Insightly Android App Now Available

Last year we introduced our iOS application for iPhones, and we're very pleased to now launch our native Android app for Android powered phones and tablets. From the brand new Samsung Galaxy S4, to the Google Nexus 7 tablet, through to that old clunker phone you threw in the drawer two years ago, our shiny new Android app should work on them all. And best of all it's available free to all Insightly users in the Google Play store worldwide.

The app allows you to keep track of your tasks, and assign new ones, manage your contacts and edit their details on the go, and keep up to date with your projects and opportunities. Best of all - when you add or change data in the Android app, it's automatically sync'ed in real time with the web app and the iPhone app.

Navigation appears when you slide your finger from the left edge across the device, or by touching the menu button in the top left.

Clicking on a phone number in the Android app will automatically dial that number for you if you're using a phone, and you can send SMS messages to contacts and plot addresses in Google Maps with just a touch  too.

You can log out of the Android app by touching the log out button in the bottom of the slide out menu, but otherwise it will stay logged in when you open it to so you can get straight to work.

Because the Insightly app installs through the Play store, it will automatically update on your device when we add new features, and we've got quite a few in the works that we're releasing in the coming months.

So we encourage you to head across to the Google Play store, download the app to your Android phone or tablet, and write a quick review of the app in the play store to let us know you appreciate it.

Why Your Small Business Needs CRM and 3 Ways to Increase Revenue with CRM

Obviously for us at Insightly, seeing these articles is like preaching to the choir.  We're always happy to see educational information on the benefits of CRM for small businesses.  Anything that helps people migrate from managing customer information in spreadsheets and email is a good thing!

Why Your Small Business Needs a CRM (Forbes) reviews why CRM  is probably one of the most valuable systems that any small business can implement.  Studies show that companies that fully utilize a CRM (and using it daily is key!) can increase sales by 29%.

In a similar vein, Score More Sales covers 3 Ways to Increase Revenue with CRM and advises on how to tackle the main barriers to successfully using a CRM - cost, complication and how to get your sales team to use a CRM.  This article ends with --'What are you waiting for?  Millions of SMBs have been holding back, but the advent of more cost-effective and intuitive tools means fewer barriers and much less risk to getting started with CRM.' 

Amen.  We couldn't have said it any better.

Huffington Post: Get Ready for the Big Leagues: Three Hot, User-Friendly Tech Tools That Will Elevate Your Business From Semi-Pro to Pro

Lena West is the Founder of the Influence Expansion Academy.  She is on a mission to "help women entrepreneurs grow sustainable businesses".  One of the ways she accomplishes her mission is to inform her audience about tools that help them take their business to the next level.  In this article, she writes about 3 types of tools that will be "difference-makers" for a small business - education-based apps marketing apps, financial suites and customer relationship management applications.

Four New Updates to Insightly

Our latest point release contains four new features to improve your experience with data imports,
tasks and user settings:

• Task Imports -  You can now import tasks as you would any other data item.  In case you need a refresher or you are just starting with Insightly, here are data import tips from our online knowledgebase. 

• Default task settings - You can now determine if you want your tasks to be public or private.  The public setting will allow everyone to view your task.  The private setting will allow only the task owner, creator and any administrators to view the task.  To set default task settings go to My Info > User Setting.

• Re-assign open items - When deleting a user (i.e. maybe they are no longer working at your company) you can now easily reassign open items such as tasks, activity sets, projects, opportunities and milestones to another Insightly user.  Administration is though a simple dialogue box that is accessed from the System Settings icon. 

 

• Change responsible user in Opportunities & Projects - As a new function in mass maintenance, you can now change the responsible user for groups of opportunities and or projects. 

 As always, let us know if you have any questions or comments.

Forbes Article: How Manchester United F.C. May Have Lost This Small Business Thousands

Gene Marks, a contributing reporter to Forbes, wrote an article about a negative customer experience with a cab company in London.  The upshot of the article is that a company that Gene's family had used for over 20 years, lost them as a customer due to a negative experience with one employee.  It's a great example of how a customer relationship management solution might easily prevent such an incident by showing a customer’s history of loyalty to the company.  If your small business is considering a move from tracking customers in spreadsheets and email, read the full article to find out why migrating to a customer relationship management system is a no-brainer.

Acumen Learning Mentioned in New York Times

Mike Wright from Acumen Learning was interviewed for a recent article in the New York Times --  Businesses of Various Sizes Find Customer Relationship Help.  The article covered the difficulty that many small businesses have with choosing and implementing CRM systems.  Many small businesses don't need a lot of the bells and whistles that exist in some expensive CRMs, but prefer to use applications that are easy to use and can be implemented quickly and easily without IT support.  The good news, according to the article, is that small businesses really started to use CRMs in greater numbers about five years ago.  Below is the excerpt on Acumen Learning:   

Acumen Learning, a training company in Orem, Utah, with 18 employees and $5 million in revenue, uses Insightly because it is flexible, said the company’s marketing director, Mike Wright.

“Big business C.R.M. systems tend to dictate your processes — how you will prospect someone and get them in the system,” he said. With Insightly, Mr. Wright said he can design and modify the processes his company uses. “We wanted to add two additional steps to our sales process, and it was changed overnight,” he said. He uses Insightly’s Advanced package, which costs $49 a month.

If you want to learn more about how Acumen Learning is using Insightly, check out their case study.

LinkedIn API connectivity in Insightly

Last week without prior warning LinkedIn informed us that they have blocked Insightly from accessing their API to view LinkedIn contact profile data within our web application, obstinately because they do not allow their API to be used for applications "that are used for hiring, marketing or sales". We strongly believe we do not violate any part of their terms of use, and we have been in contact with LinkedIn to try to rectify the situation and restore Insightly connectivity to their API, but they have chosen not to reverse their decision.

We are surprised and disappointed by this action, and we believe it not only goes against the interests of LinkedIn users, but also contradicts what LinkedIn claims to stand for – openness and connectivity. It's our opinion that LinkedIn have taken away their users’ rights to share and use their own profile data and personal contact information.

We strongly believe integrating social data into Insightly benefits our user experience, and we are actively  looking at ways we can further tie social data into the Insightly user experience.