We are very excited to release CRM2Outlook LEADS for SugarCRM.  This plug-in for Microsoft Outlook is a time saving solution that automates the process of extracting email-based feedback forms or sales enquiries.

Typical uses include:

• You have an enquiry page on your website which people fill in and submit.  The enquiry arrives in your Outlook Inbox and you currently re-type the details into your SugarCRM database.
• You have an electronic questionnaire that is completed and the contents are emailed to you.  You re-type the results into your SugarCRM database.

CRM2Outlook LEADS automates these processes.  Any type of 'structured' email can be 'mapped' to fields in your SugarCRM database and set to automatically (or manually) extract the email content and create a new Lead or Contact in SugarCRM.

Although SugarCRM has a Web2Lead feature which integrates SugarCRM and a website form, many people do not wish to use this feature.  For example, they want to create a Contact and not a Lead or if the SugarCRM instance needs to go off-line for maintenance, potential enquiries will be lost using SugarCRMs Web2Lead form.

With CRM2Outlook LEADS all enquiries are handled through your Outlook email client so no enquiry is lost and you can choose where in your SugarCRM database the enquiry is created.

CRM2Outlook PRO which is due out later this year will provide advanced integration with MS Outlook.  This includes email archiving, contact/calendar synchronisation, 'active' lookup and much more.

Download your free 60-day trial here

I thought I'd let people know about the release of CRM2Outlook LEADS which has been requested for sometime now.  With this plugin the content in a structured Outlook email is extracted by CRM2Outlook and inserted into your CRM system.

Many organisations we speak to have a website-based enquiry form which sends the details entered to an email address when the form is submitted.  The trouble is that the recipient of the email then has to manually type the details into their CRM system.  Obviously this takes time and is prone to mistypes.

With CRM2Outlook LEADS you simply install the plugin on the PC that is recieving the emails, set up the connection to your CRM (currently only SugarCRM and info@hand CRMs are supported), you then tell the plugin what to look for in the email and where to place it in the CRM (you do this for each field).

For example the body of an email contains....

Firstname:  John
Lastname:   Doe
Organization: ACME inc.

Here, you would map "Firstname: " and anything after this phrase place in leads.firstname field in CRM.

We should see the official release by the end of the month.   I will post an update nearer the time.

I thought I'd start our blogging with the company's vision statement and the overall goal of CRM2Office.

Having worked in the CRM space since 1989 I have found it increasingly difficult to get make use of my CRM data quickly and effortlessly.  Even to complete the simplest of tasks such as merging a letter so that the name and address of the person I am writing to appears on the letter without having to re-type the damn thing each time and making stupid typos!

I've worked with over a dozen CRM systems in my time and all of them seem to become too engrossed in keeping up with the next new technology piece to arrive.  Whether its .NET, Web2.0, Cloud this and cloud that.  In the scrabble for innovation, the everyday needs of the user is forgotten.

So, onto our vision statement.

Our vision is to deliver solutions that connect Microsoft Office applications to a CRM system in 3 easy non-technical steps, in less than 90 seconds and that just work, delightfully and for less than $100.

Really its a no brainer.  How much time and effort have you expended trying to extract data, merge CSV files and data sources.  Whatever your charge out rates are or hourly income you only have to mess around for a few minutes before this system pays for itself.

The ultimate vision of the company is to become the global name for quality plug-in's that just work.  Over the coming months CRM2Office will be launching a suite of products which will integrate with a variety of systems including all of the following:

• MS Word plug-in for SugarCRM
• MS Word plug-in for Info@hand CRBM
• MS Outlook plug-in for SugarCRM
• MS Outlook plug-in for info@hand CRBM
• MS Excel plug-in for SugarCRM
• MS Excel plug-in for Info@hand CRBM
• MS Word plug-in for Joomla!

So, bookmark this page and come back soon!

Regards

Simon Leek
CEO
CRM2Office