What is CRM?
CRM or customer relationship management is a technology that helps organisations manage their relationships and interactions with all their stakeholders. A good CRM solution allows an organisation to optimize client relationships, enhance service delivery and provide key insights into the organisation’s performance. CRM is also commonly referred to as a Client Management System (CMS) or a Management Information System (MIS). For the purpose of this article, the term CRM is used.
CRM options and service providers are constantly responding to changing market conditions. There are many more CRM options compared with even five years ago. In every industry sector, be it professional services, charities, social enterprises, education or other, large and small firms alike are finally abandoning spreadsheets in favour of CRM systems. This increase in CRM options illustrates the importance organizations are placing on creating positive stakeholder engagement and client retention.
The Drivers for CRM adoption
In the third sector, the drivers to adopting CRM are twofold. At an internal level, the adoption of CRM is driven by the need to improve operational efficiencies and have better management and control of data. Externally there are also substantial drivers. These include market consolidation, compliance, tighter government regulations, and challenging operational conditions to name a few.
The need to have a fully integrated CRM Solution
Gone are the days when CRM systems were used primarily for basic list management and customer contact information storage. A lot more sophistication in the process can be easily achieved with today’s CRM integration options.
It is estimated that less than 15 % of organisations have integrated their CRM with other systems. Ideally, CRM solutions should be easily integrated out of the box or through standard interfaces, which do not require extensive upkeep and expensive maintenance. There are more and more CRM options for integrations with other applications. Middleware platforms, such as Zapier and open CRM API’s have reduced the cost and enabled greater adoption.
Greater emphasis is being placed on analytical data. Organisations want better data around stakeholders and service delivery. This information is used to inform organisations about their stakeholders and organisational success and enable accurate decision making. Integration with third party applications like Microsoft Business Intelligence is becoming an increasing priority.
ProAptivity help realise the benefits of CRM for third sector organisations
A CRM system benefits an organisation through the visibility of its activities. This visibility is fundamental to managing performance and control of the process. This visibility enables management to understand why, when, who and how the organisation is performing. If it cannot be monitored, it cannot be managed. The visibility offered within the CRM system also allows management to make educated business decisions based on hard data. A CRM system will enable structured data to be used to access performance.
ProAptivity are a CRM solutions provider. We focus on the implementation, training, and support of highly customised CRM software solutions. Our CRM software supported by our team of experts provide clients with the tools needed to successfully embed CRM within organisations.
If you need help in understanding ‘why my organisation needs CRM’, maybe some of our eBooks could help! Alternatively visit Maximizer CRM for more information. Contact us today on 0330 223 6362 for a free CRM consultation that will assess if your organisation is CRM ready. Alternatively email us on info@proaptivity.com.
