Many companies, both SMEs and large accounts, have doubts about CRM: should you develop your own software or invest in existing CRM software? We offer a small comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Let’s leave aside Excel spreadsheets that waste time. They do not help to improve customer knowledge. It’s time to equip you with a CRM solution. But where should you start?
What are your expectations? Why do you need CRM software?
Here are some needs that often come up when we talk about using a CRM:
- Customer management (360 vision)
- Lead management (origin, level of qualification)
- Contact management (duplication)
- Request Management (customer history)
- Task management (notifications, deadlines)
- Event management (registration, presence)
- Opportunity management (% of success, commercial pipeline)
- Product Management (Product Catalog)
- Management of marketing campaigns (emailings, targeting)
- Team management (calendar sharing, real-time synchronization)
- KPIs (reports, dashboards, charts)
- Multi-languages, multi-currency
- Mobility
- Security and support
- Gamification
- Integration with other tools (ERP, expense reports, etc.)
- Synchronization with messaging (Outlook, Gmail, Lotus Note)
Of course, this list is not exhaustive and there are many other features in CRM solutions. We could, for example, mention project management, geolocation …
What is the best CRM for your business? Develop or invest in CRM?
|
|
Develop my own CRM | Invest in an existing CRM |
| Can I have a custom CRM? | Yes | Yes  |
| Does it respect the graphic charter of the company?
|
Yes | Yes, but only a few publishers offer it |
| Is my server powerful enough? | To check, it can be a huge cost for the company | Few publishers offer the 2 options: in Cloud or on acquisition |
| Is deployment fast? | It all depends on your teams and your internal processes | Yes |
| Will it support the growth of the company? | Not always, it may require additional developments that have a cost | Yes, especially if it is modular (possibility to choose other blocks of features) |
| GDPR | Not always, you need a dedicated administrator about the subject. | Yes, but only a few publishers offer a module dedicated to GDPR |
| Security/admin | Not always, you need a dedicated administrator about the subject. | Yes, but only a few editors offer an Admin module. |
| KPIs | Yes | Yes, but not all publishers offer the same flexibility of analysis and graphical representation. |
| Mobility | Yes | Yes, but not all publishers offer the same flexibility of analysis and graphical representation. |
| ERP integration or other solutions | Yes, with specific developments often very expensive | Yes, but only a few publishers offer it |
| Biggest cost items | Server + management + maintenance | Setting up + licenses + version builds |
| Accompaniment to change management | Yes, having someone trained and dedicated to the subject | Yes, but only a few publishers offer it |
| Integration of emails (synchronization with the mailings) | Yes | Yes, but only a few publishers offer it |
| Support | According to your process | Yes |
| Gamification | No | Yes, only at Efficy CRM |
Develop your own CRM software
Main advantage: tailor-made features
Main disadvantage: sometimes very complex for the IT team and very time consuming
Invest in an already existing CRM
Main advantage: qualified teams, 100% dedicated to the client’s project
Main drawback: do not know which editor to choose – By the way, who chose Efficy CRM solutions? List of our customer references available here.
Conclusion
The choice of CRM software is very important. It should be thought carefully because it represents a large budget and a huge workload for the team. So, there is only one question left to you:
Are you ready for your entire IT team to work on only one project: the development of a CRM software?
If the answer is no, there is no doubt about it, you need a publisher.
The small green symbol of the bathyscaphe indicates that the solutions proposed by the Efficy group offer this functionality. To learn more, ask for a demo .