For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that describes relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and even the customer can access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer has purchased, and so on.
 

Is CRM Right for My Company?
That's a good question. There is so much misinformation still in the marketplace, the answer can be very hard to find for the small and midsized business manager.

At the most fundamental level, every company has customers. And every company should maintain some basic information about those customers (names, addresses, purchases, contracts, invoices, etc). Therefore every company should have at least some basic "CRM Technology" to track and serve their customers. Even small businesses use Outlook, Quicken or other applications for this purpose the outcome is appropriate for crm applications. It is a flat file for the most part that holds information but hardly "relates" to the reasons that you are saving information to the package.

But for purposes of this discussion, we are going to define CRM as "targeted mass marketing." That is, having a large number of customers and/or prospects whom you want to selectively communicate with depending upon their preferences, past buying patterns, demographics or other information. Even small and mid-sized companies can have a need for this kind of marketing – and it can still be driven by simple processes and technologies.

Given that simple definition, companies that are not trying to communicate in a way that is both large scale and targeted can walk away from CRM.

For the rest of the world, there are 7 key questions you should ask yourself:

1. Will looking at all of my clients, prospects and suspects help me learn something about what them and make me increase my efficiency and thus become a better manager of my customer information base?
    
2. Will the customers see the value in my company because we can better know what their needs are and will this affect my bottom line?
    
3. Is my customer base large enough that it makes my entry into crm significant?
    
4. Will making contact with my client database more that once a year help me to increase my sales?
    
5. Can my business benefit from direct mail promotions, point of sale, web site information link and email?
    
6. Where do I have the customer data now? Is it shareable, can I run reports that will provide me a picture that will help me quantify that base and analyze significant values within it than looking in an accounting software?
    
7. Will it be more meaningful to my business if I collect the data in various sources and place them all in one place to be viewed by many users in my office that deal with the clients on a daily basis?
   
   The more of those questions you answered with a firm "yes," the more likely you are to benefit from CRM. If you comfortably answered "no" to all of those questions, then focus on fine tuning other ways of getting new customers (PR, advertising, etc) and serving existing customers - you're not likely to get much value out of CRM at this point.
   
   If more than one or two of your answers are "maybe," then sit down with someone you trust to be objective and experienced and try to firm up your answers.
   
   Once you've made the decision that CRM is for you, it's not a matter of deciding to do it. You need to understand what vehicle to use to start your initiative. You will find that the quantity of data and the quality of the information you extract will be your next decision and all that depends on your goal. For more information
   Just click and ask us how!
   
   Still have a few questions? For More information about the software click on the box. For specific information about what might be a fit for your circumstances,  Let us Help you!  Click Here!