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The best CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software solutions help sales teams streamline critical processes to improve productivity, track customer interactions and gain actionable insights to deliver a personalized experience to sell smarter, shorten the sales cycle and drive better retention rates.

This article reviews the 21 best CRM software to help you streamline your searches. We’ll cover the key features, user experience, pricing plans, strengths, and weaknesses. So, let’s get to it.

1. Salesforce Sales Cloud CRM

Salesforce Sales Cloud is a cloud-based customer relationship management solution that supports large sales teams and every customer touchpoint.

Over 150,000 companies, including world-leading brands like IBM, NBCUniversal, and Sonos, use the CRM system to streamline workflow automation. 

Key Features

Project Management — The software natively integrates with Slack, allowing you to seamlessly manage your Salesforce tasks in one central location and collaborate remotely with colleagues, customers, and partners in real-time. 

Sales Forecasting — Salesforce can estimate your future sales revenue using your current and historical pipeline data. Again, integrating with apps like revVana helps you gain better revenue insights.

Flexible and Scalable — This CRM software helps small businesses and enterprises meet their growing needs without sacrificing performance. Salesforce CRM is entirely cloud-based, supports over 8,700 integrations, and has an open API, making it highly extensible.

User Experience

Setting up an account only takes three steps.

The dashboard is clean and straightforward, making it easy to use. You can click the modules on the navigation menu to use its features. Additionally, the CRM software displays information in graphs, pie charts, and tables in an easy-to-understand way.

Salesforce Sales Cloud has a robust knowledge base to hit the ground running immediately.

Pricing

Salesforce offers four subscription plans, billed annually:

  • Essential $25 per user per month
  • Professional $75 per user per month
  • Enterprise $150 per user per month
  • Unlimited $300 per user per month

Strengths

  • It’s fully cloud-based (you don’t need to install anything)
  • 30-day free trial
  • Customer relations management automation
  • Supports over 8,000 integrations and apps
  • Multilingual and multi-currency support
  • Open API
  • Leads management and business intelligence tools
  • Round-the-clock support
  • Multiple appointment scheduling
  • Mass emailing capability

Weaknesses

  • It doesn’t support live chat
  • Not suitable for on-premise deployment

2. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is one of our top options for the best CRM software today. The cloud-based solution helps marketers set up their pipelines, track progress in real-time and automate routine tasks. Over 100,000 companies in 179 countries use the software.

Key Features

Real-Time Alerts — Pipedrive has a built-in reminder that keeps you posted on all your sales activities so you don’t miss a follow-up.

Reporting — The CRM provides detailed reports on pipeline performance. With this insight, you can measure your progress against your business goals.

Revenue Forecasting — The software can forecast your sales volume and revenue using your pipeline data. It automatically updates the estimate when a lead’s status changes.

Leads Capture — Pipedrive has a customizable web form that helps you capture leads for your pipeline. Also, you can segment the leads for personalized communications.

User Experience

Pipedrive is user-friendly. New users will be able to get the hang of it quickly. Also, the CRM software has a robust help center to help users set up and customize their accounts.

It features a visual pipeline that lets you see your sales strategies and process and update a lead status by dragging and dropping it. Additionally, it presents reports in easy-to-understand ways.

The software offers live chat and round-the-clock email support for quick resolutions. 

Pricing

Pipedrive offers four plans, billed monthly and annually.

  • Essential $11.90 per user per month
  • Advanced $24.90 per user per month
  • Professional $49.90 per user per month
  • Enterprise $74.90 per user per month

Strengths

  • Faster deal closing
  • Omnichannel lead generation
  • Efficient customer relationship management
  • Free trial (no credit card required)
  • Goal setup and tracking
  • Sales forecast
  • Over 350 integrations
  • 14-days free trial
  • API support
  • Real-time support

Weaknesses

  • No free plan
  • The dashboard could feel overwhelming

3. Oracle Netsuite CRM

Oracle NetSuite Customer Relationship Management software promises to deliver the real-time data you need to manage interactions with potential customers, existing customers, and suppliers, deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive sales.

Over 32,000 customers use Oracle NetSuite products.

Key Features

Sales Force Automation — NetSuite CRM SFA unifies your sales processes and provides unprecedented insights into every aspect of your customer relationship to supercharge your sales performance.

Marketing Workflow — You can create and launch targeted marketing campaigns to grow your leads pool. Also, the CRM lets you segment your leads to deliver a personalized experience, shortening the sales cycle.

Customer Service Management — NetSuite automates customer service management, allowing users to focus on other pressing day-to-day activities. For example, it can review the status of submitted tickets and reply with follow-up communications.

Partnership Relationship Management — NetSuite CRM is not just a customer relationship management software. Instead, the platform is a complete business management tool that helps you manage relationships with partners, share real-time information, and maintain control over partner-focused sales processes.

User Experience

This CRM could be more beginner-friendly if not for its many features and advanced functionalities. However, the software offers a search feature to help users find things faster. Another user experience challenge is Netsuite’s time-demanding customization.

Plus, some users have reported crashes and downtime.

Besides these challenges, NetSuite has an excellent user interface that makes it exciting. Also, it offers live chat support, helpful resources, and a comprehensive knowledge base.

Pricing 

NetSuite charges an annual license fee but doesn’t provide any pricing plans. You must contact their customer support to learn about the deployment needs of their CRM systems.

Strengths

  • A centralized data source that gives users unprecedented visibility into their sales process
  • Salesforce, marketing, and customer service automation
  • Partner relationship management
  • Advanced reporting and analytics
  • Great user interface
  • Sales forecasting
  • Mobile 

Weaknesses

  • No monthly subscription plans
  • Not-too-great user experience
  • Expensive compared to other CRM solutions

4. Zoho CRM  

Over 250,000 businesses worldwide use Zoho CRM software solutions. It helps management, marketing, support, and sales teams address their customer relationship management and omnichannel engagement needs.

The platform empowers users to deliver personalized experiences and drive sales through multiple channels.

Key Features

Sales Force Automation — You can create workflows to reduce manual data entry, eliminate redundancies and automate repetitive sales, marketing, and customer service functions. 

Journey Orchestration — Zoho CRM lets users create personalized customer journeys and track each prospect’s path to identify delays or loopholes and optimize the sales process.

Omnichannel — With the Zoho CRM software, you can engage and track customer interactions across multiple channels, including email, social media, phone, and the self-service channel. 

Sales Enablement — Zoho CRM enables frictionless sales processes. You can generate quotes, invoices, and orders within the CRM software. Also, it lets you set up partner portals to grow your business and manage relationships with stakeholders.

User Experience

The Zoho CRM dashboard is clean, straightforward, and user-friendly. So, you can use all of its features as a first-time CRM user.

For example, the software lays the module tabs above the fold at the top bar, making them easily accessible. The reports are also less overwhelming as you can drill into the report you want to see, one at a time.

Zoho CRM offers webinars, tutorials, free eBooks, and documentation for easy setup and customization. No live chat support.

Pricing

Zoho CRM offers four subscription plans billed monthly and annually:

  • Standard $18 per user per month
  • Professional $30 per user per month
  • Enterprise $45 per user per month
  • Ultimate $55 per user per month

Strengths

  • Mobile
  • Marketing and sales automation
  • Advanced template and layout customization
  • Insightful reporting and analytics
  • Team collaboration
  • Support customer self-service portal
  • Predictive sales and intelligence
  • Voice assistant
  • Multilingual and multi-currency support
  • App marketplace with several third-party developers
  • REST API support
  • Activity reminders and sticky notes
  • 15-days free trial

Weaknesses

  • No live chat support
  • Limited native marketing automation (needs extensions)

5. HubSpot CRM 

HubSpot CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management solution for salespeople, marketers, customer service agents, operations managers, and business owners. Top global brands like Atlassian, Doordash, and Wistia use the HubSpot CRM software.

Key Features

Multiple Hub — HubSpot CRM offers five hubs—marketing, sales, customer service, CMS, and Operations—that lets you pay for your needs. In addition, you can integrate up to five hubs into a single CRM to streamline your business processes. 

Email Marketing — The software has a built-in email marketing capability for targeted campaigns to your audience. In addition, you can create customized emails with the intuitive drag-and-drop editor.

Lead Generation — With the built-in lead-capturing forms, ad management tools, and landing pages, you can generate leads online, feed them directly into the CRM and convert them to customers.

Customer Support Portal — You’ll get a customer support portal to manage customer services and support requests, minimizing the burden on your customer service team. With the portal, you can also set up your knowledge base.

SEO Advisor — The SEO Advisor provides actionable SEO tips which can help you rank essential keywords on Google search results. It comes in handy when creating blog posts or developing landing or website pages.

User Experience

You can set up HubSpot CRM quickly and get it running immediately.

The CRM is easy to use and has an excellent user interface. You can customize your dashboard to quickly view your sales pipeline all in one place to enhance your user experience. Also, HubSpot presents its reports in an easy-to-understand way.

It also integrates seamlessly with other tools. In addition, HubSpot offers onboarding services and multiple support channels—phone, email, live chat, and online community.

Pricing

HubSpot offers a free version but with limited access to its tools. You can extend its functionality based on your needs by subscribing to a plan in the appropriate hub.

Marketing Hub

  • Starter $45 per month
  • Professional $800 per month
  • Enterprise $3,600 per month

Sales Hub

  • Starter $45 per month
  • Professional $450 per month
  • Enterprise $1,200 per month

Customer Service Hub

  • Starter $45 per month
  • Professional $450 per month
  • Enterprise $1,200 per month

CMS Hub

  • Starter $23 per month
  • Professional $360 per month
  • Enterprise $1,200 per month

Operations Hub

  • Starter $45 per month
  • Professional $720 per month
  • Enterprise $32,000 per month

Strengths

  • Powerful collaborative tool, Integrating marketing, sales, customer service, CMS, and operations in a single CRM solution.
  • A free version
  • User-friendly and intuitive
  • Large CRM database
  • Sales and marketing workflow
  • Insightful reporting and analytics
  • Lead management 
  • Seamless third-party integration
  • Social posting from the CRM
  • Meeting scheduling
  • Mobile app

Weaknesses

  • Limited features that could push to acquire other HubSpot licenses
  • HubSpot licenses are on the high side.

6. Freshworks

Freshsales is a sales CRM software that promises to help you gain a 360-degree view of your customers, deliver personalized engagement, shorten the sales cycle and accelerate revenue with context-driven sales. Brands like Klarna, Blue Nile, and PharmEasy use the CRM system.

Key Features

Lead Generation and Scoring — Freshwok offers CRM tools to help you run personalized campaigns and generate leads from your website visitors. You can also score the leads based on their engagement level.

Deal Management — Freshworks provides a birds-eye view of the deals in your pipeline, making it easy to prioritize and work on them immediately. You can also collaborate with multiple salespersons on the same deal., 

Workflow Automation —The software’s built-in workflow automation lets users automate repetitive tasks to save and boost the sales force’s productivity. You can quickly create automation with the pre-set templates.

AI-Powered Insights —Freshworks’ algorithm, Freddy AI, does the heavy lifting so that you can focus on only deals that convert. Additionally, it delivers AI-powered insights that help you drive faster deal closure. 

Omnichannel — The software enables users to reach customers on their preferred channel without exiting the CRM software. For instance, you can connect with your contacts via email, phone, live chat, WhatsApp, SMS, and Zoom.

User Experience

You can set up an account in three simple steps and connect your email account to the CRM software.

The dashboard is clean and less overwhelming. As a result, you are likely to crack the software at first use without facing many challenges. Also, you can import your sales data and start using the CRM tools immediately without starting from scratch.

