Blog – Page 31 – Financial Memos

When it comes to customer relationship management CRM), there are so many options available for solopreneurs today. It would take days to list them. I think it's easier to write about three of the most popular ones and explain the costs. So, as a small business owner, you will need to have one thing in mind. Your customers or to be more precise, your existing and potential customers. What services they are looking for, and how to better serve them? How to increase sales, increase cross-selling and achieve revenue growth? Improving customer retention rates, customer satisfaction and increasing your sales by using semi-automated software that can generate data that will help you launch a successful and ongoing marketing campaign is the area of expertise for all CRM software packages. Therefore, when deciding on the right CRM program, there are quite a few things that you would need to consider. The most important is understanding how the software can help your business achieve its goals and increase its performance. SalesForce CRM For a monthly cost of $65 per user and an unlimited number that you can give access to, SalesForce CRM has many great features. Some of these include: - Email integration and web hosted solutions. - A daily to do list and tasks list. - Contact and account notes. - The ability to access via mobile devices. - Remote synchronization and calendar integration. - Dialing capabilities are also available. The software also features several marketing tools, including letterheads, auto email, and real-time alerts. Tutorials, a help and FAQ section, phone and online support are also available. Customers also get a 30 days free trial so that you can test the software and see if it is the way you imagined it. OnContact CRM With a lower price, at $49.95 per month per user, you can use OnContant on the cloud. You also have the option to have it installed on-premise, but the cost can be quite substantial since it's $995 per user (a one-off fee). So if you need 5 licenses, then the cost will be around $5,000 but one off. A bit pricey for small companies but there are no monthly subscriptions after that. But for solopreneurs looking for an affordable CRM option, OnContact is worth considering. Oncontact CRM includes similar features like email integration, calendar integration and contact lists. It also features remote synchronisation, company websites, and contact history. You can keep track of your customer accounts, set up auto email alerts, organise contacts into groups, even set up maps with travel instructions. Real-time alerts and email campaigns are also available with this software. It is not as easy to use as SalesForce CRM (based on online reviews), but it does have extensive help through email, phone, and online support. With great features, and a number of sales and marketing tools, customer information features, and contact information, it is an excellent addition to a small business trying to keep its customers happy. Sage ACT Premium A third option to consider is Sage Act. There are both hosted or on-premise options available. The cost for the on-premise option is around $549 per license, so it's half the price of the OnContact CRM. In terms of features you get: - Email integration, daily schedules and contact account notes. - Calendar integration- A company website, contact history, contact info pages and social networking pages are also part of the contact features. You can use the reporting options, letterheads, mailing labels, auto email solutions, and real-time alerts for sales and marketing. There are also online tutorials and FAQ pages, as well as support over the phone or online. Overall, all these three options are relatively close in product features, contact features, and ease of use. What distinguishes them is the pricing, where Act! Premium is cheaper if you prefer the one-off fee; SalesForce offers a better solution for people who want to try CRM software without spending a lot of money. In addition, as a small business, you should go for software that is easy to use with low costs of maintenance. Using this criterion, SalesForce is the leader. It not only allows unlimited users, but it also gives you all the tools and features to keep in touch with customers, learn more about their habits, set up auto alerts, and do what it takes to keep them happy. It's also on the cloud which means, no hardware and no server costs for your business. However, each of these CRM solutions has great features and all of them are worth checking. Other Material We trust this quick review helps you in selecting the right CRM package as a solopreneurs. We have several reviews of different CRM solutions available for all business sizes. If you are interested in cloud bases solutions, we have a review for that. And if you are looking for free CRM packages, we have another review for that.