To answer this question, we first need to understand what CRM is. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and describes a set of business processes that manage and govern many of the relationship with your customers. CRM systems such as SugarCRM® have been developed to automate and administer these processes more effectively. Although in many cases these business processes are not formalised i.e. there is no recognition given to them, very often systems are in place to manage them even if based on Spreadsheets. Many activities relating to customers such as handling a complaint or compiling a Xmas card list constitute CRM.
SugarCRM is a leading example of CRM automation. It is a very complete product that will address the generic needs of most companies; inbuilt customisation tools allow you to change it or even add to it to suit very specific needs. SugarCRM addresses customer relationships across sales, marketing, and service activities. SugarCRM specifically promotes the following:
- A single view of the customer and their interactions with your organisation
- Effective marketing and sales campaigns, which can provide terrific insight into customer behaviour
- Recording of individual interactions with a customer whether by email, phone, letter, fax or whatever the means of communication
- A structured means to capture interest from prospects and record potential opportunities
- A suite of tools for service or product oriented organisations to record service and support activity
- Embedded reporting tools to help you generate reports or charts illustrating many aspects of your CRM activity
- Customisation of the platform to ensure it best aligns with your business requirements
- Extension of the platform to integrate with other software solutions you operate. This is particularly straightforward given the "open source" nature of the product
If you would like to know more about SugarCRM and how it might be leveraged in your situation, please contact us and provide some outline of your interest or request so that we can call you for a confidential discussion.