You can use the FAQ, help center, or live chat for quick resolutions when you run into issues.

Pricing

Freshworks offers the best free CRM software with basic features—ideal for beginner users. In addition, you can subscribe to a paid plan to access more tools.

  • Growth $15 per user per month
  • Pro $39 per user per month
  • Enterprise $69 per user per month

Strengths

  • Email marketing within the CRM software
  • AI-powered deal insights
  • Built-in lead generation capability
  • Seamless sales process automation
  • Multilingual and multi-currency support
  • Territory management
  • Omnichannel customer engagement
  • Over 30 reports
  • A free plan
  • Mobile app
  • 21 days free trial of the highest tier plan
  • Provides a 360-degree view of the business
  • AI-based leads scoring
  • Pipeline visualization

Weaknesses

  • Hard-to-reach support
  • Limited third-party integrations

7. Monday

Monday CRM software is one of the best CRM software in the industry. Over 125,000 businesses use it to generate leads from multiple sources, qualify them in a central location, and track and manage all aspects of the sales cycle, from pre-sales to post-sales, all in one place.

Key Features

Email Tracking — With Monday, you can centralize your email communications and track essential email metrics to learn when to reach out, saving you time on cold leads. It also lets you create personalized emails with built-in templates.

Sales Process Automation — You don’t have to waste time on repetitive sales processes. It’s one of the best CRM software for automating your workflows, enabling you to focus on essential things. For instance, it can assign leads to sales reps, notifies you when a prospect opens an email, and more.

Leads Capturing — You can feed your sales pipeline with steady streams of qualified leads collected from multiple sources, qualify them on the CRM, and automatically score them based on pre-set criteria.

Post-Sales Management — Monday’s post-sales management capability lets you continuously manage customer relationships and drive after-sales customer satisfaction to boost customer retention.

User Experience

You can quickly sign up with Gmail and set up your account in a few more steps.

You can sell your sales pipeline and customer journey at a glance. Also, the user interface is excellent, and the software presents information in ways anyone can quickly grasp. In addition, it has a desktop notification feature that keeps you updated on your sales activities in real-time.

Users can customize their dashboards to see only the things they like. Unfortunately, the support doesn’t provide live chat support; however, it tries to compensate for this with a robust help center and round-the-clock email support.

Pricing

Monday offers a free plan for its CRM software and four premium subscription plans.

  • Basic $10 per month
  • Standard $14 per month
  • Pro $24 per month
  • Enterprise (custom package)

Strengths

  • Free and custom plans
  • Workflow automation
  • Email tracking and centralized communication
  • Pipeline visualization
  • Customizable reporting dashboard
  • Built-in lead management (capturing and auto-scoring)
  • Post-sales customer relationship management
  • Third-party integrations
  • Mobile app
  • Online community and robust help center

Weaknesses

  • Limited native marketing automation
  • No live chat support

8. Keap

Keap is one of the leading sales CRM solutions that cater to small businesses. The software promises to help them grow their leads, improve revenue and drive customer retention through enhanced customer relationship management and marketing workflows.

Key Features

Email and Text Marketing — It’s the right CRM software for small businesses seeking to bring email and SMS marketing into their marketing mix and manage them in one place. They can quickly create email and SMS campaigns with built-in templates and send them to their segmented lists.

Sales and Marketing Automation — With Keap, small business sales teams can automate critical sales and marketing processes to deliver a personalized experience to customers and drive targeted business growth while saving valuable time and human resources. 

Lead Capturing — You can acquire and track leads at every touchpoint. This CRM software comes with CRM tools for capturing leads like landing pages, dedicated sales funnels, forms, and appointment schedulers, which you leverage to generate consistent leads. 

eCommerce — Keap supports payment processors like Stripe, PayPal, and Wepay, allowing you to send and receive payments within your CRM software. The platform has facilitated over $2.6 billion in online sales since its launch.

User Experience

Keap promises a 14-day free trial. But I need help accessing the feature after signing up; the offer is only available to randomly selected businesses.

If the software can deliver on its promises, it will be great for the user experience. 

Pricing

Keap offers three subscription plans, billed monthly and yearly.

  • Pro $129 per month
  • Max $199 per month
  • Max Classic (custom plan)

Strengths

  • A referral program that pays up to 30% commission
  • A high-reaching user community
  • Knowledge base and help center
  • Native payment platform
  • Built-in email and SMS marketing
  • Advanced automation
  • Expert assistance

Weaknesses

  • No mobile app
  • Limited subscription plan
  • Expensive annual packages
  • The free trial is often unavailable
  • unreliable

9. Sage

Sage integrates sales, marketing, and service modules to deliver world-class customer relationship management software.

It’s one of the best CRM software in the market. With this solution, you can gain valuable insights into where your business stands to make better business decisions.

Key Features

Service Module — This module brings customer service management functionality within the CRM, enabling you to deliver an exceptional experience to prospects and customers, nurture them into long-term relationships and generate repeat businesses.

Sales Modules — With this module, you can automate your sales processes to accelerate sales performance and boost productivity. The company’s customer data shows that sales reps using this feature improved productivity by up to 40%.

Marketing Module — You can plan and run omnichannel, targeted marketing campaigns within the CRM and optimize campaigns to deliver more results with the built-in insightful reports.

User Experience

Sage doesn’t offer its pricing plans upfront. Also, you can’t sign up online. Instead, you’ll need to leave your business information online and wait for their support team to call, which might take time to come.

The user interface is excellent, but the CRM software integrates with only limited applications. In addition, real-time case resolution still needs to be improved. However, the software offers a community forum.

Pricing

Sage doesn’t have public pricing information. 

However, the software license could cost approximately $600 annually for each user. In addition, one-time initial implementation and related services could take the total cost to about $8,000. 

Strengths

  • Single modules to fully Integrated solution
  • Powerful real-time insights 
  • Team collaboration
  • Sales and marketing automation
  • Customer service management

Weaknesses

  • No straightforward signup
  • No subscription plan
  • Limited integration

10. Insightly CRM

Insightly is a popular CRM tool developed to help businesses streamline their processes, collaborate across teams, and integrate all the applications they need to drive sustainable growth.

Over 25,000 companies, including Bloomberg, Bosch, and Sanofi, use the platform, making it one of the best CRM software platforms today.

Key Features

Relationship Mapping — You can link your customer data to existing contacts to map and understand how your customers relate. This feature helps you get a high-definition picture of your customers.

Marketing  — Insightly’s unified marketing platform enables marketing teams to build sales pipelines, attract and engage ideal customers with intelligent and segmented campaigns and automate marketing processes to grow the business faster.

Sales  — You can centralize your customer data in one place, managing leads and spotting and prioritizing those most likely to convert. You can also create and send emails within Insightly and automate your workflows.

Service  — Insightly empowers customer service teams to solve customer challenges more effortlessly. You can receive customer support tickets in one place, quickly share information across the organization and receive actionable insights to improve customer experience.

Integrations  — You can connect all the tools you need to grow your business and manage them under one app. Also, Insightly’s AppConnect supports this CRM’s users in building custom integrations and workflows.

User Experience

Insightly has a clean design with a user-friendly interface. 

Some users complained that it could be challenging to grasp all its possibilities fully. However, it features a knowledge base, videos, and tutorials that could bring you up to speed as quickly as possible. The platform also offers live chat support.

The filters and bulk email could be better.

Pricing

Insightly’s CRM systems come in three plans, billed annually:

  • Plus, $29 per month
  • Professional $49 per month
  • Enterprise $99 per month

Strengths

  • Custom integration and workflow builder
  • Project management and team collaboration
  • Sales and marketing automation
  • Module for customer service teams
  • Scalable CRM
  • Live chat support
  • Free trial
  • Low-entry cost
  • Mobile app
  • Customer relationship mapping

Weaknesses

  • Annual billing
  • Learning curve

11. SugarCRM

SugarCRM is one of the best CRM platforms in the market. It delivers CRM solutions that help companies gain a comprehensive high-definition view of their customers in the past, present, and future to enable predictability, boost situational awareness and reach new levels of business performance. 

Key Features

Predictive Forecasting — SugarCRM leverages historical and real-time data from multiple points to identify issues, root causes, and opportunities and deliver actionable sales insights. In addition, it offers automatic alerts for fast response.

Sales and Marketing Automation — You can automate anything with SugarCRM, from data collection, leads routing, and quote approval to leads scoring and marketing to deliver meaningful buying experiences, shorten the sales cycle, and drive revenue.

Customer Service Management —SugarCRM native customer service management support enables you to deliver a personalized, positive experience to customers at every touchpoint. In addition, the software automates critical processes to reduce the burden on your customer support team. 

User Experience

SugarCRM has a solid user interface.

However, you must pay for at least three users before you sign up for any plan, making the software expensive. Also, the CRM software offers a more complex signup process. You’ll need to fill out an online form to contact support.

SugarCRM has a user community and resource center that can help you quickly set up your account and learn how to make the most of the CRM software. Also, phone support is available in four languages.

Pricing

SugarCRM has four monthly plans, billed annually and requiring a minimum of three users.

  • Market $1000 per month/user
  • Sell $45 per month/user
  • Serve $80 per month/user
  • Enterprise $85 per month/user

Strengths

  • AI-Powered prediction
  • Full situational awareness
  • Sentiment assessment
  • Powerful automation and workflow
  • The built-in customer service solution
  • On-premises deployment
  • Omnichannel customer engagement

Weaknesses

  • No complimentary or trial plan
  • Lacks a mobile app
  • Expensive plan

12. NetHunt

NetHunt is one of the best CRM platforms built for Gmail and Google Workspace users, designed to help them manage leads, nurture prospects, and stay on top of their sales performances. The solution also plays well with LinkedIn and eight other tools.

Key Features

Data Organization  — With NetHunt, you can organize your business data effectively and productively. Also, the solution organizes your deals and sales pipelines in an easy-to-understand manner, providing insights into what works and doesn’t.

Sales Force Automation  — Using this sales CRM means your sales team won’t have to waste time on repetitive tasks. Instead, the solution automates key sales processes like leads capturing and nurturing, contact updates, and others so they can focus on other things.

Centralized Communication  — You can centralize your business communications, regardless of your customer’s preferred channel, whether social media, email, telephone, messenger, or live chat, and manage everything on the go under one app roof.  

User Experience

You can create an account in three clicks. The interface is clean and user-friendly. You can quickly update your deals by dragging and dropping them and visualize your pipeline to see your entire sales process and performance at a glance.

Also, you can set up workflows and integrations in a few minutes. Both processes are intuitive and might not require any learning curve. In addition, NetHunt has a help center and offers live chat support.

Pricing

NetHunt is available via four subscription plans, billed monthly and annually.

  • Basic $24 per month
  • Business $48 per month
  • Advanced $96 per month
  • Custom plan

Strengths

  • Zapier integration
  • Advanced data organization and visualization
  • Workflow automation
  • Omnichannel communication
  • Mobile apple
  • Live chat and phone support
  • Code-free web form for leads capture
  • Low-entry fee
  • Free trial and custom plan
  • Chrome browser extension
  • Open API
  • Cancel anytime

Weaknesses

  • Available only to Gmail and Google Workplace users
  • Limited integration options
  • Limited marketing automation 

13. FreeAgent

FreeAgent CRM helps teams collaborate more effectively to get things done. The software promises to help users track their progress in real-time and gain actionable insights to optimize their performance. Over 1,000 businesses worldwide use the platform.

Key Features

All-In-One Solution — With FreeAgent CRM, you won’t need to open multiple browser tabs to get your job done. Instead, you get everything done in one place. You can also automate repetitive tasks to get more done in less time. 

