5 Reasons Why a Bespoke CRM System is an Additional Insurance Policy for Your Business

18th November 2013 :: Author: Andrew Cope, Managing Director, Evergreen

Think of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system as the engine room behind your day to day business operations. You might have everything looking shiny and new on the outside but what's happening behind the scenes? Does your engine room contain a well-oiled machine or is there room for improvement to make your business operations run more smoothly? A good web based bespoke CRM system will provide you with a secure platform to store and analyse your customer business data, helping you to identify cross-sell and up-sell possibilities, monitor your leads and retain your current customers by improving your customer service. The more you know about your customers, the more you can tailor your business activities and products to suit them. A bespoke CRM system can help you focus your business efforts more effectively, saving you time and money, thereby increasing your overall sales and profitability.

Having all your customer, supplier and prospect data in one place helping you to streamline your business, driving out inefficiencies, thus saving you time to focus your business efforts more effectively is a good enough reason on its own for investing in a web based CRM but what are the less obvious reasons for needing one? A web based CRM system is the additional insurance policy that every business needs. Why?

1) Ensuring you meet industry regulations – Now and in the future.

A bespoke web based CRM system enables business owners to automate some business processes that were previously manual. This allows total traceability of all transactions and processes, giving evidence to industry regulatory bodies that your business is compliant and can remain that way. Any changes to these regulations can be easily monitored, modifying processes quickly and efficiently at minimal cost.

2) Insuring you for employees leaving your company – Do you know who's here to stay?

We'd all love to think that our employees are happy enough to stay with our company forever but as circumstances change and careers are forged, it's highly likely that staff will move on at some point. If you don't have an automated system then what happens a few days, weeks or even months down the line when that person is no longer around to answer questions that arise? By having a web-based CRM system and maintaining full staff participation in it, all communications with customers and suppliers can be stored, archived and retrieved when needed, avoiding arguments and potentially embarrassing situations.

3) Insuring you for the unknown - What if something unexpected happens to you?

None of us like to think of the proverbial 'what would happen if I was hit by a bus' scenario but ask yourself what would happen to your business if you were unexpectedly taken seriously ill or were involved in an accident? Could someone pick up where you left off? Could someone decipher your hand-written notes or work out what needs doing when? With a web-based CRM you can automate your 'to do' lists by having them displayed on a simple 'dashboard' with pop up reminders so you can't put off tomorrow what needs to be done today.

4) Insuring you for the possibility of fire or theft - Never lose your data.

If you use notepads, post-it notes, calendars or other manual systems to record and track your data then chances are that you will lose something at some point. Or what if there was a fire in your office? What would happen to your data then? Data in a web-based CRM System is stored 'in the cloud', which means that even if all your paper documents go up in smoke or your PC, laptop or smartphone gets damaged, lost or stolen, your data will still be accessible to you as it is securely stored on-line.

5) Insuring your future and safeguarding your assets - Thinking of selling up?

A web-based CRM system helps to value your business. Your database is one of your most valuable assets. When the time comes to sell on your company, prospective buyers will want to buy something more tangible than just the goodwill you have built up, (however great it is!). Having secure historic and current records of customer purchases that you can pass on to a prospective buyer will increase your business assets.

If you are now convinced that a web based CRM is a good investment for your business then before you go and buy an off the shelf system, you should consider why a bespoke CRM is the more cost effective option:

• A bespoke CRM system can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be - tailored to the way you work and minimising time spent on training. Don't waste your time and money buying an on off the shelf solution that has features that are are confusing and not relevant to your business now or in the future.
• A bespoke CRM system can be robust yet flexible to grow as your business grows. No need to buy a new system just because the old one doesn't do what you want it to do. With a bespoke CRM system you can just add on additional functionality and features of your own choosing only when your business needs it and your budget allows.