THE POWER OF FLEXIBLE CRMPUBLISHED BY

THE POWER OF FLEXIBLE CRMPUBLISHED BY

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YOUR BUSINESS. YOUR INDUSTRY. YOUR CRM.

Your company is unique. You have unique processes and unique customers who have their own preferences and demands. You exist in an industry that has its own challenges.

And all of this is constantly changing.

Your CRM software should be flexible enough to handle the way you do business and keep up with change. It’s not just about choosing the best CRM technology for now, but the best solution for the future.

In this ebook you’ll see how a flexible CRM is the key to handling customers in the present and as your business progresses forward.

KEYS TO FLEXIBILITY

Increasingly Flexible Deployment1

Moving Beyond Generic Sales Automation 3

Easy, Secure CRM Mobility2

Matches Your Unique Business4

KEYS TO FLEXIBILITY:

INCREASINGLY FLEXIBLE DEPLOYMENT

CHOOSE YOUR OWN DEPLOYMENT

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Flexible CRM solutions can be deployed in a way that best suits your company.

What does this mean? Basically it all boils down to one core idea: Who will host your CRM?

Colloquially referred to as “you host or we host,” a flexible CRM lets you make the choice.

We’ll spend a couple minutes talking about the merits of each method but before we do look over to the right. There you’ll see the four possible CRM deployment options, two that can be hosted internally by yourself and two that can be hosted externally.

There is a lot of attention on the cloud right now and for good reason. As the chart shows, there are many benefits to hosting your software remotely.

With no hardware or software maintenance costs and the freedom to pay on a per user account basis the cloud is very attractive.

FLEXIBLE FACTNearly 70% of organizations are using or want to use Cloud Services

(http://www.forrester.com/pimages/rws/reprints/document/61581/oid/1-M28JF9)

DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS

HOSTED CLOUD

Your CRM is hosted off-site in the public cloud via a service like Microsoft Azure.70%PRIVATE CLOUD

Your CRM is hosted off-site in a private data center. A highly secure cloud solution, access is typically very limited and servers are not shared.

This is especially true for companies without a lot of IT support. In the cloud, software updates are applied automatically and you’ll never have to worry about managing servers.

On Premise is the “classical solution” that has been used for years and years as an established and highly customizable way of deploying software.

The beauty of hosting software yourself is the ease and amount of integrations your company can perform. Making your CRM talk with your accounting software and ERP is much easier when you have access to the code.

With established IT support, On Premise can be extraordinarily powerful because your data lives inside your company for maximum security.

ON PREMISE

Your CRM is hosted in-house on your own servers. This is the classical way of deploying a CRM.

ON PREMISE SECURE WEB

Like the above but allows for access via a browser. Remote access is easily permissible.

The most Flexible CRM providers will provide options - including combining an On Premise and Secure Web Access solution.

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COMPARING YOUR OPTIONS

HOSTED CLOUD ON PREMISE SECURE ON PREMISE WEB

PRIVATE HOSTED (CLOUD)

COST Pay as you go, per user, per month, etc.Up-front capital costs for hardware, software

licensing, air conditioning, etc.

Up-front capital costs for hardware, software

licensing, air conditioning, etc.

Pay as you go, per user, per month. Depending on if

the hardware is owned or rented – hardware rental

costs may apply

CUSTOMIZATION Limited customizationSomewhat customizable depending on

software vendor

Somewhat customizable depending on

software vendor

More customizable than Public Cloud but still

customizable depending on software vendor

UPGRADESApplication accessed through a web browser. All

upgrades/updates are done at the server

Upgrades/updates done on server and desktop.

