CRM System

So you run a business and you wish to select a CRM solution that is a perfect fit for your company. There is a plethora of CRM alternatives out there, you need to select the best based on a few criteria. You have to be in a position to ask the right questions so that you can get the required information about software capabilities and vendor appropriateness.

Consider the following points:

• What are your prime requirements; targeted marketing, customer retention, adding to the customer base, business intelligence, or a combination of these

Continuing from the earlier post, here are a few more points that CRM vendors are loath to discuss:

• Organizational co-ordination does not come easy. Departments can often be loath to align their operations to meet system architecture requirements. A smooth deployment requires co-ordination otherwise piecemeal deployments can throw the process off kilter. Companies also need to ensure that their key officers and managers stay involved with the deployment till the end, if one happens to leave mid-way, getting the right replacement can be a tedious process.

Although CRM spending is increasing by the day, there is some concern regarding the rate at which CRM deployments are failing. This two-part piece aims to bring out the issues that CRM vendors are loath to talk about.

• A CRM deployment can be a major resource guzzler through its entire lifespan. Costs include cost of software, deployment expenses, customization costs, upgrade costs, licensing costs, cost of lost productivity during implementation, cost of educating the user staff, hardware and equipment costs and costs of maintaining an IT staff for running the CRM.