Customer Relationship Management i.e. CRM is all about interactions that a company has with its customers. CRM is implemented by nearly all of the world’s corporations and startups. It is the foundation for their business. A CRM software is equipped with a lot of features and different vendors try to differentiate the product by providing some extra modules or work around with concepts like mobility, real time accessibility, multi-level security, etc. While all these are sure to add value to the business, there are the six key features that are important usability CRM feature that should be considered as a part of CRM selection procedure.
6 CRM Software Usability Features you should know about
- Simplicity
Every client has unique business requirements. The system must be functional to meet these requirements easily. Some processes or teams need to be on their toes with information if they are facing the client and cannot keep the customer waiting for long. Hence, navigation needs to be simple and fast. If possible, major work should be viewable on the dashboard itself. Also, feeding of data in the system should not be a lengthy task and fields should be short, yet descriptive enough so that all the data can get captured.
- Scalability
Scalability is an issue which companies do not realize at start, but a software needs to be scalable so that it grows as the company grows or else the company needs to hunt out for another CRM software soon which might prove to be a cash burner. Along with scalability, the kind of service that the ERP vendor will provide is important to know. Purchasing from a vendor who has ready customer testimonials is important. Talking with present or past customers will also help you understand more about the product and the vendor.
- Email Integration
Being a customer management system, a CRM software does not only need to manage the database if the customers but also help plan campaigns especially email and marketing. All CRM software do come with email integration but what as a vendor you need to check is how flexible are the templates and does it also give you reports regarding the response of the customers. With the help of a feedback loop, you can also save the response of the customers in the CRM so that the respective department can see the response and plan their actions. Not only email, but also SMS and Social Media integration in the form of Social CRM should be sought after when the company is in search of an ERP vendor. In CRM software like Sage CRM, the user need not to remember email address as they are stored in the system. With the help of Email Integration feature, an inbound / outbound email can convert into customer service case, new Lead or an Opportunity.
- System Design
One can require too many fields with different types of input formats such as User-Select, Drop down, checkbox, etc. for data entry purpose, configurable settings as per business requirement, etc., the business needs to study their requirements properly so that the user interface is not complicated. Companies also should avoid over-customization since that will delay the project further and also add to the costs. There might be some times when the company might not know how to go about the business application purchasing process, in those cases it is advisable to hire an ERP consultant who will make the process easier and also help save any loss of money from ignorant steps taken.
- Access from any Platform / Device
Today being accessible on any platform or device is very necessary. This is the age of the millennial and they are constantly on the move – employees and clients. Accessibility anywhere, on any device and anytime helps to reduce time and money wastage and increases efficiency and reduction in loss of inventory. Today, every CRM software comes with a cloud backing and accessibility feature. Even though it is not on Cloud, on premise CRM software also can be accessible on different platforms. While selecting an ERP vendor, do not forget to raise this requirement of accessibility.
- Third Party Add-ons
Sometimes, a CRM software is required to be integrated with third party add–ons to capture the data of that particular section. Example of such third party add-ons are CTI Integration, Twitter Integration, Facebook Integration, Yammer Integration, etc. A CRM software needs to be flexible enough to be able to integrate the third party apps and sturdy enough that the integration does not cause any problem in the stability of the software. Reading of data between the two software is also important to avoid any kind of data duplicity and data leakages.
To know more about how can Sage CRM help you answer the problems you might be facing at the customer’s end, write to Sage Software Solutions Pvt Ltd at sales@sagesoftware.co.in for a free consultation.
