Discussions - Recent Threads

Wieland Electric: Electrical manufacturer streamlines global sales processes and support

Club Concierge — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 22:27:29 GMT

As a global company, Wieland Electric struggled with disconnected regional systems that limited visibility and coordination. With SugarCRM, the business unified sales, service, and marketing in one platform. This improved data quality, reduced manual work, and enabled faster, more consistent responses worldwide.

Read the full story here: https://www.sugarcrm.com/customers/case-studies/wieland-electric/

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How to create and better handle with Sales Meeting`s Minutes in Sugar modul Meetings if users use calendar synchro within add-on Sugar Connect

Tomas Ciba — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 09:29:25 GMT

Dear Sugar folks,

our sales colleagues have been using their Meeting´s minutes (MoMs) in Cloud Sugar module "Meetings", where they basically do 2 things. One, they choose the date and time regarding the customer`s meeting and second, they write down several bullet points regarding the most important conclusions from this customer`s meeting. They save it and then it starts our SugarBPM feature in the background, which sends an automatic notification with these MoMs from Sugar Meetings to Outlook to our sales regional directors as well as top management.

There is one drawback at the moment. If a user uses proactively calendar synchro within add-on Sugar Connect at the same time, then these automatic notifications send out any internal and organizational calendar meetings sales regional directors as well as top management together with MoMs from customer`s meetings. Is there any already running solutions how to set up and handle better with that? I do know -> perhaps to implement any action buttons within Sugar module "Meetings"? What is the best use case for this?

Thank you for your point of view and sharing of your experience,

Tomas

RE: How to create and better handle with Sales Meeting`s Minutes in Sugar modul Meetings if users use calendar synchro within add-on Sugar Connect

Christoph Klöcker — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 09:26:15 GMT

Hi Andrew,

Yes, this is probably a valid solution/workaround. Tank you very much for this suggestion.

It would still involve the, in my view, unnecessary step to manually search for the meeting in the archiving dialog. It could be matched automatically and show the meeting under "Related Entries". Even better would be a general configuration option for Sugar Connect: "Link related emails to meetings automatically". Of course, this would require the relationship between meetings and emails to be built-in.

Best,
Christoph

RE: How to create and better handle with Sales Meeting`s Minutes in Sugar modul Meetings if users use calendar synchro within add-on Sugar Connect

Andrew Blue — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 18:57:02 GMT

Hi Christoph,

If I understand correctly, your sales team are sending an email to meeting participants with minutes from the meeting after the meeting was held. You also want the minutes of the meeting to be available in the CRM as well. If that's not correct, let me know.

One thing you can do is to archive the email and relate it to the meeting in Sugar at the time the email is sent. You will need to build a relationship on the Meeting module to Activities so you can relate an email to a meeting and see it in a sub-panel on thee meeting record. Then, when you compose the email in Outlook, you can use Archive w/ Options in Sugar Connect to relate the email to the meeting when the email is sent. You would then be able to see the email from the meeting record (screenshots below). Do you think this would work for you?

RE: How to create and better handle with Sales Meeting`s Minutes in Sugar modul Meetings if users use calendar synchro within add-on Sugar Connect

Christoph Klöcker — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 13:28:10 GMT

Hi Andrew,

We are still struggling to handle MoMs efficiently. The sales team's current process is:

They create a meeting in Outlook.
After the meeting was held, they send MoMs via Outlook to the participants.
They add a MoM to SugarCRM by misusing the "Meetings" module as the actual MoM.

We can push them to use the "Meetings" module as originally intended, but there are two main issues:

The MoMs to the participants, sent via Outlook, are not linked to the meeting record. So, sales team would need to manually copy this information to... the "Internal Notes" field I suppose.
There is no easy way to send an email from SugarCRM to a meeting's participants (e.g. an action button cannot access the participants' email addresses). Even if there was, the email would not be linked to the meeting (or vice versa; I mean you wouldn't see from within the meeting record that there is a related email).

We see two possibilities to mitigate this:

Somehow sync email replies to a meeting from Outlook to the meeting record in SugarCRM. Then our sales team could just send the MoMs as usual from Outlook.
Add an action button "Send email to participants" to meeting records, and visibly link the resulting email to the meeting record.

There may very well be something we do not understand about the intended usage. Looking forward to your explanation 🙂

Best,
Christoph

RE: How to create and better handle with Sales Meeting`s Minutes in Sugar modul Meetings if users use calendar synchro within add-on Sugar Connect

Tomas Ciba — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 17:19:28 GMT

Hi Andrew,

thank you very much for your point of view, I appreciate it.

