CRM is not …

CRM systems in a business environment are somehow especially attracting attention: some consider them scary programs of total control, others think that CRM is a notebook for customers, someone thinks that it should work by itself and it is advisable to make more coffee ( well, or at least count the grains directly in the pack). Certain company executives sacralize CRM and do not accept a single request, report, or even a question, if they are not submitted through the system.

Agree, a strange attitude towards a working tool?

Some people believe that CRM looks like this from the inside: an adding machine, social media controls, a customer notebook, and a bunch of gears.  Basically, not too far from the truth
Some believe that CRM looks like this from the inside: an adding machine, social media controls, a notebook with clients and a bunch of gears. Basically, not too far from the truth

CRM is not a notebook

There is nothing worse than buying something functional and using it for exactly one task: for example, buying a smartphone of the latest model, turning off mobile data and using only the phone function. In the same way, when purchasing CRM, you should figure out what it can do, and not throw customer contacts into it and nothing else. By implementing CRM, you pay not for a notebook, but for a serious, well-designed development (we, if anything, first of all we speak for ourselves, but there is a good top solution on the market), for the developer’s experience and for insurance from all the bigwigs that were full during the development and use of the system. It is designed and implemented in such a way that your managers enter the data once and use it constantly: to generate documents, calls, mailings, reports, marketing, repeat sales, customer assessment, etc. If you need a notebook and aren’t ready to structure your customer base, buy a notebook or barn book. Vintage is in fashion.

CRM is not a “sales program”

CRM is a good tool in the hands of a sales manager, but what if this class of systems has stepped far beyond phone conversations and follow-up emails with commercial offers inside? Salespeople, marketers, logisticians, technical support, storekeepers, secretary and general director can work in one system. And this is great: when a company knows how to organize work in the information space and interact within a single universal program, it is not afraid of any remote location, branch system or holding structure. We logged into the system, opened requests – you see how many goods will leave and how many are left, opened the calendar – you can see the busyness of your colleagues and your own plan, went to the document creation menu – a few clicks and the whole package is ready.

Once a step away from sales, in 2021 CRM systems finally live up to their name: these are programs for managing customer relationships in all conceivable aspects. And if there is a client with whom a relationship has developed, there will be profit. And yes, the experience of 2020 has shown that customer relationships are much more complex and deeper than sales.

CRM is not an all-seeing eye

CRM does not see what you are doing on your computer. The only thing that it logs is all actions performed using its interface: for example, RegionSoft CRM saves correspondence with a client, chat with a client on the site, records conversations and calls, logs user actions. This concerns her, this concerns relations with clients – she remembers everything. At the same time, CRM systems do not record keyboard actions, do not listen to office chatter, do not keep a register of visited sites, do not check whether you are at your work PC.

The main task of the CRM system is to take on the routine and reduce the time of operations within business processes, that is, to facilitate the operational work of each employee. And she copes with it great.

CRM is not a try program

Testing CRM before buying is strictly required. But buying a CRM in order to leave it in a couple of months is at least strange. If you decide to automate, you need to go all the way: purchasing licenses → implementation → training → revision (if necessary). Then CRM will be effective. If you bought licenses and decided to figure it out on your own, be prepared for the fact that you will not come to the so-called “best practices” of using this particular CRM system of your choice for a long time. To paraphrase Artemy Lebedev, it is long, expensive and not at all awesome.

CRM is not a telephony application

Recently, only a very lazy telecom operator and an IP telephony operator have not released their own (or someone else’s under their own brand) CRM system. No, well, what did you think, why would someone give such a tidbit? The client likes telephony, and CRM will also. Of course, this approach saddens us – all tested paid and free “operator” CRMs look like the top CRMs of ten years ago: a minimum of functions, a minimum of coherence, everything is very simple and linear. Of course, this will not work this way: telephony is communication for a CRM system, and not vice versa. Therefore, it is still optimal to choose powerful CRM-systems and already “conduct” the phone in them (set up calls and virtual PBX). In addition to the functional advantage, it is also a safer option.

