Q. What is CRM?
Ans. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a process or methodology used to learn more about customers' needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them. There are many technological components to CRM, but thinking about CRM in primarily technological terms is a mistake. The more useful way to think about CRM is as a process that will help bring together lots of pieces of information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness and market trends.
CRM helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the behavior of customers and the value of those customers.
Q. run a small business and I don't have that many customers. Why do I need special software to manage them?
Ans. CRM can benefit a small business by consolidating customer data into a single system. As a business grows, keeping a record of all transactions can become overwhelming. CRM tools allow you to manage your customer interactions more efficiently, so you have more time to focus on your service or product. TDS is extremely flexible and is targeted towards small to medium size businesses.
Q. Is CRM difficult to set up?
Ans.CRM should not be difficult to set up, however, sometimes it is. This is because some traditional CRM implementation requires hardware and software installation, followed by a long period of customization for the requirements of a particular customer. Some CRM software solutions require customization which can only be done by a developer.
Hosted CRM only requires an Internet-connected PC with a web browser. Hosted CRM solutions are ready for use after your first login. Adding new features or enhancements is usually a matter of signing up for a new feature.
Q. Is CRM expensive?
Ans.Traditional CRM systems will cost more than Hosted CRM solutions, especially given the IT overhead of traditional systems. Traditional CRM systems require dedicated computing hardware, software installation, maintenance, and the staff to manage the process. Since Hosted CRM solutions are already maintained, upgraded, and backed up by the CRM provider, the subscription costs is the only costs incurred by the business user.
Q.Is CRM easy to use?
Ans.A good CRM solution should be easy to use. Hosted CRM solutions are no more complex than the web applications that most people are already familiar with. CRM solutions drawing on proven, familiar web services such as online banking, online shopping and other web-based financial tools are easy to understand and use.
Q. Does CRM require dedicated IT support staff?
Ans. Traditional CRM does; Hosted CRM does not. Traditional CRM requires in-house IT resources to install and maintain the software and hardware. Hosted CRM providers manage all software upgrades, data security, data privacy, hardware maintenance and virus protection.
Q. How does the customer service portion of CRM help a business grow?
Ans. Customer satisfaction is a key element of customer loyalty. Loyal and satisfied customers become long-term customers. Loyal customers are also your best advocates. Word of mouth recommendations create the most persuasive marketing for your company. In an age where negative customer feedback propagates quickly to online reviews and blogs, customer service cannot be overlooked.
Q. Will I be able to customize small business CRM application to my business needs?
Ans. Of course, from the document center that has merge codes for your businesses specific document to have information automatically inputted. We also have the ability to set up custom workflows and order stages and checklist that no other company has. everything is customized for you.
Q. How can CRM software help my small business?
Ans. Small business CRM software brings the power of customer relationship management within the easy reach of small and mid-size businesses. The applications allow you to consolidate customer data in a single secure database that you can access from anywhere anytime. In-depth customer history can be maintained analyzing which enables you to provide personalized one-to-one services individually. This helps to create and maintain customer loyalty, and thereby maximize customer retention.
Q. Will I be able to customize small business CRM application to my business needs?
Ans.Certainly! Most small business CRM venders allow you to customize the applications to suite your unique business nature and requirements. Some allow you to upload your company name and logo, which helps to create personalized look and feel for the applications. Even more complex workflow, procedural and logical changes may be possible based on the vendor from whom you choose to acquire your CRM for small business.
Q. How can I cancel the subscription?
Ans. Most providers allow you to cancel the subscription at anytime by notification. Prior to canceling subscription your entire business-critical data will be exported in the appropriated format and transferred to you securely.
Q. Are the applications secured?
Ans. Absolutely! Small business CRM applications run on secure dedicated servers maintained by the CRM provider. Only authorized users identified by login and password can access and use the applications. Maintenance, security and data backup of CRM are taken care by the provider itself.
Q. What are the other benefits of using small business CRM
Ans. Small business CRM applications enable you to automate key business functions? Sales, marketing and customer support functions. By automating routine tasks, the application allows you to reduce costs and focus resources on the more crucial business areas to increase organization productivity, profits and ROI.
Q. What should I consider before committing to a CRM product?
Ans.Everyone (dealership staff and management) should adopt a customer-focused culture. Many will add new responsibilities to their current roles. All areas of dealership operations should be involved in evaluating the CRM products. What may meet the needs of one department may not be useful to another.
