I often say that finding technology solutions for business practices often comes down to applying technology to make existing business processes faster, easier, and more accurate.  A common question clients ask is how they can use a Customer Relationship Management solution to better communicate with their customers and find new ways to market to their client-base.  But when choosing such a CRM solution, there are dozens of available options, from Microsoft CRM to Sugar CRM.  The question becomes, how does a business choose which CRM solution is right for them?  Other businesses may have already attempted to implement a CRM solution but lack the processes to effectively use it.

Without surprise, my answer (as it often does) comes down saying that it depends on the needs of the individual business needs.  A successful CRM should provide marketing opportunities for a business, collect customer data to better understand your customers, and, most importantly, leverage that knowledge such that it results in measurable sales results.  Essentially, an implemented CRM should increase customer satisfaction while decreasing the number of actions required to manage customer relations.  But an incorrect or poorly implemented CRM often ends up doubling the number of actions.

A CRM needs to capture key data from your customers.  This data must be accurate and should be centralized and accessible from one location.  The CRM should generate the right alerts and notifications that can be easily sent to customers.  Integration is always important, so the CRM solution must be able to easily integrate with the existing systems of an organization, or at least be able to export data to the other system.  Having unwanted fields and unnecessary features in a CRM often causes more harm than good, so keep it simple.  The best CRM will automatically show trends and display customer analysis data and graphs.

Now, choosing the right CRM for your business often mostly depends on the size of your business.  A small business usually does best with a customized solution that meets their smaller scope without adding extraneous features that bog down the system.  A medium business might want to use an existing CRM framework with some minor customization.  For a large business, I would recommend using one of the major CRM software solutions such as Salesforce.com or Microsoft Dynamics.  These large-scale solutions are designed with large businesses in mind and require minimal customization.

An effective Customer Relationship Management solution should inevitably increase sales without increasing overhead.  If you find your CRM solution simply adds complexity without benefit, you may be using a solution that is not right for your business.  But don’t give up hope, the right CRM solution for any business exists – it may just take some tweaking and customization.  AllianceTek helps small and medium scale business choose, customize, and implement a CRM solution by focusing on core processes of sales and marketing and decreasing their process overhead.

Call us at 484-892-5713 or Contact Us today to learn more about which CRM solution works best for you and gives the desired result to your business.