Today’s technology driven business infrastructure is constantly evolving to provide companies with a competitive edge. If you are seeking a solution to increase business efficiency and customer focus you may want to consider Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM).

Customer Satisfaction

CRM technology improves customer satisfaction by enabling a business to better understand its customers, their habits and their needs. Satisfied customers will lead to increased market share which in turn, will result in increased sales and revenue. A strong customer focus has proven to be the unique attribute that puts small businesses ahead of large companies in the minds of consumers. CRM technology is the IT worlds answer to the problem of keeping your small business focused on the customer as your company continues to grow.

Tailored to Small Businesses

Affordable

Many small business owners are not intimidated by new technology, but are in fact, intimidated by the potential price of a CRM system. The good news is that, in comparison to previous years, CRM solutions are currently more affordable than ever. For example, Surado CRM solutions offer a small business CRM system that ranges from $2,000 for three users to about $5,000 for ten users. When your small business grows beyond ten users Surado CRM can be upgraded to the full version to meet growth needs. For additional cost savings, take CRM for a trial run by downloading a CRM open source software system such as SugarCRM’s Sugar Community Edition. An open source CRM system will shorten the costly time consuming sales cycle and allows your business to analyze the solution’s effectiveness free of charge. 

        Industries are finally identifying the strong need small businesses have for software solutions that will improve their business processes. Small businesses can choose from CRM providers such as Microsoft, SAP, and Infusion to meet their customer relationship needs. In addition, upfront cost savings on software and data storage can be realized by utilizing CRM applications on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis. SaaS refers to applications hosted as a service via the internet rather then installing and running applications on your businesses computers. CRM technology may seem like an additional cost today, but it is a valuable investment in the future growth of your small business. An IT innovation company, RPM Solutions, deployed a CRM system and almost doubled revenue in two months due to their new insight into the sales pipeline. The ROI (Return on Investment) gained from implementing a CRM system is best determined by comparing the businesses customer satisfaction, retention, and acquisitions from the past to the present.    

Summary

CRM software is an innovative technology that can create more efficient business processes that could add value to your small business. In addition, your small business can effectively identify the needs and wants of potential customers as well as track those of the customers that already exist. Large software companies such as Microsoft and SAP are tailoring affordable CRM solutions to meet the needs of small businesses. The long term benefits of CRM software far outweigh the initial cost of implementation. Technological innovation can improve every facet of a business from customer relations to communications capabilities. CRM systems can provide small businesses with the competitive advantage they have been looking for to pull ahead of large companies.

Sources:

Small Businesses should embrace CRM in 2008

Small Business CRM : Turning Knowledge into an Asset  Surado Small Business CRM

Open Source CRM  

Oracle CRM on Demand