Customer Relationship Management systems have become essential in the modern business landscape. South African businesses might still be catching up on the trends, but it’s never too late to jump onboard and get a CRM implemented into your business.
The benefits that your business will enjoy from a CRM are endless. From automation that increases productivity among your team to seamless collaboration between departments and team members regardless of their geographic locations. For thousands of businesses around the world, a CRM is a crucial system that has helped them to get the edge over their competition.
Once you’ve decided that it’s time to implement a CRM into your business, you need to sift through hundreds of different CRM systems to decide which one is best for your business. Choosing the right CRM in South Africa is not an easy task, but it’s an important one! If you’re unsure of where to start, keep reading to find out what you need to look out for when making your final decision on a CRM system.
Why You Need to Choose a CRM carefully
If you’re choosing a CRM in South Africa, you need to make sure that you’re carefully evaluating every option you have. While CRM systems have helped businesses all over the world, South Africa has some incredibly unique requirements that business executives need to keep in mind.
Finding the right CRM for your business can mean the difference between the system being a success for your business, or a complete failure. Ultimately, if you’re investing time, effort, and money into a system for your business, the least you want to do is make sure that it’s going to comply with the requirements and objectives of your business.
Budget
The first, and most important actor to keep in mind is your budget. When it comes to CRMs, the cost can quickly get out of hand. Businesses need to pay per user every single month. That means you can quickly incur a bill over tens of thousands of Rands if you’re not aware of how many users you have registered on your CRM.
However, you need to look beyond just the monthly costs of the CRM as there are even more expenses you need to budget for. CRMs are complex systems that need to be implemented before they can be used. You will likely need some assistance when it comes to implementing your CRM system because nearly 70% of CRM implementations fail due to incorrect procedures being followed.
On top of that, you may need to have someone fixing issues and performing maintenance tasks on the CRM regularly. Both of these are factors that add to the costs of running a CRM, and it’s often overlooked by business executives. Later on, we’ll discuss support for your CRM (implementation and maintenance) in more detail.
Features
Another important consideration to bear in mind is the features that the CRM has on offer. The best CRMs on the market will offer a library of features that may seem exciting and helpful to many business executives, but the reality is that you might not even use all of the features that the CRM has to offer.
If you’re going to end up paying for features that you don’t need and won’t use, then you’re going to be wasting your money. Most CRMs are sold as complete pack`ges, which means that you will be paying the full price for the CRM and all that it has to offer.
You may want to consider a CRM that allows you to buy packages as and when you need them. HubSpot is one example of a CRM that allows you to move up and down paid tiers where you can unlock features only when you need to use them. This might be something that you want to consider for your business.
You also want to ensure that the features offered by the CRM line up with your business’ needs and goals. Ultimately, you want the CRM to have features that are relevant to your industry and specifically to your business if you want to get the most out of it.
Ease of Use
Ease of use is one of the most crucial factors that business executives often overlook, especially in South Africa. Many CRM systems like Salesforce might have excellent ratings and proven success, but they also have a steep learning curve that is usually not mentioned in their reviews.
It’s important to consider a CRM system that is easy to get to grips with. At the end of the day, your team will be using the CRM most often, which means that you need to make sure that they will be comfortable with it, and that they will have the support needed when it comes to learning how the system works.
It’s always great to have a support system such as learning resources or even an online academy available for your team to use when they need it. The management and leadership team should also be familiar and comfortable with the system so that any questions or concerns can be addressed. Remember, if your team does not adopt the CRM, it will be a waste of time, effort, and money that you invested into the system.
Support
Having both local and international support available for your CRM is crucial. Many CRM providers have been slated for having poor customer service — all you need to do is check user reviews and message boards to see if they have a lot of complaints in this department.
As we know, CRMs can be extremely complex and technical systems, and if something goes wrong, it could cause a ton of downtime in your business. Having a 24.7 support system from the CRM provider is critical.
On top of that, you also want to have additional support locally. It’s always best to use a CRM consultancy for this, even if they’re not in close proximity to your business. Working with a CRM consultant can help you to implement a CRM successfully and ensure that it is properly maintained at all times.