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Basic principles of crm systems. CRM systems - what is it? Review of the best solutions for business

In order to effectively manage the company and achieve maximum results, it is necessary to try to automate many commercial processes, including the interaction of employees with each other and work with the client base.

The use of specialized software makes it possible to conduct effective management activities, track and analyze all stages of transactions.

To work with the client base, specialized programs are used - CRM. They allow you to create an information base about customers, contractors, suppliers and other third-party counterparties. CRM systems are successfully used in small businesses and allow companies to quickly solve current problems.

CRM system: what is it

Translated from English CRM (Customer Relationship Management) - customer relationship management.

These programs are responsible for organizing and automating interaction with customers and help increase sales.

CRM systems allow you to save all the necessary information about customers:

  • personal data;
  • preferences;
  • list of interests;
  • call and purchase history;
  • list of transactions.

Due to this data, companies are able to build effective work aimed at maximizing profits, based on the collection and analysis of the results.

Video - what is a CRM system and why it is beneficial to use them in business:

In fact, any program for keeping records of work with clients can act as a CRM system. The same Excel can be used to control all forms of interaction between a buyer and a seller. However, such a program is not capable of fully automating the process.

The difference between CRM-systems lies in the fact that they are designed for each specific business area, taking into account the specifics and products sold.

Why are they needed for small businesses

If the software is fully consistent with the direction of the company and allows you to solve problems specific to a particular type of activity, then you will be able to achieve the following results:

  • increase in sales volume;
  • improving the service of the services provided when working with clients;
  • customer base optimization;
  • Improving the efficiency of the marketing and sales departments.

Video - why CRM systems are needed:

Key tools and features

The introduction of CRM-systems will expand the opportunities for doing business.

Video - how CRM systems work in the sales department to maintain a customer base:

The main software block includes sections that allow you to:

  • keep records of the client base and fill in information that will be available to other employees of the company;
  • interact with the list of existing contacts;
  • create ready-made commercial offers using built-in templates;
  • plan and set current tasks for employees and monitor the status of their implementation;
  • promptly receive reporting and analytical information;
  • coordinate and control the work between employees and individual structural units;
  • register transactions, draw up contracts and other reporting documentation necessary for the conclusion of contracts;
  • make calls to customers using the built-in Internet telephony system;
  • send commercial offers and send promotional emails;
  • analyze the fulfillment of tasks and the effectiveness of sales at any time interval using visual charts.

Kinds

The market for customer relationship management systems has dozens of different programs that are applicable in various industries. A properly selected CRM system guarantees an increase in sales and an improvement in the service provided to customers.

Most companies do not use the full functional set of CRM, but focus on those features that are aimed at optimizing their business.

CRM systems can be conditionally divided into three categories:

  • information type;
  • analytical view;
  • collaborative type.

Information-type programs are a database of clients in which you can work with information on ongoing transactions and control the progress of sales. The ability to organize data allows you to instantly receive information on all customers, transaction histories and cooperation with clients.

Analytical type CRMs are an improved information option. Due to the extended functionality, it becomes possible to analyze the information received.

The tools of such programs allow you to control all business processes by compiling reports according to specified criteria. Analytical CRM systems use special templates and settings that display statistics on completed transactions, the number of goods and services sold, as well as the activity of the client base.

Collaborative CRM is the most advanced business software. It opens up opportunities to systematize and analyze incoming information.

The main feature is the presence of functionality for the correction and modernization of business processes. The program is suitable for entrepreneurs who are constantly trying to improve the service and quality of services provided.

Who will benefit

Before choosing a CRM system, you should decide - whether it is necessary for a particular business. Such programs are effectively used in those industries that work directly with customers and consumers of the final product.

CRM-systems are needed in those areas where customers are given the most attention, and the main emphasis is on expanding the number of interested buyers.

In the operation of an online store, phone calls and inquiries from new customers play a key role. In order to retain the old audience and systematically attract new customers, it is necessary to use a CRM system with integrated Internet telephony.

CRM systems are well suited for wholesale companies that work with both customers and suppliers. In such a business, it is important that all requests from customers are processed as quickly and efficiently as possible, orders are fulfilled, and buyers are satisfied with the completed transaction. This increases the number of active customers and loyalty to the supplier of goods or services.

CRM-systems will not be successful with retail stores and companies working on long-term contracts. If every contract with new clients is concluded through personal meetings, no CRM system will give positive results.

