just ask why, why should you? Shouldn’t you focus on your core business rather than building your own systems? Do you build your own cars, furniture, computer screens etc. of course you don’t. We just ask the questions. Why is it like this then? Is it because you on the business side ask for it, or is it in reality because the traditional providers and IT-departments praise those abilities so they can justify their existence. Shouldn’t focus be on delivering increased results, get an easier workday, becoming more effective etc.?

As we said earlier, we set out to create a new standard in CRM. We wanted a CRM that you download as a standard, off-the-shelf system from Apple’s Appstore. A CRM that actually fulfills my unique business needs and not forces me into time consuming pro-jects with hefty price tags. We wanted to create a CRM that is easy and only take a few minutes to get started with. We as a provider don’t want to stand in the way of your success; we want you to start getting the benefits as soon as possible. That is what true off-the-shelf is about!

THE FUTURE OF CRMWe really want to simplify life for people and companies working with sales or other client related tasks. We want to set a new standard of how you see a CRM, from some-thing most of you probably hate to something you love and can’t image to live without. In the future we see sales people all over the world spending more time on making more business, more time with family and friends, making better decisions, are in more control. We see that finally salespeople have everything they need in the palm of their hand. We see that the entire CRM industry will go through an enormous change, in just a couple of years. Once you started to handle your emails on your smartphone, would you like to go back and only handle e-mails with a computer or laptop? Didn’t think so. The CRM usage will experience a similar change; in a few years we will ask ourselves. - How did we tolerate that we spent so much unnecessary time on things that an intel-ligent system could do for us.

With these words we finish this story about Salesbox CRM. We hope you have enjoyed it and share most of the thoughts and experiences with us.

To your success and prosperity.

www.salesboxcrm.com © Copyright 2014, Salesbox CRM

The way CRM was meant to empower!