InterScape, Inc

“Let sellers sell — not fight an interface.”

Francis, Matthew — 2/4/2008 12:00:00 AM

InterScape Inc. announced today its release of FLIP, a new sales force automation tool designed to release sales professionals from IT complexity so they can concentrate on their core competency.

”Sellers want to sell,” said InterScape CEO Matt Francis, “and they want a tool that lets them do that without wading through layers of navigation or weeks of training.”

Designed for sales forces at small, medium, or enterprise-scale companies, FLIP is the newest addition to InterScape’s Knovial suite for managing marketing, sales and communications on a single platform. The company is based in Norcross, GA.

Cost effectiveness and risk-reduction were key considerations, said Francis: FLIP carries a $299-per-seat price tag, and its integration with other sales and marketing functions promises reduced support costs.

Further, FLIP uses the Microsoft SYNC Framework to let users work offline and automatically synchronize with the home office whenever an Internet connection is convenient. “Savings on wireless cards alone can be substantial,” said Francis.

Meanwhile, FLIP’s ease of use minimizes training expenses. The tool is one of the first to employ the new Microsoft Presentation Foundation to deliver a simple interface without file menus or tabs. That transparency “brings new salespeople up to speed quickly — not in days or weeks, but in as little as a half hour.”

FLIP integrates smoothly with a company’s Web presence, marketing, e-commerce, and business intelligence, said the InterScape chief. “It lets managers and salespeople manage prospects, contacts, customers and local and national events — and also instantly send trackable email messaging, print marketing, and event invitations.”

The tool’s zip-code level functionality, meanwhile, not only enables targeted territory-based marketing campaigns, but also lets managers assign new salespeople to existing territory with minimal turnover cost.

FLIP helps managers align their sales force through such resources as training materials, forms and internal communications. And it generates easy-to-understand interactive reports to support business intelligence goals.

InterScape thinks sales professionals in the field will appreciate FLIP’s e-commerce integration, with which they can create or track orders on the spot. That, said Francis, delivers “a vital customer-service advantage in today’s competitive environment.”

For more information, visit:
http://www.interscapeinc.com/KnovialFLIPAdvancedOnlineandOfflineSalesTrackingClient.html

Better ways to manage content

Francis, Matthew — 1/22/2008 12:00:00 AM

Content management, broadly defined, covers everything from a legal pad to a library to YouTube — all the many ways of organizing information to make it useful. The rise of computing and the Internet, in particular, have brought forth vast new quantities of information as well as new ways of sharing and managing it.

What are content management systems?

By content management system (CMS), we mean software that enables users to organize, store, search, and retrieve different kinds of information online. The information can exist in varied formats — straight text or hyperlinks, sound files or graphics, videos or flash animations — and the online delivery platforms can include Web pages, blogs, wikis, videos, social media and other online outlets.

Managing a static Web page and a blog or two is pretty easy. But companies today have opportunities to leverage their knowledge much more effectively, and to do so they require more robust systems to create and manage content — continuously, at any time, as the organization changes.

Knowledge lies within

How can a company get great timely content onto its sites? One of the best ways is by tapping the experience and wisdom of employees. A business leverages that human capital when it enables employees to create content and publish it directly.

A well-designed CMS permits virtually anyone to manage online content in ways that once required advanced design and technical skills. This distributed content creation is something new in business, allowing companies to enlist wider layers of employees in developing and publishing information. Some examples:

After a new product gets the green light, the project manager uses a CMS to publish the news on the company’s Web sites. In a matter of minutes he uploads a press release, screen shots, products sheets and a video, and then updates the company’s pay-per-click ads.

A company wins a big contract on the eve of a trade show. The marketing director writes an article, posts it to the Web site, and runs down his CMS list. With a few keystrokes he changes an obsolete phone number on one page, adds an address field to another, updates a graphic elsewhere, and even sends the news article out for translation to French and Spanish.

“Hello, IT? Is there a mistake here?” The east-coast plant manager says he’ll run short of frames if his scheduler follows the online manual. Other plants will be calling tomorrow — but the programmers rewrite a sentence and post the revision. Notifications and version control flags flow automatically, and production lines keep humming.

The new-hire admin in HR knows Word but no HTML. On his first day, he uses a CMS to build a Web site for the blood drive — a multipager with graphics and flash, drop-downs and forms, a video from the CEO. And with his knowledge of Word, he gives the site a noticeably professional look.

What these employees have in common is the ability to strengthen their companies’ online impact quickly and directly. Some work internally, others externally, but in each case the content they post draws visitors, directly and through search engines. And these visitors use the content they find to advance the company’s goals.