Windows client needs to be deployed on each

desktop which can be time consuming

Application accessed through a web browser. Most

upgrades/updates are typically done at the server

Application accessed through a web browser. All

upgrades/updates are done at the server

HARDWAREHardware and software owned reside at

provider’s site

Customer must provide hardware and system

platforms to run apps

Customer must provide hardware and system

platforms to run apps

Customer has the choice to either provide hardware

and system platforms to run apps or “rent” from the

Data Center vendor

SECURITYAccess to SaaS apps is via the Internet, creating

security risksLess risky because of on premise location

Less risky because of on premise location, however

access from outside is available. Entails risks that

need to be managed

Access to SaaS apps is via the Internet which

comes with security risks that need to be managed

MOBILE ACCESS Accessible via browsers running on mobile devicesLimited access to business applications browsers

running on mobile devicesAccessible via browsers running on mobile devices Accessible via browsers running on mobile devices

INTEGRATION Limited integration Integration with existing software is commonplace Integration with existing software is commonplace Accessible via browsers running on mobile devices

CONTROLSaaS provider controls systems and is entrusted

with customer dataControl of systems and data Control of systems and data

SaaS provider controls systems and is entrusted

with customer data

http://searchcloudapplications.techtarget.com/tutorial/On-premises-vs-SaaS-Making-the-choice

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PUBLIC

ON

PRE

MIS

E

PR

IVATE

CLO

UD

WEB

AC

CES

S

HOSTED

MAKING THE DECISION

When deciding between an On Premise and a Cloud solution it generally boils down to how much your company wants to pay up-front, whether you have in-house IT support, and what kind of customization and integration you need.

Security is also an important concern, especially with cloud deployments. This is why some CRM providers offer secure cloud solutions where your data is stored in a private data center.

Even still, some companies get queasy when it comes to the thought of any data exists outside their servers. In these cases an On Premise solution with Secure Web Access is the way to go.

Let’s say that your company is using an On Premise, local access solution and your company decides to open up a regional office. You want to continue with an On Premise solution – what to do?

If you have a flexible CRM you’ll be able to flip the switch and turn on Web Access so individuals in the remote office can access the CRM through a browser. No additional costs are associated and the flexibility of your CRM makes the procedure painless.

KEYS TO FLEXIBILITY:

EASY, SECURE CRM MOBILITY

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DECIDING TO GO MOBILE

It wasn’t too long ago that being a mobile salesperson was a notoriously lonely job. Constant travel and disconnect from both the home and office created a rather companionless existence.

Fortunately as the Internet and cellular technology matured it became easier for a mobile salesperson to stay in touch via any smartphone or tablet. Access to mobile CRM allows constant contact with the office.

Mobile CRM frees your sales team from a computer and enables them to get updates on your customers and prospects remotely and on demand.

It’s essential that employees can access email offsite – why not your CRM as well? This is especially valuable when your salespeople take meetings in person.

+14.6%

FLEXIBLE FACTMobile access increases sales force productivity by 14.6 percent.

(https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/itanalyst/docs/03-01-12CRM.PDF)

If you want to blow your competition out of the water Mobile CRM will make this happen. Walk into every meeting fully prepared, check inventory and place orders instantly, review and set tasks remotely.

This is a game changer in the CRM space.

A simple and easy to use mobile solution will boost productivity and help your sales team close more deals.

You should expect your CRM provider to provide access via any smart phone or tablet as a standard feature at no additional cost.

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NATIVE APPS OR HTML5?

Nearly every company has implemented a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy where employees are responsible for providing their own mobile phone.

This policy is excellent for your employees because it allows them to use their preferred device with typically fewer restrictions. When it comes to development of mobile applications however, BYOD complicates things.

The major mobile operating systems at present are iOS and Android, though BlackBerry still has considerable usage among businesses and Windows has their own OS which takes up a small but considerable part of the market.

With such fragmentation in the mobile space, for maximum flexibility your CRM should be built in HTML5. No matter what phone a given employee uses, as long as it has a modern mobile browser it can run the HTML5.