Workflow Optimization — You can streamline business processes to complete more work efficiently. The CRM tool can help you organize and prioritize deals so you can focus on those most likely to move the needles for your business.

Code-Free Customization — FreeAgent code-free customization enables you to set your account to meet your business’s unique needs. The software also integrates with other apps, making it highly extensible.

User Experience

FreeAgent CRM is easy to use and has a visually appealing user interface. The software enables complete funnel visualization and presents reports in ways anyone can understand.

You can quickly connect with the company’s in-house CRM experts to set up and customize your account to explore its full possibilities. The solution also offers live chat and helpful resources.

Pricing

FreeAgent offers “Unlimited Users” and “Per User” pricing packages with different plans, billed monthly and annually. The Per User package has three plans.

  • Starter $45 per month
  • Professional $90 per month
  • Enterprise $120 per month

Strengths

  • Highly extensible
  • All-in-one solution
  • Fully cloud-based
  • Code-free customization
  • Workflow automation
  • Full funnel visualization
  • Customer service management
  • Third-party integrations
  • Live chat support
  • Custom app
  • ISO 27001 compliant

Weaknesses

  • No mobile app
  • Poor search and filter

14. Creatio CRM

Creatio CRM is one of the best CRM software used by small and medium-sized businesses in over 100 countries to automate end-to-end customer journeys with no code. You can purchase separate modules or deploy the software as a unified CRM tool. 

Key Features

Marketing Creatio — With this module, you can automate your marketing campaigns, lead management, and deliver personalized omnichannel communication to boost business revenue and drive customer retention.

Sales Creatio — Creatio supports sales teams to collaborate across boards and automate mission-critical sales processes to get more things done. The software also provides a 360-degree view of customer journeys to personalize their experience.

Service Creatio — You can automate and manage customer service workflows on Creatio to save the support team valuable time and deliver an enhanced, personalized experience to customers. The software uses AI to streamline the handling of service cases.

Studio Creatio — Creatio’s no-code UI builder helps non-technical users build business applications and processes with maximum freedom using easy-to-use drag-and-drop visual design tools.

User Experience

The analytics and reporting are insightful, and you can quickly visualize the data in a few clicks.

The software’s no-code capability means you can complete projects that usually take months or even days. In addition, support is multilingual, so you’ll always get assistance whenever the need arises in your preferred language. 

Also, the platform has helpful resources for quick self-help.

Pricing

Creatio has different subscription packages for each module (Creatio). 

The monthly sales and service modules subscriptions range between $25 and $60, while Marketing Creatio goes for a $1,000 to $100,000 yearly fee. You’ll need to contact support to understand the cost of deploying its unified CRM solutions.

Strengths

  • Cost Calculator
  • Cloud and on-site deployment
  • 360-degree customer view
  • Unlimited no-code customization
  • End-to-end workflow automation
  • Real-time analytics
  • Trial plan
  • Custom plan

Weaknesses

  • Expensive plan
  • No mobile app

15. Close

Close is a cloud CRM solution for remote salespeople. As one of the best CRM software in the industry, it makes team onboarding a breeze, automates and analyzes workflows, and helps you grow revenue quickly. It also integrates well with some of your tools, bringing your software stack to one place.

Key Features

Calling — Close has built-in call software to help you reach more people effortlessly and double your call volume and velocity. With the predictive dialer, you can call multiple numbers at once, and the software automatically routes answered calls to available reps.

Video — Close natively support Zoom, enabling remote selling with videos. The software can connect your Zoom account and sync your previous recordings with the CRM software. It also alerts you five minutes before every meeting, and you can add notes during the meeting for context.

Call Coaching — With Close, you can train your sales team, no matter where they are, all within the CRM without needing to invest in expensive online training tools.

Workflow Automation — The CRM solution offers in-app email and calls automation that can simplify your workflow and help you get more work done. Also, you can save and share winning templates with team members to boost the reach rate and close deals faster.

User Experience

Close is an easy-to-use CRM software for busy salespeople with no learning curve. 

You can quickly create an account, set up your workflow sequences, and immediately put the CRM to work. The software also has dynamic smart views that let you prioritize your leads and quickly find what you need.

Close offers free migration and support, so you can get assistance whenever needed. However, it might not be real-time since the software doesn’t offer live chat.

Pricing

Close offers four subscription plans billed monthly and annually.

  • Starter $25 per month
  • Basic $59 per month
  • Professional $89 per month
  • Business $129

Strengths

  • Remote selling
  • Power and predictive dialer
  • Built-in email and SMS marketing
  • Powerful reporting insights
  • Free trial, migration, and support
  • Sales force automation
  • Phone and email support
  • Pipeline visualization

Weaknesses

  • No mobile app
  • No live chat support

16. Nutshell

Nutshell is an all-in-one B2B CRM software designed to help teams manage contacts and leads, sell smarter and gain valuable insights to track performance and optimize the sales process. Over 30,000 sales and marketing professionals use the software to streamline their workflow.

Key Features

Pipeline Management — Like most CRM, you can visualize your customer’s journey at a glance. With this feature, you can view, manage and prioritize leads for a faster closing.

Sales Automation — From lead assignments to scoring, task reminders, and more, Nutshell automates these tasks at the snap of a finger, allowing your team to focus on actual closing. 

Email Marketing Campaigns— Nutshell helps you send targeted, beautifully designed marketing emails. You can save time with the built-in template and see who engages with the email in real time. 

Leads Capturing  — The CRM has a native web form to capture leads and feed them directly to your pipeline. In addition, you can embed the form on your website to generate leads from web visitors.

User Experience

Nutshell reporting is top-notch, with an excellent interface. 

However, some users complained the email builder is subpar and could need improvement. Also, it offers limited customization.

Besides these, the software is excellent for quickly connecting all your software tools and accessing them in one place. The company doesn’t charge for customer support, and they can help you migrate your data to hit the ground running immediately.

The CRM offers several helpful resources to help you resolve issues and put the software to full use. 

Pricing

Nutshell offers two plans, billed monthly and annually. Here’s the cost per user per month:

  • Nutshell $19
  • Nutshell PRO $49
  • Nutshell Marketing (custom plan)

Strengths

  • Open API
  • Mobile apps
  • Free Migration
  • Sales force  automation
  • Leads generation
  • Pipeline visualization
  • Email marketing campaigns
  • Sales forecasting
  • Dependable support 
  • Custom marketing plan

Weaknesses

  • No live chat

17. Nimble

Nimble is one of the best CRM software for small and midsize businesses, used by over 140,000 professionals. Also, world-leading brands like UpWork, GoDaddy, and Flexjobs use the platform. 

Key Features

Nimble Prospector — With Nimble, you can efficiently prospect leads on any social site, website, or cloud application and connect with them in less time. The prospector is available as a browser extension, making it readily available.

Relationship Management — The software helps users manage customer contact details, automate key business processes, enable social listening and gain valuable business intelligence to deliver superior customer experience.

Email Marketing — The built-in email campaign management functionality means you won’t need to switch tabs or need third-party services to engage customers via personalized emails and track your progress.

Smarter Actions — Nimble provides actionable business and customer intelligence to take more intelligent actions to gain complete control of your sales process. For example, you can visualize your sales funnel, gain social insights to prepare for meetings, and discover engagement opportunities.

User Experience

You’ll likely start your Nimble experience by importing a CSV file of your existing contact database; thankfully, the software makes this process very straightforward. Also, the CRM makes importing and syncing data with other apps seamless.

Additionally, Nimble’s “Today Page” feature provides an overview of all your upcoming activities, deals, and engagement opportunities from social mentions and essential contacts to reach out to, making prioritizing more effortless.

The software has a support center and a live chat for quick assistance.

Pricing

Nimble offers only one subscription plan—Nimble Business, available for $25 monthly for a user. However, you’ll pay only $19 if you opt for the annual plan.

Strengths

  • App Marketplace
  • Native leads prospector
  • Browser extension
  • Activity tracking and team tasks management
  • Built-in calendar
  • Pipeline management
  • 360-degree view of customers and leads
  • Marketing automation
  • Contact management
  • Live chat
  • Business and customer intelligence
  • Office 365 and Google Workspace integration
  • Low entry fee
  • Social listening and mentions

Weaknesses

  • No mobile app
  • Limited subscription plan

18. MailChimp

Mailchimp is not just an email service provider. It’s also one of the best CRM software for small businesses. With this solution, you can build better customer relationships and sell to them more creatively. In addition, the CRM is scalable and can support your business growth and needs.

Key Features

Contact Management — Whether importing an existing contact database or building from scratch, MailChimp helps you manage them all from one location. Also, you can create or use the built-in segments to organize your contacts.

Email Marketing — Email marketing and campaign management are probably MailChimp’s best selling point and are natively supported in the CRM, meaning you can run effective email campaigns. Also, it comes with pre-built email templates, and you can run A/B tests in-app.

Behavioral Targeting and Personalization — MailChimp can predict customers buying behaviors, enabling you to segment your contact effortlessly to launch campaigns that feel like a one-on-one conversation at the right time or deliver personalized product recommendations. 

User Experience

You’ll only need to fill out three fields to sign up. However, it would have been better if users could create accounts automatically with their Gmail. It’ll save you the stress of logging into your email to activate the MailChimp account.

Mailchimp’s user interface is excellent, with many white spaces, but I don’t find the yellow background and black font colors easy on the eyes while signing up. Also, the software can integrate neatly with other tools, so you can easily manage your stack in one place.

MailChimp support is excellent, and case resolution is always fast.

Pricing

MailChimp CRM offers free, and three paid plans.

  • Premium $350 per month
  • Standard $20 per month
  • Essentials $13 per month

Strengths

  • Highly scalable
  • Mobile app
  • Predictive segmentation and behavioral targeting
  • Holistic audience view
  • Live chat support
  • Seamless contact management
  • Actionable customer insight
  • Free plan
  • Low-priced starting plan
  • Extensive third-party integrations

Weaknesses

  • Limited native Salesforce automation

19. Apptivo

Apptivo is a CRM software used by over 200,000 businesses, including Sephora, UNAIDS, Exult, and Los Angeles Times. The solution simplifies customer relationship management so sales and marketing teams can be more efficient and close deals effortlessly.

Key Features

Win and Loss Analysis — You can track the sales opportunities your sales team prospected and analyze the employees that contributed to winning the opportunity. Additionally, the app can help you analyze lost opportunities and the reasons behind them.

Territory management — You can quickly delineate and manage your sales territories to boost team collaboration, improve sales efficiency, and maximize territorial benefits. With the built-in assignment rules, you can automatically segment leads based on territories.  

Sales Planning — With Apptivo, you’re sure you won’t be tracking your sales targets with spreadsheets. Instead, the software comes with a sales planning app to measure your team members’ KPIs and implement scalable sales processes to facilitate faster deal closing.

User Experience

Apptivo has an excellent user interface.

But new users might need help navigating the software. Also, the customization and app integrations are not a walk in the park. 

However, the CRM system offers an extensive knowledge base for self-help. 

Pricing

Apptivo offers three subscription plans.

  • Lite $10 per month
  • Premium $15 per month
  • Ultimate $25 per month

Strengths

  • Project management
  • Integrated CRM software
  • Activity tracking
  • Performance analysis
  • Pipeline visualization
  • Contact Marketing
  • Email campaigns
  • Leads management
  • Salesforce automation
  • Sales planning
  • Territory management
  • 30-day free trial
  • Mobile apps

Weaknesses

  • Hard customization
  • No real-human live chat

20. Act! CRM

Act! is a cloud-based CRM software designed for small and midsize businesses to manage customer relationships and sell better seamlessly. The CRM system has been in play for over 35 years, powering over 800,000 users worldwide.