Overview of popular CRM systems

Among the most popular systems are the following:

  • Bitrix24;
  • Megaplan;
  • Sails CRM.

Bitrix24

Development of the company "1C-Bitrix". Allows you to keep track of potential and current customers. It is possible to integrate with online stores for efficient order processing. With its help, you can set tasks for employees and keep track of working time. The system captures all events up to the moment of the transaction and provides reporting data to improve efficiency. There are 8 reporting forms for sales analysis.

Bitrix24 CRM official website - LINK .

amoCRM is a cloud-based system for the implementation of the effective work of the company. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the company can independently choose the necessary set of tools that is suitable for a particular type of business. amoCRM allows you to automate and speed up personal work with clients through integrated communication channels (telephony, mailing list).

Video - overview of amoCRM sections:

Learn about amoCRM.

Megaplan

Megaplan is one of the top corporate CRM systems. With its help, you can conclude transactions, store and view all documentation, keep track of finances and set planned tasks for employees.

Ideal for team work. Among the advantages, it is worth noting the rapid implementation of the program and easy development for full-time employees. There is a free version that is ideal for small businesses.

The free version of Megaplan has a limit on the number of contacts entered and a ban on the use of a number of functions.

You will find more detailed information about this CRM system.

Sails-CRM

Sails-CRM is a program that allows you to keep track of customers and manage sales. Intuitive and simple interface makes it easy to get used to the work of Sails-CRM.

You can visit the official website of Sails-CRM by LINK.

Reliable assistant for your business

If you decide to develop your business and attract new customers, and the specifics of your business are suitable for their use, then CRM systems will become an indispensable assistant in optimizing work with your customer base.

Video - how one of the CRM systems for realtors works:

A detailed description of one of the most important business tools - CRM-system. What is it, how does it work, what is its peculiarity, are there any shortcomings in it, what do experts think about CRM. How this system helps to improve interaction with customers and the efficiency of the sales department.

Any company offering goods, products or services operates due to specific business processes. 90% of them are time-consuming, require constant staff expansion and increase salary costs. The larger the business becomes, the more difficult it is to control each process.

The main, but at the same time, the most difficult thing in business is the interaction with customers or buyers. And this includes several processes at once:

  • Creation of an effective model of interaction with clients.
  • Improvement in the quality of service.
  • Collecting and maintaining customer base information.
  • Marketing optimization.
  • Analysis of the results and work on possible errors.

Each process mentioned needs to be regularly improved in order to get more customers, repeat sales and, accordingly, increase profits. And the most effective way to do this is to implement a CRM system in your business.

What is a CRM system and what does it look like

CRM (Customers Relationship Management) is a customer relationship management system that allows you to control the quality of the sales department.

The system provides for saving all the information received about the client and the history of interaction with him for further analysis in order to improve various business processes.

Using a CRM system allows you to always have a ready-made customer base at hand, some of which are ready for repeat sales.

The system itself can be represented as a separate software, or as a simple file in Excel or Google.Tables. At the same time, each file can be assigned to a specific manager, so that in the future it will be clear how many individual specialists process applications and how efficiently they work. It also gives the manager the ability to quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of their managers.

CRM allows you to record calls or requests from the site and show which manager is dealing with a particular incoming request. Such accounting makes it possible to constantly monitor the performance of managers and see the real working conditions with incoming leads and existing contracts.

The CRM system helps:

  • At any time, exercise control over the work of the sales department or an individual manager.
  • Get a standardized customer base.
  • Get statistical data on the efficiency of working with leads, on the basis of which you can conduct various analyzes to improve the quality of the company's work and increase profits.
  • Optimize and automate some business processes.
  • Develop effective business development strategies.

What do I need from a CRM system? So that all incoming calls, all incoming calls from the site are automatically unpacked in it. That is, so that no one can forget to enter information that someone called or contacted.

For example, if I enter all this manually, for example, into an Excel spreadsheet, then this will mean a loss of information - holes. Because someone will forget, someone will not want to, someone will decide not to enter and work independently. And these are reasons for theft and loss of efficiency. You just won't understand how your marketing works.

The first thing I need, as soon as a call comes in, is that a card automatically appears in the CRM system, that is, in its interface, in which the name of the person, his phone number and other fields that need to be filled in are written. That is, I talk with the client and simultaneously fill in the required fields - I find out his city, the direction of the company, I determine whether he is a good client or a bad one in terms of priorities, how hot the application is and how to work with it.

