One of the core items that you and your users will create and track in RapidStart CRM are the Companies you work with. These could be your customers, vendors, partners… any kind of business entity really.
Companies List View
The List View of Companies will open, which looks similar to a spreadsheet.
To get to Companies, in the Sidebar, click on the icon
There are a few different view filters available with RapidStart CRM, and you can select between them. In addition you can set one as your default.
The Ribbon, contains various Actions that you can take with regard to Companies, like adding news one for example. If you select one or more Companies, by placing a checkmark in the first column, the available Actions will change to those to be performed on the selected Companies.
To open a particular Company record, you can click on the Company name.
Company Record Form
The Main Company Record form, will probably be one of two primary starting points for work you do in RapidStart CRM, the other one being Contacts.
In the Ribbon, you will see action you can take on this record, like assigning it to someone else for example.
In addition to Company information, in the center there is also contact information, including information about the Primary Contact, and any other Contacts that are at the Company.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have a Timeline panel to track activities on that particular record.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have “Tabs” to move between other areas of the particular record. On the Company record there are tabs for Addresses, Details, Opportunities, Projects* and Cases.
One of the core items that you and your users will create and track in RapidStart CRM are the Contacts you work with. These could be existing Contacts related to Companies, existing Contacts not related to Companies, and Prospects that you hope to engage with in the future… any kind of Contact really.
Contacts List View
The List View of Active Contacts will open, which looks similar to a spreadsheet.
To get to Contacts, in the Sidebar, click on the icon
There are a few different view filters available with RapidStart CRM, and you can select between them. One in particular to pay attention to is called Prospects. In addition you can set any view as your default.
The Ribbon, contains various Actions that you can take with regard to Contacts, like adding news one for example. If you select one or more Contacts, by placing a checkmark in the first column, the available Actions will change to those to be performed on the selected Contacts.
To open a particular Contact record, you can click on the Contact name.
Contact Record Form
The Main Contact Record form, will probably be one of two primary starting points for work you do in RapidStart CRM, the other one being Companies.
In the Ribbon, you will see actions you can take on this record, like assigning it to someone else for example.
In addition to Contact information, in the center there is also Company information, including information about the Company that the Contact is related to.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have a Timeline panel to track activities on that particular record.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have “Tabs” to move between other areas of the particular record. On the Contact record there are tabs for Addresses, Details, Opportunities, Projects, Cases and Custom Fields.
Add new Contact Directly from a Company Record
You can add new contacts for an existing Company, directly from a Company record by selecting Add New Contact from the All Contacts List
New Contact Rapid Create Form
Throughout RapidStart CRM we have focused on simplicity and speed. When you click on the New Contact button, it brings in the Rapid Create form
The Rapid Create form slides in from the side, without leaving the record you are currently viewing.
Some items are auto-populated based on what underlying record you are viewing. You only need to provide the minimal additional data.
When complete, you can Save the record, which will then immediately appear in the list. Use Save and Create New, to create several records at once.
A feature of RapidStart CRM is the ability to create and track sales Opportunities for your products or services.
You can get to your Opportunities a couple of different ways.
Opportunities List View
The List View of Active Opportunities will open, which looks similar to a spreadsheet.
To view all of your Opportunities across all of your Companies and Contacts, click on the icon in the side bar.
There are a few different view filters available with RapidStart CRM, and you can select between them. In addition you can set any view as your default.
The Ribbon, contains various Actions that you can take with regard to existing Opportunities, like Converting them to Projects for example. If you select one or more Opportunities, by placing a checkmark in the first column, the available Actions will change to those to be performed on the selected Opportunities.
To open a particular Opportunity record, you can click on the Subject name.
Opportunity Record Form
The Opportunity Record form, will where you will work on the most important part of any business… getting new business!
In the Ribbon, you will see actions you can take on this record, like assigning it to someone else, or converting the Opportunity to a Project, for example.
In addition to Company and Contact information, in the center there is also an Opportunity Summary panel, for tracking the progress of an Opportunity.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have a Timeline panel to track activities on that particular record.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have “Tabs” to move between other areas of the particular record. On the Opportunity record there are tabs for Opportunity Details and Custom Fields.
When looking at an Opportunity record, you can Convert the Opportunity to a Project at any time by clicking on the Convert to Project Action. During the conversion, a new Project record will be created and linked to the Company and Contact records.