This frees you from having to worry about updates across multiple operating systems, making HTML5 more reliable when it comes to updates and maintenance.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MODERN MOBILE SALESPERSON

07:00AM

MANAGE TASKS ON THE GO

At breakfast the salesperson checks his tasks and preps for the first meeting of the day by referencing his CRM

STAY ORGANIZED

At lunch the salesperson quickly finds the location of the next meeting while updating their calendar

12:30PM

VIEW REAL-TIME UPDATES

A deal is struck after a quick inventory check and the promise of meeting delivery schedule

10:00AM

OPTIMIZE PRODUCTIVITY

After a second meeting, the salesperson moves the lead to opportunity status and posts follow-up information

02:00PM

EASILY MONITOR KEY METRICS

On the flight home the salesperson checks their progress toward this quarter’s goals via reports in the CRM

05:00PM

KEYS TO FLEXIBILITY:

MOVING BEYOND GENERIC SALES AUTOMATION

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DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE

Your company has established unique ways of doing things. Your CRM processes have been refined and your products have features that keep you distinct from the market.

Your business isn’t generic and that’s precisely the reason why generic sales force automation (SFA) isn’t for you.

Even if you purchase a CRM that has been customized for your industry the “out-of-the-box” solution will never completely match your company’s unique requirements.

It’s critical that your company steers away from generic SFA. Why is this so important? It’s all about process alignment…

You cannot adapt how leads or enquires are routed.

You need to use the ‘out of box’ lead management process

You need to change the way you do business to ‘make it work’

Reports and dashboards cannot show your real business performance

Your account management group is working in a silo with no visibility or usefulness to the rest of your business

WARNING SIGNS FOR GENERIC CRM!

The CRM industry has a staggering statistic: ADOPTION RATE IS ONLY 50%

Why is this number so terrible? It’s largely due to a lack of process alignment. If the sales process in your CRM does not match the process laid out by your sales leaders you can’t expect your sales team to want to use it.

When your sales team is using Excel and Word instead of CRM software, this generally indicates that the SFA rules are not aligned to the way your company does business – it’s easier to stick with Office tools than it is to fight against the CRM.

FLEXIBLE FACTOnly 15% of SFA users are “very satisfied” with their CRM.

(http://nucleusresearch.com/research/research/five-strategies-for-successful-crm-adoption/)

15%

When deciding what CRM to purchase be sure the software can adapt to your needs. If your CRM can’t easily be adapted you have the wrong solution.

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FLEXIBLE CRM IN ACTION

Companies that successfully deploy CRM do so with flexible systems that are tailored to the way they do business.

These companies operate within a variety of industries including manufacturing, finance, urban development, publishing, wealth management, and virtually every other industry.

Think of out of the box CRM as being the foundation. It includes your core SFA rules however these are generic and not unique to your company.

Customizing your CRM boosts adoption and therefore ROI. Without customization your CRM investment can never be realized to its full potential.

Companies that successfully deploy CRM are aware of this fact and take the time to customize their solution to their needs.

ORLANDO EDC

Economic development commission with extensive customization of existing data

MAYFIELD

Streamlined sales process, shared view of client production requirements within the manufacturing industry

BIC

CRM customized to the business requirements of a large publishing company, customized dashboards

Companies with flexible CRM

KEYS TO FLEXIBILITY:

MATCHES YOUR UNIQUE BUSINESS

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WHAT MAKES YOUR BUSINESS UNIQUE?

A flexible CRM allows you to customize much deeper than generic sales force automation.

Not only can you capture standard sales information, you’ll also be able to log and organize industry and customer data in a manner that best suits your company.

This industry and customer specific data is invaluable to your sales team. In this chapter we’ll talk about some of the customizations you can do with a flexible CRM and see how that data can be utilized to better service the customer.

The sales potential of a fully customized CRM is massive. When you have complete customer information stored in one central place opportunities for superior service and sales open up.

Many companies store this information externally to their CRM (if they record it at all). A better alternative – which still isn’t great – is to put the information in your CRM in note form.

