
CallPro CRM Review


"With its origins as an in-house telemarketing system for a client, CallPro CRM is in its 15th year of development."
- Expert Review
About CallPro CRM
With its origins as an in-house telemarketing system for a client, CallPro CRM is in its 15th year of development. With industries’ demand for CRM, it was a natural progression for Quality System Solutions (QSS) to integrate their call-centric software with a full blown CRM system. Throw in lead generation campaign management and we have what they maintain as ‘the world’s # 1 e-Marketing and call-centric CRM system’ and they are not far off! No surprise either that this time last year, CallPro CRM was awarded top CRM position in a competition organised by Call Centre Helper.com due to its cost effectiveness, flexibility and its suitability for telemarketing. In this review we’ll try to establish why.
DEVELOPER: United Kingdom and outside North America
Quality System Solutions Limited
Hartham Park, Corsham
Wiltshire, SN 13 0RP
DEVELOPER: USA / Canada
CallPro CRM LLC
14004 Roosevelt Boulevard
Suite 601 H
Clearwater
FL 33762
COST: 65 $ per user per month (licensing per concurrent user)
System Requirements
PC or Mac Any browser (including IE), Firefox or Chrome preferred Dial using TAPI: Windows PC only Dial using Skype: Windows PC only (Apple don’t allow the communication to Skype) Dial using VoIP softphone: Windows PC only (Apple does not allow the communication to the softphone) Dial using IP command: Windows PC or Mac eg using Asterisk
GETTING STARTED
Our introduction to CallPro CRM was via various videos available on the website giving an overview of some of the features and benefits CallPro CRM has to offer. A free trial (which is a full working version) is also available for 14 days but be prepared, the developers are fairly reluctant to let you explore the system alone initially and prefer to offer an online demo of the systems capabilities first.
Getting your data into CallPro CRM
Most businesses have a database of some sorts in place and would therefore need to import their existing client information so the ease and speed at which one can do this is always a good test for the system. Clients, Products and Clients’ contact history can be imported from a CSV (comma separated value) file – standard stuff. After completing certain import parameters and selecting the file to be imported, CallPro CRM displays a list of all the fields available to you in the system as well as a list of fields in the import file. The fields to be imported are then simply mapped to the existing fields. If data needs to be imported on a regular basis, the mappings can be saved and then retrieved each time the import needs to be done thus saving time. We had no problems importing our data into CallPro CRM and the process was straightforward and successful.
Data can also be imported into different databases (database areas) with a limit of 999 and each database can have its own unique interface and set of parameters but data can be copied between multiple database areas.
Customising and Configuring CallPro CRM
We were a bit overwhelmed at the extent by which one can customise the system and more planning and implementation time was required than we initially hoped but this does allow the user to tailor the package exactly to the way their business operates and does not dictate the way they should work. Even still, there is an extensive Setup Menu which seems infinite.
Each user within a database area can have their own set of parameters including screen layout allowing them to view only the information they need to, thereby keeping it simple while other users can have a more detailed view depending on their requirements. This obviously reduces the learning curve for most and therefore implementation costs. Virtually everything on the client capture form can be configured, from icons to column headings to page tabs, giving the user a snapshot of the client contact history, purchase orders, documents and more.
User Profile Setup: There is no limitation to the number of new users that can be configured in the system, each with a user name, password and authority level or permissions.
User Defined Fields: Besides creating User Defined Fields, Customer Statuses, Owners and Salesmen need to be set up initially as well. A User Defined Customer Status needs to be assigned to all client accounts for example Prospect and then each Customer Status can be further defined into sub-statuses like cold, hot etc making filtering subsets of your database very powerful. In fact, searching for information can be done on virtually any field in the database.
Up to 100 user defined fields may be set up at account level and an additional 60 at contact level which should be more than sufficient for any organisation. These are fields over and above the basic client information fields like name, address and telephone.
An area that requires some consideration on initial setup is the Responses which are used to measure the result of calls as certain Responses can trigger a Status change.
Response Setup
Screen Layout: The Account Details screen is made up of different panels which can consist of a range of items from individual fields to contact history lists. Over and above being able to customise these panels, the page tabs at the bottom of the screen can be configured as well and this is where the System Administrator comes in because we cannot see the average user spending too much time here!
Client Record
Setting up Documents: Email campaign documents need to be setup before sending out any mail and you can choose to create these in the HTML document editor which works like a normal word processor, otherwise you can enter standard HTML code. Letter documents can be setup in a standard Windows word processor and uploaded and the merge fields inserted.
The second stage of the setup process is configuring various settings in the Database Area Setup like the email SMTP Server, appointment preferences and preferred dialling methods and as you can see, there is a substantial amount to set up prior to being able to utilise the package efficiently. The advantage being flexibility, the disadvantage being cost in terms of time and expertise.
FEATURES
Telemarketing
The telemarketing functionality is both powerful and all encompassing.
From a pre-defined call list, where any information about the prospective clients to be called can be displayed, the call process begins. The user typically views the clients’ details, makes the call (manual or automatic), updates the record and uses the Wrapup screen to record the response. Once the result has been saved, the call is logged on the record and the user can move on to the next client.
In more detail, CallPro CRM offers predictive dialling which allows for the automatic dialling of a group of numbers. Unanswered and busy calls are dumped and the answered calls are passed on to sales agents.
