10 naive but important questions about CRM

It's hard to be the boss. This is especially difficult in small and medium-sized businesses, when you, although you are the owner of the company, still get into some dependence on subordinates, their effectiveness and ability to work. On the one hand, you expect an honest and professional approach from them, count on expertise, and on the other, you understand that each process needs to be monitored. Small business creates large and close corporate ties, but you have to rely on yourself: to understand everything, from the main activity profile to IT infrastructure and accounting. And sometimes I really want to calmly ask a few naive questions about some unusual sphere for myself and get a direct answer. For example, about CRM - not a cheap thing, someone praises, someone in a panic. To understand.



Is it necessary? Let's figure it out.







In fact, we have been thinking about the topic of CRM-systems diversity for a long time, since it was from Habr that questions came, including what to choose, from which price segment, etc. (some generally mistook us not for the vendor, but for the integrator, who has a dozen partnership agreements in his arsenal). There were some doubts, but the comment about the new product, the ticket system ZEDLine Support, made us finally decide on the release of this post. Here he is:







Honestly, such motivations are not accepted to be voiced aloud, because it looks like outright indifference to the company or even wrecking: you take software that is beneficial to you and lobby for an expensive, complicated and ineffective implementation for the company for your own benefit. And this is while managers rely on the experience and expertise of technically savvy employees when choosing automation tools.



Therefore, we dedicate this post to those who want to choose CRM, but cannot understand how to do this, where to start, and in general - why are there so many of them? Read our post, look competently, implement successfully - and RegionSoft CRM is not necessary at all, if you have automation with any vendor, we will be happy anyway.



We will work in the “question-answer” format, approximately in the formulations in which they are most often asked.

1. Where does so much CRM come from?

If you read foreign reviews, you want to quit and start developing a CRM system - an explosive market growth of 15.6% per year, the fastest growing segment of the corporate software market, revenue growth from market leaders from 2.5 to 18% per year. The Russian market looks different, and there is no research on it - only custom-made ones, which make it difficult to judge a sound cut and the real situation.



Of course, no one writes CRM, deciding that it will enter the world leaders. There are several main reasons for the appearance of the next CRM-system:

1. The company was once not satisfied with the decisions that are on the market, and it decided to create its own system, adapted to the requirements and Russian business reality. The software turned out to be successful, the program was able to solve the problems of the developer company and turned out to be viable - it is brought to the market and offered first to customers and partners, and then to the entire market. Typically, this is the history of CRM, which is 10-20 years old, such as our RegionSoft CRM - a system whose functionality has developed due to real requirements and many years of customer experience. There are a lot of them on the Russian market - you can easily name 5-7 CRM systems.
   
   
2. The company was created during an IT gold rush, when everyone was transformed into an IT business (the process began after 2010 and continues to this day) - the market has matured for corporate software, gradually got out of the crisis and there appeared solvent demand. And that means there should be a proposal. Several major market players appeared in that period and are still represented.
   
   
3. Someone googled CRM trends, was inspired by the books of CRM developers and decided that a startup should certainly be like that. This is already the era of the 2010s, when all sorts of different CRM systems (or rather just tables with a standard side menu on top of the base) proliferated at an incredible speed, recruited customers and just as quickly disappeared from the market (often without even worrying about losing client data in the cloud ) However, we can name a dozen of such systems that still exist - but only because we are monitoring the market. In general, this part of the segment turned out to be the most faded and boring: economy class, monotonous interface, meager functionality.
   
   
4. Finally, somewhere at the very bottom of the pyramid of CRM-systems are those who found the designer or took advantage of the offers of groups 2 and 3, began to take a white label, sculpt their logo and sell to their customers from the base of the “main” business. What we have not seen here: from "industry-specific" systems for nail salons to "CRM implementers" who have a specialized business - a studio of women's fitness.
   
   

The problem is that it is impossible to say unequivocally that it is worth choosing exclusively from the first and second groups. For example, if you are a private culinary specialist or sell paintings on social networks, CRM from group 4 is quite enough for you: they are focused on working with social networks, simple and focused on a very small business. The only thing, in terms of security, of course, is the most “leaky” solutions, so it’s up to you to decide how much you value the security of your customers' data and your commercial information. Small and medium-sized businesses are better off not even looking below 3 groups.

2. What can be confused with CRM?

There are several types of software that clearly belong to another class, but are masked by the name CRM, because in terms of marketing and audience reach, this is beneficial. However, such applications are fairly easy to recognize. Moreover, from time to time it turns out that this is exactly what was needed. Therefore, we will know the mimic software in the face.

