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What is the best CRM solution for an SMB under 50 employees?
We are in the market for a CRM solution, but we have a few requirements. We would prefer that the multi channel capability have chat, email, phone, & social media access. I don't know if that's available yet, but we would definitely want the ability to access social media. We would also like to have remote access capability and the ability for integrated analytics. Does anyone have any recommendations? Or Can anyone send me in the right direction? Cheers! TJ
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8 Answers
If remote access is critical, you should consider a SaaS system like Salesforce.com or NetSuite.
If integrated analytics is very important to you, you will get the best results by using a system that includes all key business processes from leads through order management and post-sale activities. This is the key to getting real-time universal visibility to your customers and getting the most useful timely, and accurate analytics. Its very difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to approach this level of data quality by tying together multiple systems - CRM, order management, inventory, service, ecommerce, accounting, etc.
For managing multiple sales channels, its important that you can provide your various sales and service people with a singular view of the customer so that whoever is speaking with the customer at that point in time knows of all the customer´s past transactions and touchpoints (ecommerce, channel, direct sales rep, Point of sale, service cases, etc) to ensure they optimize the customer experience and opportunity.
Rob
Hi Todd,
I agree with Rachel and Kate in the sense that you should have all of your background work done first. Having a strong sense of who will need to use the system, and what you'd like it to do for your company will make your evaluations so much more easier in the end.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) CRM systems will probably be your best bet for a couple of reasons. For SMB's, SaaS systems tend to be a little more cost effective and easier to roll out than an on premise system. They will also guarantee remote access, and many offer mobile phone integration as well. Some examples of strong SaaS CRM's: Salesforce.com, Highrise, Aplicor, Sugar CRM, and Ntractive.
As Rachel mentioned, social media is a very hot topic these days. Most of the CRM vendors out there are working double-time to find ways to integrate social media features into their systems. It would be smart to ask a sales representative about specific social media features that you need, but rest assured that most systems will have some sort of social media feature in place.
My last piece of advice is to make sure to demo several different solutions. Many of the systems out there are very competitive with one another in terms of features and functionality, and often times the best way to determine which one to use is to take a quick demo, or participate in a 14-day trial. I usually recommend demoing about 3-4 different solutions before making a decision.
If you have any other questions, feel free to get in touch with a Focus CRM Specialist. We're all available to answer any questions you may have. Also take a look at Focus' SFA Market Primer as provides a lot of useful buying tips and information, and it also lists somewhere between 30-40 vendors that support SMB companies.
Best of luck!
Caty Kobe
CRM Specialist Team
This is more a list of "more questions to ask" than an answer per se, but your question is not a simple one.
Number of users and necessary features are a good start to determining the best CRM, but there are many other considerations. First, CRM is a broad term: to what part (or parts) of the business cycle will you applying the toolset - sales automation, customer care, technical support/help desk? Though on paper most CRM vendors claim competency across the business spectrum, different CRM vendors have different core competencies.
From there, your multi-channel requirement allows you to narrow the solutions down a bit more. With regard to multi-channel, however, you'll want to not only look for a solution that has capabilities in all channels, you'll want a solution that handles all channels with one central system/data repository (preferrably with a central knowledge base supporting all channels for consistency of response across channels) so as to leverage multi-channel functionalities and enable enterprise-wide multi-channel reporting to drive continuous improvement in your organization.
You also mentioned social media. That is a tough one and be very careful with choosing a solution based upon social media functionality. Since social media is the "hot topic" of the day, most CRM solutions have addressed the market need in some way. That doesn't mean they have addressed it in a helpful way (though some have). Understanding whether social media features and functions will end up being helpful is further complicated by the lack of tangible use cases across industries to use as "barometers" of sorts. Make sure to do a deep dive in this area. Do some pre-work within your organization and make sure you understand what your business needs are in this area.
Finally, check the success of the CRM vendor in your given industry. In the CRM toolset world, many of the solutions look very similar from a high-level assessment. What truly differentiates one solution from the other is depth of functionality and industry expertise in certain industry verticals.
Feel free to contact me if you or your Focus Community member would like to set up some time (or trade emails) to dive a little deeper into some of the aspects that define a CRM solution choice!
Hi Todd
There are tools that will do what you need. Spend a bit of time more, pinning down how your processes work (i.e. draw them, in a flow chart and check you are all happy with how that works), then look at software that will do what you need rather than starting with looking at software. The key is getting a good match to your requirements rather than choosing a software package you like. Go for SaaS if social media matters, it'll be easier for you to deploy. You probably fall into more, "sales contact management" than full CRM but depends on the detail of what you need. Social Media integration is possible and new solutions are popping up all over for that. If you get a short list we can compare them for you for free www.compareccrm.info. If you want helping getting to a shortlist we can also do that but that bit is not free (though it is affordable). Good luck either way!
Kate
Hello Todd,
I recommend using an opensource CRM solution vTigerCRM (www.vtiger.com). I am sure you will be impressed with this software. This is an opersource s/w and freely available. It has features like chat, clock, timezone settings, email, web based therefore can be accessed remotely, can be accessed on a mobile phone too and much more.
We are experts at customizing this CRM as per the client's requirements.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Regards,
Jerry
email: jerry [at] technokrafts [dot] net
skype: technokrafts
http://www.technokrafts.net
http://www.heysmartguy.com is a simple but very functional integrated solution. It ha a tightly integrated web, email marketing and commerce engine. Each tools is simple but the tight integration is key. Nice start befre somthing like SFDC
SUGARCRM - Best CRM system
I started using Zoho for some of my venture projects/clients, and liked it much more than SFDC...the only other CRM I've used. I liked zoho so much for it's integration and ease of use, that I started implementing it for other organizations/businesses. you definitely need to check it out. if you have any questions, you can contact me too.
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