The CRM system does not have common standards. It can be any program or service in which it is convenient to control work with clients, as well as analyze, plan and develop it.

The main tasks of any CRM system

Maintaining a database of clients with the necessary information about them

A CRM system is, first of all, the creation of a single customer database, to which both ordinary employees, such as managers, and the director of the company have access. This greatly simplifies the work with clients and protects against force majeure.

For example, if a manager falls ill and goes on sick leave, another employee can lead his clients. That is, the base and history of customer relationships is preserved, even if the manager who led them was fired.

Preservation and constant expansion of the base helps to draw the most valuable customers from it and focus on working with them, since they are important for the company. It also allows you to maintain relationships with old customers who have not applied for services for a long time. That is, periodically they can send new, relevant and profitable offers.

Service quality improvement

Constant monitoring of work with clients has a positive effect on the quality of service.

Using all the information from the database of the CRM system helps to increase attention to customers, create a sense of care for them and thus get an army of loyal audience, ready for constant cooperation and repeat sales.

Attention should be understood as:

  • prompt provision of complete and interesting information about a product or service;
  • congratulating the client on a significant holiday for him;
  • inviting clients to events held by the company or its partners;
  • servicing VIP-clients on favorable terms and with an individual system of discounts.

This makes it possible, with some effort, to create and maintain an army of loyal customers to the company.

Increase in sales

Since the CRM system contains all the necessary information about customers, this helps to improve the quality of interaction with each of them. That is, after analyzing the data about the client, talking with him on the phone, he can make the most advantageous offer. In this case, the manager will be able to remove all possible objections, justify the price and convince of the profitability of the transaction.

CRM is more than just a customer relationship management system. With its help, management is able to monitor the work of the sales department and plan the actions of its employees. The manager can tell the manager how to properly communicate with the client, how to answer his questions, give convincing arguments and remove objections.

The key tasks of a CRM system, as such, are:

The first is digitization and analysis, that is, the fixation of processes.

The second is prioritization. That is, the creation of a system in which the best tasks, the best applications collide with the best managers automatically.

The third is a system of next steps, in which the lead turns into a result, a rejection, or a transfer.

And the fourth is efficiency or the concept of the effectiveness of a manager, call and working time.

Mikhail Dashkiev - co-founder of the project "Business Youth"

Using a CRM system involves segmenting the customer base. After all, 80% of them simply waste the time of managers. While the main part of the profit is brought only by 20% of customers. Accordingly, more attention is focused on them. That is, clients are divided in the system according to their income, geography, occupation, hobbies and other necessary criteria. This has a positive effect not only on sales, but also on marketing effectiveness.

Advantages and disadvantages of using CRM systems

Advantages

  • The system can be used stationary and remotely, having a laptop or smartphone with the Internet at hand.
  • CRM helps to competently manage a company and create effective business development strategies.
  • The system optimizes business processes related to customer interactions.
  • Small companies can use free CRM systems to avoid additional expenses.
  • The system allows you to control not only the entire sales department, but also a specific employee.
  • CRM helps to collect and maintain a database of customer information.
  • The customer relationship management system increases sales and increases loyalty to the company.

Flaws

  • Difficulties in ensuring security. There is always a risk of information leakage, since a whole department of employees has access to the customer base.
  • The system has many features, most of which may not be required for operation. That is, CRM contains some redundant information, due to which managers often face difficulties when working with the database.
  • There are difficulties with non-standard reports. Most CRM systems contain template reports. To change and adjust them, you need to attract additional specialists or train managers.

For which companies is CRM relevant?

The use of a CRM system is only appropriate if the company has more than 2 managers and more than 10 clients.

For a small company, a free CRM option is suitable, while a large one will need paid software.

Regarding the field of activity, we can say that the CRM system is suitable for almost any business that provides services, sells goods or own products.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the CRM system is a useful tool that allows you to control the sales department, work with clients, the quality of their service, as well as analyze and develop effective business development strategies.

About the purpose, functions and requirements of CRM systems for organizations of various activities, a comparative review of popular CRM systems and recommendations for choosing.

In this article, we will talk about the purpose, main functions and requirements of CRM systems for organizations of various activities and forms of doing business, as well as make a comparative review of several of the most popular CRM systems on our market today and give recommendations on which one to choose.

What is a CRM system?

The main purpose of CRM systems is to help you build relationships with customers, manage the sales process, improve the quality of service when working with customers and maintain business profitability in the long term. CRM also collects a database of consumers, on the basis of which you can subsequently make better business decisions.