• Contact managers are simple programs in which you can save information about customers, put down their statuses, and record transactions. In fact, this is a detailed electronic notebook that will retain the customer base, but will leave all operational and analytical work on it in manual mode.
  
  
• CRM focused on social networks and B2C segment - sometimes they are called "social CRM" (which is conceptually wrong). These are systems that are focused on collecting and storing leads and minimal information on them in a single information base. Suitable for those who carry out sales in social networks in manual mode. Inconvenient in that they rarely integrate even with an online store, which in itself is no longer interesting.
  
  
• Project management systems - a separate class of information systems that focus on group planning, organization of work on the project and management of project resources. Often include a CRM module, but on their own may be insufficient as a CRM system and redundant in terms of project management. Often found in development and production (in fact, where they are most needed).
  
  
• Corporate portals (corporate social networks) are a diverse group that includes just portals, knowledge bases, and complex multi-module solutions. The main feature is the integration of CRM functions with social functions, control of working time and so on. tasks outside of commerce. If you don’t need all these “corporate-cultural” lotions, then it’s a shame to overpay for them, and they interfere and distract you in your work.
  
  
• The ticket system (it’s also a service desk) is not CRM at all, but some manage to position themselves here as a CRM system (there are relationships with customers, are there any controls for them? What kind of questions?). The meaning of the software is that information is collected in a single database on applications and customer requests, and all work with them is carried out in it. Operational and analytical work in such systems is most often not conducted. But it happens that ticket systems are integrated with CRM. For example, a bundle of our software products is implemented in this way: the cloud service desk ZEDLine Support collects calls and integrates with the desktop RegionSoft CRM , inside which operational work takes place.
  
  
• Programs for calling customers are also a motley group, in which you can find more or less acceptable CRMs (from IP telephony providers), but most often these are just contacts with minimal information about them. This group clearly demonstrates how CRM systems can be created for marketing purposes - for example, as an add-on over a virtual PBX. It is for this reason that banks and mobile operators have their own CRM systems - you need to keep the client, to store as much data as possible about his activities, that is, in fact, bind as tight as possible.
  
  

As a rule, positioning can be seen already on the vendor's website - among the advantages, the emphasis will be on the main profile. But then again, this is not an absolute truth, you need to download the demo version and see how it meets your expectations.

3. CRM - is it only for sales?

Again, there are CRMs that are focused exclusively on sales, and there are universal ones that cover most of the operational and analytical work (and sometimes logistics, warehouse, and production tasks).

• CRM for sales - suitable only for salespeople, the whole set of opportunities revolves around the sales funnel and its modifications. However, an intelligent marketing analyst can get useful data out of it.
  
  
• CRM for sales and marketing - the system contains all the same functions related to the funnel, plus it includes various reports, analytics for different sales segments, specific marketing reports (ABC analysis, PEST, SWOT, etc.).
  
  
• CRM for sales and service - the system is tailored for customer service and does not come from the lead, but from the client’s appeal. Most often it is an industry version of a CRM system.
  
  
• CRM for most commercial tasks is a universal software that covers a huge section of managerial, operational, analytical tasks. Usually provides tools for project management, warehouse, production. This is a kind of hyper CRM (from our line of software it is RegionSoft CRM Enterprise / Enterprise Plus ).
  
  
• Industry CRM-system - a solution focused on solving the problems of a narrow segment of companies. It features a deeply redesigned business logic that fully complies with the requirements of industry companies (we have RegionSoft CRM Media for television and radio holdings and outdoor advertising operators).
  
  

Choose the CRM-system functionality based on the real needs of your business, but be guided by a simple rule: “It’s better to buy a little bit of CRM growth than quickly grow out of CRM”. Expansion and pre-implementation is a rather complicated process and often overpayment.

4. What about free CRM systems?

We have already written in great detail about how much a CRM system costs, read it . So, free CRM also costs money - only this payment will be deferred, long and very incomprehensible in size. If you are too lazy to re-read our articles, we will briefly outline the main situations in which you may encounter free CRM.

1. Demo version is the most harmless kind of free CRM. As a rule, the usual flagship version with a reduced number of users, records, or with disabled network work (on the desktop). By the way, this is a chance not only to work in your future CRM, but also a way to evaluate your employees: how they will interact, what requirements they will have, how the work will be organized, etc.
   
   
2. “Truncated” CRM is also a common practice with the same rules of the game as the demo, but with a large volume of permissions. Most often a powerful lead generation tool and a way to sell an expensive version.
   
