Sage CRM 2021 R2
Sage CRM 2021 R2 was released in August 2021 and contains a variety of new features all designed to significantly improve your overall user experience, productivity and operations. The software is ready to integrate with Sage 50 and Sage 200 and can be implemented quickly and easily to ensure your business is up to date with the latest version.
What's new in Sage CRM 2021 R2?
- Enhanced screens and lists for new installs
- Configurable choice of pipeline style
- Additional reports for quotes and example dashboard template
- New company workflow example
- Ability to customise the theme
- Template selection with the send/quote order allocation
- Configurations of quote/order merge document names
- Ability to have multiple web lead return URL
And more!
What does this mean for your business?
Enhanced screens and lists for new installs
Sage has continued to improve the interface for their CRM software. In the latest release, several changes have been made to simplify screens and declutter the interface providing simpler navigation for users. On some screens, certain fields have been removed from the display and in other places additional columns have been included, giving you better use of onscreen real estate and the ability to display key information more appropriately meaning the time you spend on Sage CRM can be used more efficiently.
Configurable choice of pipeline style
In Sage CRM 2021 R2, the reporting pipelines have been updated with a modern, fresh design which is fully customisable with new colours and styles. Layout is now different, and information has been moved around, for example, within an Opportunity List, the summary information has been moved under the pipeline display, which will provide users with improved functionality across the interface.
Don’t worry however, if you prefer the pipeline style that has been standard up until now. There is no need to change as the system administrator can choose between using the new rectangle pipeline style or revert back to the older cylinder style of the pipeline.
Additional reports for quotes and example dashboard template
A new dashboard template called the ‘Quotes Dashboard’ has been added into Sage CRM. This new dashboard template displays a mix of dashboard gadget types calling information from the Quotes table.
Another significant adjustment is the new “waiting” cursor that has been added to the system, which spins to indicate when the system is working and will signal to the user when the system is busy; therefore, informing them that they need to wait for the task to finish. This will help to eliminate any confusion for users who might think their system has crashed or slowed down when it is working.
New company workflow example
Sage have created a new workflow for the company entity. The new example demonstrates how workflow can be applied to an entity such as Company and provides users with models on how to use the features to carry out tasks on multiple tables, which will help enable employees to have more clarity over workflows, and to guarantee adherence to business best practices and processes.
Ability to customise the theme
Sage CRM now gives system administrators the ability to have control over the look and feel of the screens that are presented to employees and users. This includes aspects such as individual fonts and screen elements and is achieved by using the upgrade-safe custom style sheets. The ability to customise themes will allow for integration between teams and developers who can unify the look and feel of Sage CRM with other systems which are used.
Template selection with the send quote/order allocation
Sage have also made a change to the CRM software that now allows a template to be selected when using the ‘Send Quote’ and ‘Send Order’ quick mail merge feature. In the previous interface, users could click ‘Send Quote’ or ‘Send Order’ and this would use a default template to merge to a PDF which would be attached to the email. The user would then fill in the subject fields before sending out the email. This however didn’t allow for users to use more than just one template for different mail merges.
Thanks to the latest release of Sage CRM, you now have the ability to select the template you wish to use before carrying out the rest of the merge. This will help create a more uniform feel to emails being sent out and improve brand presence.
Configuration of the quote/order merge document names
A further improvement in the latest release is within the Product Configuration screen which has been updated with an option to use Quote/Order Format when creating Word and PDF quotes. In the past, some users reported that they did not like the naming pattern that had previously been used for merged files, as it had been confusing when the name of a quote sent as an email attachment did not relate to the quote number. The new update eliminates that confusion by offering users the ability to control the pattern and follow the quote and order ID within the product configuration area.
Ability to have multiple web lead URLs
Sage has also added an enhancement to the Web to Lead Capture forms, as users can now include multiple Web Lead Return URLs. In earlier versions of the software, if a System Administrator wanted to redirect to different webpages after a website visitor had entered their details in the form, then they would need to use an ASP or another ‘webpage’. With R2, the Administrator now has the ability to simply change the WebLeadReturn URL within the generated code to allow redirection.
This will be particularly useful to businesses who wish to capture data using web forms in different languages and therefore need to redirect a visitor to a webpage in their own language after they submit a lead. It will also help businesses who have separate landing pages associated with different marketing campaigns, and the visitor needs to be directed to a particular page.
How can Solutions for Accounting & CRM help?
As well as these key features, Sage CRM 2021 R2 boasts many more updates that have all been designed to help improve your experience as a user.
If you are interested in finding out more about Sage CRM 2021 R2 and the benefits it could have for your business, get in touch today to see how we can help.
If you already have Sage CRM and would like to learn how to utilise it better within your business, we also offer Sage CRM training that may be of interest to you.