For example, putting the birthday in a client profile note will log the information but you’ll be unable to search for all clients who have birthdays in the next 30 days. By taking the time to customize your CRM you’ll have a field available for data entry and will be able to pull up this list at a moment’s notice.

At Maximizer we encourage our clients to formally lay out the data they want to log and take the time to customize their CRM and process rules to ensure this info gets captured.

The goal is to reveal your customers as individuals.

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BASIC VS. FLEXIBLE CRM

Name

Address

Phone number

Company

Job title

Name

Address

Phone number

Company

Job title

Lunch at Rogue every Wednesday

Favorite sports team: Vancouver Canucks

Last purchase date

Usage rate

Estimated repurchase date

Very satisfied

NPS: 8

BASIC PROFILE FLEXIBLE CRM PROFILE

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DOES YOUR CRM SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE?

With a high level of customization you can also log data that is highly useful to marketing and customer service teams, allowing them to improve the effectiveness of your campaigns and support.

At Maximizer we recently had a client in commercial real estate customize our CRM to include tenant tracking, landlords for commercial properties, and custom reports. The next time marketing needs to send an email to landlords with occupancy rates over 95% well, that won’t be a problem for them.

No doubt your industry has at least several unique points of data that can be collected in a CRM which will help departments beyond sales. Perks include better service, superior client retention, and a more accurate overview.

Every customer is unique – your CRM should reflect this but it needs flexibility in order to do so.

When it does your employees will embrace the system as they see just how useful it is. Sales, marketing, customer service, executives, and more will be able to use this valuable information to better service your customers.

For perfect alignment to your company’s DNA, you can always build your own CRM and some companies with a lot of cash on hand do exactly this.

Thing is, at Maximizer we’ve been at the CRM game for over 20 years. We’ve put tons of resources into R&D, optimization, and our technology.

Can you build your own CRM in a couple years? Sure. Will it work as good as any of the other top CRMs? Probably not - and it’s going to cost you a ton of cash.

Thing is, you still need your platform to be customized. Enter the flexible CRM.

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THE FLEXIBLE CRM AND CUSTOMIZATION…

If making your own CRM isn’t the best idea and you certainly don’t want to stick with a generic solution, the best bet is in the middle.

Your business should drive CRM process, not the other way around. It’s important to select a CRM that can…

• Easily create data entry rules and custom fields

• Intelligently adapt a specific process through SMART information capture

• Create repeatable workflows specific to your business to automate common tasks FLEXIBLE CRM

• Adaptable over time• Customize to industry needs• No change to processes

CUSTOM CRM • Increased costs• Expensive to maintain• Increased complexity

VALUE

GENERIC CRM• One size fits all• Costly to adapt • Standard data capture

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FLEXIBLE CRM CHECKLIST

Your CRM software should be flexible enough to handle the way you do business and keep up with change. It’s not just about choosing the best CRM technology for now, but the best solution for the future.

Use this easily checklist to evaluate your current CRM software and guide any future CRM decision.

Do you have multiple CRM deployment options?

YES NO

Does your CRM enable you to keep current business processes?

Will the CRM deployment option meet data security requirements?

Will you be able to easily adapt your CRM if your business changes?

Is mobile CRM a standard option of the solution at no additional costs?

Are you limited by the number of custom fields you can create?

Is mobile CRM available across any smart phone or tablet?

Can you capture all the customer data you need?

Can your sales lead distribution process be easily adapted?

Will your CRM be easily adapted to match your specific industry?

Can you easily adapt reports and dashboards to track crucial metrics?

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CONNECT WITH US

GMNW13001-1

Copyright © 2013 Maximizer Software Inc. All rights reserved. Maximizer® CRM is a registered trademark of Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer CRM, Maximizer CRM Live, Maximizer Contact Management, and other product names may be trademarks of their respective holders. This is for information purposes only. MAXIMIZER SOFTWARE INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

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1-800-804-6299

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