   
3. Opensource CRM - open source CRM: go to the repository, fork (take your copy, we promised in a simple language) and implement it. In fact, open-source CRM is like an electronic constructor of a hadron collider model with instructions in Chinese. It seems to be clear what I’m talking about, but you’ll collect the figs. Therefore, you will need to either contact the developer for very paid technical support, or hire a programmer with the necessary skills (this is also expensive, guys know their worth).
   
   
4. Just a free CRM - a program that the vendor has posted in the public domain: download whoever wants it. It is as if you were walking and found an old laptop near the garbage can. Immediately a sea of ​​questions arises. And which is typical, no one will answer these questions, because the vendor puts as is software (no complaints) and for selfish purposes: to promote, collect leads, transfer from the obsolete version to the new paid one (and sometimes just to the less obsolete one).
   
   

Choose carefully and remember: free cheese is only in a mousetrap.

5. Does CRM have any effect?

Yes, it definitely gives, but only on condition that you have implemented it correctly and used in the daily activities of the company. If CRM is just another simulation of a workflow, you should not expect anything from it. This is just a tool that needs material and a craftsman - but a very, really cool tool with which you can grow and change the company to a state of complete success.



A year ago, IBM conducted a study in which users called the main advantages of CRM systems: “Ease of use” (65%), “Schedule management” (27%), and “A quick look at analytics slices” (18%). Nothing complicated, but it is these three primary factors that already improve the state of affairs in the company, after which you can move on to new depths of immersion and, for example, optimize business processes.



According to a Forrester study, managers noted some improvements in their companies after implementing the CRM system:

• 50% of teams improved performance
  
  
• Sales growth was 5%
  
  
• Consultation time reduced by 10%
  
  
• Revenue increased by 2%
  
  
• Customer service cost was reduced by 40%
  
  
• Labor costs generally decreased by 20%.
  
  

We never guess on the coffee grounds and do not lie to customers that their profits, revenue, productivity and so on. KPIs will grow, just helping to implement.

6. Or maybe gash your CRM so that it "perfectly sits"?

You can - several million investments, 5-7 years with good experience and qualifications of programmers, hundreds of tests and bugs and your CRM. What do you think? If you wanted to order from a freelancer, then urgently read our investigation.



Everything that is different from this is either a solution on the constructor, the assembly of a simple open source for the order, a white label.



That's all we can say on this topic: CRM on the knee cannot be sawed.





CRM, which "and we for ourselves a couple of hundred on the knee gash"

7. Well, I almost decided what is the order of actions?

Download and print the diagram - it contains a detailed plan, or rather, a complete algorithm for implementing a CRM system (download will start immediately).



If you have questions, read the details about the scheme .

8. What should CRM do?

• To optimize the work of staff by automating the routine - the work of managers becomes more intelligent.
  
  
• Simplify and speed up operational work.
  
  
• Debug business processes and make them work.
  
  
• Provide all divisions with complete customer information.
  
  
• Be resistant to hacking and safe, because it stores the customer base and valuable commercial information.
  
  
• To be connected - all entities and modules must necessarily exchange data and have access from one to another.
  
  

9. What should CRM not do?

• Overload managers with work and turn automation into an extra load.
  
  
• Require the connection and integration of everything and everything with the help of add-ons, connectors and plug-ins of third-party manufacturers.
  
  
• Corrupt data during network failures.
  
  
• Have service and support at times more expensive than the cost of licenses.
  
  
• Do not update at regular intervals.
  
  

10. What is CRM sure to change in my company? What to prepare for?

All CRM systems are essentially nothing more than a database, and implementation is the establishment of processes (links) between the database and business processes, departments, and employees. What and how much the CRM system will change in the company depends on you: what will be the implementation in conjunction with the vendor, training, internal experts, work processes, etc. If everything goes fine, it’s worth preparing for an increase in sales due to the release of time for managers and new prospects seen in analytics; to improve the course of business processes due to their revision and subsequent automation; to timely meetings and calls due to time planning; to reduce nervousness by dividing access rights and securing clients; to the growth of corporate information security. If the implementation is illiterate - get ready for empty payment for non-working and annoying software.



Yes, to enter the world of introducing CRM to a person without technical and implementation skills is about how to jump from a boat in the middle of the Volga without being able to swim. But the rule also works the same: rely on yourself and do not be afraid, there will be no fear - you will learn to swim, you will tremble - you will drown. With the difference that in the world of CRM you can count on a ton of information and a vendor’s helping hand. And this is already a lot.