Key Features

Marketing Automation — Using Act! means you won’t need to spend much hiring and maintaining an in-house marketing team. Instead, this CRM software can handle most of your crucial marketing processes effectively.

Sales Pipeline Management — With Act! built-in sales pipeline management, you can automate your sales tasks and maintain a 360-degree view of your customers and their journey to close deals faster.

Activity Management — Act! helps you stay on top of all the happenings around you, including critical projects, enabling you to prioritize and stay more productive.

User Experience

Act! offers a user-friendly interface and intuitive customization. 

However, some users complained that each new update tends to drag the software backward. Additionally, you might need help setting up custom reports and dashboards. 

Also, I can’t vouch for their support. You might struggle to reach them whenever the need arises. However, there is an extensive resource you can always fall back on for self-help.

Pricing

Act! offers two plans billed annually.

  • Act! Premium Desktop $37.50 per user per month
  • Act! Premium Cloud $40 per user per month

Users opting for the Premium Cloud plan pay an additional $10 monthly for desktop sync.

Strengths

  • Sales and marketing automation
  • Customer management
  • Sales pipeline visualization
  • Activity tracking
  • Advanced reporting capabilities
  • 14-day free trial
  • Live chat support
  • Flexibility and Extensibility
  • Cloud and on-premises deployment

Weaknesses

  • No mobile app
  • Limited pricing plans
  • Annual billing

21. Agile CRM

Agile CRM is one of the best CRM services in the market. It promises to help you sell and market like Fortune 500 companies. In addition, the software packs several core CRM features like sales enablement, marketing automation, and customer service.

Key Features

Sales — The CRM system can help your sales teams manage their contacts in one place, track deals to keep the sales process on track, and automate sales calls. The CRM system also lets you manage appointments and gamify sales.

Marketing — Agile CRM has an intuitive drag-and-drop builder to set up a marketing workflow and build landing pages in minutes. It also extends its CRM capabilities with social media, email, and SMS features for multichannel marketing campaigns. 

Service — The software streamlines your customer service management so that your support can focus on only tasks that matter. It also allows you to provide pre-formatted replies for faster and more consistent responses.

User Experience

Agile CRM has a clean and intuitive dashboard. Using the features doesn’t require any learning curve. Also, the CRM software displays information in an easy-to-understand way.

The customer relationship management software has a robust knowledge base. Also, you can schedule a chat with any of their specialists within a few minutes.

Pricing

AgileCRM has free CRM software alongside three premium packages, billed monthly, yearly, and bi-annually. If you go for the bi-annual plans, you’ll pay the following:

  • Starter $8.99 per user per month
  • Regular $29.99 per user per month
  • Enterprise $47.99 per user per month

Strengths

  • Free plans with ten users
  • Yearly and bi-annual subscription plans
  • Lead management
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Two-way telephony
  • Contact management
  • Email and SMS marketing
  • Marketing automation with exit intent.
  • Social monitoring
  • Project management
  • Landing page builders
  • Chrome extension
  • Post-call automation
  • Push notification

Weaknesses

  • No mobile app
  • No live chat support

Choosing the Best CRM Software

The right CRM software providers for your business would offer you the best customer relationship management and engagement solutions. So, consider only CRM software vendors that offer you business solutions to meet your specific needs within your budget and integrate seamlessly with all your business tools.

 

Featured image via Unsplash.

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Over the past few years, there have been countless new technology developments that have advanced the workforce —  from video and chat platforms that keep employees connected to automation solutions that boost productivity. One of the more popular developments has been intelligent document processing (IDP), used to extract data from structured and unstructured content to automate high-volume, repetitive document processing tasks. In fact, IDP has become so popular that, in 2022, the IDP market size was estimated to be at about 1.1 billion USD, but according to Research and Markets, it’s expected to grow to 5.2 billion USD by 2027. 

Despite the popularity of IDP, there are some iterations of the tool that lack the processing power needed to automate complex end-to-end business processes. Fortunately, robotic process automation (RPA) can step in to bolster your tech stack and solutions. 

Source de l’article sur DZONE

SAP NEWSBYTE – 25 octobre 2022 – Aujourd’hui, à l’occasion de SAP Spend Connect Live, la conférence la plus importante du secteur sur la gestion des dépenses, SAP SE (NYSE : SAP) annonce des innovations, des avancées et des points d’attention dans ce domaine :

SAP franchit des étapes clés dans son parcours FedRAMP®

Aujourd’hui, et dans les mois à venir, les agences gouvernementales et les organismes hautement réglementés des États-Unis auront accès aux solutions de gestion des dépenses et de réseau d’entreprise SAP, leaders sur le marché, qui sont déployées avec un haut niveau de sécurité. Les étapes importantes sont les suivantes :

  • Les solutions SAP Fieldglass sont désormais disponibles dans l’Environnement Commercial Réglementé (CRE) de SAP National Security Services (SAP NS2), qui a été construit selon les critères de base du National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) avec les paramètres modérés de FedRAMP. Il est également conforme à la Réglementation sur le Trafic International d’Armes (ITAR).
  • SAP Business Network for Procurement et SAP Business Network for Supply Chain seront disponibles dans SAP NS2 CRE en 2023. Les clients pourront ainsi collaborer avec leurs partenaires commerciaux dans un environnement qui répond aux exigences de sécurité et de conformité des agences gouvernementales fédérales.
  • SAP travaille également avec SAP NS2 pour ajouter les solutions d’approvisionnement SAP Ariba au portefeuille SAP NS2.
  • SAP Concur est actuellement “en cours de traitement” pour une autorisation d’agence FedRAMP. Un organisme d’évaluation tiers a effectué une évaluation complète de la sécurité, et l’agence sponsor a procédé à un examen de l’ensemble des autorisations de sécurité. Les solutions SAP Concur devraient être répertoriées sur la Marketplace FedRAMP d’ici la fin de l’année.

Intégration renforcée entre les solutions SAP Ariba et Icertis

Dans le cadre du partenariat élargi annoncé en début d’année, une intégration plus étroite entre SAP Ariba Sourcing and Procurement et les solutions de gestion des contrats d’Icertis peut aider les clients à gérer un plus grand nombre de scénarios. L’intégration plus stricte permet une meilleure collaboration et expérience utilisateur ainsi que des processus de gestion des contrats flexibles et rationalisés. Les utilisateurs peuvent désormais répliquer dans Icertis des espaces de travail contractuels issus des solutions SAP Ariba, lancer la création de contrats dans Icertis pour des espaces de travail contractuels provenant de SAP Ariba, et gérer plus efficacement les processus de modification des contrats. Ces intégrations sont développées et soutenues conjointement par les équipes de SAP Ariba et d’Icertis et ouvrent la voie à de futures innovations. En outre, pour les clients disposant de solutions SAP Fieldglass, il existe une intégration directe avec la plateforme Icertis Contract Intelligence, qui permet de rationaliser les processus de sourcing, d’onboarding et d’offboarding pour les travailleurs externes. Conçues pour apporter de la valeur à l’échelle de l’entreprise, ces intégrations permettent d’accélérer les négociations, de renforcer la conformité, d’obtenir des informations commerciales et une automatisation alimentées par l’IA.

Nouvelles fonctionnalités des solutions SAP Ariba en avant-première

SAP continue de promouvoir l’innovation dans le domaine des achats et a présenté en avant-première de nouvelles fonctionnalités conçues pour aider les entreprises à évoluer vers une expérience d’achat plus prédictive, personnalisée et durable. Les nouvelles fonctionnalités d’achat à 360° sont une évolution de l’achat guidé, dont SAP a été le pionnier il y a plusieurs années, visant à améliorer l’expérience d’achat de tous : de l’employé qui a besoin d’un nouvel ordinateur portable, aux acheteurs principaux sur des secteurs stratégiques et pour tout type de dépenses (matériaux directs et indirects, maintenance, réparation et opérations et services). Ces nouvelles fonctionnalités devraient être disponibles pour certains clients au début de l’année 2023.

SAP fait de la gestion des stocks un domaine d’intérêt et d’investissement permanent

La gestion des stocks est le fondement d’une stratégie d’approvisionnement efficace, surtout dans cette économie post-pandémique. Le rôle essentiel que joue l’approvisionnement dans la continuité des activités ne cessant de croître, il désormais nécessaire de numériser la gestion des stocks et les stratégies d’approvisionnement. Une étude récente menée par Economist Impact, sponsorisée par SAP, souligne que la gestion des stocks est l’un des principaux moteurs de la transformation numérique des achats, plus de 40 % des personnes interrogées ayant choisi cette fonction comme priorité absolue.

Des études de ce type et les commentaires issus de nos conversations permanentes avec les clients valident et orientent notre stratégie et notre feuille de route produit “, a déclaré Muhammad Alam, Président et Chef de Produit, Intelligent Spend and Business Network, SAP. “Nous nous concentrons et investissons davantage dans le développement de solutions qui aideront nos clients à véritablement numériser la gestion des stocks afin de transformer les données en informations qui peuvent conduire à de meilleurs résultats commerciaux.”

La solution pour la gestion des stocks devrait être disponible pour certains clients d’ici la fin de l’année, avec une disponibilité élargie tout au long de 2023.

Les clients disposant de plusieurs environnements ERP peuvent simplifier la gestion de leurs achats

 SAP Central Procurement, édition Cloud privé, est désormais disponible et aide les clients à améliorer la cohérence, l’efficacité, la visibilité et le contrôle. Avec cette nouvelle édition, les clients gèrent l’ensemble de l’entreprise sans devoir entrer et sortir des systèmes ou sans perturber les solutions et les flux de travail existants qu’ils ont mis des années à définir et à perfectionner. Les organisations peuvent gérer de manière centralisée les opérations d’approvisionnement à partir d’un seul endroit, quel que soit l’environnement ERP qui sert de back-end. Bien que les transactions individuelles soient toujours traitées dans chaque back-end, l’équipe en chargé des achats dispose d’une vue et d’un contrôle centralisé sur tous les éléments, des demandes d’achat aux achats, en passant par la recherche de fournisseurs et les contrats.

Parmi les clients, citons Accenture, Baker Hughes, Barrick Gold, CDW, Constellation Brands, Devon Energy, Duke Energy, Endress+Hauser, Fifty Thousand Hours, Guidant Global, Hilltop Holdings, Insight, INVISTA, Johnson & Johnson, KUKA, LG Smith Transport, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mabe, Merck & Co, Ontario Power Generation, Pfizer, Sony Pictures Entertainment, T-Mobile, Thermo Fischer Scientific, Walmart, Van Genechten Packaging N.V., W.R. Grace et W.W. Grainger partageront leurs expériences et expliqueront comment ils naviguent dans un environnement marqué par des perturbations constantes de la chaîne logistique et d’évolution des tendances macroéconomiques. Pour plus d’informations, consultez le catalogue des sessions SAP Spend Connect Live, et regardez les sessions à la demande dans l’expérience virtuelle à partir du 8 novembre.

The post SAP présente de grandes innovations dans le domaine de la gestion des dépenses au salon Spend Connect Live appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

SCM est un industriel indépendant né de la cession de la filiale oil and gas du groupe américain TE Connectivity. Suite à cette transaction, l’entreprise sarthoise avait un an pour basculer vers son propre ERP. Elle a opté pour une offre cloud SAP S/4HANA aux fonctionnalités resserrées sur l’essentiel, afin de tenir des délais de mise en place particulièrement courts. Avec l’aide des équipes de delaware, SCM a atteint ses objectifs en à peine 6 mois.

