by Peter Fearey under Customer Stories

Full title… "Just say no to email that contains information that you then have to parse into relevant bits and manage and assign and track… all via a medium (email) not made for parsing, managing, assigning and tracking." Now, there’s a catchy title!

We often get asked, "Can QuickBase accept incoming emails?" The answer is "Yes and no, and what are you trying to do?" For example, one of our customers was looking to have emails that came to investor_relations@example.com go directly into QuickBase. We asked where the email address was used, and they said on their Website. We suggested that instead of an email address on their website, they build a simple form and have that post directly to QuickBase.

What are the advantages to this approach?

1. You can control what information people add via the forms versus free-formed email.
2. The information is automatically parsed into the appropriate fields, like what type of inquiry it is, urgency, where it came from, date and time entered, etc. No one has to manually enter or track this.
3. Based on what you want, you could easily auto-assign inquiries based on the information provided, which means faster response.
4. You’ll have one place to track the information and manage the workflow around these inquiries versus the emails being spread out across several people’s email boxes.
5. NO MORE SPAM! These public email addresses always get picked up by the spammers, and generate even more work for you. No more email address = no more spam.

You can put this form on your Website very quickly and easily. If you don’t want to learn the API calls yourself, we even have a form wizard to help you. You can read about it here: https://www.quickbase.com/db/6mztyxu8?a=dr&r=4

I know of many clients and internal Intuit folks that have converted to Website forms versus an email address on a Website and the results have been a terrific increase in productivity and responsiveness based on the above advantages. Have you done this yourself? If so, tell us about it, so we can learn from you.

And, this won’t work in all situations. Some folks need QuickBase to accept incoming emails from customers or prospects, when they are in an on-going exchange, like in a sales or support situation. We are looking at options for this. If you have any suggestions on how you’ve seen this work with other products, or want to make sure we know the specifics of your situation, please share them. We are always happy to hear from you, so we can get to the right solution for the largest number of folks!

Thanks!

by Peter Fearey under QuickBase News

I just read a good article on Web 2.0 from Business Week: Web 2.0 Has Corporate America Spinning Despite the title, it felt clear on advantages, and not sensationalized. I thought this paragraph under the "More Flexible" heading really hit the nail on the head as to what we are trying to do with QuickBase.

Corporations also are balking at installing big, multimillion dollar software programs that can take years to roll out — and then aren’t flexible enough to adapt to new business needs. "They’re clunky and awkward and don’t encourage participation," grumbles Dion Hinchcliffe, chief technology officer of Washington, D.C. tech consultant Sphere of Influence.

That’s why companies are warming to the idea of opening their information-technology systems to do-it-yourselfers.

It made me think… Home Depot is the Do-It-Yourselfers Warehouse. They staff with special folks with applicable experience and helpful attitudes. Our Application Specialists, who work with prospects during trial, and our Customer Advocates, who work with customers, were all chosen based on this kind of mix… applicable experience and helpful attitudes. And, we have a "teach to fish" approach to our work with prospects and clients. So, my question to you… what else can we do to make this type of DIY attractive to you, your colleagues and your company? Is that a good path? Are there other mental models we should consider?

And cheers to you all who have made it happen. I’m constantly hearing stories from you about…

• "Our department was trying to get a bug tracking system rolled out for two months. I got annoyed with the complaints and built what we needed in 20 minutes over the weekend. Everyone loves it."
• "I introduced someone to QuickBase, built and app, and trained her all in one hour."
• "Our intern built an app today. With no training from any of us."

Not a big, expensive or L-O-N-G to be found.

As always, thanks for any thoughts or suggestions you have on this post!