What is CRM?
Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to a an organization’s approach to managing interaction with current and future customers. The overall CRM strategy makes an effort to analyze data about a customers’ transaction history, while CRM software analyzes customer data, allowing organizations to focus on retaining customers and driving sales growth.
When discussed in business strategy, CRM is most often associated with the software platform which a company utilizes to collect and parse customer data.
Whether it involves tracking phone conversations, sending out blast emails, managing a sales pipeline, or keeping your social media profiles engaging and accurate – CRM software can assist in every way a company seeks to more comprehensively connect with current and prospective clients. But with hundreds of options available to you, which CRM software is best for the company? Considering these important factors should help you to narrow down the search.
Choose the Right CRM for Your Business
- What is the budget? Your IT budget may be stretched as it is. But the long-term benefits of quality CRM software should justify the costs involved in implementation. Remember that in addition to the initial cost associated with purchasing a CRM solution, you will likely incur others costs; such as customizing the solution for your needs, adding new servers or laptops, and training new employees. Be sure ask the CRM solution provider to outline those costs for you, and take them into account when you are setting aside your overall budget.
- What is the end goal of the solution? Clearly-defined objectives will be a necessity when choosing the right solution. Each type of business has different requirements, and different processes which are critical to customer management – some need amazing email tracking and follow-up, while others may need to analyze customer purchases in real time to manage inventory. A good way to get a comprehensive overview of what your organization needs is to interview the head of each department regarding how important data is generated, accessed and stored within their area of the organization. Ask them about their strengths, as well as the areas which are frustrating and they would like to see fixed by the CRM solution.
- How adept are the employees? Sometimes it can be a challenge to get employees to adopt a new way of doing things. Software which they find difficult or complex will likely cause a mutiny, instead of making things easier for everyone. Therefore it is important to gauge your employee’s level of tech-savvy and ability to learn and grow, as well as the intuitiveness of the program. Although you can’t ask everyone their opinion before making a decision, keeping them involved in the process. Some companies will train and appoint “CRM advocates” who are very familiar with the software and can easily address any issues which arrive with a positive attitude. Conveying to employees the importance and capability of the new software is critical to a happy and successful transition.
- What is the comfort level with the cloud? The more affordable and easy to install solutions are often cloud-based, as opposed to installing a software package on an onsite server. Cloud based solutions usually offer more adaptability and scalability on the fly, but may spook those unsure about data security and loss of complete control of the system..
Finally, it is important for everyone implementing a new CRM solution to ensure that all necessary features are available on employee smartphones tablets, and from home computers. In today’s mobile world, you are likely to handicap your best employees if it is not. The team at Alliance IT is skilled in helping Sarasota area businesses to assess their current situation and help them plan for growth. If you are considering a new CRM, or need help with other cloud-based solutions or managed services, give us a call
