SugarConnected 2021: Forget Busy Work. Let the Platform Do the Work!
In 2020, like so many others, we pivoted our annual customer event series, SugarConnected, to a digital format. For the increased accessibility that a virtual event offers and a world still socially distanced, we planned our third-annual SugarConnected series for 2021 to be entirely online—and what a success it was. With sessions held worldwide, this year’s series started with the APAC region on May 25, followed by the Americas on June 9, and was wrapped up nicely for the EMEA region on June 22. We delved into all the changes SugarCRM went through in the last 12 months for our team, customers, and product portfolio.
Apart from all the innovations and acquisitions made throughout 2020, we also shared our new commitment that helps customers remove busywork, roadblocks, and blind spots from their day-to-day. Craig Charlton, Sugar CEO, broke everything down in his opening session. Keep reading for more insights.
Forget About Busy Work. Let the Platform do the Work!
As Charlton says, the sky’s the limit in terms of what our artificial intelligence capabilities in SugarPredict, together with Sugar Sell and Sugar Market, can offer you business-wise, especially if you want to achieve a high-definition customer experience (HD-CX). Our new approach to customers and their needs enables you to Let the Platform do the Work and focus on what matters. So how did we improve our tools in such a way?
We managed to develop the technology necessary to offer you a unified view of the customer. Through predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), we take technology up a notch and simplify the high-maintenance customer experience platform, the universal enemy of businesses today. “It’s all about driving the highest level of predictability within your organization,” explained Charlton.
More often than not, CRM data is siloed, incomplete, and inaccurate and lacks the real potential to contribute to better customer interactions. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), customer interactions are becoming more complex, personal and generate more revenue. But AI models are highly reliant on the quality of data.
SugarPredict can overcome the limitations of poor-quality internal CRM data by analyzing both internal and external data covering millions of companies and contacts to accurately predict leads and opportunities you are most likely to convert. “When I look down the road and I see things like SugarPredict and Sugar Discover, I know we are on the right platform.” Brant M, Client Services Manager, Terradatum
We empower you to get a better grip of the customer view by consolidating the following areas of your work.
No Blind Spots
Instantly see all relevant information, including past, present, and even future, with predictive insights. Our CRM and Sales Impact Report , which surveyed 1,000 sales professionals worldwide using traditional CRMs, revealed some concerning findings. “52% of sales leaders say their traditional CRM costs them revenue – that’s a frightening statistic. We believe firmly that it’s time to work smarter, not harder. It’s time for a change,” claimed Charlton. A solution to this common business pain point would be a more flexible and fully transparent CRM.
At Sugar, we are fully aware that having quick access to customer data and information regardless of the department you work in can play a determinant role in improving customer interactions and helping you achieve the High-Definition CX you aim for. Since we integrated SugarPredict with Sugar Sell and Sugar Market, we can capture data and present it in a user-friendly and accessible manner to all employees, helping your company make more informed decisions.
No Busy Work
Work with a Platform that automatically captures data and presents it in context to anyone who needs it. Overly complicated technology will make your teams’ workload skyrocket. SugarPredict, together with Sugar Sell and Sugar Market (and soon enough with Sugar Serve too, according to Craig) eliminates the heavy lift of your teams through automation. Using AI and machine learning, the platform eliminates the need to copy and paste information into your CRM, automate complex business processes like routing leads or approving quotes, streamline data collection with automated processes like customer information updates and calendar syncing, remove the routing runaround automatic routing, escalating, and reassignment of customer service cases as needed.
In return, all these features of your new, no-touch CRM let your teams spend more time on meaningful tasks, and enables you to find and manage data in fewer clicks.
No Roadblocks
Get a platform built around your needs and workflows instead of a standard solution with all the standard limitations. CRM systems should work for you, not against you, according to Craig Charlton, so finding a tool that empowers you to quickly overcome any shortcomings should become a business priority. Instead of being forced into a standard solution with all the standard limitations, you get a platform built around your needs and workflows.
With predictive analytics and artificial intelligence, Sugar Sell and Sugar Market will help you boost CRM user adoption, a minimal requirement for such investments to generate ROI. Our customer experience platform will keep up with your business and its evolving needs and requirements without extra expenses in the long run. Both Sugar Sell and Sugar Market have the advantage of being highly customizable and easy to set up for your particular business needs.
Empowering Customers Through SugarClub
As Craig Charlton says, in 2020, “we focused on making you, our customer, more successful and helped you get out more of your Sugar investment”. So, how did we manage it? Through the launch of SugarClub. SugarClub is a community of Sugar users and experts that empowers you to collaborate and share best practices, use cases, tips, and tricks. Starting as a place where customers, partners, and Sugars can collaborate, answer questions, share advice and stay up-to-date on the latest announcements, SugarClub has quickly evolved to include even more valuable resources for customers.
We recently launched a new section for Adoption called the GROW framework, a SugarClub area that empowers users and customers to grow their Sugar usage and ensure a successful digital transformation. Find a wide range of adoption resources and frameworks to enhance your Sugar success.
We also inaugurated the Raving Fans system. This is an all-new rewards system for customers on SugarClub that awards points to customers for engaging on SugarClub and completing advocacy tasks like being a referral, sharing their Sugar story, or leaving a peer review. As you earn points and badges, you can redeem them for rewards like discounted training or swag on the all-new SugarClub marketplace.
We also focused on expanding our customers’ and communities’ learning and training potential by expanding our eLearning courses available on the Learn corner. Users can now find a more complex library of courses and learning mediums, including live virtual classes with Sugar experts.
Coming soon, our inaugural virtual user conference, ClubZone, will be first held this September. So, mark your calendars and expect sessions packed with information on how to make the most of Sugar and our SugarClub.
Until then, join our online community to take advantage of robust training and certification and our all-new GROW adoption framework.
But this years’ SugarConnected came down to the fourth pillar we outlined in last year’s event: our Lifetime Commitment to Customers. All the advancements we so eagerly shared in this annual conference couldn’t be done without the support and feedback of our loyal customers. In the 2020 SugarConnected sessions, we delved into our commitment to deliver to our customers’ expectations and anticipate needs before they have them. In this year’s events, we were pleased to revisit that commitment and share all we’ve done to deliver on our promise. Looking forward to next year!
