In today's world, you can increasingly hear the abbreviation CRM. What it is? Do these systems need only large business, or those who just want to become a prosperous entrepreneur, also need to "adopt" information about this component of business communications? First things first! It is worth spending some time studying basic information in order to further refine your search!
The acronym " CRM": what is it and how is it decoded?
In English, this abbreviation can be "expanded" into the phrase customer relationship management. The literal translation will be: "customer relationship management." In this definition, the essence of CRM is clearly traced. What is this for business - a necessity or nothing more than an additional “bun” that does not have a significant impact on the success and profitability of the business?
You need to understand that any CRM is a whole range of solutions that allow you to optimize the work of the enterprise in several areas at once: with internal and external information, customer base and other factors. It is very important that with this solution the information is clearly structured and systematized, which greatly speeds up the work with it.
If you consider that any business is as successful as the customers are satisfied, you need to think that a CRM program is one of the components that are simply necessary for those entrepreneurs who really want to develop. The only question is how “sophisticated” the mentioned software should be. Let's figure it out!
What features can CRM have?
It is necessary to proceed from the financial capabilities and the specifics of the enterprise. CRM for business is a really serious choice.
The more complex and multifaceted the organization is, the more customers you have to interact with. And the lack of a CRM program can affect a business in a bad way. But trying to buy one of the most expensive options for computer software is not always justified. And creating CRM "for yourself" is not always a cheap pleasure. Typically, the list of features of this product includes the following options:
1.Base of contact information. It can and should include all those with whom employees of the company interact constantly. That is, customers, suppliers, contractors, partners, etc. This information allows you to save time and money (for example, a new employee who comes to the place of resigned does not have to re-learn the nuances of cooperation with a particular partner, you just need to study the available data). In fact, CRM is customer management, which is unobtrusive, based on many factors of influence.
2. History of transactions. Information about what, when and how much the customer bought, in some cases can help to conclude a number of new transactions. Therefore - to increase the profits of the enterprise. This is another argument in favor of CRM. Sales management with this tool is greatly simplified!
3. Control over transactions. This means that the client should receive equally adequate and relevant information, regardless of whether there is a manager at the workplace who is leading his project. CRM-organized data makes it simple and easy!
4. Database on monitoring competitors. For a business to be successful, one must always know what and how competitors do (promotions, discounts, new items) in order to take appropriate measures in a timely manner.
5. Preparation and distribution of commercial offers (and other letters) in CRM itself. What it is? It's simple: there are templates that can be quickly adjusted in accordance with the current need, and, without wasting time, send to the client or partner. This eliminates the need to spend time creating a letter from scratch.
6. Calendars, planners for meetings and events. This functionality allows you to rationally plan the time of employees, to allocate hours of use of meeting rooms.
7. Reporting forms. The presence of uniform reporting forms is a great way not only to monitor the current state of affairs, but also to make forecasts.
8. Special functions that allow you to segment databases by customers and partners, offering each of them exactly what you need (discounts, seminars, new products, bonuses).
9. Automated newsletters, video meetings, webinars, etc. These functions are not needed by all enterprises, therefore, buying CRM with such functionality just because it is fashionable is not worth it.
CRM from the point of view of the choice "for yourself"
As mentioned above, a product must not be chosen because many people use it, and not because it has become the leader of any rating. The main criterion is the optimal ratio of price and quality for you. For example, is it worth it to purchase Microsoft products? CRM Dynamics is known all over the world, and in CRM ratings this software is consistently held in the top ten. But the price is not the most attractive for small and medium-sized businesses, in addition, experts say that high-quality machines are needed, there may be problems with customization, and importing data into this CRM is also not very simple. What is this for the user? Of course, the extra costs.
Among the leaders of CRM are noted such utilities:
- “1C-Bitrix: Corporate Portal” and the fruit of labor of developers of the same company “Bitrix24”;
- Megaplan;
- amoCRM.
Advantages and disadvantages of the most common products
Next is information about what you should know about rating systems. Having familiarized yourself with the most popular programs, having studied their pros and cons, you can make the right decision and choose the software that you need, that is, one that will meet the specifics of your enterprise. So...
Amo crm
Choosing software, you will certainly come across Amo CRM. What it is? This system is attractive for owners of various enterprises due to its simple and intuitive interface with extensive functionality and the presence of many filters that allow you to manage tasks as efficiently as possible. You can attach files and add notes. Unfortunately, it is not possible to set subtasks and group them. But partially this gap can be compensated by tags.
You can create summary reports and sales funnel reports . It is also convenient that this CRM can be easily integrated with third-party software (the same mailing services).
Of the main disadvantages, it is impossible to add arbitrary fields to customer cards. You cannot add directories, which is sometimes inconvenient.
The cost of the service is from 350 to 3000 rubles per month. Although there is a free demo option.
1C-Bitrix: Corporate Portal (CRM)
What is this for your business? Given that this product is not CRM in its purest form, but much wider functionality, then it costs not so cheap. On average - from 300,000 rubles (one-time). At the same time, you need to understand that the refinement of this system is not the easiest thing.
In fact, this software is more than functional. Here you can maximize the automation of tasks that are performed continuously. In addition, the program works well with third-party products (the same SharePoint, Outlook).
It is also very convenient that the system prevents the creation of all kinds of takes. You can also set a variety of access rights, designate those who are responsible for importing, configure name formats, etc.
Bitrix24: is it worth it to choose?
This product is cloudy. Price - from 5000 to 9000 rubles per month. There is a free option, but its capabilities are limited.
In general, the system is convenient, but less functional than the "big brother" - "1C-Bitrix: Corporate Portal." It should be noted that it is convenient to work with projects of various kinds here, due to the fact that the relationship between tasks, calendar and file storage is implemented.
The disadvantages are rather heavy interface and lack of tags.
Megaplan: advantages and disadvantages
This cloud-based CRM is quite functional, there are many filters, it’s convenient to compile reports here (diverse). Particularly noteworthy is a very convenient interface, which is created in accordance with the principles of usability, which allows extremely flexible configuration of the system. However, if the browser installed on the computer is not the most modern - some blocks may not work correctly.
The issue price is about 75,000 rubles a year (10 licenses are meant).
Summary
It turns out that almost all common CRM have both advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, choosing one of them is either based on preliminary testing of the free version, or after consulting with specialists and a detailed examination of all the pros and cons arguments. In some cases, you can completely limit yourself to a free CRM option (for example, if the staff of the company is small). In this case, it is necessary to take into account what tasks will be solved, and the qualifications of employees, and even how fast the Internet is! You also need to consider what is more profitable: pay a monthly fee or buy a license once. This will avoid disappointment! Have a good choice, enjoy your job and sell well!