CRM is not a reason for layoffs

When a company decides to implement a CRM system, some executives believe that now everything, you can fire some of the employees – after all, they will be replaced by a software robot. Nothing like this. It’s like buying 20 Huyndai Solaris and leaving 15 taxi drivers – a fleet of 20 cars, no questions! A CRM system is a part of the workplace that makes an employee less busy with paperwork and routine and more freedom to communicate with clients and optimize business processes. Therefore, six months or a year after purchasing CRM, you have every right to ask employees what their head is doing, freed from dreary work.

CRM is not three plates in two rows

Here you could lay out a schematic diagram of communications in CRM or even UML diagrams, but why ruin Friday (and at the same time violate the NDA)? CRM is a complex backend and a rather complex interface. If CRM seems to you very simple and pleasant at first sight, be prepared for the fact that in a couple of months you will be missing most of the functions. Curl your fingers for example RegionSoft CRM: planning and calendars, salesperson interface, directories, more than a hundred reports, sales funnels, internal calculators, warehouse, cash registers, business processes, KPI monitor, customer card with more than one dozen fields, media planning and on-air inquiries in case RegionSoft CRM Media… The fingers are long gone. Here, and all this should be available and configured in the CRM system (by the way, some of the functions can be disabled and not displayed in the user interface). So don’t be surprised that all serious, universal CRM systems look pretty overwhelmed.

CRM is not something to ignore

It is simply dangerous for companies of any business to live without CRM in 2021. This is what you lose if you do not have CRM: do not have a structured managed client base, do not control the operational work of managers, do not analyze the profiles of employees with clients, give up objective and comprehensive analytics, lose deals, do not monitor the quality of service and negotiations with clients … But what you get without it: problems with information security (information is stored separately and in unprotected files), the departure of the client base with each more or less dishonest manager, a mess in data, forgotten calls and missed transactions, work based on intuition, and non-analysts, long work with documents, correspondence, reporting and accumulated errors due to the human factor, problems with employees and departments working remotely. These are not scary bedtime stories – this is an objective reality. Fortunately, a solution to the problem is readily available.

CRM is not a panacea

If a CRM system is not properly implemented, it will not be able to work and generate profit on its own. And all the business problems will not heal at once – you have to work step by step both on automation and refactoring of business processes. CRM is the key to a new paradigm of working with clients and a cool tool to which you need to apply bright or at least executive heads of employees. Then yes, it will turn into a powerful competitive weapon.

CRM is not an airplane cost solution

No, if you want, you can get a CRM for several million dollars – moreover, instead of remote implementation, you will get a series of beautifully speaking consultants in your office. Their big plus is that they will tell you that you have the best, most efficient company with the most streamlined business processes, only … all these processes will have to be changed, because they do not fall on the notes of the Best CRM. And then you will pay for training, every call to support, every report, and even for every function – because half of them are implemented through connectors. And yes, CRM for sales, marketing, support and logistics are 4 different CRMs.

If you choose a normal Russian CRM system (not only RegionSoft CRM), then it will not cost you so much – with the difference that you will pay for the cloud one month after month, but buy the desktop one right away and its total cost of ownership will be significantly lower in the end. For example, RegionSoft CRM Professional Plus (full minced meat + remote work) for 10 people will cost you 153,000 rubles. (perpetual license, one payment) or 12 760 p. per month subject to rent. We bet the plane is clearly more expensive?

CRM is a modern and convenient tool for organizing all operational work. There are many worthy solutions on the Russian market, among them you can find the optimal one. The 90s ended 21 years ago and it is not at all necessary to spend bags of money on developing your own system, killing time and corporate resources. The matter is small: contact vendors, choose the right CRM, start implementation. This is the best thing you can do for a business right now.


We are ready to automate your business using universal CRM-system RegionSoft CRM… We implement, train, support with high quality and remotely.

Subscribe to our Zen – there we write cool articles about sales, marketing and business.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *