BigContacts Product News

What exactly is CRM Software?

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Software is foundational software that will help organize and streamline any business.  The “C” in CRM is what this software is all about – the “Customer.”

At its core, a good CRM system helps you attract and retain customers.  It helps you to better understand their requirements and satisfy their needs.  A well-designed system can help you to convert more prospects into clients, keep more of those you already have, and free up precious time to give you a better balance between work, family, and friends.

Does that sound dramatic?  It has done exactly this for my business and for several thousand that we have helped.

So what are your CRM options?

There are essentially two primary types of CRM programs that we see small businesses use in their quest to get more organized and to gain better control over their business:

• PC-based CRM programs
• Web-based CRM programs

PC-based CRM programs

We have all purchased “software in a box” at some point. You pull the CD out of the box and download the software on your computer, and in minutes you are enjoying your new purchase.  That works just fine as long as you won’t need to network this software through other computers or share any of the information with others in your company or team.  

But if you do need to network and share the functionality of this software, you could quickly rack up significant up-front costs.  The other cost, often overlooked, involves ongoing maintenance, support and software upgrades to ensure you have the latest and greatest. The total cost of ownership can easily run multiples of your initial purchase price.  

Companies also may find that while traditional software can be customized, it often leads to version-lock and issues when trying to preserve changes through an upgrade. Simple upgrades can become costly, resource-intensive projects. Traditional software can be challenged when it comes to meeting the needs of today’s business.

Web-based CRM software

Most industry analysts agree that Software as a Service (SaaS) is not a fad and in fact is the next big step in the evolution of software.    

• IDC predicts that the SaaS market as a whole will reach $40.5 billion by 2014, representing a compound annual growth rate of 25.3 percent.  The market research firm goes on to predict that the top five SaaS applications that businesses are likely to pursue this year are collaboration applications, Web applications and Web serving software, cloud backup systems, business applications (ERP, CRM and human resource management), and personal productivity applications.
  
  
• About 30 percent of the businesses surveyed by the Computer Technology Industry Association plan to implement SaaS solutions this year to lower costs and “maintain their competitive edge.” According to CompTIA, that is up from 22 percent and 14 percent respectively in the two prior years.

 IDC captures this sentiment well in one of its recent SaaS studies: “The harsh economic climate will actually accelerate the growth prospects for the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model.”  The report says that this new delivery channel for software can be a great alternative to more traditional installed or “on-premise” software.  Software delivered through the SaaS model can eliminate upfront costs, reduce ongoing maintenance costs and, in many cases, is much easier to use.  Software as a Service (SaaS) applications enjoy some very attractive benefits, and that’s what will continue to drive the growth of this market.  


BigContacts is Web Based CRM software that is designed for small businesses that have outgrown basic solutions like Outlook, Goldmine or ACT but don't want the cost and complexity of high-end CRM solutions like Salesforce.  

Take BigContacts for a FREE 30 day test drive and see if it is the right fit for your business needs.

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