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Eng
16 September 2019

Choosing a CRM for a small business

We are all used to the fact that accounting works with special software, but in the Excel sales department and the phone manager is the norm. But modern business, like the whole modern world, requires relevant solutions. Growing up, small business is aware of the need to choose CRM. What are the selection criteria, what are the advantages and disadvantages of different systems? Helps Anastasia Ovcharenko, head of the TessLab Kharkov web studio.

CRM, CRM-system (short for English. Customer Relationship Management - customer relationship management system) - application software designed to automate the interaction strategies of organizations with customers (customers). CRM features include sales, marketing, customer support. The system collects, stores and analyzes information about customers, suppliers, partners, as well as about the company's internal business processes. All this helps to optimize marketing and improve customer service and aims to increase sales. Ovcharenko emphasizes that CRM installation should not be profit, control or reports. “CRM is a whole model of customer interaction, based on the theory that they are the center of business, and the main direction of the company’s activity is their effective service. This is a system that helps the organization to know its client as much as possible and build effective relationships. ”

Only 6% of Ukrainian companies in 2018 used CRM systems to optimize sales and customer service processes, according to a GFK Ukraine study. Another 4% of companies plan to install CRM over the next year and 2% are in the process of implementation. Most CRMs are used in trade (29%), services (21%) and IT (17%), respectively.

CRM Selection Criteria

  1. Business scale = number of users, required functions. Will CRM solve the problems of sales, marketing, logistics, accounting, automation of processes within departments? Do I need the use of telephony, end-to-end analytics, the presence of scheduled business processes? All these questions are raised at the selection stage. Anastasia Ovcharenko has been implementing CRM for many years and notes that often the owner chooses CRM for the scale of the existing business, the number of employees and departments. However, the expert recommends taking into account growth prospects immediately. “I have never met an owner of a company who would not be puzzled by the positive dynamics of her brainchild. And this means that CRM should be considered “for growth”. In other words, the capabilities of the system should cover the needs of the business both in a year and in five years, ”she says.
  2. Versatility or specialty? “In various niches of entrepreneurship, there are many specialized CRM systems that cover the need for only a narrow-profile business. Such systems mainly work on a key need with basic functionality, while not providing a complete list of the tools of a modern CRM system suitable for any type of entrepreneurial activity. However, a full-fledged CRM system is not at all difficult to adapt to absolutely any business, ”the expert explains.
  3. Convenience of the interface. When entering CRM, you should understand why you need every page and function that you see. Perhaps not the first time, but after the implementation is complete, you should not have difficulties and unfamiliar fields.
  4. Integration. CRM should accumulate all the sources of leads (potential customers) for you and help sales. That is, ideally, it should integrate with all forms on your website, with all sales channels (social networks, phones, instant messengers), analytics systems (GoogleAnalytics), accounting (for example, 1C), customer notification systems (newsletters, notifications), etc.
  5. Saving customer base. It is important whether there are options for its export and import: for some systems this is not possible, and if such a base "leaves" to another system, it will disappear.
  6. Support. How easy is it to get answers to questions from the developers themselves, what are the channels of communication with them. The presence of an affiliate network dedicated to support, implementation and consultation.
  7. Availability of Android or IOS version. Of course, it’s convenient to manage the company from a smartphone.
  8. Cost. You can always start with the free option. Bitrix24 has a free cloud version, limited to 12 users and functionality, but it is enough for testing and basic implementation. AMOcrm has a 14 day free trial. Terrasoft also has a free 14-day demo period, but its cost is many times higher.

Compare CRM

It is impossible to make a comprehensive comparison of the existing CRM on the market because of the many criteria and characteristics of the companies themselves that use them. According to a 2018 GFK Ukraine study, among the most popular CRM developers in Ukraine are Bitrix24 (28% of companies use its services), Terrasoft (15%) and Amocrm (9%). Anastasia Ovcharenko helps to deal with each of them.