Une société presque centenaire, qui retrouve son indépendance

Systèmes et Connectique du Mans – SCM – conçoit, produit, teste, livre et installe des connecteurs électriques de puissance et optiques adaptés à des environnements extrêmes de corrosion, température et pression. La société travaille principalement pour des acteurs du secteur pétrolier et gazier (elle équipe notamment des plates-formes d’extraction en mer), mais également des clients des secteurs de la défense, du transport ferroviaire et de l’aéronautique. Elle s’appuie sur un site industriel moderne de 14.400 m². SCM emploie aujourd’hui environ 140 personnes pour un chiffre d’affaires annuel de 20 millions d’euros.

L’histoire de SCM est intimement liée à celle de CKB (Carier Kheops Bac), entreprise reprise en 2012 par TE Connectivity. Lorsque le groupe américain annonce la délocalisation des activités de sa filiale, les salariés reprennent la main, avec le lancement de SCM en avril 2021. La filiale oil and gas de TE Connectivity utilisait l’ERP SAP ECC 6 du groupe. Suite à la cession d’actif, SCM disposait d’une année pour mettre en place son propre ERP.

Autre contrainte, la nécessité de basculer d’un système SAP conçu pour une multinationale et massivement customisé vers une solution plus simple, adaptée à une ETI française. Le tout dans un contexte de fin de vie programmée de SAP ECC.

Un projet mené à bien dans des délais records

Sur les conseils de SAP et de l’intégrateur delaware, SCM opte pour une migration vers une solution SAP cloud de dernière génération, au travers de l’offre RISE with SAP S/4HANA. Le projet démarre le 22 septembre 2021. Afin de limiter la conduite du changement, l’entreprise choisit de rester dans un premier temps en SAP GUI, comme le permet l’offre RISE with SAP S/4HANA. Les impacts du changement d’ERP sont ainsi minimisés. Un important travail de nettoyage des données a également été mené, afin de se concentrer sur les seules informations nécessaires au fonctionnement de la nouvelle structure.

Le démarrage du nouveau système a été effectif le 26 mars 2022, après seulement 6 mois de travaux. SCM a pu commencer à utiliser immédiatement son ERP SAP S/4HANA : émission des premières factures, enregistrement des réceptions de produits et des mouvements de stock, saisie des validations de qualité, etc. Aucun incident majeur n’a été remonté depuis ce lancement express de la solution SAP S/4HANA en mode cloud.

Satisfait de l’accompagnement proposé par delaware tout au long du projet, SCM a décidé de lui confier la tierce maintenance applicative de son ERP pour les 15 prochains mois. Dans un premier temps, la société s’appuiera sur cette TMA pour stabiliser son système d’information SAP et lui apporter quelques premières améliorations.

« Nous sommes passés d’un groupe international disposant de 90 sites dans le monde à une entreprise industrielle sarthoise d’un peu plus de 100 personnes. Il nous fallait un ERP adapté à ce nouveau contexte : une solution plus simple, capable d’aller à l’essentiel. Au cours du projet, nous avons pris le temps de déterminer quelles fonctionnalités nous étaient vraiment utiles et lesquelles étaient de l’ordre du confort (des sujets que nous étudierons ultérieurement) ce qui nous a permis de mettre en place notre nouvel ERP dans des délais particulièrement courts, » témoigne Frédéric Kleindienst, président de SCM.

« SCM est l’exemple d’une entreprise qui souhaite bénéficier de la force d’un ERP tel que celui de SAP sans y ajouter les contraintes. La nouvelle version S/4HANA Cloud de SAP est adaptée aux PME/ETI car elle allie une couverture fonctionnelle standard riche et une simplicité de gestion et d’utilisation de par son prisme SAAS. La binôme SAP – delaware permet de faire bénéficier à SCM d’un système reconnu partout dans le monde tout en y ajoutant la flexibilité et la réactivité attendues par une PME/ETI. C’est le modèle SAP tel que nous le définissons pour les 15 prochaines années à venir » déclare Lahcen Binoumar, Head of General Business, SAP France.

« Ce projet était un énorme challenge. Nous avons réussi à basculer vers l’ERP SAP S/4HANA en seulement 6 mois, alors qu’il faut habituellement entre 10 et 12 mois. Nous avons pu compter sur les équipes de delaware, qui nous ont accompagnés tout au long de ce projet, mais aussi sur nos équipes internes et nos utilisateurs, particulièrement matures sur l’environnement SAP. Afin de tenir les délais, nous avons opté pour un ERP resserré, que nous améliorerons par la suite, en lui ajoutant des fonctionnalités qui nous permettront de travailler encore plus confortablement, » détaille Mickaël Medard, directeur de programme, et supply chain Management, SCM

« Nous avons su mettre en place une solution de pointe, dans des délais particulièrement courts. Nous entretenons des relations étroites avec nos clients, afin de mieux comprendre leurs besoins et de leur apporter un service de qualité. La symbiose a ici été parfaite entre nos équipes, celles de SAP et de SCM. En optant pour l’offre RISE with SAP S/4HANA, la bascule vers le cloud a par ailleurs été grandement simplifiée, SAP devenant le point de contact unique pour la contractualisation, la mise à disposition et le maintien en conditions opérationnelles des infrastructures cloud, » résume Fatsah Nasri, chef de projet et Aymeric Fosset, Partner, delaware France.

The post delaware delaware accompagne SCM dans son adoption de l’ERP intelligent SAP S/4HANA en mode cloud appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

The Summer’s over, and we’re back at our desks to discover that the web’s best app builders, font designers, asset creators, and developers have been hard at work to deliver this bumper collection of exciting new tools for designers and developers.

Below you’ll find productivity apps, icons, gradients, AI, and some awesome new fonts. Enjoy!

CSS Scan

Forget right-clicking on a website to see how it’s coded. CSS Scan is a browser extension that lets you view the CSS styles of any element and copy them to your clipboard.

Slicons

Create stand-out UI designs with Slicons, a set of 300+ pixel-perfect icons. Light, regular, and bold versions match your typography and work with Figma, Sketch, XD, and Iconjar.

Codex

Codex is an IDE extension that lets you comment on your code like a pro. Anyone on your team can add comments, questions, or notes to any lines of code.

Gradientify

You too can leap aboard the gradient design trend using Gradientify, a collection of 100+ beautiful, human-designed gradients. Copy the CSS, or download PNGs for free.

90 Bitmap Shapes

Create unique logos, social media assets, apparel, and abstract icons using this editable set of 90 Bitmap Shapes in vector form for Photoshop, Sketch, and Figma.

BlockBee

Get paid in crypto using BlockBee. The Web 3.0 payments infrastructure integrates with the best ecommerce carts, including PrestaShop, Opencart, Magento, and WooCommerce.

Flatfile

Banish the woes of importing CSV data with Flatfile, a CSV importer that formats human-edited data files to eliminate errors and speed up B2B onboarding.

ClipDrop

Effortlessly clip the backgrounds from images in Figma with the ClipDrop plugin. One-click removes backgrounds, objects, people, text, or defects.

Craiyon

Craiyon is an AI drawing tool based on a stripped-down version of DALL-E. You can generate any image you like using a simple text prompt.

Google Headline Tool

Use Poll the People’s powerful Google Headline Tool to optimize your headlines for more effective search ads and clickable blog post titles.

Retro Postcard Effect

Embrace the trend for retro images using this Retro Postcard Effect for Adobe Photoshop. Easily drop your custom images into the placeholder layer for an instant vintage style.

Hugo

Hugo is an admin suite for freelancers that takes care of business with intelligent contracts, audit trails, and an integrated wallet, so you can focus on being creative.

CTA Examples

CTA Examples is a database of call-to-action examples for every possible scenario. So no matter what you want to persuade your users to do, you’ll find the best prompt here.

Superhuman

Create unique 3D characters to wow your customers using Superhuman. You can customize clothes, hair, and poses using 1500+ elements or choose from 500 pre-made characters.

PostHog

PostHog is an extensive set of tools built on a modern data stack. You can do more with your data by creating your own app or using one of the 50+ that are included for free.

Radix UI

There’s no need to reinvent UI components for React when you can use Radix UI. The high-quality, accessible components are perfect for web apps and dashboards.

KB Clip

Now you can create a searchable wiki for your business with a fraction of the effort thanks to KB Clip. Just highlight a Slack conversation, and transform it into an article in one click.

DropBlok

A great way to monetize your followers is with a custom app. DropBlok is a no-code tool that will build the app for you.

Blofishing Font

Blofishing is a gorgeous handwriting font that adds personality to your layouts. It’s ideal for wedding stationery, social media marketing, and anything that needs a personal touch.

Haratte Font

Haratte is an elegant font with graceful curves and a modern aesthetic. It’s perfect for logos, magazine design, social media assets, and more.

Source

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De spécialiste de l’ingénierie industrielle, ATS accélère sa transformation numérique et lance sur le marché un portfolio de nouveaux services digitaux notamment sur base de solutions SAP Cloud PLM et Assets (de l’Ingénierie à la machine as a service). Un acteur OT et IT, capable d’accompagner les organisations dans leur voyage vers l’industrie 4.0.

ATS, c’est avant tout une aventure familiale, démarrée en 1989 au Creusot. L’histoire d’un spécialiste en ingénierie industrielle (ATS Engineering), mais aussi en conception et réalisation de moyens de production automatisés (ATS Solutions). L’entreprise compte aujourd’hui 200 collaborateurs, pour un chiffre d’affaires annuel d’environ 20 millions d’euros.

“La quatrième révolution industrielle nous donne l’opportunité de transformer l’industrie, en la rendant à la fois plus performante et plus attractive. Notre ambition est d’accompagner dans leur transformation les femmes et les hommes (end-users) opérant sur des sites industriels, en apportant de nouveaux outils et services pour remettre l’Homme au centre et réinventer l’expérience Homme-machine.” Explique Rodolphe Roy, Président d’ATS. “Faire grandir l’Humain pour amener plaisir et reconnaissance dans l’industrie : Un élément crucial pour booster l’attractivité et attirer de nouveaux talents.”

Le numérique, nouveau pilier d’ATS

Le premier jalon de la transformation d’ATS est posé en 2011, lorsque Rodolphe Roy en devient l’actionnaire unique. En 2017, une fois le rachat sécurisé, la transformation du groupe peut commencer, avec comme nouvel axe le numérique.

La société est dans le même temps repérée par BPI France, qui l’invite à rejoindre le programme accélérateur PME/PMI, puis la French Fab, le porte-drapeau de l’industrie française en tant qu’ambassadeur pour la Bourgogne. Ce programme accélérateur pousse également ATS à aller au-delà de l’OT pour proposer des services IT à ses clients et remettre l’innovation au centre de sa transformation.

Des LAB’Innovation sont ainsi déployés sur chacun des sites d’ATS, afin de permettre à tous les collaborateurs de l’entreprise d’explorer et d’innover avec de nouvelles technologies digitales, comme le cloud, l’ingénierie collaborative en Réalité Virtuelle, l’impression 3D ou encore la capture de la réalité. Le tout en lien avec les clients et partenaires de l’entreprise.

« Notre langue maternelle est l’OT, mais nous avons fait IT seconde langue, ce qui nous permet d’accompagner les industriels dans leur transformation numérique. Nous avons pour vocation à être la courroie de distribution entre ces deux mondes. »

Il est vrai qu’en tant que concepteur de moyens de production automatisés, et connectés, ATS Solutions apporte déjà un savoir-faire à mi-chemin entre OT et IT, pour le compte de clients prestigieux comme Air Liquide, Arkema, Schneider Electric ou encore le CEA.

