Small business CRM software is a vital tool for managing interactions with customers, allowing you to learn more about them.
The knowledge is invaluable for tailoring your offerings to your existing customers’ needs. It also helps you win the business of prospective customers over your competitors.
If you still haven’t adopted a CRM system into your business it’s time to take a look at how it can help improve your business.
Once you’re ready, you may also want to know your options. And don’t worry too much about the cost factor. You can always start with a free or low-cost solution because there are more and more affordable web-based CRM available in the market.
How CRM Works and Benefits Small Businesses
Small business CRM software keeps centralized database of all customer data. It stores all the data in one place, making it very convenient and efficient for you to address their needs and demands.
Simple task like sending mailings and greetings becomes a lot easier with a CRM software application. With CRM you and your staff can handle routine tasks like returning phone calls or any other scheduled tasks.
CRM also allows you to conduct personal or one-to-one marketing. You can use the records of prospective clients and buyers like their earlier purchasing trend, trends that they have liked earlier and their needs, to create a customer centric marketing system.
Even if you are just a few people business and short on resources CRM software lets you to stay in tune with your clients and give them the best services possible.
With all those benefits, you can soon expect to both keep and acquire more customers, maximize customer life cycles and improve customer services through personalization.
Other Reasons to Use Small Business CRM Software
1. Accommodate customer records growth.
If you’re just starting out and only have a few customers all you need is a good memory and organized notes to keep track of your customers.
However, if your customer base spans into the hundreds or even thousands it can become impossible to remember each name, address, date of birth, and so on. At this point the use of CRM app becomes inevitable.
2. Apply the best practices from big businesses.
CRM solutions are used to be designed for big businesses. But today you can increase your sales and profits using of the best CRM for small business that combine the best practice of CRM for larger companies.
3. CRM is affordable for small businesses.
There are tons of Software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers that offer free CRM software as well as paid editions at an affordable price.
You can find providers specializing in small business market such as Insightly priced at $7/user/month and high-end solutions like Salesforce.com with $65/user/month for a complete CRM for any size team.
4. Automate functions.
Depending on the types of features and services used CRM software can help you automate and improve sales, marketing and customer service.
Factors For Comparing Small Business CRM Software
1. Availability of must-have functions
Take a look at all functions that you really need and compare them with features offered by providers. Make sure the provider give all those features you need and only subscribe to the must-have features.
2. Ease of use
An easy-to-use and quick-to-learn CRM is important because you don’t have the time and resources for implementing a complex system that requires special training sessions.
3. Integration with existing applications
Make sure the small business CRM software works with your existing email client program, accounting application and other software. You will want to check whether the CRM database will integrate with your existing scattered data.
4. Scalability
Is your business growing fast? If you own a fast-growing business make sure the CRM program accommodates your growing needs for more features and users.
5. Affordability
If you don’t have any experience with any CRM system make sure you choose an affordable one that meets your overall requirements.
Which Small Business CRM Software is Right for You?
There 2 major types of CRM software: web-based CRM and on-premise CRM. Web-based providers offer hosted CRM on their servers but you have to install an on-premise CRM on your own server.
I would recommend you go with web-based CRM. A hosted CRM doesn’t need upfront investment and it lets you to add more users and features down the road.
But you can also try an on-premise CRM program if you have a dedicated IT team and you find it offer a better solution for your small business.
If you are investing in any top CRM software, always try their free trial first so you will know whether the main features really meet your business needs.