Following a significant shift in demand for customer relationship management (CRM) solutions across Africa, the SalesLogix CRM solution set is to take pride of place in the Sage Enterprise Solutions portfolio for the continent.
That's the word from the local Sage team and the international SalesLogix representatives after a series of meetings in Johannesburg recently.
"Despite the number of local early adopters, the CRM market has still taken time to pick up around Africa. However, we are confident that now is the right time to introduce solutions for this space," explains Ashley Ellington, the divisional director for Africa at Sage Enterprise Solutions.
"From here, we will be actively focusing on awareness creation, pre-sales structures and technical support for SalesLogix; the team our channel partner, Business Connexion [formerly Comparex Africa], will be facing customers, handling sales and conducting implementations. We will also explore the appointment of other CRM resellers in the near future."
SalesLogix is a modular software solution that seeks to integrate and automate the sales, marketing and customer support functions within a company; it also aligns and integrates with existing accounting applications, databases and business management systems (BMS). This integration is especially tight when the BMS is Sage Line 500 - the latest version of which has just been released by Sage Enterprise Solutions across Africa.
A Web-based configuration is also available for those companies as an alternative to the more traditional client/server implementation. Customisable and simple to deploy, an online solution can often provide a low cost of ownership.
The Web offering covers almost all bases - tools for sales teams to manage accounts, leads and activities; integration with Microsoft Outlook for communication from within SalesLogix; a comprehensive online system for customer support staff; and a self-service portal designed so customers can resolve their own queries.
A series of add-on modules - such as the KnowledgeSync application that monitors changes in client information and points to business opportunities - completes the total CRM offering.
"There's little doubt that a CRM solution can assist companies to capture, collate, analyse and make choices based on data about their customers," explains Ellington.
"However, it's not a cure-all. A company's strategy has to be on target, its IT infrastructure sound, and the CRM solution designed and implemented in the best way to suit the business. Working together with Business Connexion, we plan to help more companies across Africa realise benefits from this kind of technology."
For more information on Sage, visit www.sageafrica.com.
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