ATS Connect, l’intégrateur OT/IT des industriels

“Avec ATS Solutions, nous proposons aux industriels des nouveaux moyens de production (CAPEX) automatisés, connectés et flexibles, rappelle Rodolphe Roy. Toutefois, nous étions un peu frustrés de ne pas pouvoir les accompagner dans leurs phases d’exploitation (OPEX), ni dans leurs projets de numérisation de leurs parcs machines existants.”

“Notre nouvelle activité portée par ATS Connect répond à cela, mais pas seulement : nous accélérons sur l’accompagnement à la transition énergétique et environnementale des industriels, jusqu’aux projets de villes intelligentes (smart city).” Complète Jordan Lecat, COO d’ATS Connect.

ATS Connect est chargée de porter les projets de connexion digitale des équipements. Cela commence par un audit 4.0 du moyen de production, des échanges systématiques avec les utilisateurs finaux pour identifier leurs points de douleurs. Nous traitons ensuite la collecte des données et le traitement de l’information pour créer les bons outils de suivi de performance et de maintenance. Le tout en faisant appel au besoin à des technologies innovantes capables de projeter les entreprises dans le monde de l’industrie 4.0. À ce titre, ATS Connect devient un intégrateur de bout en bout de solutions OT/IT.

SAP, éditeur clé pour ATS

Autre jalon de la transformation d’ATS, la rencontre avec SAP en 2018. ATS voit dans les solutions Cloud Public PLM et Assets, respectivement SAP Enterprise Product Development (SAP EPD) et SAP Intelligent Asset Management (SAP AIM) associé à SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), une plate-forme ouverte et collaborative de choix pour gérer les équipements des industriels et porter des projets avancés, comme la mise en place de jumeaux numériques connectés. Cette plateforme Cloud devient ainsi un catalyseur pour le développement commercial des nouveaux services numériques d’ATS Connect.

« ATS Connect se positionne clairement comme offreur de solutions Industrie 4.0, explique Jordan Lecat. Nous collectons la data, que nous faisons remonter sur la plate-forme Cloud SAP, afin de proposer des services innovants à nos clients. Par exemple de la maintenance prédictive. Avec ATS Connect, nous pouvons enfin proposer une gestion de bout en bout des moyens de production des industriels. »

Dans le cadre du partenariat entre SAP et le Collectif Continuité Numérique, ATS Connect participe par ailleurs au développement de démonstrateurs Industrie 4.0 autour des jumeaux numériques, lesquels sont déployés sur les Experience Centers SAP de Paris et Barcelone. ATS rejoint ainsi l’écosystème SAP relatif à l’industrie du futur. « Ceci nous rend d’autant plus fiers que nous partageons les valeurs et ambitions portées par SAP et ses Experience Centers : Meet, Inspire, Engage. »

 

The post ATS accompagne les industriels dans leur transformation numérique appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

Designing for user experiences is what all designers do. UX is often thought of as the preserve of app or web designers; however, even a print designer laying out a magazine anticipates reader reaction to the scale of type, the placement of adverts, and the art direction of successive stories.

Because all designers design user experiences, the role of UX Designer has come to mean someone focused on creating a product or service utilizing research and testing to guide decision-making.

To research and test anything, you need metrics: a baseline and a target against which to measure. No one set of metrics is suitable for all projects, but because UX tends to be for financial profit, the Pirate Metrics Framework — Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue — is a good starting place.

You might seek out very different metrics in some cases. For instance, a museum might measure the success of its education program based on how many students go on to study paleontology. However, those types of metrics are notoriously difficult to quantify. Excepting a few niche cases, successful UX increases user productivity, decreases errors, reduces the cost of support, and increases sales.

So if it’s as easy as counting dollars, why does UX go bad?

UX vs. Design Principles

To understand what UX is, you need to understand what UX is not.

One of the most straightforward design principles to understand is hierarchy: bigger is more important, i.e., a heading is visually stronger than a sub-heading, a sub-heading is visually stronger than the body text.

Design principles stem from one thing: human-centered design. At the most basic level, bigger is more important because the bigger a saber-toothed tiger appears, the more likely it intends to eat me.

The evolution of human beings is so slow that had a smartphone existed at the time, a neanderthal would have been able to tap a button with the same level of precision as me. Prehistoric man shares the same minimum button size as modern man: 48 x 48px. Design principles don’t change, don’t require research, and don’t need verifying with tests.

On the other hand, a neanderthal would not have understood a smartphone, let alone an app. You only need to step back by a single generation to find perfectly intelligent people baffled by a commonly employed design pattern.

Unlike design principles, user experience is a house built on sand. When the sand shifts, the walls crack. The bricks are still solid, but the rain gets in.

Because effective UX is temporary, so is the ROI.

Technology Breaks UX

Technology unfolds at a rapid pace. As technology develops, the user experience defined by that technology changes.

The classic example is the mobile revolution, but technological change does not necessarily mean hardware. One of the most significant shifts in UXD (User Experience Design) in my career has been the popularisation of AJAX — the process of using JavaScript to load new data without refreshing the page. This seamlessness has been around since the early 2000s, but it’s only in the last ten years, as the code to achieve it has simplified, that it’s been widely used.

Jakob’s Law states that users spend most of their time on other sites and, as a result, prefer your site to function like other sites by following familiar design patterns.

Even if your UX is rigorously tested and optimized, when other sites and services carry out their own research, they are testing against the background of younger technology, and the “other sites” Jakob Nielsen refers to begin to change. As a result, the UX of your site is gradually eroded.

The consequence of continual technological change is that user research is constantly invalidated. The UX of an app, site, or service begins to degrade as soon as it is created.

User-Experience Lifecycle

Human beings have two deep-seated motivations: survival and procreation. The most important, survival, depends on discovery — new food sources, new routes through dangerous territory, new ways to skin a mammoth. We are biologically programmed to seek out the new.

A typical user passes through three phases of a relationship with a site, app, or service: discovery > comfort > boredom. Churn, or drop-off, tends to occur in the discovery phase (if the comfort phase is too slow in developing) or the boredom phase. The sweet spot is the comfort phase. That’s the part of the business-customer relationship in which the customer requires minimal support and is least likely to drop off.

The most effective form of UX — meaning the one that satisfies most metrics — rapidly moves a user from discovery to comfort and then continually eases the user back to the start of the comfort phase without tipping back into discovery.

This can be achieved with numerous micro-discoveries, tiny chunks of new experience, from simple functionality tweaks to style revisions.

Summary

All UXD, regardless of the quality, level of investment, and skill of the practitioner, begins to degrade the moment it is created.

Design principles like simplicity are good indicators of successful UID (User Interface Design) and are timeless; comprehensive design systems, brand assets, and content offer good ROI.

The most effective UX is broadly familiar and continually refreshed in small ways, allowing users to enjoy the comfort of the familiar while also experiencing the excitement of discovery again and again.

 

Featured image uses photos by Wolfgang Hasselmann & Shainee Fernando.

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Le cœur du système d’information d’Atos, comprenant 42 systèmes et 500 interfaces, a été basculé vers le cloud Microsoft Azure, au travers de l’offre RISE with SAP. Un projet mené en seulement 9 mois par les équipes d’Atos.

Atos est un des leaders mondiaux des entreprises de services du numérique, avec une présence dans 71 pays et un effectif de 105.000 collaborateurs, pour un chiffre d’affaires annuel de près de 11 milliards d’euros. Atos est un acteur engagé : partenaire des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques depuis 2001, le groupe met également en œuvre une stratégie net-zéro visant à la fois à atteindre la neutralité carbone en interne, mais aussi à proposer des services et produits décarbonés à ses clients.

Jusqu’alors, Atos hébergeait son système d’information dans ses propres datacenters, dont l’ERP Nessie. Une offre basée sur des solutions SAP, ayant basculé en 2020 vers l’ERP Intelligent SAP S/4HANA. Fin 2020, l’entreprise a décidé de migrer Nessie vers le cloud.

« Plusieurs raisons ont mené à ce choix, explique Frédéric Aubrière, DSI groupe d’Atos. Chaque changement opéré sur un SI on-premise se traduit par des dépenses d’investissement (CAPEX), qu’il faut valider auprès de la direction financière. Avec le cloud, la discussion peut se recentrer sur les seules dépenses d’exploitation (OPEX), ce qui participe à lever certains verrous. En déléguant la gestion des infrastructures à un hyperscaleur, nous libérons également des ressources IT internes, qui peuvent se concentrer sur leur cœur de métier. Enfin, la crise sanitaire a démontré que la flexibilité apportée par le cloud était un atout pour les entreprises. »

Un des arguments mis en avant par Atos est que le cloud est devenu suffisamment mature pour supporter des workloads critiques. « Pendant longtemps, le cloud a été réservé à des systèmes connexes, l’ERP restant hébergé sur site. Aujourd’hui, le cœur du SI n’est plus un terrain interdit au cloud. J’estime qu’il peut et doit basculer vers le cloud. » En migrant le cœur de son système d’information vers le cloud, Atos entend lancer un message fort en direction des entreprises qui hésiteraient encore à adopter ce modèle de déploiement. Le projet est donc particulièrement stratégique pour le groupe. « Ce que nous avons réalisé avec notre SI, nous pouvons le faire pour celui de nos clients », confirme Frédéric Aubrière.

Un projet mené à bien en seulement 9 mois

Atos a mis en œuvre tout son savoir-faire – et la force de frappe de ses nombreux experts – pour réaliser cette migration en un temps record. Le choix s’est porté sur l’offre RISE with SAP, avec un déploiement effectué sur les infrastructures Microsoft Azure de Francfort. Un choix stratégique là encore, les serveurs utilisés dans ce datacenter Microsoft étant des Bull Sequana S. Du matériel conçu par Bull, filiale d’Atos, et certifié SAP, avec des instances pouvant atteindre les 12 To en scale up (et plus d’une centaine de téraoctets en scale out).

Le projet a démarré fin 2020. Dès avril 2021, le système de test basculait en live, suivi par les instances de développement et de qualité. L’instance de production est entrée en fonction le 13 septembre 2021, soit environ 9 mois après le début du projet. Un tour de force de la part d’Atos. Si l’ERP a été migré sans modifications majeures, le périmètre du projet reste en effet particulièrement important. « Nous avons migré notre ERP vers le cloud, mais aussi l’ensemble des systèmes connexes gravitant autour de lui », explique Frédéric Aubrière. Au total, 42 systèmes ont été migrés et 500 interfaces. 5000 tests ont été effectués afin de couvrir un large spectre de cas d’utilisation.

« Hormis quelques ajustements dans les paramètres de connexion, la bascule a été transparente pour les utilisateurs. Le portail MyAtos est toujours accessible de la même façon et permet toujours d’accéder aux mêmes services. Notre SI est par ailleurs toujours aussi stable et performant. » Les performances des infrastructures correspondent jusqu’à maintenant au cahier des charges d’Atos, avec un SLA de 99,7% et un RPO très proche de zéro (30 minutes). « Nous allons exécuter un dry run du DRP dans les prochains mois, afin de mesurer le délai de reprise d’activité de notre SI », confie le DSI d’Atos.

