Talk about a complicated question. Of course, every vendor would love to answer that with, "That's easy, just use our system!" But it's not always that simple. Your ideal CRM system varies, depending on the current needs of your business--as well as how you anticipate your needs evolving as your business grows.
You're going to have to predict the future...
When implementing software I always advise my clients to consider where they anticipate being in the next year--as well as how they would ultimately envision their business. This lets us plan for the future so we don't have to implement a CRM system now and then migrate to a different system in the future.
From what I've seen, most people base their decisions on buying CRM on the recommendations of others. Currently Salesforce is the largest vendor in on-demand CRM but there are a lot of other options that are more affordable and offer different features.
CRM Versus ERP...
CRM deals primarily with your leads and customers while ERP incorporates multiple facets of your organization like accounting, marketing and human relations. ERP often includes CRM and shares the customer data across the entire ERP platform.
Quickbooks, Microsoft Office and Outlook are not CRM...
Use the right tool for the job. If you're doing accounting, by all means use Quickbooks and if you're sending email, Outlook is great. A CRM system is designed to facilitate managing your customers and makes it quick and easy to do this. Yes, you can accomplish some of the same tasks using Quickbooks or Outlook but it won't be nearly as efficient or easy.
Do you need more than CRM?
A lot of businesses are moving toward ERP solutions that integrate multiple systems like CRM, order management, e-commerce and risk management in one place, allowing them to share data between systems and create a streamlined workflow. Another advantage of a unified system is that it makes it easier to secure all of your important data from theft, data loss or unauthorized access.
If you're leaning toward integrated systems or ERP, Affinity Informatics, Aplicor and NetSuite are vendors that offer this type of service for SMBs. If yours is a larger organization, you're probably already deciding between Oracle and SAP.
Let's evaluate your current and future needs.
Important Questions to Ask...
These features typically fall outside of the realm of standard CRM but are fairly standard to ERP systems. If you answer yes to several of them, you should probably look at small business ERP solutions that include CRM rather than a standalone CRM system.
Shipping Integration - Will you need integrated FedEx, UPS or USPS shipping?
Order Management - Will you need to create and organize orders and invoices?
Document Management - Will you need to create and share documents and files?
Mass Messaging - Will you need a way to create email campaigns and track responses?
E-Commerce - Do you need an online store and payment processing features?
Inventory - Do you need to track inventory or maintain a product catalog?
Risk Management - Do you need automated backups and security features?
Project Management - Do you need to create and manage projects and deadlines?
Do you need a very basic CRM system?
If all you need is a basic CRM system, I would recommend taking a look at Highrise by 37 Signals. It is a very affordable, easy to use system that is designed specifically to provide an intuitive, basic CRM platform without adding a lot of additional functionality.
Highrise has a minimal learning curve but is a very basic CRM system. Check out their demo to be sure that your needs won't exceed what it provides, but if it's a good fit you'll be very satisfied.
Do you need an advanced system?
If you want a more robust CRM platform then there are dozens of vendors to browse through when making your decision, which is probably why deciding on a CRM solution can be so confusing and frustrating! There are many capable systems, so I'll list several that I've heard a lot of praise for to narrow down your list.
Salesforce - The current leader in the on-demand CRM industry with a large number of users and a large number of third party add-ons available. Their system can be a bit difficult at Compared to other CRM systems they are relatively expensive, but also a mature, reliable platform.
Microsoft Dynamics - Microsoft makes a strong entry in the on-demand CRM industry and has the advantage of being a heavyweight software developer and offering tight integration with components like their cloud based Office 365.
Sugar CRM - A strong up and comer with open source and managed versions available. They have an attractive user interface and offer several service tiers.
Zoho CRM - Zoho is a low cost CRM vendor and provides a huge huge suite of applications that can be used to extend your CRM system.
Again, you also have vendors who provide CRM plus additional functionality like Affinity, Aplicor and NetSuite.
Wrap Up...
