Why consider Hosted CRM?
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software system is used to automate the sales, marketing, customer service and anciliary functions of a business. Traditional CRM systems were installed on a company’s server and accessed by users through the local network. Often costly and requiring management, such systems could not be used by smaller businesses and it was difficult for businesses with multiple locations and sales reps on the road to maintain real-time access to information.
The last number of years has seen an increase in so-called “Cloud Computing” where access to software systems is provided in real-time over the internet. In Ireland, take-up of Hosted IT services (as they are also known) was initially restricted to larger corporations due to the lack of broadband infrastructure, however this is no longer the case. Hosted CRM is now available to most businesses in the SME sector in Ireland, and it’s benefits apply to virtually all industries.
Hosted CRM is a Web based CRM provided by an external service provider (similar to telephone, electricity, water, etc). Organizations that use the CRM system don’t own the CRM software, instead they subscribe to the CRM services by paying a monthly subscription fee. Web based CRM systems use web browsers as the clients. While the user does not own the software, they do however own their data.
Benefits of Hosted CRM Hosted CRM
Low Initial Cost CRM software is expensive and costs hundreds of thoudsands or millions in the life cycle of CRM implementation. A yearly subscription fee to CRM services is only a fraction of that cost.
Try it out A Hosted CRM option allows organisations to try out CRM and they may eventually choose to host online CRM in-house if economical. The low relative cost means they can prove the concept without spending a fortune.
Low Cost of Deployment The software is accessed via a web browser so there is nothing to install on each PC.
Rapid Implementation The implementation of hosted CRM involves initial setup, configuration, data migration and integration. Hosted CRM providers normally acommodate custom requirements at a small cost. Also, the Cost of implementing hosted CRM is only a fraction of traditional CRM implementation. Hosted CRM can shorten the implementation from months or years to a few weeks or even days in some cases.
Accessibility Users can access web based CRM from anywhere as long as they have Internet access and a Web browser.
Instant information sharing Information entered remotely on the web can be transmitted back to CRM backend for instant information sharing across the business.
Customer Portal Because the software is web-based, it is possible to have your customers access their account information which is live and fully up to date.
I am a big believer in hosted CRM. This can help smaller company grow rapidly and improve its sales process while keeping better track of its advertising, leads and close ratio.
Fantastic, I didn’t heard about that until now. Thankz!
Hey Everyone I am New, Iv been browsing around this board for about a few hours as a guest. I found it useful and it has helped me allot. I hope to hang around for some time and contribute.
Cheers.