The top CRM systems trending in 2014
Embellishment, exposed midriffs, monochrome and wanderlust. These are the predicted fashion trends of 2014 but what’s the latest in vogue CRM? And how can you fashion them into your own business with confidence, knowing that they’re not just industry fads that will fade out and ultimately become obsolete when a new system is released?
Don’t be a CRM fashion victim
Someone who refuses to let go of platform shoes is probably stuck in the 70s. But if you refuse to let go of an outmoded platform at work, you’re equally guilty of being stuck in the wrong era.
Only now thanks to the constant advances in technology and the fact that most major player CRM systems are now available on both mobiles and the Cloud, failing to keep up could leave you stuck in a time warp unable to deliver your customers the same levels of quality and choice as the competition and ultimately losing them because of your unwillingness to adapt.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 5 CRM systems that are greatly anticipated to cope with our increasing requirements and capable of evolving to meet our growing needs.
5 hotly tipped CRM systems for 2014
Maximizer
In a nutshell:
An established CRM solution provider with 20 years of expertise and a singular focus: delivering powerful CRM software, cloud CRM technology and mobile CRM solutions that small and medium sized businesses need and want to use.
Attractive features:
Simple, intuitive and easy to deploy, use and manage, Maximizer comes complete with sales force automation, CRM for marketing, custom reports and dashboards for full contact and customer management capabilities. Over 1,000,000+ licensed users trust the software including high profile clients such as HSBC, Hallmark Cards and GEMCOM.
Trending for 2014:
The latest CRM solutions from Maximizer deliver improved process compliance, user-customisable key fields and performance enhancements designed to increase user productivity. There are now more options for rolling date ranges when performing searches, extensive improvements to e-mail templates and quicker search functions.
SugarCRM
In a nutshell:
Recognised by leading market analysts as a ‘visionary’ company, SugarCRM is deployed by over 1.5m individuals in 120 countries and 26 languages. Advertised as a system which ‘fully unleashes the promise of CRM with innovation CRM systems designed for every individual who engages with customers: sellers, marketers, customer support agents, receptionists and executives.’ The company melds simplicity, mobility and social aspects optimising the conventional CRM.
Attractive features:
SugarCRM has won endless awards including CRM Market Leader and CRM Market Winner from CRM Magazine in 2012. High profile customers include Thomas Cook, Coca Cola, EMIS and Bright House to name a few. Their systems are capable of serving companies who have a head count of under 50 to over 1,000 plus cater to all levels of CRM users – from beginners to the more advanced, sectioning industries and considering bespoke requirements.
Trending for 2014:
Sugar UX delivers contextual intelligence for better, faster and smarter decisions. It promises to give you a complete customer view enabling you to engage with each account, build stronger relationships and enjoy greater sales success. Their PurePrice cost structure means there are no hidden fees or forced upsells so you can choose the package apt for your organisation. The top whack package includes 24×7 support, an assigned technical account manager, private Cloud access and 250GB storage.
Act!
In a nutshell:
Act! Is the #1 best-selling Contact & Customer Manager, trusted by individuals, small businesses and sales teams to get organised and take the guesswork out of marketing to drive sales. Their mission is to create better interactions leading to more transactions. Their software is developed to fuse marketing and sales to convert more sales.
Attractive features:
They seem to respond well to customer needs. Customers on their site state that they’ve made solid improvements and continually give users new features and enhancements in a user-friendly way. They provide solutions to some critical industries with clients including 5Star Life Insurance, American Health Insurance and Assisted Living Locators.
Trending for 2014:
Act! Pro and Act! Premium each offer new features and useful enhancements that help maximise time, prioritise intelligently and be more prepared to market and sell. Specifically, there are new calculated fields, streamlined company management, new history views and usability and speed enhancements.
Zoho
In a nutshell:
More than 50,000 companies trust Zoho to make their lives easier with more control in an affordable product. Their CRM system delivers ‘amazing real-life statistics’, can identify campaigns that are the most productive and can save customers ‘a great deal of time and energy’ when building customer relationships.
Attractive features:
Zoho is a complete, award-winning solution delivering all the CRM modules and tools needed to run sales & marketing more efficiently. There are pay as you go options, it’s easily customisable, hosted plus you get added extras such as project management and e-mail marketing tools. It’s been widely recognised in everywhere from PC World to The New York Times.
Trending for 2014:
Zoho makes the most of social CRM by enabling you to link customer’s LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles into your CRM system. You can then associate profiles to contacts or leads, send invitations to connect, view updates or share comments. Their Opportunity Tracking tool also ensures you know your customer lifecycle, allowing you to time product launches and communications precisely.
SalesForce
In a nutshell:
Advertised as the enterprise cloud-computing leader, SalesForce are most known for their two flagship sales and CRM applications with the aim of helping companies connect with customers, partners and employees in fresh new ways.
Attractive features:
Low cost, low risk and fast results. SalesForce are already trusted by 100,000 customers internationally. They’re a worthy contender in crucial markets having developed the Government Cloud in 2012 plus they’ve won a host of awards including Best New Marketing solution by the Stevie Awards for their site data.com and were ranked #4 on Fortune’s ‘100 Fastest-Growing Companies’ list in 2010.
Trending for 2014:
Sales Cloud – one of their Cloud platform packages, is now available with built-in B2B data and performance tools to make every sales rep an ‘A’ player. The system is built on the SalesForce1 platform promoted as ‘a new world’ and ‘a better way to sell’, housing the best quality leads and accessible anywhere, any time while accommodating the next generation of apps, devices and customers.
These are all great platforms, however, I think that GreenRope could definitely have made this list. GreenRope is a robust CRM and marketing automation platform that is able to compete in functionality and effectiveness with all of the big players in the industry. GreenRope is a privately funded/held company developed to be what they call a Complete CRM, meaning all SFA, marketing automation, CRM, social, website tracking, conversion tracking, signup forms, event management and more housed all under one roof. On top of being one of the most integrated platforms out there, GreenRope is also cost effective geared at providing the SMB market with Enterprise level software! Just something I thought you might enjoy looking into!