Sunday, February 21, 2010

Does every company need CRM?

crm-logo If you listen to the CRM tool vendors, it is crucial for every business (independent of its size) to use a CRM software in order to streamline its processes and collaborate effectively with customers and across the organization.

But is this really true for all kind of businesses and all sizes?

First off – I do not think that there is something like a “one fits all” solution for CRM. Even the vertical solutions from some vendors cannot immediately fulfill all the needs without adaption and customization.
And if you think of CRM as a Philosophy rather than a piece of software, installing a CRM tool will not provide a competitive edge anyway. The “me too” approach does not differentiate and thus is limited in its ability to deliver value to the company and its customers. Focus usually is around cost savings and process automation – nothing that will dramatically increase the customer satisfaction or the customer experience.

So what to do with small businesses (SMBs) that think about CRM and do not want to spend a large amount of money into licenses and consulting / implementation projects?
Good news is that there are so many free (or low cost) options out there that it makes sense to think about creating a CRM strategy that does not rely on a fully integrated CRM suite with a high price tag. With a limited number of users it is possible to create an outstanding customer experience by using the tools that customers use (which are usually the ones that are available without cost) and streamline the activities solely by outlining and communicating a CRM 2.0 strategy.

Ideally the used tools offer some kind of integration to avoid the creation of application or data silos. With the emerging standards, more and more applications will offer the possibility to take part in workflows that span multiple applications, departments or locations. But even if there is no possibility to automate this integration, I truly believe that it is not a big issue to do some of the internal collaboration manually.

Again, if the strategy is clearly set and communicated, it is no big deal to export and import some data and send it around via email… Crucial is that the people (i.e. employees) collaborate and pull together.
With smaller companies this is more important than a highly integrated CRM suite and well defined (but rather inflexible) automated business processes. The attitude of collaboration and co-creation will also help engaging better with customers and thus take the Customer Relationship Model to the next level…

Another side effect is that the employees are able to use the tools the know and love – this Enterprise 2.0 approach will also attract and maintain talent within a company.

In the next post I will outline some free or low-cost alternatives for SMBs when it comes to CRM – stay tuned…

9 comments:

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  2. Is this supposed to be an Ad for Pegasys?
    Isn't Pega actually known for being a pretty expensive solution?!
    How could SMBs profit from Pega and it's powerful BPM solution at a low entry cost - what is the minimum price tag for a business to start with Pega?
    80% less than SFDC is a good starting point ;)

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. I would say every company that needs to put the customer at the center of all interactions needs a CRM system. Intelestream offers a 30 day free trial and numerous whitepapers for further assistance. Visit http://www.intelestream.net/en/lp-10-considerations-before-purchasing-a-CRM.html

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  5. Hi. I work as an intern for a startup firm where we try to keep out operational costs under control. We initially subscribed to a CRM application that had too many features, most of which were not useful to us. So, we switched to Happyfox (http://www.happyfox.com), a customer support tool and ticket management software. It's intuitive user interface and powerful automation features made it easy to handle incoming customer requests. HappyFox has also doubled up as an internal sales management and bug tracking software as well.

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  6. I truly believe that it is not a big issue to do some of the internal collaboration manually.

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  7. In terms of business strategy, in order to have a sustainable business industry in the competitive business world as lead management technology plays a major role similarly CRM(customer releationship management) also keeps its own identity to convert sales into leads.If one's CRM solution plays according to the need all kind of business undoubtedly would reach at a peak.

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  8. Discover the best services of crm software for it's uses I have follow your blog you can seen ours at :- There is auto dealer crm so many new things and important aspect related to CRM that makes it perfect enough for use. The better options and other flexible system with the tool is something to look out for web based crm software.

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  9. You can track all customer interaction – from everyone in your company. Next time you talk to a customer or prospect, you get the upper hand when you know what that company is talking about. You can get the person to feel seen and important. And this history builds a long-time relationship. Emails should be in your system, and not in each person’s mailbox.


    Jason@smallbusinesscrm

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