Fresh content is king — just ask Google

The companies that leverage the Web most effectively are those that maintain dynamic, up-to-date content on their sites. One of the main reasons is that such content attracts search engines. Google, for example, publicizes its preference for informational sites over commercial ones.

That doesn’t mean a Web site can’t be used for advertising. But in addition to short, sharp taglines and ad copy, companies should include substantive content — white papers, FAQs, knowledge-base articles, and so on — that give the site an informational character.

And it’s not enough to fill a site with information and then leave it alone. Search engines also favor freshness. Google knows its search customers want relevance and currency, so its search algorithms assign higher rank to pages and sites whose content is frequently updated. In addition, sites with fresh content are more likely to grow link partnerships with other sites.

The benefits of a content management system

More timely and effective communication. It’s a universal best practice in business. Give employees clear instructions and they’ll perform tasks more efficiently. Focus sales force messaging, and sales will begin to align more closely with strategy. Target an audience closely, and the marketing machine will find, pitch and convert more customers.

Increased search engine traffic. Content is search-friendly, because search engines rank sites to satisfy their own customers — searchers who prize fresh content over marketing claims.

Stronger collaboration. Building a culture where employees truly share knowledge is a big undertaking, and every company that embarks upon it finds out that sharing generates content. To reap benefits, this content must be easily accessible to those who need it.

Reduced disruption from employee churn. By systematizing and diffusing individual knowledge, a CMS helps to minimize the effects of employee comings and goings.

Reduced costs. A CMS can free up IT resources from maintaining Web content. It’s not longer necessary to devote skilled, $70,000-a-year employees to writing routine HTML, sizing graphics, cutting and pasting, creating standard forms, and reporting site statistics.

What to look for in a CMS

Many Web products advertise “content management” features, but sometimes these amount to little more than marketing claims. A company’s first look at any CMS should focus on three areas that combine into a true system:

Ease of use. Is the interface unique, or does it correspond to widespread standards? To put employees to work creating content, not learning new formatting rules, go for convention. If the CMS offers a variety of templates and an intuitive, what-you-see-is-what-you-get interface — especially one based on Microsoft Office — anyone can access familiar tools easily. This gives every employee the comfort of knowing they too can create new content with some typing and a few clicks.

Functionality. A CSM should let users manage different media — text, images, flash animation, sound, video. And look for functional site tags, so users can easily create interactive Web pages with drop-down menus, forms for gathering information, and online transactions. Adding passwords, search, print, rating and discussion functions to a page should be easy, and language conversion should be built in. Don’t forget stats and path analysis, the more granular the better, so you can understand how visitors use the site.

Integration and scalability. A CMS should let users easily link content and features on the same site and elsewhere. And it should integrate readily with key business processes in marketing (including pay-per-click campaigns), sales, accounting and operations. But robust doesn’t mean all or nothing. The best CMS designs are modular, allowing a company to grow its online presence — adding video features, for example — on its own schedule.

Key elements in a CMS implementation

Nail the business case first. Content management systems share some basic principles, but they are far from identical. Every business is unique, so understand your goals and expectations. How will you measure progress and define success?

Define the stages. Universities devote whole curricula to content management. For an online CMS, these are the basic stages:

Workflow: business rules, procedures, ownership

Creation: authoring responsibilities, single-source tools, editing

Storage: file systems, version control, access rights, archives

Publishing: channels, personalization, usability testing

Manage change. Hidden knowledge is an orphan, but transparency raises new issues of ownership — not to mention review processes, security and access. Audit trails become more important: Who touched what, when? You’re not just training people on a system, but on business processes, thus increasing productivity and business profitability.

What about IT?

Some IT organizations are mired in busy work — creating and recreating similar forms, translating press releases and documentation updates into HTML — and they will welcome technology that frees them up for core missions of systems support, security, and delivery of business intelligence.

But a robust CMS can meet resistance in some shops— especially when it succeeds, and management begins to apply it more widely. Before long a new administrative assistant is creating and managing multiple and complex Web portals, and an IT fiefdom may be threatened.

Content management isn’t an alternative to IT. Rather, it’s a powerful tool for employees in marketing, corporate communications, accounting, and virtually every other function — including IT. A well-designed, properly implemented CMS helps each department organize, exploit and share the full depth of its knowledge, thus strengthening its contribution to the company’s forward progress.

A well-implemented CMS improves IT productivity. At the most basic level, it helps IT employees focus on operational reporting and business intelligence instead of content management and HTML generation. It helps this critical department rise to its strategic task of enabling business, rather than creating, supporting and hoarding complex systems that have been rendered obsolete.

