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	CRM Solutions  Intranet & Extranet  Billing Software  E-Transfer Software  ERP Solutions Customize IT Business Solutions CRM Made easy for small & medium sized business  Many companies - particularly small ones - may not even think of their customer information systems as databases. But, whether it consists of 3x5 cards in a metal box, names handwritten in a ledger, an electronic spreadsheet, a personal information manager, or contact management software, just about every company makes some kind of effort to know its customers. A customer relationship management (CRM) system, if you will. Of course, when used today, the term CRM usually brings to mind a fully integrated computer-based system that ties together all of a companys interactions with customers both before and after the sale. Helping companies know their customers better so that customers feel at home - and return to buy again and again - lies at the heart of CRM. The Fundamentals of CRM Although there are literally hundreds of flavors of CRM, nearly everyone agrees that successful systems consist of three fundamental elements: Sales - Sometimes lumped together under the name technology-enabled selling, the most vital sales elements are contact management and sales force automation. Many CRM systems also include telemarketing, sales configuration, and partner relationship management. Quite simply, these elements allow a company to share knowledge across a companys sales teams, and use that knowledge to turn prospects into customers. Support - Used after the sale, the support part of CRM helps customers with any issues they might have. CRM support takes the information learned about the customer during the sales process and uses it to improve field service, call center response, and self-service. Again, the idea is to use the companys understanding of its customers to foster a good experience and more repeat sales. Marketing - Once again using the information a business has about its customers, the marketing elements of CRM allow a company to track, manage, and measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. And, using existing customer data, a company can identify its most profitable prospects and leads. In addition to serving the sales, support and marketing departments individually, CRM fosters collaboration between them. Their missions are no longer unique as they all work toward gaining and satisfying customers. They also begin to have a responsibility to one another to add useful information into the system. What CRM should do for a Business In addition to the sales, marketing, and support functions described earlier, a CRM system for a small to medium-sized business must:      • Be easy to use with a high rate of user acceptance;      • Implement fast so that return on investment is almost immediate;      • Be affordable and not replete with hidden costs; and      • Fit the needs of a growing business well into the future. Such a solution not only provides the advantages of well-executed CRM, it firmly establishes a foundation for the companys ultimate CRM objectives through the quick achievement of reasonable goals. This is particularly important because a CRM system that provides a few "quick wins"can help overcome the natural resistance to change that most individuals and business cultures have. That, in turn, builds momentum and buy-in for a more comprehensive and beneficial CRM program. Easy to Use For a CRM system to contribute to its ultimate goal of increasing sales, it must be easy for employees to use. Rather than boasting that it has a thousand screens to meet every possible situation, a CRM solution for SMBs should feature an easy-to-use interface designed for people who are used to working with software such as ACT!™ and Microsoft® Outlook. Still, employees - particularly salespeople - may resist a new CRM system. Their customer information is their lifeline. Knowing details like whether a customer is a baseball or football fan, what she has ordered in the past, and what she is likely to need tomorrow is key to future sales. And salespeople, of course, want to make sure that they are the ones to make those sales. Thus, giving them a CRM system that offers enormous productivity benefits with minimal hassle helps to ease objections. The system must make their lives easier and help them close so many more deals that the risk in sharing their information is worth it. Fast to Implement Its true that the very best CRM systems are those that have been extensively customized to fit the companys business processes exactly. But those customizations increase the complexity of the implementation, the length of time it takes, and its cost. Generally speaking, SMBs cannot afford deep customization. At least not at first. Thats not to say that they cant have effective CRM. Solutions with properly designed processes embracing best practices that have proven useful to a broad range of SMBs can be implemented with few customizations - or none at all. Affordable Although CRM is supposed to be all about increasing sales and getting a fast return on investment, many small and medium-sized businesses are shocked to discover a host of hidden costs in enterprise CRM systems that seem to bankrupt already tight budgets. Or they discover too late that their "new employees” are often consultants taking up valuable office space and ordering up needless customizations. Because its resources are often constrained, its vital that SMBs know - upfront - how much it will cost to not only implement and manage the system, but to train and support users to use it, too. Fits the business Future growth and customization are also major considerations. Even though SMBs are best off initially deploying CRM with minimal customizations, as a company realizes the gains that come with a successful solution, demand for more functions, further customization, and greater personalization will follow. So, its vital that the solution chosen at the outset be capable of growing to meet that demand. The solution must enable ongoing, significant change without requiring fundamental restructuring. And, as noted earlier, this must be accomplished with limited budgets and little or nonexistent IT support.						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