AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO AUTOMATE BUSINESS AND INCREASE SALES
CRM SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a software suite for automating interactions with customers or partners. A properly configured and debugged CRM system should be present in any stable commercial company, especially in government or public organizations that deal with individuals or legal entities. In many cases, it is more efficient and cost-effective to order the development of a CRM system, but sometimes it is possible to suffice with its free or off-the-shelf version.
The main advantage of implementing a CRM system, which a commercial company can experience within just a couple of months after installing/configuring the system and training the staff, is increased sales volume.
The percentage of growth largely depends on the specifics of the business and the degree of automation of business processes, as well as on how well the communication between the staff and customers or partners has been automated. According to the averaged estimates of experts, for medium and large companies, possible growth is estimated within the range of +15% to +35% and higher.
In which cases can such significant growth be possible, and why can a quite costly project for developing a CRM system yield higher results compared to using universal CRM programs of an open-source or freemium type?
WHAT IS A CRM SYSTEM?
Development and implementation of CRM systems are most in demand in situations where there is a qualitative leap in business management. This means that the number of communications (sales, deals) during the day, as well as the number of business contacts (phone calls, emails, SMS notifications) performed by managers within a month, exceeds the threshold of human working memory. In this case, the resources spent by personnel on documentation and Excel spreadsheets can be redirected to performing direct duties.
And the CRM system can take over such functions as:
-
Automating order fulfillment and deal closing with tracking the status of each specific item;
-
Simplifying document flow by automatically generating contracts, acts, invoices, and delivery notes;
-
Maintaining a unified customer database with detailed information about each contact and interaction history.
-
Automation of communications by consolidating all communication channels through a single program – from voice telephony and SMS messages to email newsletters and messaging apps;
-
Management of the sales funnel with visualization of the business process by stages of working with partners – from the initial contact to the conclusion of the final agreement or sale;
-
Development of individual business strategies and marketing policies towards specific customers and clients based on financial or behavioral analytics;
-
Long-term planning of business communications and establishment of automatic time and cost accounting for provided services;
-
Automatic personnel management with a clear assessment of the effectiveness of each manager's work based on business analytics, and so on.
BUSINESS BENEFITS
Any CRM system should include several software modules that automate company management:
-
A server-side database, which can be located on the company's own server or on a cloud server provided by the CRM system developer or service provider. This serves as the main data repository for the CRM system, containing contact, deal, and document databases.
-
The software interface (front-end) of the CRM system, consisting of modules installed on computers or smartphones used by managers to access the database (product, client, and document cards, etc.).
-
The operational and analytical part of the CRM system, comprising software components for generating operational and analytical reports, maintaining statistics, etc.
In practice, a manager who sells a product/service, makes a call with a commercial offer, or sends a document via email can do all of this using a CRM system. Data about partners or clients is entered into the system once. For example, a customer who simply inquires about a product or service over the phone will be categorized as "First Call," while a customer who submits an order request with a list of desired items on the website will be categorized as "Order Formation."
The next day, even if a manager who was working with clients is unable to return to their duties, business processes won't stop. The CRM system itself will remind the new person who needs to be called back or sent a commercial proposal via email, who needs to prepare documents for payment of goods, and who is waiting for shipment and delivery of already paid items. Simultaneously, the program will provide the manager with sales statistics for a specific product, a report on the manager's work, or an analysis of customer behavior in a convenient format.
-
As a result, the business owner can rest assured that:
-
The manager will not forget to contact a partner or client.
-
Employee turnover will not slow down business development.
-
Valuable employees will not resign and take their contact database with them.
-
Changes in sales efficiency or employee performance will not go unnoticed.
-
Additionally, developing and implementing a CRM system allows businesses to avoid unjustified increases in staff. The resources freed up in this case can be redirected primarily towards business development.
CRM SYSTEM FOR SMALL AND LARGE BUSINESSES: BOXED VERSION OR CRM DEVELOPMENT “FROM SCRATCH”
When considering the development and implementation of a CRM system, typically, the following options are compared:
-
Using a CRM system distributed according to the principles of Open Source (software with open-source code).
-
Using a universal off-the-shelf version of a CRM system – a commercial program with limited functionality and a set of licenses allowing its use on multiple computers or smartphones.
-
Developing a custom CRM system tailored to the specific needs and business specifics of the organization.
The choice is usually made based on the budget and size of the commercial structure or government enterprise. It's important to understand that the functionality and structure of boxed CRM systems are oriented towards average needs.
At the same time, enhancing the use of a free CRM system requires the involvement of programmers.
Boxed CRM systems are considered a budget option (compared to CRM development), most suitable for small and medium-sized businesses interested in specific business process automation. It's important to understand, however, that using off-the-shelf versions often entails payments for support, customization, and system enhancement. Payments may be required for increasing the number of licenses, enhancing functionality, and training staff. Like with free CRM systems, the structure of universal boxed versions may not always meet the specific needs of an organization. Payment for a boxed version can be in the form of a perpetual license for the program without additional support, subscription (temporary license) for a certain period with various individual services (customization, consultation, etc.), a license for a copy of the program with the ability to configure and modify it, and so on.
Developing a CRM system involves full automation of business processes tailored to the needs of a specific organization. This option is more popular among medium and large businesses, as they believe it's more advantageous to customize the system to their needs and achieve higher sales growth than to limit themselves to guaranteed expenses on a boxed version with less significant growth.
WHAT DOES THE COST OF CRM SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT DEPEND ON?
As with the development of other software, the cost of developing a CRM system is determined by person-hours (man-hours) required to complete the task. Broadly, the task of developing and implementing a CRM system can be divided into the following stages:
-
Initial analysis of the organization's business processes and development of automated strategies;
-
Preparation of a detailed technical specification;
-
Direct development of the CRM system (creating architecture, design, writing code, debugging, testing, documentation, etc.).
-
The installation of a CRM system on the server with the installation of corresponding programs and databases;
-
Deployment of the CRM system with the installation of end-user programs on computers and smartphones, along with personnel training;
-
Audit and technical support of the finished product.
-
The time required for the development of an advanced-level CRM system is approximately 1000 hours.
WHY IS IT WORTH ORDERING CRM SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FROM US?
In our portfolio, we already have implemented CRM systems of both basic and advanced levels, developed for clients from various industries (tourism companies, taxi services, restaurant management, property management companies in the housing and utilities sector, etc.).
One of the solutions is a boxed CRM system for developers called "NewBuild," which optimizes real estate booking and purchases online. In this case, a simple real estate selection service (residential, parking, commercial real estate) was implemented on the developer's website with automation of the sales department's work.
The "NewBuild" CRM system allows for managing an online database of real estate, clients, documentation, as well as real estate agencies and sales managers. Without additional data synchronization, all necessary information for the user (client, manager, director) is displayed in real-time on the web and mobile devices.
The project implementation took 74 days, and the system was utilized for the needs of the Club Marine residential complex in Odessa.