Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered backbone of the UAE economy and like any other sector most of the companies here also hit by the pandemic and deserve to be bailout on priority to enable them confidently survive this challenging environment, an industry veteran says.
Founder and CEO of Loyica Ali Homadi said his company was offering on-the-ground support to its SME partners hit by the Covid-19 crisis to help them in difficult times. He said Saphyte — UAE’s first locally-developed CRM — was created to provide direct support and assistance to local SMEs and startups.
“We identified the lapses of international CRM providers, developed a most advanced software tool primarily to help SMEs and assured them 24/7 local support that gives confidence to this vital sector of the economy,” Homadi said.
The software is used by clients to systematically collect customer information for sales and marketing purposes. The CRM also enables its users to update customer data in real-time and communicate with customers in various channels with the help of automation.
“Most CRM providers do not provide on-the-ground support to their new clients. The demos they give are usually done online and their systems are often unable to accommodate the unique and specific needs of businesses. But Saphyte is different. We provide one-to-one support to our customers, introducing them to best practices to maximise the use of our software so they can gain value from our product and grow their business,” Homadi said.
Auomation, Big Data
Homadi and his team then conducted studies on the retail, financial, real estate, banking, and insurance industries in the MENA region and observed that most business owners are not sufficiently equipped with technological knowledge to run more efficient work processes.
“We found out that most SMEs in the MENA region have traditional workflows— they use spreadsheets to collect and organise data and have to manually send emails from time to time,” said Homadi.
“It has since become our mission to teach companies how to take advantage of automation and big data to cut costs, make data-driven business decisions, and improve their overall organisational impact to society.”
Saphyte hosts a variety of features such as access to multiple customisable dashboards, a sales pipeline that gets updated in real-time, automated email marketing, live chat integration, lead scoring, campaign management, and deals management, among others. The system also enables consumer-facing companies or even businesses with B2B models to provide a strong complaint feedback loop which is important as consumer needs and preferences are now changing at a rapid pace.
Since its launch, the company has added new features to keep its customers updated. Saphyte Sync, a Chrome and Firefox extension plugin that helps users search and capture LinkedIn data and integrate them into the Saphyte workspace and Scan-and-Store, a business card scanner that uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to transfer information from business cards into the CRM in seconds, are among the new features added.
“One of the benefits of Saphyte is the fact that the support is local. The team has been great in suggesting ideas and ensuring that the system directly fits in line with my processes as a business,” said Stefan Beswick, co-founder and chief operating officer at 33 Voices.
Technology is key
When asked about the ongoing changes in the business environment, Homadi recognises that adopting new technologies might prove difficult as businesses are struggling to find their footing in a disrupted environment. But Homadi assures that technology is key to keep businesses afloat.
“The global pandemic has reshaped the way we work and it has changed the way businesses approach their customers. Deploying agile practices, embracing automation, and making the most of remote working are a few of the things businesses ought to do to survive in the new normal,” he said.
Homadi believes that Saphyte’s system “will keep businesses” relevant during trying times.
Businesses are bound to lose customers during the pandemic. With restrictions in mobility and lockdowns taking place, customer retention becomes a challenge for many businesses.
“Sales teams must know what their customers need, what their preferences are, and how to keep and retain them for a long time,” Homadi said.
He believes that these are the key factors for business growth. Without doing this, he argues that all a business does is just get one-time customers that may no longer return in the future, which will hurt the sales of the business—the stream of income that will fund the future operations of the business—and may result in its closure.
Affordable pricing plan
To help their SME partners during “trying times”, Homadi says that they have adjusted their pricing plan “which not a lot of CRM providers are willing to do”.
Currently, Saphyte offers a free trial of their product for a month. It also waives the set-up fees, implementation fees, and customer support fees for its new users. With their Pay-As-You-Go pricing plan, customers will only be billed according to usage.
“With our one-to-one, on-the-ground support plus our unique pricing plan, all the odds are stacked in favor of our new clients,” says Homadi.
“This gives them more flexibility to try our product and see how it can transform their business for the better.”
When asked about his advice to entrepreneurs and SMEs during the pandemic, Homadi said don’t forget to ask for help whenever you need it.
“A little help goes a long way especially with the ongoing crisis. Be open to changes and keep your fighting spirit alive. Someday, you’ll come back and realise these are what you needed to get to that breakthrough,” Homadi said.
Founded in 2016, Loyica is a tech company that offers off-the-scale systems and software solutions for businesses. The company launched its CRM software, Saphyte in 2017, and has provided an ecosystem of sales, marketing, team/workspace, and support solutions to its clients ever since.
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