Best regards, T.

RE: How to create and better handle with Sales Meeting`s Minutes in Sugar modul Meetings if users use calendar synchro within add-on Sugar Connect

Andrew Blue — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 18:16:58 GMT

Hi Tomas,

Best practice is to use the internal notes field to track information like summarizations and conclusions from held meetings. Sugar Connect will consider updates to the following fields as a trigger to sync a Sugar meeting to an external calendar (Outlook in your case):

Date
Time
Subject
Status
Location
Invitation Body

If you put your meeting notes and minutes in the body field, Sugar Connect will sync that change to Outlook. Outlook will detect a change in the meeting and broadcast a notification of the change to all meeting attendees. We have looked into trying to suppress those notifications from Outlook and cannot find a way to do so. It is Outlook's default behavior on a meeting change. In fact, Outlook will do this if you manually update the meeting.

I hope this helps you!

Thanks,

SugarCRM & The Manufacturer: New Research on How Advanced Sales Forecasting is Revolutionizing the Manufacturing Industry

Matthew McGrath — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 13:14:31 GMT

Accurate sales forecasting is pivotal in modern manufacturing, offering invaluable insights into future demand and market trends. This enables manufacturers to optimize resources, streamline processes, and enhance customer satisfaction. A recent survey conducted by SugarCRM and The Manufacturer revealed a startling fact: 40% of manufacturers do not engage in formal sales forecasting.

The discussion highlighted common challenges manufacturers face in sales forecasting:

Data Accuracy: A significant challenge, with 59% of survey respondents citing a lack of accurate data as a major hurdle.
Technological Investment: High costs associated with technology tools were a concern for 30% of respondents.
Data Integration: The difficulty of integrating data from multiple sources was identified by 37% of participants.

A significant theme of the webinar was the evolution of sales roles in manufacturing. Today’s sales teams are transitioning from a purely transactional approach to a more consultative role. By deeply understanding customer journeys, sales representatives can provide personalized solutions, thus building long-term relationships. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are essential in this shift, with 62% of manufacturers acknowledging its importance in managing customer data and interactions.

Interested in watching the full on-demand recording of this webinar? Click here.

New Webinar: Harnessing accurate sales forecasts for a competitive edge

Matthew McGrath — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 16:58:16 GMT

Join us on July 9 for a live webinar where SugarCRM and The Manufacturer dive into the crucial role of accurate sales forecasting in the ever-changing manufacturing landscape. Based on an industry survey and expert analysis, we'll explore challenges like market demand fluctuations, economic conditions, and shifting customer behaviors that impact forecasting. Learn why only 10% of manufacturers feel confident in their forecasts, how intent data is revolutionizing the process, why sales teams need to act as customer advisors, and which technologies are giving companies a competitive edge. Bring your questions and join the conversation!

SAVE YOUR SEAT

Special Announcement: SugarCRM Acquires sales-i

Craig Charlton — Wed, 22 May 2024 11:03:44 GMT

Hello everyone,

We are excited to bring you a special update that is particularly significant for our manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution sectors. SugarCRM has recently acquired sales-i, a leader in predictive B2B sales intelligence, specializing in your industries. This partnership is poised to revolutionize the way you manage accounts and leverage data to drive sales performance.   

Key Benefits for You

Enhanced Insights and Analytics: The combined power of sales-i and Sugar ensures deeper insights into customer behaviors and trends, enabling you to better understand and anticipate customer needs. 
Unlock New Revenue Streams: Discover hidden opportunities within your existing relationships through advanced cross-sell, upsell, and link-sell analytics, enhancing your ability to grow revenue efficiently. 
Centralized Data Intelligence: Experience a seamless integration of CRM and ERP data, providing a unified view of sales analytics that empowers your teams to make informed decisions without leaving the Sugar platform.

Join Us to Learn More

We invite you to join our upcoming webinar, where we will delve deeper into this acquisition and what it means for you. Register here.

Additionally, you can view the announcement and Customer FAQs.

Please feel free to reach out to sales-i@sugarcrm.com with any questions or to share your initial thoughts.

Warm regards, 

Craig

An exclusive Social Club for Office Supply Customers

Brie Rowe — Fri, 03 May 2024 19:55:34 GMT

Hey there! Are you an office supply manufacturer or distributor using SugarCRM to run your business? We'd love for you to join our upcoming Social Club session! Connect with other customers from your sector and share your experiences managing distributors, resellers, and customers. Learn from others how they report on trends and more! Come prepared with your questions, use cases, and interesting tips and tricks to share with the group. If you're interested, you can register here. We look forward to seeing you there!