If you’d like to know more about content management, and how your business might benefit from it, InterScape Inc. has the experience and expertise to show you the ropes and provide CMS solutions with the Knovial Platform. 1-866-DEV-7766 or visit us at http://www.knovial.com

Earn up to $300 for a referral!

Francis, Matthew — 5/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

That's right! Earn up to $300 for referring business to InterScape. This is open to anyone that brings in a website lead or design lead.

Please have them fill out the demo form and out your name & email in the comments box.

WebPilot Demo Request

How does sales force automation help the small bus

Francis, Matthew — 1/22/2008 12:00:00 AM

How Sales Force Automation Helps Small and Midsize Businesses

There was a time when a reasonably competent manager could use a telephone, some paper and maybe a few Excel files to manage a sales force, at least a small one. The competition, after all, was doing pretty much the same thing.

But those days are gone. Today most small and midsize companies face an environment of margin squeeze and sharper competition. Not only sales managers but salespeople themselves need sharp and effective tools for selling and tracking if they hope to compete and produce results.

What Is Sales Force Automation? What Can It Do?

Many software platforms advertise one or more elements of sales force automation, or SFA. The genuine article, however, is a system that integrates all information about prospects, leads, customers, events and resources into a single tool, and puts that information at the hands of those who need it.

For salespeople, a well-designed SFA system provides all the tools they need in an intuitive, easy-to-use format, and it makes these tools accessible for productive use online or off. It relieves salespeople of time-consuming, repetitive tasks, freeing them to focus on the content of their work rather than administrative chores. Ultimately, SFA can help unleash sales creativity.

For management, a robust SFA system provides a two-way interface with all territories. It integrates day-to-day sales with the company’s sales and marketing programs. It also tracks performance data at a detailed level, down to calls and e-mails, without obstructing or intruding upon the sellers themselves. And it delivers the fresh, accurate, complete and understandable information that managers need in order to lead and align the troops in the field.

SFA can save money, too — for example, in sales force turnover. When an employee leaves for any reason, the company must spend money to hire and train a replacement. When the departing employee takes with them their inside knowledge of the company’s leads, prospects and customers, the long-term price can be enormous.

By moving all this information automatically onto a territory- or product-based system, SFA software puts it at the disposal of the company. Transition to a replacement is less expensive — the new hire can be up and running quickly — and, most important of all, the company maintains its hard-earned customer information.

What To Look For in SFA Systems

An SFA system should make a salesperson’s job easy. Some of the most important features are these:

Easy incorporation of lead, prospect and customer information, whether scanned from business cards at a trade show, uploaded from a central-office list, or updated in an order
Automatic dialing, a simple but proven sales booster
Simple editing and search functions, so information can be changed and brought up quickly and easily
A way to view all relevant local and national events
Uncomplicated procedures for scheduling events and follow-ups, synchronized with Microsoft Outlook
A resource area that permits addition of territorial and regional resources (e.g., directories, news articles, links), and also provides instant access to training and management communications

At the same time, an effective SFA system should help management keep the sales force on track, by providing these features:

Immediate transmission to the field of messaging designed to keep the force aligned with overall marketing strategy and current campaigns
Integration with the company’s email and print marketing efforts, so management can drive business to the sales force
Background tracking that requires no special effort by the salesperson. For example, a scheduled meeting with a prospect is automatically logged by the system.
Automatic, non-intrusive delivery of tracking results to management.

For both field and management use, the most useful SFA systems are those that are easy to use and carry a short learning curve. Those features are best delivered by systems that present an intuitive interface modeled on Microsoft conventions.

The Difficulty of Getting Information

A central obstacle to effective sales force management has always been the difficulty of convincing sales employees to record their daily results. Virtually all the data they have is useful — for one thing, it’s fresh, which makes it considerably more accurate, and some of it is pure gold. That’s because managers can use it to replicate success (or avoid failure) in other territories.

But much of this fresh information is lost to management entirely. Unfortunately, certain SFA software reinforce the obstacle. A hosted SFA system that relies on an Internet connection in order for the employee to work is a good example. When the very simplest action — say, recording the notes from a telephone call — requires finding a wired or wireless connection, accessing the Internet, and logging on to a home server, employees aren’t much inclined to do it.

Throw in a few dropped connections, and many stop trying entirely. Maybe they’ll jot something down later, or maybe not.

The Occasional Internet

One of the most important advances in SFA systems is the adoption by some of a concept called occasionally connected computing, or OCC.

