Choosing the right CRM

[threesixty uk ltd]

Hi all,

I have been appointed with the task of planning the introduction of a CRM (customer relationship management) system into our sales and marketing company.

After a lot of research and presentations from the various CRM vendors, we've decided to take a step back and trial Microsofts CRM to see if this will help us to establish the core requirements of this new system. We have most of the hardware already, just need to choose a system that will cater for growth and the different types of users in the future.

There is endless reading available on google, which has been great - but i'd really appreciate any advice or stories from anyone who has had similar experience in trying to setup a CRM 'from scratch' (i.e. we dont currently have any sort of multi-user system - just an access database)

I appreciate I may get more help on which systems are available/technology etc from an IT forum - but feel that you guys will hopefully be able to give me some insight into the different areas of the business that we need to consider when planning the system....

Sorry if this post seems too vauge!

Many thanks,

Graham Taylor
360 uk ltd

[simonr]

I'd seriously consider using SugarCRM - the free version is pretty much all you'll ever need (unless you're into very heavy customisation).

It's pretty robust and can handle big stuff but similarly isn't overkill in terms of setting up - so you can try it and get a feel for it easily enough and not be put off. (Well, okay, all CRM take some setting up, but you know what I mean.)

S

[LeelaCosgrove]

It really depends on what you want to do with it - what size your business is, how you're going to collect details, how and what you want to store ...

I did a research job for a client last year on the top 10 CRM systems.

Number 1 is Salesforce ... a client of mine (who manages Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra, Brain Tracey etc in Australia) uses this as their CRM. Obviously it's a fairly large-scale solution, but can be scaled down. It's very comprehensive.

I use 1shoppingcart.com - but that's got more of an e-commerce slant, which is ideal for what I need, but it depends on what you're doing.

[threesixty uk ltd]

Thanks for the comments guys - Sugar CRM and Salesforce are the two which have come with highest recommendations. I think both would probably do the job, its just a matter of which one would be more 'perfect' for what we're doing.

To give anyone reading an idea of what that is...we have office staff booking appointments for reps to go out to the following day - all details on sales, commissions, appointments booked (including all client information) is currently held in an access database and various excel spreadsheets.

I guess any CRM would be a massive improvement on the above system, but we need to be sure that it will be able to grow with us, and don't want to over complicate what is essentially a simple workflow

Other than the above mentioned office tasks, we would want the capacity to be able to offer a dealership/field sales 'portal' - for them to be able to access all client information relevant to them, we also want the capacity to be able to provide 'online' quotes to reps whilst they are out 'n' about - this is where i start to get out of my depth.

I know a website would be able to quote users through some sort of structured database - and im sure the interface could be achieved through a completely seperate website - however the aim of getting a CRM in the first place would obviously to get everything onto one system...

We use Electricity4Businesses online quotation portal, which is powered by salesforce and it works great, but possibly not quite as idiot proof as it would need to be!

Anyway, our Microsoft Action Pack (google it! .... shedloads of software - vista liscences, server liscences, office liscences + MS CRM all for £200) has just walked through the door as i'm typing this so i'm off to try it out!

Cheers!

Graham

[zooz]

I like SugarCRM.
works fine for me.

[simonr]

Hi Graham - don't knock spreadsheets and databases. What do you think CRMs are? Just a front end for spreadsheets and databases!

If it works, don't change it! You never know, instead of want to buy something from someone, you might end up selling yours!

S

[zooz]

Another option that you can consider in case you are money short, is to make a simple table on Excel sheet. The software can help you to sort the data the way you like. In addition You can sate a formula which will color the date field in red whenever the calling day has arrive.