In the world why do some business entities climb up the market ladder, while other companies remain in the baby state for a long time, or even worse, evaporate under the sun of their competitor’s success?
The way up is thorny and harsh for both, yet the most ambitious and passionate businesses know the secret — they always accompany their sales growth with reliable CRM software.
Today, almost everything we do is in a cloud-based system.
From the data or any kind of information on computers to that on mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, and other daily devices, the cloud stores almost anything and everything so our devices don’t have to overload themselves with data.
A workhorse of the sales and marketing strategy is likely customer relationship management or CRM software, right?
Rely on CRM technology for its great contact management features, its ease of use daily to effectively manage the sales pipeline, the customer interactions, nurture and improve customer relationships, and provides great customer service and customer support, helping in the improvement of customer satisfaction, boosts revenue, maintains the customer base.
What Is Cloud CRM?
As the name implies, this involves hosting the CRM tools and software on the cloud.
Now, instead of the sales team members having to sit in front of their computers to use the CRM software, all that’s required is an Internet connection and it effectively works anywhere any time.
It is also known as web-based CRM as it is widely preferred for its ease of use, among other benefits. This cloud-based solution is easy to use and easy to apply and can prove advantageous in many ways.
Customer relationship management software for sales (sales CRM software) is a multi-featured platform used by small and big companies globally to store all the client’s data in one place.
This helps them streamline their sales pipeline management and helps in the sales lead closure process. Sales CRM software can boost sales by 29%, productivity by 34%, and forecast accuracy by 42%.
What’s the Difference Between Cloud CRM Software and On-Premise CRM?
Cloud vs on-premise CRM:
Take a look at this infographic image, which summarizes everything that we have discussed so far. It highlights the main differences between a cloud and on-premise CRM and will help in choosing the best fit.
Besides that, you’ll not need to have access to several IT staff or professionals who can update the system and take care of security upkeep. That also is pricey.
What are the Major Benefits of Cloud CRM?
The Major Benefits of Cloud CRM is :
- The Freedom to Work from Anywhere
- Great Security
- The Room for Scalability
- Amazing Reliability
- Countless Integrations
1. The Freedom to Work from Anywhere
One of the most appealing aspects of cloud-based CRM software or Sales CRM Apps is something we touched on earlier.
That’s the freedom cloud services give the employees to do their jobs from any location.
Unlike an on-premise solution, in which cloud accessibility is quite limited to an onsite server, by using cloud-based CRM, this software is never out of reach.
All you will ever need is an internet connection per user.
Businesses big and small are full of moving parts. For instance, the employees of the company who spend time in and out of the office.
Perhaps some of the top sales team members or marketers travel to conventions, expos, and networking events to expand the company’s reach. There could be a few employees who do their jobs from home.
When the person relies on an on-premise CRM solution, then the company may be preventing a good portion of the staff from using the software right off the bat.
The rule goes that if the person is not in the office, the person can’t access the CRM, end of the story.
There’s no exception to that if the employee only provides on-premise CRM software.
That can hinder the company in a myriad of ways.
What if the company gets an amazing sales opportunity but the company’s key salesperson left the office two days ago on a trip? It’ll be days before they come back, leaving you in a major uncontrolled manner.
Perhaps the company wants to deploy a major marketing campaign, but several marketers work from home and only come in once a week. Will the company wait? Why should you have to?
You shouldn’t, and with cloud-based CRM software, you don’t have to.
All your sales departments can sync up the CRM on their tablets, mobile phones, laptops, or whatever device they have handy.
They can go out of state or out of the country (in most instances) and still have accessibility to the company’s CRM features (phone calls, emails, etc.) since it’s all web-based.
That’s pretty and actually incredible, right?
2. Great Security
Before the company make the jump to using a CRM cloud system for the small business, the entity might have questions about security. After all, if anyone can jump on the CRM platform and access the company’s data on a cloud-based system, then doesn’t that leave the business wide open to threats?
An on-premise CRM, for all its costs and disadvantages, at least prevents any person outside of the physical office from getting into the cloud. With any online CRM, software security is usually a top concern and priority.
Before choosing a CRM company to which to give the company money, ensure that the right security measures exist to protect private data from getting into the wrong hands.
3. The Room for Scalability
What becomes problematic is when the company’s software or tools don’t grow with you. As the company adds on new employees or provides new services to the company’s customers, you as a manager or CEO want your CRM software to accommodate you.
If it’s an on-premise CRM we’re talking about, then maybe it may support the growing business needs, but then again, maybe it can’t. It all depends on how much growth the company experience and how quickly it all happens.
What the company need is CRM with scalability. This means that the software can handle all the growth shoot the company will inevitably experience over the coming years.