Bitrix24. The cost of paid versions from 1200 UAH per month. A complete CRM system for communications, management and collaboration. Bitrix24 has a cloud and boxed version. Here the choice depends on several factors, explains Ovcharenko. Firstly, there are companies for which the requirements of internal corporate security prohibit the use of services on cloud servers - and then the choice of the box is clear. Secondly, when the need for improvement arises when assessing the requirements for the functional, they are not possible on the cloud, so we select the box. (In the case of non-standard 1C configurations, for example.) The main functionality of Bitrix24:

Directly CRM is a system for managing and editing a customer base, as well as processing their applications. You can record all actions related to the client (for example, calls, letters, meetings). Transactions, leads, companies, contacts - all this is processed and stored in CRM.

  • Work reports, invoices and sales funnel - allow you to analyze the processes within the company.
  • A knowledge base that can be accessed if something is not clear.
  • Manage tasks and track decisions by their employees. In Bitrix24, unlike amo, tasks are quite powerful. Thanks to the templates, as well as the distribution of roles for the executor, observer, responsible, you can automate the delegation and control of tasks. Various methods of working with them are also used (Kanban, Gantt chart, List, My affairs), which allows you to choose the most visual form.
  • A live feed of data changes within the company, where you can also see the opinions of employees.
  • Ability to send messages.
  • Mobility and access from all mobile devices.
  • Integration with social networks, website, online store.
  • Synchronization with 1C, My warehouse, etc.
  • Built-in telephony with the ability to rent a room, record a conversation, connect a telephone.
  • Site constructor - the built-in constructor allows you to quickly create a landing page or online store. You can connect your domain, analytics systems, Google maps to the site. Forms on the site are automatically linked to CRM. For online stores, there is a product catalog directly in CRM.

BPM’online от Terrasoft. Это не просто CRM-система, а ряд продуктов, где каждый предназначен для своего применения: sales, marketing, services, loyalty, contactcentre и отраслевые решения.

Functionality has been presented for managing the client base, planning and managing sales and work stages, managing marketing campaigns, automating office work and document management, managing working hours, comparing planned and actual labor costs, automatically calculating project profitability, monitoring order execution, tracking work results, analytics ... Planning Sales in the CRM system are organized in various sections (by region, manager, area, etc.). Ready-made tools have been developed for the manager to control the work of managers: fulfilling sales plans, meeting payment and delivery deadlines. The system allows you to evaluate the volume and probability of transactions, manage business sales processes, monitor the status of the transaction and analyze the actions of competitors. Everything is tailored for medium and large business. The cost of the system for the sales department: from 5040 UAH to 14 400 UAH per user per year. And they sell systems for the marketing department separately: 15 120 UAH per user per year.

AmoCRM. Cost from $ 7 per month per user. This system is cloud-based, it works with the browser, and is also installed as a mobile application. It features a simple interface, various features, tight integration with the site and Google.Analytics. The main functionality of amoCRM:

  • Collection and systematization of the customer base.
  • Tasks and reminders to managers.
  • Automation of the sales department (digital funnel).
  • CRM analytics.
  • Transactions, contacts - allow you to maintain a customer base and manage sales.
  • Sales funnel - for generating reports, analyzing and increasing sales.
  • Tasks and reminders - the functionality of tasks is limited. This is more of an addition to the rest of the functionality than a separate tool.
  • Sales analytics - you can monitor for a number of factors (transactions, sales funnel, managers), which helps to track the bottlenecks in sales and eliminate them.
  • Mobile applications for Android and iOS.
  • Integration with the phone, accounting for calls from the PBX. To connect telephony, the choice of a suitable widget is offered. You can also use api
  • Integration with the site, online store, social networks.
  • Synchronization with cloud 1C, My warehouse, etc.
  • Security - for setting access rights.

Ovcharenko summarizes that no matter what CRM system you choose, this will be the right decision to help your business. But in order for CRM to fully satisfy the interests of your business, after installation, pay due attention to the training and motivation of employees to work with it.