SAP BTP et décarbonisation en ligne de mire

Avec son contrat unique, l’offre RISE with SAP est un facteur de simplification lors du passage au cloud. « Avoir un unique contrat, signé en direct avec SAP, nous permet de nous affranchir de la complexité de la tarification des hyperscaleurs, confirme Frédéric Aubrière. C’est une forme de contrat plus confortable pour les clients et apportant une meilleure prédictibilité sur les coûts. RISE with SAP nous permet également de conserver notre code et nos applications. Il permet de basculer vers le cloud de façon non violente, en respectant les processus et spécificités du groupe. »

Une fois le SI stabilisé et les processus calés entre SAP et Atos, l’entreprise compte travailler sur la prochaine génération de son ERP. Au menu, un nettoyage du code spécifique et son adaptation à la SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). En parallèle, une connexion avec certains services Microsoft Azure sera mise en place. Autre tâche confiée à la DSI d’Atos, la décarbonation du fonctionnement de sa nouvelle plate-forme cloud. L’élasticité propre aux infrastructures cloud devrait permettre au groupe d’ajuster les ressources au plus près des besoins. L’objectif d’Atos est d’atteindre la neutralité carbone d’ici 2028.

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Source de l’article sur sap.com

Most of us are concerned about our public image, right? It matters a lot how people see and think of us. Export the same sentiment to a brand instead of a person. That’s what brand reputation is all about!  

Yes, it’s that simple – the public’s perception of a brand constitutes its brand reputation. And since the internet plays a significant role in public perception nowadays, a brand’s online reputation essentially drives brand perception.

If we come at it from a slightly different angle, it’s the sum of all ideas and emotions a customer or client associates with a brand while interacting with it at any stage. It includes everything, from what kind of customer services they get when purchasing goods or services to after-sales services the company provides. Reputation management is usually done via social media, emails, and online chats.

(Remember, you shouldn’t confine brand reputation only to a brand’s customers or end-users. It includes all stakeholders’ opinions of a brand. It can be anyone from customers to retailers and shippers to manufacturers.)

In short, brand reputation is the most vital intangible asset for any organization striving to make it big in today’s cutthroat market.

What’s The Importance Of A Strong Brand Reputation For Today’s Businesses?

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that nothing affects every stage of the marketing and sales funnel, like a brand’s reputation. Whether it’s awareness, interest, evaluation, commitment, sales, or reputation, a strong brand reputation will only supplement it.

Recent research reveals that about 94% of consumers say that their likelihood of frequenting a business increases if it has positive reviews. Conversely, 92% say that their chance of patronizing a business decreases if it has negative reviews.

Now, let’s look at various factors that make working on your brand reputation important.

Market Trust

Strengthening brand reputation earns your business the trust factor, making your brand a more viable choice for existing and prospective customers. It helps them place their faith in you, believing that your brand is here to thrive and fulfill any promises it makes.

Moreover, it’s a fact that people prefer buying goods and services from a brand that enjoys a solid reputation, especially if people in their social circle use its products.  

Higher Sales

You can’t be far from the truth if you believe brand reputation only yields intangible business gains. It lends you tangible improvements as well, most importantly, in the form of higher sales volume, which translates as higher profits.

All this can’t be achieved without the push from a strong brand reputation, helping the brand carve a niche for itself amongst tough competition.

Customer Loyalty

When a brand succeeds in earning a higher trust level and a positive reputation, the customers are more likely to remain loyal. And, will continue to buy products and services from it, refuting various incentives by the competition, such as discount packages & low prices.

Customer loyalty also leads a brand to a host of other fringe benefits, i.e., demanding a premium price after some time.

Competitive Edge

One thing is for sure, the level of competition in the market is always going to soar higher and higher. And it’s almost impossible for a business to make its way through it without a competitive edge. That’s where a positive brand reputation can make a business’s life easier.

Having the edge over the competition means your potential for catching new customers increases exponentially, helping your brand claim more of the market share.

Word of Mouth

Happy customers remain one of the most significant assets of a brand, especially in this digital era. They serve as brand ambassadors, and if they’re happy and satisfied, they’ll pass the word on, advocating for the brand for free.

It not only leads to increased brand awareness in the market, but it also paves the way for a business to improve its sales and profit margins over time.

What Are The Best Strategies For Managing Your Brand’s Reputation Online?

We’ll keep our focus on the ones proven to be the most effective, starting with:

Staying Ahead of The Curve

Being proactive is among the primary requisites for today’s brand managers. They should be thinking ahead of their competitors and the target audience. While branding online, the margin of error is relatively low, and any slipup can lead to a ripple effect in nullifying the brand’s positive image.

The best way to cope with such a situation is to embrace the mistake quickly and be upbeat enough to resolve the issue immediately rather than have a wait-and-see attitude.

Be Specific About The Deliverables

Social media has played a phenomenal role in educating today’s customers, making them very intelligent and demanding at the same time. It has opened up infinite mediums and channels to get alternatives for almost everything.

That’s why brands need to be very specific in delivery time and after-sales services to avoid earning themselves a bad name in the market. Most experts recommend the “under promise and over deliver” approach to avoid disappointing your customers.

Establish Yourself as An Authority

If you have complete faith in your offerings as a business, knowing that you’re the best in the market, you better be loud and clear about it. It will help you catch immediate attention from your target audience, increasing your brand awareness and your potential to bag more sales and revenue.

Let’s talk about the quality of the product as an example. If you believe that the quality of your product is the unique selling prospect, you must let people know about it. Flaunt this factor with full force, vigor, and authority.

It will help you establish your brand in the market as an authority, and your target market will start looking up to you for the best and the latest on it.

Be Consistent and Assertive

As they say, consistency is the key. If you do it right, your brand reputation will go beyond the lifespan of your brand. People will relate to your brand positively even after your business shuts down.

However, this demands the next level of consistency from your business. You have to make sure you deliver your best in all aspects of branding your business, from the quality of the products and services to the level of customer service you offer.

It doesn’t work well if you outperform your competition by miles for the first time and then step back from delivering those high service standards. You roll your sleeves up and get to compete yourself if you believe you’re outdoing your competition so well.

Deliver on Your Promises

You cannot overstate the significance of delivering on your promises if you want to make the most of your brand reputation. Nothing brands your business better than a bunch of happy and satisfied customers.

And, delivering on your promises consistently is the least of what you need to do to win over your customers to the level they turn into your unofficial brand ambassadors.

Value Feedback

It would be best if you realign your thinking this way. 

Who are you producing your products/services for? Your clients/customers, of course!

What if it’s not working well for them?

Redo your product/service to the requirements and likings of your customers. Otherwise, your business will earn you nothing but a bad name in the market.

You have to realize the importance of listening to your customers, gathering customers’ opinions about what’s not working for them and what areas they would like to see improved. 

Learn to accept and respect your customers’ grievances, praises, issues, tips, or any feedback they give you about your product or service.

You’ll upscale your brand’s reputation considerably if you start doing this.

How Can Influencer Marketing Help You Grow Your Brand’s Reach

Influencer marketing is the concept of branding your business through influential people and opinion leaders in the industry rather than engaging your business directly in doing so. They also brand indirectly, setting a practical example rather than advocating verbally for it.

Research reveals that 94% of marketers using influencer marketing find it highly effective, potentially increasing the ROI 11% times higher than conventional marketing.

Brands that indulge in influencer marketing associate themselves with influential personalities resonating with their message, driving it across their target market in a manner that a large number of people develop an affiliation toward it.

Influencer campaigns help brands tap into an existing community comprising their influencer’s dedicated followers, compelling them to tilt toward a brand they use. Most of us have observed how renowned YouTubers, Tiktokers, and bloggers proactively advertise different brands to their followers.

The increased penetration of a rapidly growing number of social media platforms also helps the influencers garner a solid following and significantly impact the communities that follow them.

They are like a part of the family for their followers, who value their opinion and try to imitate them in what they do and how they do it.

Conclusion

With the competition getting steeper every passing day, earning the trust and business of your target market is becoming a challenging task for most companies. It makes branding even more imperative.

Make a great customer experience your top priority, also keeping a focus on the customer and employee retention and customer feedback to establish yourself as a customer-centric brand. 

Though it might take some time, it will surely help you grab your target market’s attention and respect in the long run. Once you achieve that, you’ll see sales and profits soaring accordingly.

 

Featured image via Pexels.

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WordPress is by far the world’s most popular CMS. Not only does it dominate the CMS market with a 64% market share, but it also powers 39.6% of all websites. It has taken the internet by storm by democratizing the web for all. Now, anyone can build, manage, and host a successful website without needing a college degree or coding expertise.

However, while WordPress is great at managing many technical aspects, it still can’t do everything for you. Built mostly on PHP, there are often concerns regarding how performant WordPress is. And, with performance impacting everything from bounce rates to SEO rankings to conversions, it’s something that should be on your radar too.

If you don’t know it yet, images are one of the main causes of slow-loading websites. In recent years, WordPress has stepped up its efforts to try and help users with image optimization out-of-the-box.

Still, as we’ll show, it’s not a total solution, and there is still plenty you can do to deliver better experiences on your WordPress website through image optimization.

What is WordPress Image Optimization? Why is it Important?

Simply put, image optimization is anything you do to make images load faster on your website pages. Almost all websites that use images can benefit from some form of image optimization, even those using WordPress.

Why?

Well, performance is a hugely significant factor when it comes to the competitiveness of your website today.

Google has also made performance an increasingly important factor when it comes to SEO rankings. In fact, performance is a direct ranking signal that carries significant weight.

Google’s Page Experience Update that went live in 2021 has been the biggest move in that direction yet. Soon, Google might even use visual indicators in SERP results to distinguish high-performing websites from the rest.

In Google’s own words, “These signals measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page and contribute to our ongoing work to ensure people get the most helpful and enjoyable experiences from the web.”

So, Why Should We Target Images For Performance Optimization?

According to Google, images are the largest contributor to page weight. Google has also singled out image optimization specifically as the factor with the most untapped potential for performance optimization.

This problem isn’t going away soon. According to data by the HTTP Archive, there are roughly 967.5 KB bytes of image data on desktop web pages and 866.3 KB of image data on mobile pages. This is an increase of 16.1% and 38.8%, respectively, over the last five years.

Thanks to popular e-commerce tools like Woocommerce, it’s estimated that up to 28% of all online sales happen on WordPress websites.

And don’t forget, images are both a key part of conveying information to the user and integral to the design of your website. If they take significantly longer to load than your text, for example, it will negatively impact the user experience in a variety of ways.

In summary, optimized images help your WordPress website by:

  • Improving user satisfaction.
  • Improving various traffic metrics, like bounce rates, time-on-page, etc.
  • Boosting your SEO rankings.
  • Contributing to higher conversions (and sales).

How Does Image Optimization in WordPress Work?

WordPress is so popular because it’s a CMS (content management system) that allows anyone to build, design, and manage a website without any coding or advanced technical experience. Advanced features can be installed with just a few clicks, thanks to plugins, and you rarely have to touch the code behind your website unless you want to make some unique modifications.

In short, using a CMS like WordPress shields you from many of the day-to-day technicalities of running a website.

WordPress Image Optimization: What It Can Do

As we mentioned, one of the main reasons WordPress is so popular is because it takes care of many of the technical aspects of running a website. With that in mind, many think that WordPress should also automatically take care of image optimization without them having to get involved at all.

Unfortunately, that’s not really the case.

True, WordPress does offer some built-in image optimization. Whenever you upload an image to WordPress, it currently compresses the quality to about 82% of the original (since v4.5).

In v4.4, WordPress also introduced responsive image syntax using the srcset attribute. This creates four breakpoints for each image you upload according to the default WordPress image sizes:

  • 150px square for thumbnails
  • 300px width for medium images
  • 768px max-width for medium_large images
  • 1024px max-width for large images.

