CRM has been around for a long time now — more than 25 years. Amazingly, many businesses, including large businesses with revenue in excess of US$100 million, still operate without it. That’s amazing, because to many business leaders, CRM has become table stakes when it comes to creating a software infrastructure. Within CRM, many of the features have become table stakes, too: creation of the customer record, tracking the history of lead acquisition, the ability to segment customers — even social media capabilities.
At the end of the day, CRM is a software with a set of features and capabilities. It is on companies to realize and decide how to implement a certain software so that they reap benefits.
The benefits of a CRM are much-researched and talked about, but the fine print is that they materialize only when it's rightfully implemented.
Thanks for the insightful article. Some of these things really needed to be said out loud.
Compatibility with users and practicing what they preach are big ones. All CRMs preach simplicity and ease of use, but there are really only a few that you could even consider simple.
In general, CRM is a complicated software to create. There's a lot of moving parts for a lot of different business use cases that can vary greatly from company to company.
But some CRMs really get it right, and that's what you have to evaluate through trial periods, demos, and webinars that can show you how it works and you can see how easy or difficult it will be to implement.
You should always consult with at least one member of the sales team that will be using the software in order to get their perspective on usability.
The Intangibles: 5 Things That Aren't on the CRM Data Sheets
Posted by: Christopher J. Bucholtz November 21, 2014 04:03 PMCRM has been around for a long time now — more than 25 years. Amazingly, many businesses, including large businesses with revenue in excess of US$100 million, still operate without it. That’s amazing, because to many business leaders, CRM has become table stakes when it comes to creating a software infrastructure. Within CRM, many of the features have become table stakes, too: creation of the customer record, tracking the history of lead acquisition, the ability to segment customers — even social media capabilities.
The benefits of a CRM are much-researched and talked about, but the fine print is that they materialize only when it's rightfully implemented.
Thanks for the insightful article. Some of these things really needed to be said out loud.
In general, CRM is a complicated software to create. There's a lot of moving parts for a lot of different business use cases that can vary greatly from company to company.
But some CRMs really get it right, and that's what you have to evaluate through trial periods, demos, and webinars that can show you how it works and you can see how easy or difficult it will be to implement.
You should always consult with at least one member of the sales team that will be using the software in order to get their perspective on usability.
Brad Hodson
JobNimbus