The Opportunity record includes an Opportunity Sales Process Flow, to guide your users through the steps of advancing this Opportunity to a successful close.
Creating New Opportunities
You create new Opportunities from either a Company or Contact record. This is also where you would see Opportunities related to a particular Company or Contact. To get there, open any Company or Contact record and click on the Opportunities Tab.
A Contact Record is shown here, but the steps are identical from a Company record.
From a Contact or Company record, select the Opportunities Tab to display the list view of related Opportunities.
The Opportunities list shows the Opportunities that are related to either the Contact, or if looking at this view from a Company Record, it shows all Opportunities related to all Contacts with that Company. To open a particular Opportunity record, you can click on the Subject name.
To create a new Opportunity, click on the New Opportunity button.
New Opportunity Rapid Create Form
Throughout RapidStart CRM we have focused on simplicity and speed. When you click on the New Opportunity button, it brings in the Rapid Create form
The Rapid Create form slides in from the side, without leaving the record you are currently viewing.
Some items are auto-populated based on what underlying record you are viewing. You only need to provide the minimal additional data.
When complete, you can Save the record, which will then immediately appear in the list. Use Save and Create New, to create several records at once.
A feature of RapidStart CRM is the ability to enter Project Expenses for your Projects. Project Expenses are added at the Project Level.
You can get to your Project Expenses a couple of different ways.
Project Expenses List View
The List View of Active Project Expenses will open, which looks similar to a spreadsheet.
To view all of your Project Expenses across all of your Projects icon in the side bar.
There are a few different view filters available with RapidStart CRM, and you can select between them. In addition you can set any view as your default.
The Ribbon, contains various Actions that you can take with regard to existing Project Expenses, like exporting them to Excel for example. If you select one or more Project Expenses, by placing a checkmark in the first column, the available Actions will change to those to be performed on the selected Project Expenses, like Assigning or Deactivating for example.
To open a particular Project Expense record, you can click on the Subject.
Project Expense Record Form
The Project Expense Record form, is a pretty simple form to enter Project related Expenses.
In the Ribbon, you will see actions you can take on this record, like assigning it to someone else, or Deactivating it, for example.
Like most records, there are direct links in the header back to the parent record.
When Creating an expense (see below) this information will be automatically captured.
For the expense item, we are only collecting three pieces of information, a Subject and Description that you can use as you wish, and a dollar amount.
Creating New Project Expenses
You create new Project Expenses from a Project Record, which you can open from either the sidebar or a Company or Contact record. This is also where you would see Project Expenses related to a particular Project. To get there, open any Company or Contact record and then click on the Projects Tab, select a Project and then click on the Expenses Tab for the Project.
From a Project record, select the Expenses Tab to display the list view of related Project Expenses.
The Project Expense list shows the Project Expenses that are related to the Project. To open a particular Project Expense record, you can click on the Subject.
To create a new Project Expense, click on the New Project Expense button.
New Project Expense Rapid Create Form
Throughout RapidStart CRM we have focused on simplicity and speed. When you click on the New Project Expense button, it brings in the Rapid Create form
The Rapid Create form slides in from the side, without leaving the record you are currently viewing.
Some items are auto-populated based on what underlying record you are viewing. You only need to provide the minimal additional data.
When complete, you can Save the record, which will then immediately appear in the list. Use Save and Create New, to create several records at once.
A feature of RapidStart CRM is the ability to break a larger Project into Project Tasks, like mini-projects. Project Tasks are added at the Project Level.
You can get to your Project Tasks a couple of different ways.
Project Tasks List View
The List View of Active Project Tasks will open, which looks similar to a spreadsheet.
To view all of your Project Tasks across all of your Projects, click the icon in the side bar.
There are a few different view filters available with RapidStart CRM, and you can select between them. In addition you can set any view as your default.
The Ribbon, contains various Actions that you can take with regard to existing Project Tasks, like exporting them to Excel for example. If you select one or more Project Tasks, by placing a checkmark in the first column, the available Actions will change to those to be performed on the selected Project Tasks, like Assigning or Closing for example.
To open a particular Project Task record, you can click on the Task Name.
Project Task Record Form
The Project Task Record form, is a more elaborate form. Like we said, a Project Task is kind of a mini-project, that when taken as a group, represent a larger Project. You can certainly use this however you like, or not at all.
In the Ribbon, you will see actions you can take on this record, like assigning it to someone else, or Closing it, for example.
In addition to the Parent Project information on the left, in the Center panel are the Project Task Details. You can set many of these values here, some of them will be summed up on the Project Details panel of the Project, for example, “% Complete” and the Time related information. You can enter a total time estimate for this Project Task, and the total Task Hours field is automatically populated from the Time entries.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have a Timeline panel to track activities on that particular record.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have “Tabs” to move between other areas of the particular record. On the Project Task record there are additional tabs for Time and Custom Fields.
The Project Task record includes a Project Task Process Flow, to guide your users through the steps of successfully completing the Task.
Creating New Project Tasks
You create new Project Tasks from a Project Record, which you can open from either the sidebar or a Company or Contact record. This is also where you would see Project Tasks related to a particular Project. To get there, open any Company or Contact record and then click on the Projects Tab, select a Project and then click on the Tasks Tab for the Project.
From a Project record, select the Tasks Tab to display the list view of related Project Tasks.
The Project Task list shows the Project Tasks that are related to the Project. To open a particular Project Task record, you can click on the Task Name.
To create a new Project Task, click on the New Project Task button.
New Project Task Rapid Create Form
Throughout RapidStart CRM we have focused on simplicity and speed. When you click on the New Project Task button, it brings in the Rapid Create form
The Rapid Create form slides in from the side, without leaving the record you are currently viewing.
Some items are auto-populated based on what underlying record you are viewing. You only need to provide the minimal additional data.
When complete, you can Save the record, which will then immediately appear in the list. Use Save and Create New, to create several records at once.
A feature of RapidStart CRM is the ability to create and track Projects for the delivery of your services. You can create simple single-level Projects, or you can break larger Projects down into Project Tasks, like mini-projects. You can also track Time and Expenses for your Projects.
You can get to your Projects a couple of different ways.
Projects List View
The List View of Active Projects will open, which looks similar to a spreadsheet.
To view all of your Projects across all of your Companies and Contacts, click on the icon in the side bar.
There are a few different view filters available with RapidStart CRM, and you can select between them. In addition you can set any view as your default.
The Ribbon, contains various Actions that you can take with regard to existing Projects, like exporting them to Excel for example. If you select one or more Projects, by placing a checkmark in the first column, the available Actions will change to those to be performed on the selected Projects, like Assigning or Deactivating for example.
To open a particular Project record, you can click on the Project Name.
Project Record Form
The Project Record form, is will where you will work to deliver a project you are working on for a Customers.
In the Ribbon, you will see actions you can take on this record, like assigning it to someone else, or Deactivating it, for example.
In addition to Company and Contact information, in the center there is also a Project Description Panel, for a general description of the Project.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have a Timeline panel to track activities on that particular record.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have “Tabs” to move between other areas of the particular record. On the Project record there are additional tabs for Details, Tasks, Schedule, Expenses and Custom Fields.
The Project record includes a Project Process Flow, to guide your users through the steps of successfully completing a Project.
Creating New Projects
You create new Projects from either a Company or Contact record. This is also where you would see Projects related to a particular Company or Contact. To get there, open any Company or Contact record and click on the Projects Tab.
A Contact Record is shown here, but the steps are identical from a Company record.
From a Contact or Company record, select the Projects Tab to display the list view of related Projects.
The Project list shows the Projects that are related to either the Contact, or if looking at this view from a Company Record, it shows all Projects related to all Contacts with that Company. To open a particular Project record, you can click on the Project Name.
To create a new Project, click on the New Project button.
New Project Rapid Create Form
Throughout RapidStart CRM we have focused on simplicity and speed. When you click on the New Project button, it brings in the Rapid Create form
The Rapid Create form slides in from the side, without leaving the record you are currently viewing.
Some items are auto-populated based on what underlying record you are viewing. You only need to provide the minimal additional data.
When complete, you can Save the record, which will then immediately appear in the list. Use Save and Create New, to create several records at once.
Project Details
On the Project Record Form, there is a tab called details, with a few things you should know about, including some items that are automatically calculated.
Click “Details” to open the Details Tab
On the Project Details Panel, you can create a Start and End Date. The Average Percentage of Completion is calculated from Project Tasks.
On the Expenses Panel, you can enter a Budget amount. The Actual and Remaining amounts are automatically calculated from Expenses.