Not only does online sales CRM software offer a major advantage to the company, in that manager can scale it up easily, but the manager can also scale it down if necessary.
Sometimes staff changes or companies decide to cut down on the employees to save money. In those instances, the company would want to scale back operations.
CRM software that can’t grow with the company acts as a roadblock to success in a few ways. If the company wants to scale up but, to do so, would have to pay for new per-user accounts for each new employee, that becomes really too expensive.
Even if the business is doing moderately well, the company could have a difficult time covering such extra charges without hitting the red. If for any reason, the company decided to scale back down, a sales CRM app that doesn’t do so with the company can again hurt the company.
Now, the company can’t easily get rid of all those end-user accounts the company opened, which means the company is paying money for a feature people aren’t even using. That’s like flushing money down the toilet.
With online sales CRM software in the cloud, not only does the company get accessibility but scalability, too. Whether the company adds or loses staff, the company software will accommodate the business without becoming an expensive albatross.
4. Great Reliability
Before the company sink any money into a new product or service, the company wants to ensure it’s a reliable one. How exactly will it work? Will there be times in which the company can’t access the software?
In this article, we are not talking about on-premise software, either, where the company is limited to staying in the office if the company wants to use the CRM process.
Instead, we’re talking about those inevitable incidents and problems that will crop up. What happens if the power gets knocked out? What does the company do if something related to the software fails?
That’s not to scare your company, but with an on-premise CRM model, it can happen.
With cloud-based CRM, data protection is automatic in nature, everything gets saved consistently via backing up clients’ data.
These data backups can occur daily, weekly, or however often the company want them to. If any incidents take place, the company know that the client’s data isn’t gone forever.
The company can get it through the cloud, restore it to the company’s computer or mobile phone, and then get back to what the company were doing. That kind of reliability isn’t just useful, but a necessity to make the office work.
5. Countless Integrations
The company may buy a shiny new piece of software and install it.
Then, to the company’s shock, the company may discover in the coming days that said shiny piece of software doesn’t really play nice with all the other different software, tools, and programs the company uses daily.
Well, that is unfortunate in nature, but it’s more than that. Each time the user has to log into the CRM programs each morning, the user waste valuable time. Maybe it’s just a few minutes each day, but those minutes do add up in real life.
Not only do the user say goodbye to the user time every day then, but the money, too. The more software accounts the company have to keep open per user/employee, the more cash that’s sucked out of the company’s bank account.
For small businesses, the business CEO may soon discover that he/she can’t afford to use more than two programs because it’s just too costly.
Luckily, cloud-based CRM integrates well with most programs, tools, and software the company already use. Not only do the company save time and money in the long term as mentioned above, but the company reap yet more perks.
6. Flexible Installation
Spare yourself the horror that CRM has a complex installation process that is no longer valid. In this market, a modern Cloud-based CRM is, in fact, tension free departments where a business can be up and running in no time. The last thing you require is an internet connection. All you need to do is sign in online and start using it. Simple, just like that.
Worry less about server and software maintenance, neither you need to have a permanent IT person on site for installations, data migration, or even upgrades. All this will be taken care of remotely for you.
7. Easy Adoption
Owning a product that is designed according to your needs and wants. While opting for a CRM Solutions, some of the businesses are commonly to start with only those features that can support them in their day to day work and that are relevant to their distinctive wants.
Although, the moment your company grows in the market, you may decide that you require, for more capacity, latest features or further advanced modules. In such a case, a cloud-based CRM can be promptly updated to satisfy your further requirements. After adapting to a CRM System, any representative won’t have to wait till a new program is launched for such a purpose. Furthermore bigger, better and more innovative CRM can be delivered in no time.
8. Better Compatibility
In such a dynamic market, there are stand-alone products that have little chance of success in today’s IT world that also require flexibility in integration. Most commonly in a modern business environment, data exchange between already accessible technologies is the most pivotal of any.
Hence, investing in a software system that cannot even open your documents, save your contacts or be able to integrate the email system that your sales reps are using is not worthy. A compatibility with different products and services is the most important thing to ensure CRM’s longevity and effectiveness.
A cloud based CRM can be effortlessly integrated with further applications or software, such as email and other applications including Word, Excel and PowerPoint making a cloud-based CRM an even more effective choice for your business in future.
Conclusion
Cloud-based customer relationship management or CRM software or online sales CRM software keeps all the most important data in the cloud. It’s updated often, and, even better, the employees and staff of the company can access it anywhere, anytime.
This means of using cloud sales CRM provides a mountain of advantages for sales force automation that results in perfect customer service, customer support, and customer relationships. There are vast opportunities for more revenue and less wasted time. Installing and upgrading the system actually takes practically no time at all.
