The CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is an essential tool for customer relationships, it raises many questions among businesses. The first questions that companies ask themselves are about how to choose the right CRM software solution to use. Although the choice of technology is not the only guarantee of the success of this type of project, it is a big part.
The CRM software market
There are well renowned publishers with solutions, such as Salesforce, Microsoft CRM or SAP 360. Open source is also present on the market with the likes of Sugar CRM. These solutions have the advantage of taking into account recent developments in information technology.
They guarantee a degree of continuity to the company using the CRM, in addition to being flexible and able to adapt to future business needs. This enables for a 360-degree view of customers and prospects. A very important innovation in the field of information technology results in regular updates of these CRM solutions with new features and improved functionality.
There are also software solutions for small businesses and SMEs with less expensive solutions, like Zoho CRM. For companies with a specific business, there are alternatives with dedicated software like Oracle, which offers Oracle CRM On Demand, Life Sciences Edition. Finally, we should not omit the use of proprietary software, although that is not necessarily what Exo B2B recommends.
Defining business requirements
Choosing a CRM solution should translate customer orientation of the company through sales activities, marketing and customer service. Only by considering the functional needs (current and future) will the CRM software become the realization of the integration of sales and marketing functions.
To highlight these needs, a flattening of the sales, marketing and service process is required. This exercise is an opportunity for the company to rethink these processes and to optimize them.
So understandably, there is no quick CRM software. Each company has its own processes and must meet the challenge of integrating its different functions in order to unify its customer vision. Remember that the integration of sales and marketing functions of a company allows other sharing of information, leading to sales strategies and more efficient marketing.
A fair analysis of business requirements is a critical step that must be performed upstream of the choice of the CRM software. Alone, it cannot be the guarantor of successful management of your company’s customer relationships.