This is the first of our industry-specific Social Club sessions, be sure to keep an eye out for more opportunities to network in the future.

Leads vs Prospects in Distribution

AJ Traver — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 01:07:10 GMT

Hi everyone,

I was speaking with [mention:0e3d4d94fe2d470991c3688982c059a3:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] , at EIS Inc (Distribution industry,) and we were discussing the difference between how EIS thinks about Leads and Prospects. In the Manufacturing and Distribution industry, there seems to be some variability in how 'leads' and 'prospects' are defined and managed. Aadil shared that a lead signifies someone interested in your offerings, while a prospect refers to a potential customer who fits your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) but hasn't requested a quote yet.

I'm curious to learn if others in the industry share the same distinction. How do you define and differentiate between leads and prospects in your manufacturing or distribution business? And how does your lead routing process accommodate these distinctions?

Thanks for sharing!

RE: Leads vs Prospects in Distribution

Alex Nassi — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:58:33 GMT

To add to Vincent Amari 's explanation, specifically the out-of-the-box comments, we have a podcast episode ( Season 1 Episode 2: What's the difference between Targets, Leads, and Contacts in Sugar?) and a getting started Help Article (https://support.sugarcrm.com/knowledge_base/getting_started/introduction_to_contacts_leads_and_targets/) on this topic that may help as well. Also, here's the documentation section on Renaming Modules (https://support.sugarcrm.com/documentation/sugar_versions/13.3/sell/administration_guide/developer_tools/#Configuring_Module_Names) if anyone would like to investigate this process further.

I hope this helps!

RE: Leads vs Prospects in Distribution

AJ Traver — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 17:39:41 GMT

Hi Tim, thanks for such a thorough response. I'm sorry to hear that, and I appreciate your candor. It's helpful to understand how you've set up the process. aadil ahmed may also find this interesting, as he's approached the solution slightly differently. Aadil, do you want to share how you've set it up?

I shared this insight around the Prospect to Lead to Customer process with our executive leadership team at Sugar so they have eyes on this particular industry process. Thanks again for helping me understand.

RE: Leads vs Prospects in Distribution

Vincent Amari — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 17:37:46 GMT

Tim Phillips

[quote userid="14679" url="~/engage/manufacturing/f/discussions/7133/leads-vs-prospects-in-distribution/30964"]I was very disappointed in HOW we are having to work the journey from Lead to Prospect to Customer. We were told, through our many pre-sale meetings with Sugar, that this was standard and not a problem. What we found out is that it is not standard and we had to come up with a work-around solution. We did not build a custom module for Prospects[/quote]

This confusion is common.

if you click on the menu for 'Targets', and look at the URL it is in fact /#Prospects.
(I personally rename Targets to Prospects because Targets get users confused thinking they are part of Target Lists.)
When you create a Target/Prospect, you also get the option to convert it into a Lead.

Hope that helps.

RE: Leads vs Prospects in Distribution

Vincent Amari — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 17:35:15 GMT

Leads vs Prospect
No right or wrong term, however here are some interesting facts that may help you decide:

Back in the old days, Prospectors went searching for gold. They didn't know if they'd find any, but with experience some of them knew what type of terrain or rivers to look for.

Similarly, 'old school' sales, Prospecting was a term used for various types of cold calling, hoping to find somebody that may be interested in what you're selling.

So it stands to reason that even modern Social media marketing is in fact Prospecting.

The remainder I'm sure everyone here knows, but for completeness;
When somebody responds to the ads i.e filling a form, it would be considered a 'Lead'. Some would call this 'unqualified Lead'. Moving on, if a sales person contacts these they become 'sales qualified' and either Closed Lost or Converted into an Opportunity.

All the modules and basics for the above is included in SugarCRM out-of-the-box. Some may have not noticed that if you click on the menu for 'Targets', and look at the URL it is in fact /#Prospects.
(I personally rename Targets to Prospects because Targets get users confused thinking they are part of Target Lists.)
When you create a Target/Prospect, you also get the option to convert it into a Lead.

I think the lines between Lead and Prospect became blurred because some started treating the act of Prospecting and the term Prospect to mean different things, and some as the same thing.

