Cloud-based CRMs- What You Should Look For

BANGALORE, INDIA:

Sales professionals are at the core of successful businesses which is why customer relationship management (CRM) software is a must-have for organizations to keep in touch with their clientele. Traditionally, CRMs were relegated to large enterprises owing to their maintenance, cost and risk factors involved. However, things have changed. Today, there are lots of CRMs available in the market that are cloud-based and apt for SMEs.

There is a flurry of Cloud based CRMs that operate in the Cloud, for you to access anytime anywhere, resulting into lower upfront CapEx and running costs, and reduced risk. Cloud CRMs bring in all good aspects of their traditional counterparts and make them more mobile friendly, up to date and customizable to the small business needs.

The ease of customization is a key benefit for SMEs as it helps save time, conserve resources and ultimately drive business productivity. Cloud CRMs are up to date because, the moment you append new information into your system, all customer information, sales figures, analytics, etc gets updated in real time.

Also read: Apptivo launches social biz websites for SMEs 

Also, Cloud based CRMs are intrinsically more mobile friendly than traditional CRMs. Plus, there's no software to download or install, so starting up is fast and simple. Such CRMs also help SMEs avoid the need to take care of time-consuming upgrades in-house. Instead, these are managed by the service provider.The proliferation of Cloud based CRMs out on the market is resounding and that is good for SMEs. So, if you are considering a serious move to the Cloud, you might find yourself struggling to find and choose the Cloud-based CRM that best fits your criteria. There is umpteen Cloud-based apps for SMEs to choose from.

While some are free, others are extremely expensive. There are CRMs called social CRM that add social media elements, thus making it smoother to track your customers' feedbacks, activities and requirements. Chatter, for instance, from Salesforce.com, enables subscribers to connect directly to Facebook and Twitter accounts. And then there is another breed of CRMs that offer mobile versions, for instance, SugarCRM.

{#PageBreak#}Excerpts by Anamika Sharma, Regional Head -Ramco On Demand ERP - North

How is CRM changing? What trends do you see in the Cloud-based CRM space?

Initially, CRM Solutions were planned as an extension to the customer support call centers to manage the steady flow of telephone calls, emails and contact points from their prospects and customers. Today, SMEs are looking for best-of-breed end-to-end solutions like CRM integrated with ERP. This is increasingly seen as a trend in the Indian market. By having this integrated solution, the sales, operations and finance organizations can work together as a team to manage their customers, deals, payments, receivables, inventories and orders.

The next emerging trend is that SMEs are looking for hosted offerings for CRM app as this minimizes investments in hardware, trained technical manpower and infrastructure. It also helps SMEs to get off the ground rapidly. CRM is best suited for SaaS model given the fact that sales persons are generally on the move and can work from any location as long as internet bandwidth is available.

What are the best practices to follow while considering a cloud based CRM?

CRM is becoming a key area of strategic importance for companies, both big and small. Customer care strategy and CRM software go hand in hand. In particular, SMEs need CRM software that easily adapts to their customer care needs while still being affordable. The biggest difficulties SMEs face are the lack of technology, skilled employees and IT personnel. Due to this, SMEs are not able to implement sophisticated high-end IT products.

SMEs need to opt for business strategies that basically cater to their needs and look to phased implementation for better benefits. If SMEs are looking at minimal costs, then establishing a full-fledged CRM infrastructure is not the answer. They need to adopt CRM software that basically fulfills their CRM objectives, is customer centric and supports existing business strategies in order to achieve profitability.

Also read: SME firms in AP IT sector not affected much

What are the major checkpoints for an SME while deciding on a cloud-based CRM?

While deciding on a cloud based CRM solution, an SME should not merely go by the features listed by the various CRM offerings but to make the CRM useful and a success. SMEs should assess the company's needs, objectives and processes followed in-house. It will help you compare various CRMs and make the right decision.

Make sure that the sales team is taken into confidence. Consider the monthly expenses you would be required to do and choose to work with solutions with simple fee structures and no hidden costs or additional expenses. Check out whether particular vendor allow you to customize the solution, if the solution can't adapt, look elsewhere. Make sure that your solution vendor is deeply experienced in relationship management processes, best practices, solution implementation, and support.

A CRM solution must fully integrate with your business processes/ERP, and your customers. Last but not the least, know about the exit strategy --how to export your data from Cloud CRM service, in case you decide to migrate to another system later.If you haven't given CRM a try so far, the best bet for you is to start experimenting with a free or low cost Cloud tool. Use the services' free trial periods (usually 15 to 30 days) to acquaint yourself with each system's features and interface. Find out what you like and what you don't after playing around with it. Once you find yourself comfortable with it, start adding more data and users to the system, and if the free tool does not fit your bill, move over to another one.

{#PageBreak#}Here, we outline some of the key factors to consider when scouting for the the right Cloud system for your business.

CRM needs

Map out which marketing and sales related problems you want a Cloud CRM to take care of, give a careful look to the process that you have in place and find out what's working and what is not. Identify constituent lists; consult sales team in your organization who interact with outside constituents.

Identify the goals associated with each type of relationships that they have with customers. Are you interested in tracking conversion rates to your website? Should your CRM connect with your web analytic tool? Or do you want to focus more on tracking leads or customer service? Each CRM has its own strength, so you need to compare and contrast CRMs that you're considering to zero in on the best bet.

Budget

One of the reasons of switching over to Cloud CRMs is saving money. Cloud based CRMs may help you downsize your investments in software, servers and IT staff. So, while picking a platform that best suits your needs, contrast costs among your choices and do maths accordingly. Bear in mind that price is usually per-user, per-month and thus vary depending on the size of your business. Be clear about the monthly expense.

Also read: Profile of MSME-Development Institute

Security

A simple googling of Cloud-based CRMs can bring up an overwhelming response. Go with a trusted CRM platform that has proven security features. Because, in the Cloud model, the vendor looks after security of data, attack on servers and other Internet scams. Ask about security guarantees before you pour in your customer data to any service provider.

Future

Some CRM systems are meant to grow alongside the growth of your business thus giving you room to swell and some are very basic, better suited for small businesses with slow growth. Ask if your sales force the only team to use the CRM? Or you plan to implement it across departments out in your organization? Make sure the system you choose let you do what you need to.

Customization

If an organization doesn't have the ability to customize the Cloud platform to sync with its processes the potential to increase productivity and efficiency is lost. Make sure the platform you are going to bank on has enough customization features.

Integration

Integration is very important, so make sure the Cloud CRM your are going to choose lets you integrate any information and data from an existing CRM, a regular software or any on-premises applications . Otherwise, you might waste time transferring data the manually way.

Mobile options

Today, a significant number of workforce relies mainly on their smart devices to get hooked up or stay in touch with customers, headquarters and the rest of the world work. So it's important that your CRM system includes easy to use, secure and speedy mobile CRM access.

Source: www.pcquest.www.ciol.com