What functions does a CRM system perform?

The main functions and capabilities of CRM are now distinguished by the following:

  • Accounting for clients- The CRM system maintains a single database of your customers and counterparties, where all details, communication channels, history of interactions and purchases are recorded. Contacts in the database can be managed, filtered and segmented according to various criteria.
  • Sales management– maintaining data on potential and actual transactions, up to the stage-by-stage control of each transaction, partial automation of the company's business processes and automation of the sales funnel.
  • Analytic Functions CRM systems - based on the array of collected information, the CRM system builds various statistical reports that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing channels, events, employees' work, make sales forecasts and plan changes.
  • Automated constructor documents and automation of workflow.

Types of CRM systems

In each company using CRM, the tasks and functions of such a system may differ. Therefore, when choosing CRM, you should first determine the business requirements for the CRM system, for what purposes you plan to use it, because the choice of CRM for the sales department, service center or for building work within the company will be different.

According to the functional purpose and use of CRM systems, there are three main types:

  • Operating. The main goal of such systems is to rationalize and automate business processes in sales and customer service. They perfectly implement lead management, contacts, customer support and sales funnel. They are usually used by managers, marketers and technical support specialists.
  • Analytical. Such a CRM system has a purpose and function - to collect a lot of data from various marketing channels and other points of contact with customers, and then consolidate them, perform analysis and strategic planning based on them. These CRMs have developed the functionality of reports and dashboards, fast and flexible search and filtering tools, they are suitable for directors, heads of departments and other specialists who make management decisions.
  • Collaboration. This type of CRM is designed for collaboration between sales, marketing and support thanks to a common database of customer information and synchronization of the activities of these departments. They provide great tools for both internal communication and customer feedback (eg built-in chats, social media integration).

Choice of CRM systems

From the abundance of CRM offered now, it is important to choose the right one for your tasks so that it does not turn out to be a waste of money. Naturally, the choice of CRM for small businesses, medium businesses, large corporations will be different.

The main criteria for choosing a CRM:

  • your goals for implementing the system and the most important functions for this,
  • system scalability,
  • possibilities for improvement,
  • integration with software products and services,
  • ease of use,
  • CRM system requirements,
  • allowable project budget.

Comparison of popular CRM systems:

For your convenience, we provide a brief description of several of the most popular systems:

  • Salesforce Sales Cloud– an all-in-one mini CRM, a cloud solution that includes all the main functions of CRM systems: lead generation, contact database, sales forecasts, there is integration with social networks and the ability to work from mobile devices. Although the name is usually associated with large companies, Salesforce offers one of the best and most affordable solutions for small businesses, as evidenced by the 2017 Popular CRM rankings.
  • Another good option for small businesses is Zoho CRM, because for teams of up to 10 users it can be used now for free. The advantages of the system include its cross-platform, as well as the fact that it allows you to collect all the really important information about customers: contacts, history, activities, traffic sources. However, we do not recommend this CRM for fast growing companies.
  • AmoCRM– an easy-to-learn system, contains sufficient functionality for small and medium-sized businesses, while users of the system note that it lacks convenient mechanisms for internal communications, this requires improvements during implementation.
  • Terrasoft bpm'online- a full-scale CRM-system for medium and large companies that are willing to invest heavily in . As the name suggests, it is most focused on building sales business processes in the company.
  • MS Dynamics CRM- a comprehensive solution of the Enterprise class for a full-fledged organization of sales, marketing and support service, the only drawback is the lack of a web interface.
  • Bitrix24- in fact, this is a multifunctional corporate portal with some CRM functions, more focused on communication between company employees, however, it allows you to maintain a customer database and generate some reports, usually needs significant customization during implementation.

As you can see, when choosing a CRM system, there are many subtleties that it would be good to know about in advance and on which the effectiveness of CRM in operation depends in the future.

Therefore, we recommend that you definitely seek the advice of specialists, and these should not be managers of a developer company of one of the CRMs, but rather employees of a system integrator company who have already implemented more than one such system and will give really competent advice on choosing or develop functional requirements for you for CRM.

Demanded characteristics of CRM systems

If you have an item on the agenda about buying and implementing a CRM system, you need to understand what qualities of the system you should look for in the first place in the proposals of numerous developers. The main purpose of the CRM system is communication with customers, accounting for orders and contracts.

