Upshot Media: An End-To-End Business Solution

10 Jul 2023

Although data in a system such as OpenCRM is divided up and stored in the various different modules, the magic happens in the way it all connects back together. Read on to discover how OpenCRM has been helping Upshot Media achieve an end-to-end customer journey since late 2020. Alternatively, you can head over to our Case Study for a quick analysis. 

About Upshot Media

Since 2004, Upshot Media have been providing a diverse range of web solutions. These include website design, development and SEO agency offering strategy, design, development and marketing. They love to create user-friendly websites that are designed to leave the right impression and help companies meet their business goals. 

One of their key strengths is giving their clients the ability to manage a fully automated online booking service. 

“We listen to our customers” 

From an OpenCRM perspective, this is music to our ears and very much suggests that we are on the same wavelength as Upshot Media. We find it so important to try and understand our customers and learn just what it is that makes them tick. If we can put ourselves in their shoes then we can understand the challenges they are trying to overcome. We can use our knowledge of CRM to put a solution in place. 

The Upshot Media story is very similar. Hence, comments like “Knowledgeable and helpful”, “Even better than expected”, “Cost-effective”, and “Professional service” appear time and time again in their testimonials. 

Finding a CRM

Their search for a CRM solution was not straightforward. Stuart writes 
“After evaluating multiple solutions, none of them really worked the way we wanted them to. We spent hours testing, researching and doing free trials to the point where we nearly built our own solution.“ 

They then came across OpenCRM, and that was the start of our journey together. 

Getting Started with OpenCRM 

Often when customers come on board with OpenCRM the focus is on the Opportunities module. This forms the backbone of how they manage their sales pipeline. This module is fairly straightforward to adapt to different sales scenarios and intuitive to use, so it makes sense to see this as the entry point. 

But Upshot Media had bigger plans, and we came together to ensure that we could offer what they were after. It is always essential to look at the bigger picture. Make sure that you’re embarking on a sustainable business mission that you can build upon. There is nothing worse than having to undo a load of hard work when you try and upscale your model. 

The Customer Journey 

Starting by capturing Leads in their OpenCRM, Upshot Media can quickly and easily convert these into Opportunities and kickstart the sales process. Upshot Media use the Opportunity itself as a fact-finding solution. This helps them put the sale together. 

When it comes to firming up the details and getting the agreement of the customer to digitally sign, the Opportunity gets converted to a Sales Order. Our eSign feature is a popular one – available on Quotes and Sales Orders. It gives your customers the ability to view the details of an order. Download as a PDF if they like – and then digitally sign, either with a physical signature, or ticking a box to approve the order.

After the Sale – The Work Begins

As you might imagine – for a web design company, the sale is the start rather than the end of the customer journey. That’s where the Projects module in OpenCRM comes into play. 

This is where they can manage the delivery of what the customer has ordered. One key aspect of projects of various types, is to ensure that none of the steps slip through the cracks. The Action Plans feature manages this. It allows you to schedule a series of future calls, meetings and tasks. Anything not completed sits under the “Pending” tab. When it is marked as “Done” it shifts across to the ”Historic” section. Seeing Pending and Historic activities at a glance gives easy visibility of how the Project is progressing. 

Once the Projects are up and running, the sign-off of the design and the project itself is managed via integrated Jotforms.  A Jotform is a third-party form-building tool that has native integration with OpenCRM. These forms allow the customer to confirm the project has been completed, at a time that suits them.

Farewell For Now, Not Goodbye

The project sign-off doesn’t mean that the customer sails off into the sunset. As I’m sure you all know, websites are not static entities. They are always being updated, and revamped and new content is added. After that delivery, Upshot Media stay available as a resource to the customer. They can manage enquiries that come in afterwards using the ticketing system available in the Helpdesk module. 

Going Full Circle with Upshot Media 

Periodically, customers will want something new adding to their website. After their site is nicely embedded, they might take things to the next level and embed a booking form. That’s when Upshot Media can open a brand new Opportunity, to track this new potential piece of business for the existing client. 

All of the above steps revolve around the Customer record. This is typically a Company record with one or more Contacts linked. From the Company (or Contact) record, you have visibility of all linked Opportunities, Sales Orders, Projects, Activities and Helpdesk Tickets. That complete transparency provides a clear end-to-end solution for Upshot Media.