The value of integrated solutions for small business

This blog post was written before Javelin was renamed to Capsule. See this post for more details.

Javelin is days away from an upgrade where we are moving into a significantly new world for our Javelin users. We have integrated Javelin with two online accounting systems.

Why have we done this? One of the criticisms of CRM’s is the difficulty of maintaining accurate data. If you are not actively updating the information, no matter the quality of the CRM solution, it will fall into disrepair. Rubbish in, rubbish out.

I know this from personal experience. I am in a part-time buy-to-let partnership and we use an accounting package, a landlord system, and a bunch of excel spreadsheets. We have to key the bank details into the accounting system, we have to duplicate the contacts, and we have stopped using the landlord system for anything other than letters and the core contact details – even though the system offers much more.

The good news is that we have integrated the best CRM, Javelin, with the best accounting packages so you manage your data more easily. What a transformation from when these systems were disconnected. Accounting information is on the same page as all the other information about the customer – at a glance you can see the invoice status on the customer record, along with last contact dates, history of contacts and any pipeline business. So if you are chasing an outstanding invoice you can see the value of new business alongside the outstanding invoice before making the call to the customer. There are also some cool features like moving between systems being as simple as a click-of-a-button.

Personally, I hope other service providers will understand this need and start providing integrated solutions for their users. It is time for small business to get the benefits of SaaS well beyond discussions around a lower cost threshold and much reduced IT support. I am proud that we are leading the way in providing a service that is truly beneficial to you.