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What is the best CRM solution available on the web?
Some background: The Company I am working for are primarily a Social Lanlord with a portfolio of approximately 10,000 properties. Effectively we are a registered Charity however due to a recent proposed group re-structure, we are looking at launching a Broadband Project whereby we intend to be an ISP for the local area operating at a profit.
I am researching into effective Help Desk solutions and also CRM solutions for sales.
Admittedly I am new to this process and have encountered several websites listing conflicting reviews on some of the cloud-based CRMs available.
I ask as an novice for your expert opinion please as to who/which CRM solution you deem to be most accommodating for a new business whose packages are for Social Tenants, Private Tenants and Local Businesses.
Thankyou in advance.
Eddie Robinson
Broadband Support Analyst
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8 Answers
Eddie,
While you may get some helpful clues from sharing the information you've shared above, it's a small sliver of information needed to determine the best solution for your organization.
Going through the exercise to define your current requirements will undoubtedly uncover things about your organization that may currently be unknown to most of the team.
There are over 200+ solutions on the market today. There are at least 15 that are very strong at what they do.
Understanding the requirements at each level of the organization (Exec, Senior Mgmt, Mid Mgmt, and Line worker) and across functions (sales, marketing, service, support - and yes, even billing) will provide a matrix of needs, which will allow the organization to prioritize what is most important.
At that point, you can go out and evaluate solutions based on your prioritized needs.
Unfortunately, most orgs just do a quick and dirty analysis, make a financial commitment to a leading technology solution, try to make people use it, and then are met with strong resistance during the implementation. No one uses it (or uses only a fraction of what is possible), and the result is a lot of wasted time and money.
My strong recommendation is to do the proper work up front to ensure a valuable return on the backend.
There are a number of good solutions you might consider--some that are better for smaller organizations (both in terms of functionality, ease of use, and pricing). Virtually any solution you choose will have the basic functionality you need--so almost any choice is good.
The only reason I might recommend SalesForce is they have special programs for Charities/Not For Profits. If you qualify, you might actually get very significant reduction in pricing. If you don't qualify for this program, I would seriously look at some of the systems more focused on smaller businesses. They tend to provide just what you need at a lower price.
If your require a simple solution. Record contacts, organisation, delegate tasks, and define a process then go for Insightly. I have been using this product for my own business and for the none profit I Am involved with. Take a look at there site: http://insightlyapp.com/
It is simple to use and you can be using it within minutes. Maybe it will not meet your longer terms needs but you can get yourself up and running.You could use the Insightly and then move over to Salesforce or another more complex and expensive product. Least you will know what you requirements are and you have built up a database of contacts that you can transfer across.
To all who have taken the time to respond - Your feedback is much appreciated thank you.
I have opted to trial both 'Sales Force' and 'Insightly' to see if I can integrate the type of information/data I need the CRM to store.
I quite like the interface on Insightly (perhaps aptly named) but I guess the aesthetics are secondary to purpose.
If all goes to plan with our new business initiation, as you may expect, this will forge an integral piece of the puzzle moving forward; Especially as we anticipate our Customer base to increase quickly [Volume vs Time] - Being new to the 'Starter-Business' process this poses a daunting decision for me personally as I have been tasked with finding a suitable solution with haste.
Your expert opinions help greatly.
For those looking at Salesforce.com, I suggest you also take a look at Desk.com, a division within Salesforce, if you are a smaller group in a larger enterprise or you are initiating a social media strategy.
For a great opensource solution, which also has a paid support version try SugarCRM. It is a direct competitor of Salesforce, with significant capabilities, and includes both an on site option as well as a version in the cloud.
You can use the opensource version for free however it is somewhat feature limited. It doesn't have the MS Outlook integration or mobile. However it is a REALLY great system and can be significantly customized without any coding to meet you needs.
Hello Eddie,
All great suggestions thus far but the one thing that sticks out about your question to me is the volume of accounts you could potentially have and the fact that you will virtually overnight step into the managed service provider business.
With that being said, you might consider a solution specifically designed for MSPs such as Autotask or Connectwise. Lastly, I am a fan of the cloud based Zoho CRM. I use it and enjoy its flexibilty, appreciate the modular approach, and easy to use add-ons.
Good luck to you!
no doubt - salesforce. for bouth question. price is very attractiv, what you get is increadible.
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