While I can't tell you exactly which CRM system will be the best fit for you, hopefully I've given you some guidelines to make the decision easier and somewhere to start. Remember to factor in reliability and look for a Service Level Agreement if you choose a cloud CRM.
You're going to have to predict the future...
When implementing software I always advise my clients to consider where they anticipate being in the next year--as well as how they would ultimately envision their business. This lets us plan for the future so we don't have to implement a CRM system now and then migrate to a different system in the future.
From what I've seen, most people base their decisions on buying CRM on the recommendations of others. Currently Salesforce is the largest vendor in on-demand CRM but there are a lot of other options that are more affordable and offer different features.
CRM Versus ERP...
CRM deals primarily with your leads and customers while ERP incorporates multiple facets of your organization like accounting, marketing and human relations. ERP often includes CRM and shares the customer data across the entire ERP platform.
Quickbooks, Microsoft Office and Outlook are not CRM...
Use the right tool for the job. If you're doing accounting, by all means use Quickbooks and if you're sending email, Outlook is great. A CRM system is designed to facilitate managing your customers and makes it quick and easy to do this. Yes, you can accomplish some of the same tasks using Quickbooks or Outlook but it won't be nearly as efficient or easy.
Do you need more than CRM?
A lot of businesses are moving toward ERP solutions that integrate multiple systems like CRM, order management, e-commerce and risk management in one place, allowing them to share data between systems and create a streamlined workflow. Another advantage of a unified system is that it makes it easier to secure all of your important data from theft, data loss or unauthorized access.
If you're leaning toward integrated systems or ERP, Affinity Informatics, Aplicor and NetSuite are vendors that offer this type of service for SMBs. If yours is a larger organization, you're probably already deciding between Oracle and SAP.
Let's evaluate your current and future needs.
Important Questions to Ask...
These features typically fall outside of the realm of standard CRM but are fairly standard to ERP systems. If you answer yes to several of them, you should probably look at small business ERP solutions that include CRM rather than a standalone CRM system.
Shipping Integration - Will you need integrated FedEx, UPS or USPS shipping?
Order Management - Will you need to create and organize orders and invoices?
Document Management - Will you need to create and share documents and files?
Mass Messaging - Will you need a way to create email campaigns and track responses?
E-Commerce - Do you need an online store and payment processing features?
Inventory - Do you need to track inventory or maintain a product catalog?
Risk Management - Do you need automated backups and security features?
Project Management - Do you need to create and manage projects and deadlines?
Do you need a very basic CRM system?
If all you need is a basic CRM system, I would recommend taking a look at Highrise by 37 Signals. It is a very affordable, easy to use system that is designed specifically to provide an intuitive, basic CRM platform without adding a lot of additional functionality.
Highrise has a minimal learning curve but is a very basic CRM system. Check out their demo to be sure that your needs won't exceed what it provides, but if it's a good fit you'll be very satisfied.
Do you need an advanced system?
If you want a more robust CRM platform then there are dozens of vendors to browse through when making your decision, which is probably why deciding on a CRM solution can be so confusing and frustrating! There are many capable systems, so I'll list several that I've heard a lot of praise for to narrow down your list.
Salesforce - The current leader in the on-demand CRM industry with a large number of users and a large number of third party add-ons available. Their system can be a bit difficult at Compared to other CRM systems they are relatively expensive, but also a mature, reliable platform.
Microsoft Dynamics - Microsoft makes a strong entry in the on-demand CRM industry and has the advantage of being a heavyweight software developer and offering tight integration with components like their cloud based Office 365.
Sugar CRM - A strong up and comer with open source and managed versions available. They have an attractive user interface and offer several service tiers.
Zoho CRM - Zoho is a low cost CRM vendor and provides a huge huge suite of applications that can be used to extend your CRM system.
Again, you also have vendors who provide CRM plus additional functionality like Affinity, Aplicor and NetSuite.
Wrap Up...
While I can't tell you exactly which CRM system will be the best fit for you, hopefully I've given you some guidelines to make the decision easier and somewhere to start. Remember to factor in reliability and look for a Service Level Agreement if you choose a cloud CRM.
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