Email clients offer a good illustration of OCC. On the road, a user might be able to log in only once a day to upload and download new messages. But the ability to read and answer messages — that is, to work — doesn’t depend on the connection. The user can perform those tasks anywhere, without regard to network availability.

Similarly, an OCC-enabled application permits employees to make use of their computers, applications and data even when they’re off the grid. No connection is needed, so no connection is dropped. The company saves money on wireless cards and on-air fees. And the salesperson’s laptop, fast or slow, can do the job.

Later, whenever an Internet connection is established — at the hotel, or back at the office — an OCC-enabled application automatically synchronizes, transmitting field information to the office (e.g., notes from a prospect meeting) and management communications to the field (e.g., changes in price schedules, a video of the weekly sales talk). No effort by the individual salesperson is required.

All this takes place transparently, in the background, requiring no special action by users and leaving them free to focus on tasks.

You Can’t Automate Sales

Sales force automation doesn’t mean automating your sales force. The opposite is true: Properly used, an SFA system can turn a sales force loose to concentrate on what it does best.

And sales force automation software doesn’t guarantee more sales. It equips a company with tools that open the way to improving sales. Above all it should provides a company with current, accurate information from its forces in the field, which is the bedrock of effective sales management.

In that way, SFA can help a company realize a higher return on its marketing investment.

Our firm knows sales force automation. If you’d like to discuss how SFA might help your company, please contact us. 1-866-DEV-7766 or visit us at http://www.knovial.com

How InterScape helps sell houseplans online

Francis, Matthew — 4/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

How InterScape helps sell house plans online: By using WebPilot as the foundation for the new www.garrellassociates.com website, we have been able to launch a really complex site in record time. The site lets visitors search for house plans online and then purchase plans using a credit card. The images of the plans are even protected by a dynamic watermark feature.
The site makes it easy for anyone to find the perfect house plan with minimal clicks. Click here to visit the site

Is mobile really in Mobile 5.0?

Francis, Matthew — 6/6/2006 12:00:00 AM

Mobile 5....

KNOVIAL supports PayPal standard in store front

Francis, Matthew — 7/30/2007 12:00:00 AM

InterScape adds standard PayPal ordering to the KNOVIAL storefront to help small businesses reduce the costs of e-commerce. Now with a standard PayPal account, the KNOVIAL storefront can easily send orders to PayPal for credit card processing. KNVOIAL also supports standard credit card processing integrated into our clients site using PayPal Pro or Authorizenet gateways. Click here to learn more about the KNOVIAL Commerce Center module or contact us.

Online editing made easy by InterScape's WebPilot

Francis, Matthew — 4/12/2007 12:00:00 AM

Online editing can be tricky. Some important things to think about when looking at an online editing system are: Does the system let you edit in an easy to use interface like Microsoft Word? Does the system let you upload images and multimedia with ease? Can your link link to content without having to know URLS or parameters? Can you insert logic or functionality without the need of a programmer? Can you "re-use" the HTML throughout your site? And finally, does the system let you use video anywhere you want? With all these things in mind, this just covers editing content, there are a lot of other features to consider like building forms, e-commerce, reporting, communities, and search engine optimization.
Online Editing Inteface: Having an easy to use editor is critical. Our editor is built like Microsoft Word. With the editor you can manage all aspects of your site. Like adding and editing pages, blogs, store items and more. You can also upload images, flash, video, and documents. You can also easily like to any content or feature on the site.

Add advanced features using TAGS: WebPilot has a TAG system that lets you easily add features like, shopping carts, site search, community logins and more with ease. Simply select the feature you want and place the tag in the location you want it to show up. That's it!

Reuse HTML and code anywhere: Using our "reuseable HTML" feature, you can create pieces of content to easily use throughout your site. Simply create the piece of code, then add it to as many paces that you need it displayed in. You can also limit the view to a particular community or person so only they can see it!

Use DIGAMA to convert video and use the editor to place right into your site: Our DIGAMA application will convert AVI, MOV, and MPEG video and uplaod right into your site. Once in the editor, you just have to select the video clip and place it where you want it. You can also resize it too!

Reporting visitor path in WebPilot

Francis, Matthew — 4/13/2007 12:00:00 AM

Path reporting in WebPilot:
Do you know how your visitors go through your site?

WebPilot now reports the path that visits take when going through your site. It is important for you to know how people go through your site and where they start browsing and drop off.

With this report you can see the forms they fill out, shopping cart process they take before ordering or not ordering your products, and even tell who they are when available.

Once a person has completed an order or joined a community, you can tell the path they take on your site.