On the Time Panel, all of this information is automatically calculated from Time and the Project Tasks
Unique to RapidStart CRM is our Hashtagging system. It works the same way you identify and classify items on Twitter for example “#interesting”
How to use Hashtags
First understand the difference in categorization methods. The below example is an Account record opened to the Details tab.
Many records have fields for structured categorization, like the “Ownership” picklist field above. This would be used for specific filtering of data by specific structure.
Opening the Hashtags tab will offer an additional “unstructured” capability
Hashtags Tab
This record was previously hashtagged with #TechPackage1
You can add more hashtags by typing here.
All record types in RapidStart CRM have a Hashtags tab, so you can tag phone calls, opportunities etc.
Hashtags are an “Unstructured” way to categorize your data. Once you start hashtagging records, it creates some interesting information that you can access on the Hashtags Dashboard.
Hashtags Dashboard
To get the the HashTag dashboard, select Dashboards in the sidebar
Switch to the HashTags Dashboard
A Tag Cloud of the most popular hashtags that are in use by your organization. There are a couple of additional charts below that
This is a complete list of every record that has been hashtagged
Using the search box, you can filter down to only records that have been tagged with what you are looking for.
Hashtags Search
In this case we searched for #strategic, which returned the above list
The first column is a direct link to the hashtagged record
This column indicates what kind of record it is
This column shows who hashtagged it with this hashtag
As you go about your business you will be continually meeting new people, or they will be finding you, either way, at this stage they are not someone you do business with… yet. Some solutions complicate this need; in RapidStart CRM we wanted to make it simpler. A Prospect in RapidStart CRM is really just a Contact, at a different stage of engagement with you. You will find Prospects in the Contacts area, but there are some unique differences.
Prospects List View
The List View of Active Contacts will open, which looks similar to a spreadsheet.
To get to Prospects, in the Sidebar, click on the icon
To see your Prospects, simply select the view called Prospects. If a user mostly works on Prospects, they can set this view as their default.
The Ribbon, contains various Actions that you can take with regard to Prospects, like adding new ones for example. If you select one or more Prospects, by placing a checkmark in the first column, the available Actions will change to those to be performed on the selected Prospects.
To open a particular Prospect’s record, you can click on the Prospect’s name.
Prospect Record Form
The Prospect Record form, looks a little different than the Main Contact Record form, for one thing, it contains a Prospect Process Flow.
In the Ribbon, you will see actions you can take on this record, like assigning it to someone else, or converting the Prospect to a Normal Contact, for example.
In addition to Contact information, in the center there is also a Company Information panel, unlike the Normal Contact, here it is not linked to a Company record yet.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have a Timeline panel to track activities on that particular record.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have “Tabs” to move between other areas of the particular record. On the Prospect record there are tabs for Addresses, Details and Custom Fields. When you Convert a Prospect to a Normal Contact, all of this information remains.
When looking at a Prospect record, you can Convert the Prospect to a Normal Contact at any time by clicking on the Convert Prospect Action. During the conversion, a new Company record will be created with the included Company Information, and the two records will be linked.
The Prospect record includes a Prospect Process Flow, to guide your users through the steps of advancing this Prospect, to hopefully become a Regular Contact at some point.
Most records in RapidStart CRM have a Timeline panel on the Summary page, and it works the same on all record types. The Timeline is where you add various Activities and Notes to the records, providing you with a complete history of your interactions.
In the example Timeline below, you can see where a few Notes have been added previously.
Activity Types
You can add Notes (with attachments), Appointments, Emails, Phone Calls and Tasks to any record.
Select the “+” to add an Activity
Select the type of Activity, a new window will open
Add Notes on-the-fly
You can enter a Note immediately just by clicking and typing.
Enter a Title and the actual Note
Attach a file from any source you can browse to
Filtering the Timeline
Over time you could create quite a few Activities in the Timeline for a record. No need to scroll.
Select the three dots to open the submenu
Click to Open the Filter Pane
Timeline Filter Pane
In the Filter Pane, you can filter the list by any Activity type
You can also change the Sort Order
Outlook
If you have Outlook and Office 365, Appointments and Tasks created in the Timeline, will be synchronized and will appear in your Outlook Calendar and Task Lists.
For Projects with a large number of Project Tasks, it can be challenging to visualize the schedule from the Project Task list view of Start and End Dates. So we have created an interactive Gantt Chart Schedule Board.