  1. The project implementation plan is focused on gaining user approval. CRM systems without active users and a rich data set are just empty words. This position is not a matter of training and even education. In the implementation plan, each step should aim to engage the user communities as new features are designed to make their job easier.
  2. Availability of additional supplies. The main difference between CRM systems and other organization management systems is that the requirements for customer relationship management systems are changing faster (and more radically). The implementation project should take into account the gradual delivery of functionality and data, so at least once a quarter, users will be able to notice that the system is becoming more and more valuable. In a SaaS (Service as a Service) system, a project must deliver something of value to the business at least every six weeks, regardless of project size.
  3. Adaptive pricing. Since a CRM system is not implemented by the “big bang” method, it should not be initially offered at a high price. A fixed price is also not always justified. Since the implementation of the system is carried out gradually, the price change should be carried out with each addition of the functionality of the system, and not fix the price at the beginning of the project.
  4. Knowledge base. To be effective, CRM systems must be tailored to the characteristics of your market and detailed information about your business processes. If a supplier offers you a universal system for all occasions - refuse it: they will provide something that will not fit your business process. You need to have "vertical" (production) and "horizontal" (business processes) knowledge areas, and you need to see them in the people who implement the project.
  5. Recommendations for the field of activity. Having references goes without saying - but you need evidence of a knowledge base and the success of implementing projects in a business environment similar to yours. Don't be too picky - it's not easy to get recommendations like this - but make sure that the supplier team has a sufficient depth of knowledge in your industry.
  6. Integration with marketing automation system. Customer Relationship Management System and marketing automation system are close relatives. But by the degree of kinship, these are only cousins. In the best examples of CRM systems, marketing automation functions are poorly implemented. The converse is also true. If your CRM project is only focused on customer support, the system will be incomplete if it does not have tight integration with email, landing page generator, registration system, and event management functions. Make sure the project is able to use information from ERP systems, order tracking and other related systems.
  7. Integration with phone systems and e-mail. The main purpose of the functioning of the CRM-system is communication with customers and the work of internal staff aimed at concluding a contract and achieving customer satisfaction. Therefore, your CRM system must be integrated with the main communication channels: email and telephone. There is nothing wrong with using third party products, but you need to make sure that appropriate incoming and outgoing emails are recorded on every "touch" with a customer, and that the system supports "popups" to let you know who should take an incoming call from a customer or prospective client.
  8. Data quality, data transformation, relevant history. Even in CRM projects that start from scratch, there is data that needs to be transformed and integrated from the first day of work. Don't try to import more data than you actually need, as the real cost of preparing and integrating data can be $1 or more per record. In many CRM projects, getting the really important data is the most expensive part of the project! Beware of vendors who consider all the risks of data preparation to be your responsibility.
  9. Support for mobile devices (iPad/Android). In CRM systems, mobile device support is rapidly moving from the “nice to have” section of the feature to the “necessary” section. Sales reps and field support teams are increasingly working on the go and need real-time access to customer history, order status, inventory information. Even if you don't need these features right now, make sure the technology you buy supports popular devices for all the features you plan to implement.
  10. Integration with social networks. Since millions of your consumers use Twitter or FaceBook every day, the CRM project you implement should at least have a strategy to integrate these touchpoints with customers and next-generation prospects with your customer relationship management system.

Customer relationship management functions are implemented in the Simple Business CRM system. They provide support for the process of communication with customers and potential customers throughout the entire period of collaboration. All information about joint activities reflects the "card" of the client. Depending on the access rights they have, users can obtain certain information about the interaction of the company with the client. This application of an individual approach to each client contributes to obtaining the greatest effect from mutual work.

Modern CRM systems can be divided into several types. Types of CRM systems are distinguished depending on the tasks to be solved and the stages of the cycle of interaction with consumers, which these systems are aimed at supporting.

There are three main types of systems:

  • operating rooms. This type of CRM systems allows you to automate operational activities. Operational CRM systems process various data sets, "attached" to each specific client. They are necessary for the operational support of sales, marketing, and customer service departments (service support). As a rule, the data sets that operational CRM systems work with include all contact information about the client, interaction history, types, volume and number of purchases, communication channels with the client, etc. Information from these systems is the basis for the operation of analytical CRM systems .
  • analytical. This type of system is essential to support the marketing and sales phases at a strategic level. They allow you to plan marketing campaigns and choose the most effective sales strategies. Analytical CRM systems process information from various databases, organize information, and, based on certain algorithms, identify the most effective trends in interaction with customers.
  • joint. This type of CRM system provides collaboration with clients, i.e. customers have the opportunity to interact directly with the company's CRM system. Interactions can be carried out through web pages, e-mail, automatic voice communication, etc.

