Beyond the brand names, there are two main types of CRM: on-premises, which means the job card software is installed on a server under the customer’s control, and cloud or on-demand, which runs on the vendor’s cloud infrastructure and follows a more metered or pay-as-you go approach.
The market for on-demand CRM has soared, particularly among small and mid-sized companies, largely because of fears about the expense and complexity of large-scale on-premises maintenance work order app implementations. And indeed, on-demand CRM is often a good choice for companies that want to implement standard CRM processes, are able to use out-of-the-box data structures with little or no internal IT support, and don’t require complex or real-time integration with back office systems.
However, on-demand apps for repair and maintenance is not always as simple as the vendors would have you believe. For instance, customization can be problematic and hosted CRM vendors’ API tools cannot provide the degree of integration that is possible with on-site applications. Getting a hosted CRM system working shouldn’t take as long as a traditional software package, but larger and more complex rollouts can still take a year or more. And while the hosted option reduces the need for in-house technical support, upgrades can still sometimes be technically tricky. In addition, some companies with particularly sensitive customer data, such as those in financial services and health care, may not want to relinquish control of their data to a hosted third party for security reasons.
Free CRM
If you want more sophisticated functionality and a greater level of support, you pay a lot more. An enterprise on-premises cold storage software solution package can cost anywhere between several thousand to several millions of dollars, depending again on how many functions you purchase and how many computers or “seats” have access to the software. For instance, one company or department might purchase an email marketing management application or a salesforce automation application, while a larger firm might want to purchase an integrated package that includes a database as well as applications for marketing, sales and customer service and support (via call centres and online). Obviously, the integrated software package is much more expensive.
Those costs, even the hosted options, are well beyond the means of many small businesses. Fortunately, there’s a burgeoning niche of free ngo accounting software options which, while less sophisticated, are usually more than adequate for the needs of a small or medium enterprise. Included in this category are open source offerings like SuiteCRM and SugarCRM. (Read more about the pluses and minuses of seven free CRM options.)
What is the best CRM software?
We’d love nothing more than to give you a one-sentence answer that IDs the top CRM offering. Unfortunately, as is the usually the case for complex questions about important manufacturing software tools, the answer is “it depends.” “The best customer relationship management software is the one that has the right capabilities and features for your objectives.” Kapko has a detailed lowdown what the key features to look for to match your needs are, and you should definitely follow him on this deep dive if you’re asking this question.
Managing CRM
As we’ve noted, field service management software is as much a process and a state of mind as it is a software platform. That’s why the biggest returns come from aligning business, CRM and IT strategies across all departments and not just leaving it for one group to run. The reason for this, as Moira Alexander writes, is that “in most companies, individual departments or teams believe they hold the key to understanding customer needs more than other areas of the business. But the reality is that different departments simply have a different view into customer expectations and none has an all-encompassing view.”
In fact, it’s best for the business departments who actually use the software to take ownership of the project, with IT and the CIO playing an important advisory role.
ERP Software rollouts are very complex and have a certain degree of notoriety as doomed to failure. From the beginning, lack of a communication between everyone in the customer relationship chain can lead to an incomplete picture of the customer. Poor communication can lead to technology being implemented without proper support or buy-in from users. For example, if the sales force isn’t completely sold on the system’s benefits, they may not input the kind of demographic data that is essential to the program’s success. One Fortune 500 company is on its fourth try at a CRM implementation, because it did not do a good job at getting buy-in from its sale force beforehand and then training sales staff once the software was available. (Read moreon what to do if your CRM project crashes and burns.)
The final thing you need to keep in mind when managing your CRM software project is that you need to eliminate data silos to succeed. Users need access to data beyond what they themselves enter into the system. That means integration — across users and across departments — and integration projects are always difficult. But trust us: the payoff is worth it.
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