Here you can see an example of the actual responsive syntax code generated by WordPress:

<img loading="lazy" src="https://bleedingcosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/33-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9" width="610" height="406" srcset="https://bleedingcosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/33-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://bleedingcosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/33-300x200.jpg 300w, https://bleedingcosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/33-768x512.jpg 768w, https://bleedingcosmos.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/33-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px">

Depending on the screen size of the device from which a user visits your webpage, WordPress will let the browser pick the most appropriately sized image. For example, the smallest version for mobile displays or the largest for 4K Retina screens, like those of a Mac.

While this may seem impressive, it’s only a fraction of what can be achieved using a proper image optimization solution, as we’ll show later.

Lastly, WordPress implemented HTML native default lazy loading for all images starting with version 5.5.

So, in short, WordPress offers the following image optimization capabilities baked-in:

  • Quality compression (limited)
  • Responsive syntax (up to 4 breakpoints)
  • Lazy loading

WordPress Image Optimization: What it Cannot Do

There are other issues many have with both the implementation of image compression and responsive syntax as it’s used by WordPress. This leads to some users even purposefully deactivating WordPress’ built-in image optimization so they can fully take control of it themselves.

Here are some of the reasons why:

  • WordPress uses a very basic form of quality compression. It does not use advanced technologies like AI and machine learning algorithms to compress images while maintaining maximum visual quality. It’s also lossy compression, so the quality is lost for good. You can clearly see the difference between an original HD image and the compressed version created by WordPress.
  • WordPress only compresses most images by up to 20%, while advanced image optimization tools can reduce all image sizes intelligently by up to 80%.
  • Responsive syntax can provide significant performance improvements over simply uploading a single HD image to be served on all devices and screens. However, it’s still only limited to a set number of breakpoints (typically 3 or 4). Since it’s not dynamic, a whole spectrum of possible image sizes is not created or used.
  • Responsive syntax code is not scalable and can quickly lead to code that’s bloated, messy, and hard to read.
  • WordPress doesn’t accelerate image delivery by automatically caching and serving them via a global CDN, although this can be done using other tools.

Another important optimization feature that WordPress does not have is auto-conversion to next-gen image file formats. Different image formats offer different performance benefits on different devices. Some formats also enable higher levels of compression while maintaining visual fidelity.

Next-gen formats like WebP, AVIF, and JPEG-2000 are considered to be the most optimal formats on compatible devices. For example, until recently, WebP would be the optimal choice on Chrome browsers, while JPEG-4000 would be optimal on Safari browsers.

However, WordPress will simply serve images in the same formats in which they were originally uploaded to all visitors.

How to Measure the Image Performance of a WordPress Website?

As the undisputed king of search engines, we’ll base most of our performance metrics on guidelines established by Google.

Along with its various performance updates, Google has released a number of guidelines for developers as well as the tools to test and improve their websites according to said guidelines.

Google introduced Core Web Vitals as the primary metrics for measuring a web page’s performance and its effect on the user experience. Thus, Core Web Vitals are referred to as “user-centric performance metrics.” They are an attempt to give developers a testable and quantifiable way to measure an elusive and abstract concept such as “user experience.”

Combined with a number of other factors, Core Web Vitals constitute a major part of the overall page experience signal:

You can find a complete introduction to Core Web Vitals here. However, they currently consist of three main metrics:

  • LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): The time it takes the largest above-the-fold element on your page to load. This is typically a full-sized image or hero section.
  • FID (First Input Delay): The delay from the moment a user first interacts with an element on the page until it becomes responsive.
  • CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): The visual stability with which the elements on a page load.

Here is an illustration of how these metrics are scored:

While these are the three most important metrics to optimize, they are not the only ones. Google still measures other metrics like the FCP (First Contentful Paint), SI (Speed Index), as well as the TTFB (Time to First Byte), TBT (Total Blocking Time), and TTI (Time to Interactive).

A number of these metrics are directly affected by the images used on your web pages. For example, LCP, FCP, and SI are direct indicators of how fast the content of your web page loads and depends on the overall byte size of the page. However, it can also indirectly affect FID by keeping the main thread busy with rendering large amounts of image content or the perceived CLS by delaying the time it takes large images to load.

These metrics apply to all websites, whether they are custom-made or built using a CMS like WordPress.

When using tools like Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights, you’ll also get scored based on other flags Google deems important. Some of them are specific to images, such as properly sizing images and serving images in next-gen formats.

If you only use built-in WordPress image optimization, you’ll get flagged for the following opportunities for improvement:

Some of the audits it will pass, however, are deferring offscreen images (lazy loading) and efficiently coding images (due to compression):

A Better Way to Optimize WordPress Images: ImageEngine

Billions of websites are all vying for prime real estate on Google SERPs, as well as the attention of an increasingly fussy internet-using public. Every inch matters when it comes to giving your website a competitive advantage.

So, how can you eliminate those remaining performance flags and deliver highly optimized images that will keep both your visitors and Google happy?

Sure, you could manually optimize images using software like PhotoShop or GIMP. However, that will take you hours for each new batch of images. Plus, you still won’t benefit from any automated adaptive optimization.

A more reasonable solution in today’s fast-paced climate is to use a tool developed specifically for maximum image optimization: an image CDN like ImageEngine.

ImageEngine is an automated, cloud-based image optimization service using device detection as well as intelligent image compression using the power of AI and machine learning. It can reduce image payloads by up to 80% while maintaining visual quality and accelerating delivery around the world thanks to its CDN with geographically dispersed PoPs.

Why is ImageEngine Image Optimization Better Than WordPress?

When making a head-to-head comparison, here are the reasons why ImageEngine can deliver better performance:

  • Device Detection: ImageEngine features built-in device detection. This means it picks up what device a visitor to your website is using and tailors its optimization strategy to what’s best for that specific device.
  • Client hints: By supporting client hints, ImageEngine has access to even more information regarding the device and browser to make better optimization decisions.
  • Next-gen formats: Based on optimal settings, ImageEngine automatically converts and serves images in next-gen formats like WebP, AVIF, JPEG2000, and MP4 (for GIFs).
  • Save data header: When a Chrome user has save-data mode enabled, ImageEngine will automatically compress images more aggressively to save on data transfer.
  • CDN with dedicated edge servers: ImageEngine will automatically cache and serve your optimized image assets using its global CDN. Each edge server has device awareness built-in to bring down latency and accelerate delivery. You can also choose to prioritize specific regions.

So, the key differentiator is that ImageEngine can tailor optimizing images for what’s optimal for each of your visitors. ImageEngine is particularly good at serving mobile visitors thanks to WURFL device detection, which can dynamically resize images according to most devices and screen sizes in use today. As of now, this is a completely unique capability that none of its competitors offer.

It allows for far better and more fine-tuned optimization than WordPress’ across-the-board approach to compression and responsive syntax.

If you want, you could turn off WordPress responsive syntax and compression, and you would still experience a performance increase using ImageEngine. However, ImageEngine also plays nice with responsive syntax, so it’s not completely necessary unless you want to serve the highest-fidelity/low-byte-size images possible.

How Does ImageEngine Work with WordPress?

The process ImageEngine uses to integrate with WordPress can be broken down into a few easy steps:

  • Sign up for an ImageEngine account: ImageEngine offers three pricing plans depending on the scale and features you need as well as a no-commitment 30-day free trial.
  • Specify your image origin: This tells ImageEngine where to find the original versions of your images. For a WordPress website, you can just use your domain, e.g., https://mywordpresswebsite.com. ImageEngine will then automatically pull the images you’ve uploaded to your WordPress website.

  • Copy the Delivery Address: After you create an account and specify your image origin, ImageEngine will provide you with a Delivery Address. A Delivery Address is your own unique address that will be used in your <img> tags to point back to the ImageEngine service. Delivery Addresses may be on a shared domain (imgeng.in) or customized using a domain that you own. A Delivery Address typically looks something like {random_string}.cdn.imgeng.in. If your images are uploaded to the default WordPress folder /wp-content/uploads/, you can access your optimized images from ImageEngine simply by changing your website domain. For example, by typing {imageengine_domain}.cdn.imgeng.in/wp-content/uploads/myimage.jpg into your browser, you’ll see the optimized version of that image. Just press the copy button next to the Delivery Address and use it in the next step configuring the plugin.

  • Install the ImageEngine Optimizer CDN plugin: The plugin is completely free and can be installed just like any other plugin from the WordPress repository.
  • Configure and enable ImageEngine Plugin in WordPress: Just go to the plugin under “ImageEngine” in the main navigation menu. Then, copy and paste in your ImageEngine “Delivery Address,” tick the “Enabled” checkbox, and click “Save Changes” to enable ImageEngine:

Now, all ImageEngine basically does is replace your WordPress website domain in image URLs with your new ImageEngine Delivery Address. This makes it a simple, lightweight, and non-interfering plugin that works great with most other plugins and themes. It also doesn’t add unnecessary complexity or weight to your WordPress website pages.

ImageEngine vs Built-in WordPress Image Optimization

So, now let’s get down to business by testing the performance improvement you can expect from using ImageEngine to optimize your image assets.

To do this test, we set up a basic WordPress page containing a number of high-quality images. I then used PageSpeed Insights and the Lighthouse Performance Calculator to get the performance scores before and after using ImageEngine.

Importantly, we conducted this test from a mobile-first perspective. Not only has mobile internet traffic surpassed desktop traffic globally, but Google themselves have committed to mobile-first indexing as a result.

Here is a PageSpeed score using the Lighthouse calculator for WordPress with no image optimization:

As we can see, both Core Web Vitals and other important metrics were flagged as “needs improvement.” Specifically, the LCP, FCP, and TBT. In this case, both the LCP and FCP were a high-res featured image at the top of the page.

If we go to the opportunities for improvement highlighted by PageSpeed, we see where the issues come from. We could still save as much as 4.2s of loading time by properly resizing images and a further 2.7s by serving them in next-gen formats:

So, now let’s see how much ImageEngine can improve on that.

The same test run on my WordPress website using ImageEngine got the following results:

As you can see, we now have a 100 PageSpeed score. I saved roughly 2.5s on the SI (~86%) as well as roughly 1.7s on the LCP (~60%). There was also a slight improvement in the FCP.

Not only will you enjoy a stronger page experience signal from Google, but this represents a tangible difference to visitors regarding the speed with which your website loads. That difference will lead to lower bounce rates, increased user satisfaction, and more conversions.

There was also a 53% overall reduction in the total image payload. This is impressive, considering that it’s on top of WordPress’ built-in compression and responsive syntax.

Conclusion

So, as someone with a WordPress website, what can you take away from this?

Well, first of all, WordPress does feature some basic image optimization. And while not perfect, it should help you offer reasonable levels of performance, even if you use a lot of image content.

However, the caveat is that WordPress applies aggressive, across-the-board compression, which will lead to a noticeable reduction in visual quality. If you use WordPress for any type of website where premium quality images are important, this is a concern — for example, as a photography portfolio, exhibition, or image marketplace like Shutterstock.

By using ImageEngine, you can reduce image payloads and accelerate delivery even further without compromising too harshly on visual quality. What’s more, ImageEngine’s adaptive image optimization technology will provide greater improvements to more of your visitors, regardless of what device(s) they use to browse the web.

Whether or not you still want to use WordPress’ built-in optimizations, ImageEngine will deliver significant improvements to your user experience, traffic metrics, and even conversions.

Plus, true to the spirit of WordPress, it’s extremely simple to set up without any advanced configuration. Just sign up for ImageEngine in 3 easy steps, install the plugin, integrate ImageEngine by copy/pasting your image domain, and you’re good to go.

 

[ This is a sponsored post on behalf of ImageEngine ]

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