Sales Center lets user import leads

Francis, Matthew — 4/25/2007 12:00:00 AM

Sales Center Import Feature:

WebPilot's Sales Center lets users import leads without using templates.

When you import your file, we read the format and try to match database columns automatically.

The excel import feature makes it easy to import data from any excel file and match columns with ease.

Talent Center Launches!

Francis, Matthew — 5/11/2007 12:00:00 AM

Talent Center makes it easy for an online community in WebPilot to search and find talent. Using our keyword linking feature, you can match people that offer services and easily see related services that you may want to include in your search. Then you can join their network and communicate as one group.
Search with ease Easily use keywords to search hundreds of service categories and only match the people you are looking for.

Easy to understand results See your search results on a Google Map. Then click on the different results to view resumes, videos, and communicate with the person you found.

Use WebPilot for Online Invoicing

Francis, Matthew — 4/24/2007 12:00:00 AM

Use WebPilot to create and send online invoices:

You can easily create online invoices using WebPilot. Simply create products and services in the store administration area, then create and send invoices to clients.

The Invoice Manager lets you create and send invoices to your clients. Help speed up your cash flow by invoicing online. No need to print and mail invoices anymore.

You can also easily report on invoices that have not been paid through the store reporting features for easy follow-up.

WebPilot now includes Sales Center

Francis, Matthew — 4/17/2007 12:00:00 AM

Welcome to the new way to track and manage sales leads: If you are looking for the perfect online sales tracking and reporting tool, WebPilot now includes SalesCenter. A module to let companies track sales online. It is an extremely easy to use system that only takes a matter of minutes to lean. Here are the highlights:

Search leads
Add leads
Create follow-up actions
Pull random leads

Import excel lists
Add followups to Outlook
Advanced ad-hoc reporting
See leads by industry

Easy to use search screen:

Easily add leads and track projections

Advanced ad-hoc reporting through BIViewer

Welcome to the new year!

Francis, Matthew — 1/20/2008 12:00:00 AM

Welcome to the New Year!

This is the first of many InterScape email/blog newsletters that we really hope are helpful to your business. Our goal in 2008 is to help your company grow profits and reduce operating costs in the upcoming months. We have a lot of exciting news in Sales Tracking and Management, Content Management, and Reporting!

Please let us know if we can help your business in any way. We are always striving to make our support and enhancement process better. If you ever have an issue with our services or software, please let us know by filling out a detailed support request here.

Thanks for making 2007 a great year at InterScape and please be sure to visit us on Jan 11 2008 for a demo of our new Sales tool called FLIP

Sincerely,

Matt Francis, CEO
InterScape, Inc .
Email: mfrancis@interscapeinc.com
Phone: 678-522-6650
Online: http://www.interscapeinc.com/

Our new web site!

Come and see (or watch online) our new Sales Tracking and Automation tool that is integrated into Communication Center and Sales Center code named "FLIP" Register Online

Easy to learn and use in less than 30 minutes! (Much better than some other sales tracking sites -No names)
Online and Offline sales interface
Manage prospects
Manage customers and orders
Manage national and local events and follow-ups
View and add resources (training, forms, and communications)
Based on zip-code regions
Integrated with Communication Center for email and print marketing

"FLIP" Screenshot

Be sure to download our new white papers on Content Management and Sales Automation and spread the word!!!

Why should you use Content Management?
Content management, broadly defined, covers everything from a legal pad to a library to YouTube.. all the many ways of organizing information to make it useful. The rise of computing and the Internet, in particular, have brought forth vast new quantities of information as well as new ways of sharing and managing it. Download Now

How Sales Force Automation Helps Small and Midsize Businesses
There was a time when a reasonably competent manager could use a telephone, some paper and maybe a few Excel files to manage a sales force, at least a small one. The competition, after all, was doing pretty much the same thing. Download Now

Work Center - Track work that comes into your site

Francis, Matthew — 5/15/2007 12:00:00 AM

Work Center is designed to let you setup queues for form submissions on your site. When someone files out a form on a web site, you typically get an email and store it in outlook where you have to track it, forward it on, or print it. WebPilot makes it easy to send that form data to a community for people to work and status on it. This way, multiple people can work on items and they do not get lost in email.
Create Work Queues The first step in the process is to create a work queue for your form and then assign that queue to a community.
Create different status options Once you havea queue for the form submissions to go, you need to setup status options for that queue and order them.
The Work List The worklist is where you can see all the form results that have been submitted into your site. Here it is easy to filter on different queues and statuses. Easy edit the form and update the status. If you name your fields with common names, you can even automatically add form data to community profiles for marketing.