What does the data collected look like e.g. is it more free-form text, or highly structured with choosing specific options etc?  How many questions are there?  Are they always the same for each customer, or do they sometimes change depending on the customer’s response?

The data is basically anything and everything from a completed form in pdf or other, emails, snapshots of the worksite, utility documents etc. the activities would vary wildly. The questionnaire is online on our site and is emailed to us and that sometimes initiates the process,instead of manually copying that information it can and is placed in the contacts area but things like drawings that are also supplied way in the beginning with the questionnaire need to be put somewhere. I am just wanting to refrain from creating a Project space before the customer commits therefore keeping from having “zombie” data.

Since the entire work process is tightly related to each the contact I would recommend:

Adding all the related information just to the contact’s record for the duration of the process.  Use custom fields to record answers to questions common to all clients and add activities to “create the rest of the story”.  When the opportunity turns into a contract / sale simply add a Note in the activity list to act as a separator, keeping all the prior correspondence and plans at the bottom and start to add all the new activity related to the implementation of the project at the top.

This keeps the work process simple and as the number of clients grows it will stay simple / easy to follow and use.

Use tags to categorize the status of the client i.e. Qualifying, Qualified, Active Project, Completed Project so you can quickly sort your clients into lists / queues for follow-up, work management and future reference.

Does this help?

I am going to work on that method and see how it works out. I found that the “related to” link only worked on my administrator side of things and did not appear in the view only user account(s). There would be no way for the user to “connect” the customer with the project. I still have work to do on workgroup access etc. Thanks for your help.

Patrick

patchrik - Mar 13, 2009 08:50am

I am going to work on that method and see how it works out. I found that the “related to” link only worked on my administrator side of things and did not appear in the view only user account(s). There would be no way for the user to “connect” the customer with the project. I still have work to do on workgroup access etc. Thanks for your help.

Patrick

hi patrick,
I don’t know if you’ve checked or not, but make sure that your users are granted access to all the entries you’re looking to connect - in the top right, all of them should be “shared with…“ to the corresponding work group.

i’ve found that in project blogs, the small fields that appear underneath “related to” work really well.

cheers
adrian

Although I am following the advice of Solve360 and letting go of “managing” the projects and CRM allowing the opportunity for collaborative “chaos”. I know, dramatic but it is not easy for me to allow such a “free-for-all” in a work environment. But, I will take that leap of faith and see how it works. I understand and can see there is no “gray” area here but only black and white so I am changing how I think and look at allowing everyone equal access. I will commit (for the interim at least) to not “micromanage” the company.

-Patrick

patchrik - Mar 17, 2009 08:07am

Although I am following the advice of Solve360 and letting go of “managing” the projects and CRM allowing the opportunity for collaborative “chaos”. I know, dramatic but it is not easy for me to allow such a “free-for-all” in a work environment. But, I will take that leap of faith and see how it works. I understand and can see there is no “gray” area here but only black and white so I am changing how I think and look at allowing everyone equal access. I will commit (for the interim at least) to not “micromanage” the company.

-Patrick

haha, exactly - it’s not like going from a taurus to a mustang, it’s more like going from a taurus to a helicopter.

I tag different types of projects and sort them accordingly. Solve really is like a big sandbox and the key is to set your own rules early on.