Get your daily dose of Sugar

June 1st marked the 15-year anniversary of SugarCRM, so we have dedicated the month to reminiscing on our experience alongside Sugar. As one of their very first partners, and the 2019 Global Reseller of the Year, we wanted to share some of the reasons why W-Systems employees love both the SugarCRM platform and Sugar employees.

Below you’ll find 15 reasons why we love Sugar featuring some of our employees from sales, professional services, development, support, and marketing.

Here’s to 15 years and many more to come, SugarCRM!

With Love,

Reason #1: Tracking Support Cases to Help our Customers

Sugar keeps the support team on task and provides tools for tracking support cases to help our customers. With Sugar, we can schedule follow-ups, keep accurate notes of what was done, see links to important resources, and create custom reports and dashboards to fit each Support Specialist’s specific needs.

Reason #2: Personal Interactions and Relationships

I love the ability that Sugar allows both W-Systems and our customers to build personal interactions and relationships. Software is great, but the fun comes from the relationships we develop with customers and the opportunity we get to improve their lives. 

I once worked for a CEO that said our job was to change the world. At first glance, that’s a pretty bold statement until you realize if I can make this better, then the task gets done faster and perhaps the person is able to go home earlier, eat dinner with their family or make it to their daughter’s softball game. That is how we change the world, and Sugar allows us to do that every day.

Reason #3: From Small Businesses to Enterprise, Sugar Can Do It All

What I love about Sugar is that it allows us to meet customers where they are: on their own turf.

• Small businesses that need opportunities and pipelines? Easy!
• SMBs that want sales, service, and a custom module to manage events? No problem!
• Large multinational global firms that need automation, integration, and sophisticated user roles and teams? Can do!

Sugar gives all our customers a “home field advantage.”

Reason #4: Sugar is the Heart of our Marketing Department

I love that the heart of our entire Marketing department is found within Sugar. Normally you would hear this from sales, but not marketing. Within Sugar, I manage all KPIs and lead generation activities, content and event calendars, campaigns, social metrics, customer satisfaction reviews and so much more. I love demonstrating our marketing workflow and having prospects tell me, “We want the same thing!”, because it reaffirms that what we are doing is something special, and worth duplicating.

Reason #5: Limitless Sugar Customizations

From my point of view, the most beautiful part of the Sugar application is the fact that there are no constraints in customizing it. As long as you have the technical prowess, the sky’s the limit!

Reason #6: User Interface and Easy Navigation

As a new Sugar user, I find that the interface is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. I could quickly locate and identify the areas and tools that are useful to me. I also appreciate Sugar’s open-source roots that have allowed us the ability to customize and create tools that are uniquely functional for each of our customers.

Reason #7: Managing New Change Control Documentation in Sugar

I love that as we grow as an organization, Sugar grows with us and helps us run every part of the business. For example, while implementing ISO 27001, we were able to manage new change control documentation requirements fully within Sugar.

Reason #8: Partner-Based Feedback Helped Build the SugarCRM Mobile SDK

Here’s one thing I love about Sugar: their ability to collaborate with partners. When they were reworking their mobile app, we were able to work with the SugarCRM Mobile Development Manager on the benefits of Sugar customizations. As a result, they delivered the SugarCRM Mobile SDK, which enabled us to build wMobile for SugarCRM!

 Reason #9: Sugar’s REST API Makes Data Integration Easy

I love that data Integration with Sugar is a straightforward process, thanks to the easy-to-use REST API, which provides useful endpoints for accessing data and metadata. Also, the bulk REST API is very powerful when you want to send large amounts of data to Sugar.

Reason #10: Module Builder Turns Sugar Into a Multi-Departmental Tool

I have always loved Sugar’s Module Builder, which allows customers to extend the application far beyond the realm of sales without having to write any code.

Reason #11: Innovations of the Past Translate to Those of the Future

I remember when I first used Sugar back in 2004, and had never seen a drag-and-drop interface on a web app. I was blown away by that–being able to move dashlets around the dashboards by simply dragging them and also placing fields on the layouts the same way. Sugar has continued to be an innovative product over the years, and I love that I am able to work with an application that continues to think of new ways to make the experience better for CRM administrators.

Reason #12: Help Me Work the Way I Want to Work

What I love about Sugar is that it helps me (and potentially all Sugar users) do my job with ease and expertise. Sugar gives me the ability to easily capture information that helps make my future customer interactions more relevant and timely. And Sugar gives me the information I need to prioritize my activities through custom reports and dashlets that I can easily create on my own to help me work the way I want to work.

Reason #13: SugarCon and the Expansive SugarCRM Ecosystem

My favorite thing about working with Sugar has been going to SugarCon, (now SugarConnection) and other events they host each year. I love the energy at the events and seeing how expansive the SugarCRM ecosystem is with products, partners, and customizations.

(Be sure to take a look below at our highlight reel from SugarCon last year!)

Reason #14: Robust Dashboard and Reporting Capabilities

What I appreciate most about Sugar is its robust dashboard and reporting capabilities. As a user it allows me to manage teams of project managers, consultants, engineers, and support specialists as they work to deliver dozens of complex projects across our entire customer base. This ranges from a single dashboard that gives a solid overview of our entire operations, to the most granular level of a single hour of time logged against one of our projects. As the Director of Professional Services for W-Systems, it allows me to uphold the promise to our customers that we can deliver the same incredible solution for them.

Reason #15: Custom Calendars, Detailed Analytics, Documentation and More!

The fact that you can take Sugar far beyond the realm of sales is something you won’t get from many other CRMs. Custom calendars, detailed analytics, document automation, and so much more—I think that what I love the most about Sugar is that is has enabled W-Systems to develop amazing customizations and integrations and grow as a business.

To discuss this blog with other members of the SugarCRM community, please visit the SugarCRM Partner Corner.