In this article we will be discussing the role of CRM in strengthening the business relationships. SuiteCRM is not only just buying a new sophisticated tool to automate customer information, it’s a whole new strategy that focuses on a paradigm shift from product centric to a customer centric approach to business. CRM is crucial to retail business, law firms, F & B, finance, real estate, hospitality or travel business to name a few and is equally beneficial to small, mid or large size companies. Customer is king, so having the company’s ecosystem built around the customer makes business sense.
Having said that, it is important to understand how to select the appropriate CRM solution that suits your own specific needs. Of course, off-the-shelf products are quite useful, but one that allows for customization and adaptations are better in the long run. Many hasty decisions to rope in the most sophisticated CRM software have gone counter-productive due to lack of proper understanding of the applicability of the same to one’s own business scenario.
How to select the best Opensource CRM?
Here are a few key considerations to keep in mind while selecting the right Free CRM solution:
Weigh out your business objectives
All stakeholders of the company – from business goal setters, management, leaders, sales, marketing and service –need to clearly understand the business objectives and benefits of moving to CRM. Champions from the top leadership and each department from within your organization must fully understand and form a core group for smooth CRM adoption. Similarly these champions can help map the requirements for each department to help make a prioritized list of requirements from the CRM.
Tight watch on the price
Budgets drive business decisions, so be careful that you accommodate not only up-front costs but also long-term operational, upgrade and licensing costs. This can be important to help you select on-premises or on-site cloud based services, such as pay-per-use solutions.
User friendly means quicker adoption
You don’t want your staff to shy away from using the CRM, so choose a CRM solution that is intuitive and attractive. A small trial or pilot exercise with your champions can be really helpful in evaluating before you take the plunge.
Cover for loss- security and recovery
This is an integral part of CRM; you need to protect your sensitive data from misuse. Your CRM solution should have strict security features. Recovery and backup should be robust enough to minimize loss of critical data. Your contract should cover support and monetary stake of vendors by way of stringent SLA’s.
Training and support for sustenance
CRM is not just a piece of software; it’s a culture that you need to imbibe. Making sure that the vendor provides adequate training support to your staff, so that they do not feel intimidated with a complex-looking system, is a must. Choose a vendor who will provide adequate training, support, maintenance and even upgrades as needed.
Scalability is the key
You need a CRM that grows with your business, since growth is the goal of the CRM. This should be kept in mind to avoid cost-overruns and wasted efforts in future.
To sum it all up….
With changing technology, you need a solution that is future expandable as well. SuiteCRM solutions from Fynsis have the advantage of being low-cost and efficient, since they are based on the open source SuiteCRM platform, which is robust and maintained up-to-date by a community of technical brains, leaders and domain experts. Fynsis offers smart customized end-to-end solutions on top of this platform that can evolve along with your business.
