CRM web based solution is an easy and cost effective way to maintain a healthy relationship with your customer on the Internet. It is the latest trend in modern business organizations. With the wide use of the Internet, business organizations have become more reliant on web based CRM services.
Customer relationship management, abbreviated CRM, is a comprehensive business strategy planned to maximize profitability, revenue, retention, and customer satisfaction. However, CRM business strategies mainly focus on customer satisfaction only. With the coming of CRM web based solutions, the entrepreneurs are able to offer support to the customer through the Internet, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Depending on the needs, CRM web based solutions can be availed by any type of businesses. For example, specialized CRM web based solutions are available for client profiles, frequently ordered items, automatic replenishment systems, one-click ordering, and market basket analysis. Mostly, CRM web based solutions are built after systematically understanding the needs and demands.
In a CRM web based solution, the Web is used as the platform. The software is generally installed on a single server. Hence, a user from any remote location can access the facilities of the CRM web based solutions through the Internet. Any slight change in the software of the main server will be reflected throughout the system. CRM web based solutions are cost effective and easy to maintain. Apart from these, CRM web based solutions also provide accessibility through wireless devices such as PDAs and WAP-enabled mobile phones. Thus, CRM web based solutions overrun all the downsides of their counterpart, client-server CRM solutions.
In the past, CRM Web-based solutions were used mainly by medium sized business organizations. But in recent year, almost all small and big business organizations have started using the facilities of CRM Web-based solutions.
CRM is a set of business rules, techniques, technologies and practices that gather comprehensive information about customers and then augments the relationship with the customer using that information.
There are two different types of CRM available in the market today. These are on site CRM and hosted or web based CRM.
On site CRM, is hosted on the company’s own dedicated server. This means that the company needs to invest in a server, a dedicated IT team and lots of infrastructure. So, it is typically used by large scale enterprises.
Hosted or web based CRM on the other hand is deployed over the internet and are ideal for large as well as small to medium sized companies. It allows a company to reap all the benefits of a CRM system sans the hassles associated with an on site client server CRM tool.
Benefits
The user interfaces of both these CRM systems are as different as chalk and cheese. While on site CRM systems are developed in VB or Java or C++, web based CRM use a standard web browser. So any employee of the company can access the CRM as long as he/she has access to the internet.
Here are some of the benefits of a web based CRM system.
* Reduced cost of ownership: If you compare the cost of web based CRM software with that of an onsite one, you will notice that the difference amongst the two is miniscule. However, if you compare the total cost of ownership which includes several charges like the installation, infrastructure, deployment etc, you will find that there is a huge difference.
* Deployment: This is undoubtedly one of the prime reasons for the success of web based CRM. You do not need a CRM client to access it. Yes, a web browser is all that is needed to access the backend.
* Information sharing: It is easy to enter, transmit and share information across organizational lines.