I believe this is possible because so much content on the web is generated by copying or refactoring existing content, depending either on which came up top during initial Google search or preferred source.

Ultimately the choice is yours, although I prefer the old fashion terminology because it makes sense to me, and also because it's mostly out-of-the-box with SugarCRM.

RE: Leads vs Prospects in Distribution

Tim Phillips — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 15:13:08 GMT

We have not yet officially launched SurgarCRM. We are still in implementing. This was a critical issue for us when selecting a new CRM. I was very disappointed in HOW we are having to work the journey from Lead to Prospect to Customer. We were told, through our many pre-sale meetings with Sugar, that this was standard and not a problem. What we found out is that it is not standard and we had to come up with a work-around solution. We did not build a custom module for Prospects.

The journey process that we have worked out, and are currently testing, is as follows. Lead: we work to confirm the lead fits our target prospect profile. Simply state, if they are spending money with our competitor, they are a confirmed prospect. We then convert the Lead to an Account, but the account type is Prospect. From that account type prospect, we are able to create sales opportunity. Once the account type prospect commits to placing orders with us, we will change the account type to Customer.

It is somewhat confusing at first, but once everyone understands the terminology, it really isn't that big of a deal. Please let me know if you have additional questions. I am happy to share.

RE: Leads vs Prospects in Distribution

AJ Traver — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:36:32 GMT

Hi Tim Phillips , very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Have you built a custom module for Prospects in your CRM instance? I'm curious how your process works to automate routing for Prospects.

RE: Leads vs Prospects in Distribution

Tim Phillips — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 12:35:23 GMT

Lead: Much like a business card. We have limited data but appears to be a consumer of products that we are capable of supplying.

Prospect: There has been confirmation that this company is indeed purchasing products that we are capable of supplying-They are currently spending money with our competition

How has your organization leveraged CRM-ERP integration to enhance business operations?

AJ Traver — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 20:39:04 GMT

In the era of advanced business technologies, the integration of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems has emerged as a powerful strategy to enhance various facets of business operations.

In this video recently produced by Sugar dive deep into the manufacturing world as we explore the impact of tight integration between ERP and CRM across sales, services and marketing:

Marketers can use ERP data to pinpoint trends, create targeted campaigns, and anticipate customer needs.
Service reps deliver instant solutions, building brand trust through accelerated human-to-human interactions.
Sales reps unlock upsell and cross-sell opportunities, increasing revenue with insights at their fingertips.

How has your organization leveraged CRM-ERP integration to enhance marketing strategies, streamline sales processes, or elevate customer service? Share your experiences, challenges, and success stories to foster a dialogue on the transformative impact of seamless integration in modern business operations.

RevOps Success in Industrial, Manufacturing and Distribution – Join the Webinar!

AJ Traver — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 18:16:26 GMT

Join our webinar on Tuesday, December 5th, 2023 at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET. Christina Nielsen, Sr. Director of CRM and Sales Education for Lawson Products, one of the 30 largest industrial distribution companies in the U.S. with 3000+ employees and over $400 million in annual revenues, is sharing Lawson's story of streamlining RevOps.

Explore the benefits of CPQ, Field Service Management, and CRM. See how RevOps streamlines your business, from the first customer interaction to post-sale support.

Comparison for Sugar Service vs Service Now

Bhupesh Nehete — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 07:09:04 GMT

Hello,

I am looking for comparison chart for Sugar Serv vs Service Now. One of my clients is asking for the same. Can anyone help me for this?

Thank you.

WEBINAR: How is CRM software helping leading manufacturers boost productivity?

Lorraine Chapman — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 07:55:04 GMT

On Wednesday 22nd June, SugarCRM customer Peter Jones at HepcoMotion will be discussing this with the editor of The Manufacturer during a panel discussion webinar.

Find out more about how Sugar helped HepcoMotion transform the way marketing, sales and customer services teams work together to improve productivity.

Welcome to the Manufacturing Group!

Jana Ferguson — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 22:05:58 GMT

Hi there,

User Groups are here and we couldn't be more excited! This has been a big request from customers, partners, and employees alike, and we're happy to announce it is finally here. However, for user groups to be a success the most important thing we need is you, our users. You are what brings SugarClub to life each and every day, and the discussions and questions that you post here will become resources for users in the future.

Feel free to post anything on your mind about the manufacturing industry, successes you have had or challenges your are facing. Give advice and seek it. Tag others in your posts. This group is here for you! [emoticon:c4563cd7d5574777a71c318021cbbcc8]