In the following article we’ll be looking at an upcoming web-based CRM application called Workbooks. We will cover its base functionality, usability, customer focus and content, before deciding if it proves to be value for money. Tasked with reviewing Workbooks was no easy feat!  Why?  Well the offering Workbooks provide is so feature rich, one could easy get lost in it’s depths of functionality, and that’s exactly what I did!

A bling GUI

CRM apps are my specialty, and Workbook’s immediately made a big impression on me with its Windows style desktop.  To be honest, it was quite a surprise to login and be presented with what looked and felt like a virtual computer.

Going with a windows desktop look and feel for your navigation paradigm on a web based application is quite impressive. So I was hoping the rest of the application was quite as pretty.

Sadly, my one criticism here would be that what followed wasn’t as pretty and more in tune with traditional CRM’s representation of data, with lots of field/table displays of content.  Not that that’s a problem, I simply opened up what looked like a sports car, rubbed my eyes and found a family estate.  Now hopefully when I start the engine, it’ll purr and run like that sports car!

Navigating Workbooks

Getting around is fairly easy for high level functionality such as the products main features: Contact Management, Sales (leads engine), Simple Campaigning and Case Management.  The windows style navigation makes thing very simple to navigate.

Workbooks have an option of using a demo database which will pre-load the application with lots of sample content.  This instantly allows you to try out end-to-end scenarios without having to build up a data model first.

End to end scenarios

I found the process of creating a spoof company with some employees fairly simple.  Then going on to run a simple campaign with one of these employees was really straight forward.  Perhaps at times there could have been a bit more thought into the presentation of relevant data to help you build more of a relationship with a potential lead or prospect, however the functionality does its job and does it well.

Viewing customer quotations from a Workbooks campaign

First class knowledge base

A hidden gem of Workbooks’ offering is its fantastic array of training videos and simplistic quick start guide style documentation.  This is a company who know that the key to getting users using your product is to make it as simple to use as possible.  If you do find yourself having to look at their knowledge base, you’ll find solutions very quickly to your problems. Something which, in my opinion, can’t be said of many products currently on the market.

Making good use of the community

Likewise it’s good to see Workbooks listening to their customers. In their Community Ideas section, there is a clearly positive attitude to taking on board suggestions for improvement from their users.  Furthermore, they actively encourage users of their product to trial out new beta versions, allowing for a more robust and stable final product delivery.

Contacting a lead via Workbooks

Feature overview

Here’s a quick summary of its main features:

Contact Management

• Organization management
• People management
• Relationships
• Data association
  • Contacts
  • Files
  • Notes

Sales Force Automation

• Opportunity management
• Forecasting
• Reporting
• Quotations

Marketing Automation

• Campaign Engine
• Lead management
• Lead capture and importing
• Integration with Google Adwords & Analytics
• Email channels

Customer Support

• Case Management system
  • Prioritization of work
  • Assignment and queues
  • Case tracking

Order Fulfillment

• Document creation
  • Orders
  • Invoices
  • Credit Notes
  • Supplier Orders
• Tracking of documents

Is it for you?

An extremely usable product, I found Workbooks to be a great all rounder.  Providing a feature rich interface which does the core of what other CRM apps do, and in some cases that little bit better.  One suggestion which they could take from other enterprise scale CRM’s would be to split their functionality into user types.  This way you could include the addition of administrative users, with the power to configure organizations.  You could have your case worker who handles inbound emails from customers, and your sales agent who tries to turn potential leads into sales.

If you’re on the market for a hosted offering which your company can use, then you’d certainly have nothing to lose from giving Workbooks a try.

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