5 Tips to Consider Before Investing in a CRM System

Consumer is the king. This is one phrase that we have heard a million times over in one or the other form. Considered as the lifeblood of any business, ignoring them is not permissible anymore. Fortunately, a number of technological solutions exist in the market that can help you manage customer relationships and further your business in return. In this article, we will take you through the process of choosing a CRM software and the points that should be considered before you finally decide on one.

• Pricing: Price can be a restricting factor especially if you are a small business or have very specific expectations from your CRM software. Your budget choices should aid you in narrowing down the list of providers to a handful. Once you have identified a few alternatives, don’t be swayed by the initial costs if they seem a little high. Look at the long-term cost-benefit analysis, and whether you can get other financial incentives such as future discounts if you are going to opt for a particular vendor.
• Area of Specialization: One of the very first things that you should look at choosing a CRM vendor is the kind of industries and clients they serve. This may not be the only determinant but knowing the range of industries will certainly help. For example, if a CRM vendor only works with healthcare clients, and you are an IT company, it is possible that they may not understand the needs of a technology-based company very well.
  
• Customization: Each business is unique – not just in terms of the products or services it offers. But also in terms of its day to day operations. Some companies want to keep certain functions manual. On the other hand, large corporations want to automate as many activities as possible. In addition, you may have employees from various departments accessing the CRM, so that’s where you may also need to customize the user roles. A basic, off-the-shelf CRM software may not offer you all these benefits. Whereas if you are a Microsoft user, you can make all these alterations with Dynamics CRM customization. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is one of the most widely used relationship management solutions by enterprises today.
  
• Flexibility in Integration: Not a very big issue in today’s times. It is still important to to know whether the CRM has any integration/compatability based limitations. It is safest to adopt a cloud solution that can work anywhere and everywhere. But make sure it works with any existing technologies that your company uses.
  
• Scalability: It is likely that you have 100 employees today. Five years down the line, you may have 500. When you are shortlisting CRM solutions/vendors, do take into account the scalability aspect. It is important to have the flexibility of upgrading or downgrading your CRM depending on internal needs.
  

Apart from the tips listed above, ease of use is also an important factor that should be thought of when deciding on a CRM. When your business is rapidly growing, you want to make sure that the CRM you invest in – helps and does not hinder your day to day functioning.

What other factors can impact the selection of a CRM system?