Q. How do I measure the success of the CRM system?
Ans. •Periodically survey customer’s satisfaction with sales and service.
•Compare the impact of marketing campaigns periodically.
Q.What's the difference between CRM and SFA?
Ans. SFA (Sales Force Automation) solutions are almost entirely focused on sales- related objectives, activities, automation and reporting. SFA software products typically facilitate lead management, account management, contact management, activity management, opportunity management and forecasting. CRM is much broader and typically facilitates all customer facing operations. From a software perspective, CRM normally implies the three integrated software modules of sales force automation, marketing management and customer support.
Q. What the difference between SaaS, BPO, an ASP, and an MSP?
Ans.
Q. It seems that every software vendor is claiming to be a "CRM" software vendor – yet many of them have little in common. How do I know if they really offer CRM solutions or I'm just reading marketing hype?
Ans.This confusion dates back to the year the term "CRM" was coined (1992). Many software manufacturers use the CRM industry term in order to ride the CRM wave or otherwise take advantage of a significant market movement. Most analyst and pundits agree that CRM software includes the three integrated modules of sales force automation (SFA), marketing and customer support. If a software vendor offers these three functions in an integrated fashion, they are likely a genuine CRM provider.
Q. In your opinion, in the future, will on-premise CRM be completely replaced by on-demand CRM, or will on-premise implementations always have a place in the CRM market?
Ans.When I think about on-demand CRM and this question my mind goes naturally to -- radial tires. Yup, radial tires came on the market in the 1960s or 70s, I believe. At first they were available only on imported cars -- my brother's MG had Pirellis, and I will never forget the experience of taking my first corner in a car with rack- and-pinion steering and radials. Wow! It was better in so many ways. Old bias- ply tires were the norm, and for a while it seemed that there would always be a division and the two types would co-exist. Then, the inevitable tipping point occurred. Radials lasted longer, gave a better ride, used less fuel and wore more evenly -- overnight, we all went to radials.
We've been through the same kind of transition in the last eight years with on- demand computing. We've seen the superiority and the ease of use associated with on-demand CRM. In my mind, the question is this: When will vendors wind up their on-premise businesses and go completely on-demand? This changeover is a business model issue and very complex -- more complex than changing the tire- making technology.
The other thing to keep in mind is that tipping points are very specific. For example, on-demand sales force automation software (SFA) is a "no-brainer," but using on-demand software in the call center is a different matter. There is still a legitimate reason for a large call center operator to operate an in-house call center despite the fact that on-demand call center solutions already exist. The issues are cost, complexity and control. So, for the time being, I think we are in a transition state. The real question is: How long will the transitions last?
Q. What kind of support can we expect from SaaS CRM software vendors? What are some common pitfalls?
Ans. There is no concise answer to this question because many things can happen, and each vendor might prepare differently for those possibilities. For example, downtime is something that many people keep under a microscope -- for good reason. Most large SaaS CRM vendors have taken the step of ensuring that their facilities are up to the standards that the industry has developed over the last few years. These standards insulate the physical facility as much as possible from things like earthquakes and floods. They also have uninterruptible power supplies, and each has rigorous on- premises security to prevent intrusion. Nevertheless, people still worry about backup and recovery as well as security and encoding their communications, and a great deal more. Suffice it to say that the foreseeable problems -- the ones that made some people skittish about this form of computing -- have been dealt with.
Pitfalls include downtime and data loss, which can take us in a lot of directions. Data loss is not something that I lose sleep over, given the redundancy of modern systems, but downtime can still be an issue. Downtime might not cause you to lose your data, but it may prevent you from getting at your data -- which can be just as bad. Many of us think about SaaS in Boolean terms -- it's either on or it's off, and we have been conditioned to think that it's always on. But consider what would happen if a primary site were to suffer a catastrophe that caused the site to restore a backup. While it is very possible that no data would be lost, it is also possible that restoring from a backup could take a while -- 24 to 48 hours or more.
My advice is to ask your vendor what the recovery plan is in such an event. Some vendors have mirrored data centers so that a problem in one will simply mean that another center has to take over the load. That could degrade performance temporarily, but considering the alternative, it might be fine for a short time.
BIZPRO 360 Inc. All rights reserved. 2011