What is a CRM
A Customer relationship management (CRM) is a system designed to compile information on customers across different points of contact between the customer and the company, which could include the company’s website, telephone, live chat, direct mail, marketing materials, and social media. CRM also provides information about the customer’s purchasing history, transactions, and interactions with one or more departments inside the company. It automates and synchronizes the process of saving data, generating reports and statistics about the business, and assuring that your company will never have a transaction undocumented. A CRM system includes a lot of features like lead management, sales tracking, meeting scheduling, and contact data management to streamline your sales and customer interaction.
OpenSource Cloud based CRM and why is it relevant
You probably have a startup company with limited resources, or just don’t feel like letting a company run every aspect of the environment (Being handed everything on a silver platter). Whatever the reason, if you’re interested in using OpenSource software, there are several Cloud Based CRM software alternatives from where to choose from.
In this article we are going to talk about 3 CRMS: Zoho, Salesforce and SugarCRM
Zoho
ZohoCRM has great support for Google Apps and Gmail. The gadgets make it very easy to access your CRM right from Gmail. It offers Full Sales Force Automation, Integrated Marketing Tools and Social Tools. Though it has integrated marketing tools, they are kind of limited and both SugarCRM and Salesforce offer better alternatives in this regard. But if the support of Google Apps is something you can’t let go then ZohoCRM might be right for you.
Pros:
- Google Apps
- Sales Automation and Social Tools
Cons:
- Marketing Tools
- Pricing: $12/User/Month Professional Plan
Salesforce
One of the most known CRM platforms. It has over 2 million users, tracks all steps in sales processes and strong social media integration are just a few of Salesforce most outstanding features. However it comes with a downside, Salesforce tends to aim at larger organizations, so it sometimes has more tools and options than you might need, and if your company is just starting to get into using a CRM you might get a bit lost.
Pros:
- One of the first CloudBased CRM Solutions
- Tech support
Cons:
- Pricing: &65/User/Month with the Professional Plan
- Steep learning curve
Sugar CRM
This is a cloud based CRM that can also be a self-hosted solution. It gives you access to the back-end database and interface since it’s open source. It has marketing tools you can use for newsletters and email marketing campaigns. It has several versions, the least expensive being SugarCRM Community Edition (open source). From this version, every upgrade adds extra functionality at a monthly fee. Whae t makes SugarCRM so attractive to some small companies is the fact that the SugarCRM CE versions offers enough functionality at no cost, with the added flexibility you get with open source software.
Pros:
- Open Source
- Quick and easy setup
- Communiy Edition is free (Professional is $30/User/Month billed yearly)
Cons:
- Limited support of Google Apps and Social Media Tools
- Hard to customize for begginers (HTML Knowledge)
Conclusion:
For a startup company or small organization, business or workteam, we recommend using SugarCRM. Its Community Edition provides enough features to get started with.
Here at ClickIT we can help you implement SugarCRM for your business. Just let us know! Our Agile Team also includes leading IT experts in application migration in the cloud, web security, web development, IT automation, clustering, scalability and near-shore support. Contact Us Now!”
