In this Pipeliner Concepts series, we’ve covered the basic concepts of Pipeliner CRM, as opposed to simply the technical details. In this final article, let’s touch on the crucial points of Pipeliner CRM, and CRM in general, for the future.
Overcoming Silos
Throughout this series we highlighted a new type of CRM administrator—the architect administrator. As differentiated from the day-to-day CRM administrator, the architect administrator is the one who operates on a conceptual level of the organization’s business processes, and continually finds ways to create those processes within Pipeliner. These functions are not only designed for sales—they could very well be for anywhere else in the company. The architect administrator, in my opinion, is the new norm for the future.
One fundamental function of the architect administrator is to overcome silos. Traditionally, departments within companies have operated in silos, with their own applications, processes and functions. These silos have been independent from one another, resulting in unexpected messes and results such as miscommunication, missed targets and more. It became evident that businesses needed an overall infrastructure.
Pipeliner places tools in the hands of architect administrators that allow them to build perfect processes for operational management, sales and marketing, and more, that cross and interconnect silos.
RevOps
Interestingly, a new term has risen in business culture: RevOps. Short for “revenue operations,” RevOps is defined as “a business function that aims to maximize an organization’s revenue potential. RevOps drives full-funnel accountability through the alignment of Marketing, Sales, and Service across your organization’s process, platform, and people.”
The need for such a function arose because each separate department was fully occupied with its own operations, didn’t have enough vision and coordination with other departments, and therefore departments were hindering each other. Companies have increasingly become aware of this problem and, for that reason, have been embracing this new approach.
RevOps = Pipeliner
Pipeliner CRM is, in actuality, a full RevOps function. We’ve always been more than just a sales tool—we’re a process engine for the whole company. Right now, processes are not only central to the operation of a company but also link all company automation and defined forms. Pipeliner has had a holistic approach from the very start, so the “RevOps” function is nothing new to us.
We have made it easy for a RevOps function to create intracompany processes that report issues, and it matters not to which management bodies these issues are reported.
In former times a function called sales operations was responsible for CRM customization and backend work. Because of the design of our CRM, we’ve made this function very simple, and raised it up in the company hierarchy into what could now be called a RevOps function. This is vital, because departments must work seamlessly with each other in today’s lightning speed of commerce.
An ideal RevOps solution contains powerful reporting capabilities and dashboards so that a company executive can immediately see where they should implement a strategy and make decisions about it. The solution must be overseen by someone—the architect administrator—who has a deep understanding of the possibilities of what can be done.
Although this new function has been created from the sophistication of today’s systems, our system is simple enough that it does not require days or weeks of training to understand and administrate—it can be learned in hours. Architect administration does not even necessarily have to be performed by a company decision-maker.
Exponential Growth of Automation
Another reason that solutions such as Pipeliner CRM are vital is that automation is growing with unbelievable speed—faster than most people think. This growth is affecting the workforce, which is radically changing. Many jobs are becoming obsolete. One day there will be no bus drivers, no taxis, no supermarket cashiers—all of that will be done automatically.
Increasingly more operations within companies are becoming automated, too. Just within our own company, we have hundreds of processes that have been automated, and there will be many more.
Security
Through Pipeliner CRM, it’s not only possible to coordinate functions all across departments but track everything that’s been done through a powerful security log. You can view who is using the system, who has changed anything, and precisely what changes have been made. You can view changes not only by the user but by an entity (such as lead, opportunity, or account) and other views. Your company can customize the log for your own specific needs.
Most importantly, the log allows you to see the overall progress your company is making.
In the end, it’s all about making this process engine—RevOps, if you like—better and better.
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