These types of systems are basic. Manufacturers of CRM systems offer combinations of these three types.

Benefits of a CRM system

The main application of the CRM system is related to the organization and management of customer relationships. Therefore, first of all, the advantages of the CRM system are manifested in the increase in sales figures, in particular, the volume of sales increases, their efficiency increases, and the cost of attracting customers decreases. In addition, CRM systems have a significant impact on the manageability and culture of the organization.

The main advantages of a CRM system include:

  • Increasing the speed of decision making. By combining disparate customer data, data processing and analysis is accelerated. As a result, those responsible for interacting with customers can see the entire history of contacts, more quickly respond to requests and make decisions on them.
  • Improving the efficiency of using working time. CRM systems allow you to automatically track important events related to customers and issue notifications. Personnel do not need to search for this information in disparate sources.
  • Increasing the return on marketing activities. Because CRM systems store all information about the client and the history of interaction, then marketing campaigns become more client-oriented. The company has the opportunity to organize marketing activities aimed at each specific client.
  • Increasing the reliability of reports. Systematization of information increases the reliability of reports and the accuracy of sales forecasts.
  • Determining the value of each customer. Allows an organization to identify and plan resource requirements for a particular customer. CRM systems allow you to set the priority of attracting resources depending on the value of the client.
  • Reducing paperwork. By automating the process of interaction with the client, all documents can be converted into electronic form.
  • Reducing customer churn. Through the use of a CRM system, the staff has access to all the details of interaction with the client. This improves the quality and efficiency of servicing consumer requests.
  • Eliminate duplication of tasks. CRM systems can be integrated with other activity management systems, which eliminates the double work of transferring and processing data.
  • Ordering processes. CRM systems allow you to combine all the processes of interaction with customers into a single system. Process inputs and outputs are made available to different processes, making it easier to manage contracts, projects, events, products, and more that are associated with each individual client.
  • Improving the culture of management. Automation of the process reduces the dependence of the tasks being solved on the subjective actions of each of the employees. CRM systems set uniform rules for working and interacting with customers.
  • Data protection and safety. Through the use of a CRM system, you can centrally manage access to customer data and ensure their safety.

Criteria for choosing a CRM system

In the market of software products and information systems, there are a large number of proposals for CRM systems. These systems are quite diverse in terms of the volume of tasks to be solved, the equipment used, and the operating technologies. There are many factors to consider when choosing a CRM system.

For purposes related to the operation of the quality system, it is important to consider the following of them:

  • Business compliance. Before making a decision on the implementation of a CRM system, it is necessary to determine exactly what tasks it will solve in a particular enterprise. The system must be chosen according to the requirements of the business, and not vice versa.
  • Ease of use. The user interface should be as simple and easy to use as possible. If the CRM system complicates the process of interaction with customers and increases the number of actions that employees will need to work, then such a system will remain unclaimed. This will lead to the fact that a key element of the quality system - data recording - will not be implemented.
  • Availability of analytical tools. In order to analyze and identify consumer behavior, their requirements and expectations, the CRM system should provide an opportunity to conduct an analysis focused on each specific client.
  • Ability to customize processes. It is important that the CRM system allows you to flexibly change settings depending on the progress of the process. Such an opportunity allows to more fully define and automate each specific process.
  • Scalability. This criterion is especially important for large organizations. It is necessary that the solutions used in the CRM system are scalable and can be applied to a large number of users.
  • Customization for a specific industry. Each industry and field of activity has its own specifics of working with clients. This specificity should be taken into account in the CRM system.
  • Customization for users. Both the organization itself and the environment surrounding it change over time. This leads to the need to change the working conditions of users of the CRM system. To work effectively, it is necessary that the system has the ability to easily and quickly change user functions in accordance with changing business tasks.
  • Integration with other information systems. The organization may have other automation and process management systems, so an important selection criterion is the ability to integrate and exchange data between the CRM system and other automation systems.
  • Ownership cost. The cost of owning a CRM system consists of several components: the cost of licenses, integration of hardware and software, ongoing maintenance costs and administrative costs for managing IT assets. This criterion is also essential when choosing a system.
  • Efficiency of technical support. For the effective operation of the CRM system, an important factor is the speed of response of the system provider to user requests and the solution of their problems.

There are a number of other criteria to consider when choosing a CRM system. The above criteria are the most general and necessary for most companies.