CRM is a buzzword now in the business community and entrepreneurs of all size know the worthiness of this technology in boosting every aspect of their business. Even though people are aware of it, there is only a very few who knows what CRM solutions best match to their industry and business and what model suits them the best. Among these, the primary debate is regarding the need of cloud-based CRM.
Power of cloud-based CRM
On-site CRM was the standard practice up until recent times whereas cloud is storming across the domains and customer relations management is no exception. The rise of technology and availability of cloud CRM as a service put forth a highly flexible and cost-effective solution for all size of businesses.
Cloud CRM let the businesses to store all their data stored remotely to be accessed over the internet whenever required. Data storage and allocation are done through single or distributed serve to make it easier and more cost-effective. As a rule of thumb, small businesses may be much more straightforward on choosing software and cloud seems the most feasible solution.
As a typical small business doesn’t own any hardware, server, or core admin professionals, the cloud makes things not only easier but also more accessible and cost-effective for them. However, not only a small business but studies have shown that nearly about 72% of businesses have already shifted or preparing to shift to cloud-based CRM solutions now. A good cloud CRM can ensure a bigger ROI and also help grow the business with personalized solutions.
Advantages of cloud CRM
- Hassle-free installation
The major fear of any businessman on thinking of new IT infrastructure is the hassle of complex installation and the up-front cost of hardware etc. These worries are no longer valid with cloud CRM. An advanced cloud-CRM is fully worry-free regarding installation and infrastructure. On availing the service, a user can be fully up and running instantly. There is no need for a business case or comprehensive integration as the advanced cloud systems are easily scalable and cross-compatible. All that you need to have regarding infrastructure is your user machines and internet connectivity. There is also need to maintain an IT person internally as there is no troublesome installation or migrations needed.
- Seamless access
Compared to the on-site infrastructure which you have to shut down and switch on based on the requirement and get loaded to start running, cloud CRM is out there to be active just over a mouse click, anytime. It is also accessible from anywhere in the world round-the-clock, which is the No.1 benefit of it for the businesses.
Suppose if you have to make an urgent phone sale call on the go or access an updated sales report to be attached, Cloud CRM will offer the access anywhere. You can convert any digital device as an access point to your CRM functioning on the cloud. All authorized people will have access to a centralized database all the time even outside the working place and work time.
- User-friendly
Cloud is making things much easier and flexible as discussed above. As Flosum suggests, you have to buy a cloud-CRM software package at a monthly or yearly subscription price. Further, when needed, you can scale it up or down based on the need of the situation, permanently or temporarily. All the users need to do is to log in with the authorized ID and ensure that you access the cloud from a reasonably fast internet connection. The self-service menu will help even the not-so-tech-savvy users access and use it comfortably.
- High security
A major concern for any business when handling delicate and hard-earned business data using web-based applications is security. The top companies offering cloud CRM solutions knew the importance of security and adopted top-grade multilayer internet security measures to ensure optimum data protection and confidentiality. There are also data protection and automated backup policies offered by cloud CRM providers which help protect the data even if a crash occurs.
- Reliability
A crash (which is highly possible in on-premise infrastructure) cause a total collapse in small business operations. This is less likely to happen in cloud CRM. The data is backed up and also distributed hosting almost rule out the possibility of a crash and data loss. In typical cloud systems, each component including servers will have some replicas, and if one fails, another one automatically gets replaced, and the system won’t get affected as a whole.
- Scalability
The best part of adopting a new CRM system to small businesses is that they can simply start with only the most essential features needed for their current operations and pay for only what is needed. However, as the companies grow, there may be further required regarding the storage space, capacity, and also additional features, which can be instantly loaded for you at a cloud-based CRM for the additional service-based cost. So, on can scale up to any level or scale down later based on the need without limits.
In any case, the role of a reliable cloud-CRM has to be taken as a key business enabler, and every business should think of it with an eye on future.
