Listen to this articleReally Simple Systems CEO, John Paterson, talks about the decision to rewrite their CRM and how the new version reinforces the company’s philosophy of ‘taking complex applications and making them simple to use, and affordable’.
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Really Simple Systems?
A: Established in 2006, Really Simple Systems provides cloud-based CRM systems for micro, small and mid-sized businesses, operating in the B2B sector. The company’s philosophy is based around taking complex applications then making them easy to use and affordable.
Our experience tells us that the majority of small businesses don’t need half of the functionality available in most CRMs and will never use it. So, by applying our philosophy to the development of our CRM we have created a system that organisations can easily adopt and successfully manage their business.
With over 18,000 customers Really Simple Systems is one of the world’s largest providers of Cloud CRM systems. Customers range from single users to 100 user systems and include the Red Cross, the Royal Academy of Arts and IBM, as well as thousands of small and medium sized companies.
Based in the UK, Really Simple Systems is regulated by the UK Data Protection Act and is compliant with EC Data Protection Directives and the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
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Q: Who are the primary users of your CRM and what are some of the key challenges you are helping them solve?
A: Our primary users are micro, small and mid-sized businesses in the B2B sector. Roughly half of these are first time CRM users and half have used more complex CRM systems. They come to us looking for something less complicated and something that their staff will actually use!
Our experience tells us that user adoption is paramount to successful CRM implementation so our main objective with the new release was to make it easy.
Q: You’ve recently launched a major new release; tell us something more?
A: With the new release, Version 5, we have rewritten the full CRM to bring it up to date with today’s technology, moving from Microsoft to open source, and to create a new, modern user interface (UI).
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Q: What was the trigger for the CRM rewrite?
A: The original decision for the CRM rewrite was to update the code. It was a bit out of date and didn’t work well with technology like APIs and jQuery. At the same time, customer feedback told us that the UI was a big turn-off. It looked very dated and was counterproductive to the ease of use message of the CRM. So, we decided if we were going to rewrite then it made sense to address the UI at the same time.
Q: Why was it important to move away from Microsoft technology and towards open source?
A: In developing the CRM the choice was to continue with Microsoft or move to LAMP architecture. As we were already using MySQL it made sense to move to LAMP which would also give us a wide choice of PHP add ins, plus we felt that open source was more flexible. And with Microsoft the licensing issues are always a bit of a hassle as we are building new servers all the time.
Q: What support do you offer your customers?
A: Really Simple Systems provides free support to all customers – not just using the trial period! To help further we have put the support materials directly into each page of the CRM so if you need help you don’t have to search elsewhere to find it. There’s tutorial videos, text and screenshots that walk you through the CRM features, all written in plain English. It’s easy to understand so you don’t need any specialist knowledge to get set up.
Q: What are your plans for next four months?
A: Over the next few months we’re looking to release further developments to the CRM. These include: an integration with the third-party integration site Zapier; the launch of a new quotations feature; the addition of a daily tasks reminder; introduction of OneLogin to give a single sign-on; making the CRM compliant with proposed new EU data protection regulations GDPR; plus we’ll be migrating our current customer base to the new ‘Version 5’.
Recommended: Q: How do you see the competitive landscape as vendors in the enterprise CRM sector look to expand their reach into the SMB market?
A: Despite some token gestures towards the SMB sector, it’s clear that Salesforce, and its competitors, are pursuing an enterprise strategy. In time, it’s likely they will leave the SMB market altogether.
As a vendor focused exclusively on the SMB sector, we feel Really Simple Systems is well placed to capitalize and excel.
Q: How would you convince the reader to start using the Really Simple Systems CRM Version 5?
A: Ask yourself if you really need a big, clunky, expensive CRM system, or something that just works? Or just sign-up and have a go! It’s easy to use and our customer support is free.
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