LeadDesk
LeadDesk is a cloud-based computer software that supports the sales, research and customer service of an organization happening over the phone. The software is offered on a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) service. LeadDesk combines a CRM, Campaign Management and customer database with calling. LeadDesk is used by around 500 organizations globally, and it is used to make an average of 500 000 sales calls per week. LeadDesk-service fits many different service categories. Sales Automation, Marketing Automation, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Call Center Software and Lead Management -services and software typically have similar features as LeadDesk.
Background
LeadDesk was developed by a Software company called ComDashboard Ltd in 2009. The company's turnover in 2011 was around 1.0 million USD. ComDashboard has their main office in Helsinki (Finland) and a development unit in Lappeenranta (Finland). The company also has sales units in several other European countries.
Financial Success and International Awards
LeadDesk-service reached total sales of around 700 000 euros in 2011. The Finnish economic newspaper Talouselämä reported in their 5.4.2012 -issue that LeadDesk managed to grab a spot in the finals of both the Slush 2011 and the Red Herring 100 Europe 2012 startup events. In 2012 Tekes, a Finnish funding agency for technology and innovation, chose LeadDesk for their NIY-startup program. According to another Finnish economic newspaper Kauppalehti (issue of 31.8.2012) ComDashboard's turnover grew by over 1000% and that their ”profitability measured by return on investment is excellent.”
Customers, Functionalities, and Technical Description
LeadDesk is a solution for sales, telemarketing, telephone research and customer service. Users include freelancers and big corporations from around the world. The majority of LeadDesk users operate in Inside Sales, B2B and B2C telesales, and book sales meetings or do telephone interviews.
The service can be used as an ”all-in-one” -solution, so that all functionalities from campaign management to calling happen inside the same program. The other option is to opt for a lighter ”click-to-call” -solution, which is used if contact management happens in a separate web based system (i.e. ERP/CRM such as Salesforce.com), and LeadDesk is used for calling, following call statistics and managing call history. Users can have either solution in use for their individual sales agents, so that both solutions can be in use in the same organization at the same time.
LeadDesk (especially the ”all-in-one” -solution) has several features that boost sales and calling and improve quality. These features include following sales through statistics, predictive calling (semi- and fully automatic), predictive calling, call filter, call recordings.
Technically LeadDesk is fairly simple and reliable. It has been built using PHP-, SQL/MySQL- and JS/Ajax. For call termination LeadDesk supports landline-, GSM- and VoIP connections and the user can select the best solution for themselves.
Benefits of LeadDesk
LeadDesk offers calls, high conversion rates and coordinated campaign management. It does not require big investments to start using, does not require your staff to be computer experts and it works with existing legacy systems (such as your CRM/ERP). By using LeadDesk a company can manage and create transparency in their calling operations. With LeadDesk a company can manage campaigns, contact lists and other important functions and information from one place. LeadDesk offers real time information from sales to support daily operations and a wide variety of statistics to facilitate strategizing over the long term. The service does not require big starting investments, does not bind you to a long contract and you do not need a heavy infrastructure.
Critique
LeadDesk has faced some critique as well. In 2009 when the product was in the development phase, the reliability of the service was sometimes less than satisfactory. It is also missing some functionalities (such as the functionalities of complex customer service technology and telephone switchboard). The owners of ComDashboard LTD and the coders behind the product also admit that the product has been developed for European and emerging markets, so it might not perfectly fit the requirements of some users, such as in the United States.
External links
fi:LeadDesk