Customer Relationship Management

On-demand Customer Relationship Management tools nearly eliminate the need for in-house IT support. With CRM in the cloud, you no longer have to worry about backing up data, ongoing software maintenance and tying up capital in new hardware. Cloud CRM software is ideal for budget-conscious companies. At the same time, hosted customer relationship management tools can be up and running as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, companies that require extensive customization and specific features in CRM software often consider an in-house solution—provided they have the necessary IT resources. Desktop Customer Relationship Management tools tend to fall somewhere in between the other two CRM options. For example, if data backup is already a standard procedure within your company, your CRM’s mission critical desktop-based data won’t be in jeopardy in the event of a crashed hard drive or some other unforeseen catastrophe.

Typically, when compared to the other two options, cloud-based CRM software saves time and money. Cloud computing’s pay-as-you-go model anticipates many of these considerations and aims to lower the numerous barriers to entry. The cloud CRM model is based on offering a robust set of features that is simple and flexible to configure. CRM on-demand is ideal for pre-sale evaluation, as well as soft roll outs across your sales, marketing, and customer service departments. A cloud-hosted CRM system will be able to follow you as the needs of your business evolve.

As noted, selecting an in-house CRM solution requires a strong IT department. In addition, IT must be committed to the company adopting a Customer Relationship Management tool. However, even the most technically sound IT departments are often not very sales and marketing savvy. Convincing them about the urgency and importance of a best-in-class Customer Relationship Management software system can be difficult.

Lastly, a desktop CRM software package is a CRM solution that is often selected by individuals or companies with a smaller sales force. Typically such companies do not rely on sharing and collaboration. Even so, many of these companies are migrating to an on-demand Customer Relationship Management software solution to lower upfront costs and reduce ongoing headaches. They understand your focus should be on sales, marketing and customer service, not maintaining complicated software.

While there are plenty of options, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the leading customer relationship management software. It is a multi-lingual server-client application CRM solution package developed by Microsoft which is compatible with wide-ranging web services interfaces. In its hosted form, Microsoft CRM is functionally comparable to offerings by competitors such as Salesforce.com and NetSuite. However, on a cost per user basis, MS CRM is more often than not the winner in terms of bang for the buck. Other customer relationship management software products include SugarCRM, Onyx, Pivotal, and Sage CRM.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps capture more data; it can also intelligently eliminate data duplication. Business intelligence (BI) is magnified by increasing both data quality and quantity. Ongoing marketing analytics reveal actionable insights that ultimately decrease cost per engagement (CPE).

Microsoft Dynamics CRM software, with its familiar interface to Microsoft Office product line, provides a natural and intuitive user experience. By reducing the need for training, MS CRM Dynamics improve marketing efficiency, increase sales, and enrich customer service interactions. It includes real-time analytics and streamlined business processes that paves the way for informed decisions and efficient operations. What more, it also keeps people, processes, and business connected and operating at an optimal level.