ActionStep Business Review

ActionStep Business System is a suite of online business applications delivered through the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. With its primary functions a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, ActionStep extends its offerings to wider business functions too.

ActionStep CRM Features and Beyond

We started our review seeking to examine the CRM related functionalities of the ActionStep CRM product. On closer inspection we found that ActionStep provides features beyond CRM.

Apart from helping you efficiently manage customer data and interactions, the service also helps you with advanced functionalities such as Workflow management, Accounting and Payroll Management. All these features are targeted at internal as well as external customers, thereby helping you run your business smoothly. For the purpose of this review, we shall focus more on the CRM+ module of ActionStep.

The ActionStep CRM+ module is loaded with features to help you perform various functions across a customer life cycle; right from running campaigns to acquire customers, to receiving leads, and then helping your sales team to convert them into customers. We found ActionStep CRM+ interface to be very smooth and user-friendly.

Single data source for your entire organization

The biggest advantage perhaps, is that the system allows your entire organization to operate from the same database. Your customer support team, sales and marketing team as well as the management will see the most up-to-date information of every possible interaction with any customer. There is no duplication of data needed across multiple systems.

Campaign Management

ActionStep CRM+ allows you to create and manage campaigns. The service also allows you to track origin of leads and find out the conversion ratio as well as ROI for every pound that you spend on acquiring customers.

We could easily create campaigns mapping across various customer touch points like our website and customer contact center. Using this you can easily get a real time report on leads generated across each campaign and channel.

Lead Management

You can enter leads into the system in many ways, very much like in most CRM systems. The methods include:

• Manual lead entry – which is usually done by the call center logging in bound inquiries.
• Direct file import – you may import a database such as list of prospects from an event or a commercial directory database into the system. Databases can be imported from excel, CSV, Microsoft Access, and various other popular formats.
• Inquiry forms on landing pages and website – ActionStep has an amazing feature that allows you to create and embedded forms across your website and landing pages. Data entered by your prospects with their inquiry gets directly fed into the system. Alerts can be set to invoke immediate response and closure.

Qualifying and Assigning of leads

Once the leads are captured, you can contact and qualify them the first round of calling. Based on interest levels of the customers, you can assign these leads to sales or support personnel for fulfillment. You can choose to do this assignment manually or through an automated workflow, where the system assigns tasks automatically, allowing you to supervise and intervene wherever needed.

Mobile access

There are many CRM tools which are not being used to its fullest potential. The major barrier in this case is accessibility to sales personnel who are always on the move. A lot of field time is lost if the sales team is asked to head back to office and key in their reports.

ActionStep brings down this barrier through mobile integration. The service integrates well with PDA and mobile devices, granting access to your sales team from wherever they are. The fields they need to update are also simplified, without the need of too much text to be entered.

ActionStep is usable even through the iPhone. The mobile feature can potentially reduce the fatigue and aversion to update the CRM system.

Business Intelligence and Reports

ActionStep also provides a great dashboard for your management to get a direct view into the sales and marketing effort. The reports and views offered by ActionStep helps the board room to assess and take key decisions that shape the functioning of the business. For example, the head of sales of the organization can have a look at the sales pipeline, which gives a clear picture of the number of prospects at different levels of conversion, between the first contact and the final closed deal.

This can serve as a great starting input for sales forecasts and budgeting. All these reports are generated automatically and updated in real-time requiring no human intervention.

Advantages of ActionStep CRM+

• Runs smoothly through a browser without the need to install any additional software on your computer. CRM+ can be accessed from any location with an Internet connection.
• No licensing costs, pay-as-you-use model that charges a monthly fee based on number or users and features required.
• A single system across different function eliminates the need of repetitive data entry and data duplication.
• High-end lead management capability of the system helps you track lead from the time you enter, till they convert or opt out.
• Great reporting features that can facilitate faster management decisions

Drawbacks of ActionStep:

• Good quality and almost continuous Internet connection is a prerequisite, since the entire system is web-based.
• Confidential data needs to be entrusted to a third-party host and service. Not all businesses are comfortable with that.
• Pricing is variable may prove to get expensive with a large and growing sales team.

Conclusion

CRM is an essential ingredient of any business today that cares to evolve with its customer needs. With choosy customers in the driving seat of your business, it is imperative to be equipped with tools such as the one offered by ActionStep. Software as a Service is gaining increasing acceptance and ActionStep is delivered through the same model. SaaS saves you capital costs involved in acquiring and implementing an inhouse CRM solution. The benefits of ActionStep far outweigh its few drawbacks and serves as an excellent CRM tool for today’s evolving business.