To assist users, call Guides can be created and used as a reference to prompt the user with the sales pitch. There is no limit to the number of call guides set up in the system. Having this information at their fingertips allows the user to project a more confident and professional image. Call Scripts can be designed for surveys with a set of questions and answers where the user simply selects the answers from a pre-defined list. After the relevant answer has been selected, the user then moves on to the next question. The results can then be analysed within the system.
Call outcomes are tracked in the Wrapup section like the follow up date and time which is added and a response is selected which is pre-defined in the Setup. Further actions after wrapup on the client record can be triggered like the call back date can be set automatically; status changed automatically; google calendar updated with the appointment details; personalised documents generated and more.
With CallPro’s progressive auto-dialer, once the call has ended, the system can pause allowing the user to view client details before the system automatically dials the next client in the queue. This reduces the number of clicks made by the user ultimately allowing for more calls to be made.
Dialling from CallPro CRM can be done via standard telephone lines using a modem; Internal PBX using TAPI; VoIP systems using http commands or a softphone; other VoIP systems such as RingCentral, 8×8, Vonage, Skype.
E-Marketing
Callpro CRM offers all the advanced features required to create and manage effective campaigns. The process is this simple…..set up your document, select the records and send the emails.
Analysing campaign data is extensive, in fact CallPro is able to analyze results based on any field in the database enabling you to discover the best segmentation for example, view campaign results by different job titles or industry codes. Campaigns can be compared against each other on one screen and by running multiple campaigns and comparing results, it is possible to refine and improve results.
The e-marketing functionality is more than impressive – having CallPro automatically prioritise clients that have viewed your e-mail or even update specific fields in the database when opened, can only improve your campaign performance.
E-mail campaign analysis
Appointment Scheduling
The diary in CallPro CRM can display Google Calendar entries as well as sending new appointment details to Google Calendar which can then be synchronised with MS Outlook, Blackberry, smart phones etc. meaning appointments can be viewed anywhere, not just in CallPro CRM. The system can be set to use one calendar for each database area or one for each salesman.
No external diary is needed although nowadays most users are already using an electronic calendaring system so tight integration into the more popular calendars is more of a pre-requisite. In terms of appointment scheduling, we found everything we needed.
Each user can have their own calendar and configure their own appointment times and default calendar layout. Double bookings are avoided thanks to conflict checking and the ability to view other users’ calendars.
Other calendaring functionality includes being able to import territory details and assign accounts to each user automatically. Recurring appointments, Group Scheduling and the facility to add notes to appointments at any stage is pretty standard stuff.
Calendar
REPORTING & ACTIVITY ANALYSIS
CallPro CRM’s report writer can create reports in various formats namely: lists; summaries and pivot tables/cross-tabs. The report writer was not the easiest we have come across and took some time getting used to.
Over and above CallPro CRM’s own report writer, there are various other statistics that are available for each user displaying the number of calls and the amount of time logged on daily, weekly and monthly. This is particularly valuable information for management in determining the effectiveness of calls. A call history can also be generated which lists every call event for the parameters specified for example by salesman or activity.
Call History
Other standard activity analysis includes:
- View sign on and sign off times
- View number of calls in a date range
- View current activity (how long is the user in a current call etc.)
- View user monitor giving call and success rates
INTEGRATION WITH THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS
Although CallPro includes a facility for Quotes and Sales Orders, Invoices can be sent automatically to either QuickBooks or Xero accounting systems with unattended and automatic synchronisation.
CallPro CRM also integrates with Capscan, an address management solution making the input of address information faster and more accurate.
Dialling can be done via a host of telephony systems like Skype, Vonage and RingCentral to make calls and end them automatically thereby saving time and call costs. Integration with Voiptalk combines simpler, multi-platform bulk dialing with optional hosted call recording. CallPro CRM also works hand in hand with Salesforce.com importing campaigns, updating data and returning the updated campaign back to SalesForce.com.
HELP & SUPPORT
An online manual is available with a Getting Started as well as Quick Setup Guide. There is a troubleshooting with a ‘how to’ section and answers to every question a user could possibly have. We found the help extremely comprehensive. The developers also seem to have a genuine concern in assisting with any queries you might have whilst getting started and we got that warm and fuzzy feeling right from the start.
PRICING
65 $ per concurrent user per month is what CallPro CRM will cost you and this includes all updates to the system. In other words you are paying for the number of users accessing the system at the same time which makes perfect business sense as you are not paying for users that are not utilising the software. They also offer the option of changing the number of users on a month to month basis should you need to.
There is no big financial outlay either in getting the system up and running as no fancy hardware or software is required. Annual Contracts are available and a discount is offered should you decide to sign up for a year.
VERDICT
So what are you getting for your money? Quality Systems Solutions brags about unlimited data storage, unlimited e-mails and unlimited auto-dialling – certainly something not all of their competitors offer. They maintain too that CallPro CRM provides the greatest feature set (including unique call-centric features that increase call volume) for a lower price per user – and you are not locked into the system for a year at a time. This is all true AND their ROI statistics for CallPro CRM vs Traditional CRM systems are very convincing.
Overall we found CallPro CRM not the sexiest looking CRM software we have reviewed from a user interface perspective but beneath the layout, it is certainly feature-rich and packs a punch. We did find that there was more work to be done in setting up the system than we would have liked but then one can argue that this is what makes Call Pro CRM so customisable.
Although CallPro CRM offers all the features and tools any sales person or telemarketer could wish for, at the end of the day we did not find the software that intuitive and easy to use.