One thing I’ve been struggling with is a good, accessible system for managing my business life. Anything from managing contacts, to-do lists, and sales opportunities. Up until now, these and other business related tasks have been spread among various websites and various desktop applications.
However, I’ve been on the hunt for something that gets as much stuff off my desktop as possible, so that whether I’m sitting in front of my computer in my office, or out with my laptop, I can gain access to the same information.
Granted there are various CMS applications out there – some commercial and some open source, but for smaller businesses and sole proprietorships there aren’t many light weight, web based applications out there. That is, until I discovered Etolos CRM for your Google Homepage.
The first thing you should know is that, because it integrates into the Google Homepage, it is easy to customize to suit your needs. You can drag and drop the modules to where you want them. Not only that, but you can add other non-Etelos modules into the same space.
That means you can add your Gmail, Google calendar, local weather, and even horoscope if you wish.
What do you need to do?
Obviously, if you haven’t already figured it out, you will need a Google account so that you can set up your own personalized home page. Aside from that you will need to sign up for an account at Etelos.
The system is currently beta testing now, so you have to be invited to use it, however you can still sign up. I did and my account was approved in about 48 hours. After that, simply add the Etelos main module to your homepage. From there you will have access to the other modules which you can add or remove at any time. These modules include:
Contact Management
One of the first things you will appreciate is the contact management module. It allows you to manage your list of clients, leads, partners and so on from any computer in the world. If you upgrade from the free personal version to a paid version, you can begin to share your contacts lists with others (for example, you can share a centralized contacts database with other people in your organization whether they are in your office, or around the world).
Content Management
Another powerful features is called the “Marketing Toolkit” in which predefined templates can be used to improve productivity. For example, if you send a standard greeter to new customers, you can use the marketing toolkit to help automate this process. Simply create the template with the appropriate fields to be populated (such as first and last name, title etc) and when you send the document, the CRM will fill in the additional fields.
Task Management
Task management can be used for reminders to do things like follow up with prospects or new customers, or take out the trash. It would be the place you put those “other” tasks that don’t necessarily require an appointment or designated time to complete.
Futher, if you purchase the professional or enterprise version of CRM for Google you can share your tasks and calendar with others, showing your free and available time.
Appointments
This module actually integrates with Google Calendar to display your appointments and anything else you have scheduled in your calendar. You can add appointments to the appointment module without having to go to your Google calendar, as it will add them to your calendar for you, or you can link tasks to an appointment.
Web Based Means True Accessibility
The thing I like the most is the fact that it is web based. All you need to do is remember your Google Homepage login and you can access your own personalized CRM anywhere you have an Internet connection and web browser.
And, as I mentioned above, you can customize the view any way you like. Personally, I created a new tab on my homepage to keep my CRM information separate.
But is it Worth it?
Well that depends. If you have a solution that is already working for you, whether it is desktop or web based, and you are happy with it, then you probably don’t want to add another system.
If, however, you are looking for something new, or just want to explore your options then consider this system. It is handy, and if you only need something for yourself, then the free personal version should suit you fine.
