A CRM software is extremely necessary for every business. It does not matter that you are a big corporation with huge customer base or a Micro, Small or Medium Enterprise (MSME). You can optimize the potential of your sales efforts and your business by using a CRM system. The main thing is that you must be using the system that suits your requirements and capability. Here are some parameters for CRM software evaluation which will help you zero in on the best CRM system for your business.
First parameter is the power and functionality of the CRM software. Not all businesses need the super high capability of big CRM systems. For small business users, a web based CRM system available in a Software as a Service mode is the best choice. For large enterprises, a system native CRM software is recommended as it needs to be extremely powerful with multiple users accessing it at once and using various features.
Second parameter is extensibility. As your business develops, it might need information which is particular to your specific business. Check if your software package provides this ability to extend the solution. Also check up how rapidly would you need to deploy these extensions. And can the software keep up with this rapidity?
Third parameter for CRM software application is scalability. Do you have a rapidly growing business? Are you expanding the geographies of your business very fast? If yes, you will need a highly scalable system which can cater to this fast growing need of your business. Even if you are not sure that your business will grow so rapidly, high level of scalability is not a bad feature to have.
Cross application compatibility is the fourth important parameter when evaluating CRM software. It is obvious that your organization uses different types of applications for different purposes. Your CRM system must be able to talk to these applications. Consider the ability to interact with your email system. If a CRM system can interact with email system and read the mailing database, it will be much easier to track and send various requests and reminders to your customers.
Final parameter of CRM software evaluation is the total cost of ownership. This includes not just the licensing cost of software but also that of related hardware, connectivity and support plans. At first, total cost of ownership might seem like an ambiguous concept but when worked out properly, it can save you precious dollars.
Make sure that you get only the package which favors you on every parameter of this CRM software evaluation.
I’m curious if you have any thoughts about how much office culture and your ability to change office culture affects the success of implementing a CRM package? Even the most customizable CRM software is going to require staff to adjust habits to meet the software’s inherent assumptions about the best way to manage leads, customers, etc. One might deploy it among a small team, gets good results, deploy it company wide, and find it still fails. A small, test deployment might have some inherent biases: 1) you select the people most likely to make the deployment a success 2) the people who are always successful first adopters select themselves to be on the team 3) team members have a vested interest in pleasing the person in charge of the project and making it work.
Hey Karl,
You brought up some excellent points and I agree with you 100%. I think office culture plays a huge role in a company’s ability to make any changes. Organizational behavior is an interesting subject. Thanks for commenting.