Back in November 2010, I was determined to find the best CRM solution and have been looking into a number of bigger and smaller CRM software brands. But I couldn’t find anything really satisfying. The user interfaces of the majority of these CRMs were too complicated. It was hard to focus on the actual task, and I caught myself often being lost in the details. Nobody can expect representatives to read software manuals in today’s fast-paced interactive world. It had to be easier. In my search for the best CRM solution, I soon realized it was easier to find the Holy Grail than to decide what the best CRM was. That was the moment when I thought to build a better CRM that would make a difference. That was when the idea behind Chasebot was born.
The difference is all about the user interface. In the real world, we see how Apple has succeeded with their products. The major factor behind that is certainly the most intuitive user interface the world had seen yet. There is no need to read any manual to get an iPhone working. It is so intuitive that everybody knows how to use it immediately. This is how every software should be designed. And the best CRM software should be no different.
Four Rules for choosing the Best CRM
I think that there are four major rules for a successful CRM software:
- A well-designed and intuitive user interface is the most important factor in usability.
- Integration with Facebook so you can gauge interest in your product and analyze your fans’ basic profile information.
- An interactive Guidance is essential to help the user whenever help is needed.
- A well-thought-out security architecture is critical to guarantee user-data confidentiality and also to ensure the needed transparency within the corporation.
The typical CRM software solutions are Windows-based. Some of them integrate well with Outlook by taking the initial integration burden away. However, they are limited in many ways. It cannot be expected that a representative is always sitting in the office in front of the same PC. Sales representatives need to be on the move and use the CRM software remotely. This is the major reason web CRM is increasingly overtaking the market shares. According to Gartner’s analysis, by 1996, there was virtually zero web-based CRMs on the market, while by 2011, one-third of the entire CRM market are web-based. And the trend is increasing. Web CRMs have introduced a style that is seen as the best CRM style to have been accomplished yet.
Therefore, relying on the traditional Windows-based CRM software is not a wise move and may easily backfire. There are obviously still reasons behind why a Windows-based CRM solution might be considered as the best CRM for your business, such as deep customization to a company’s needs.
Almost the entire web CRM software are more or less off-the-shelf products and allow little customization. But they cover the basics so well that it is often good enough for the majority of small- and medium-sized businesses right out of the box.
At the end of the day, the question is not what the best CRM is, but rather what type of CRM is the right one for your business and which features it includes.
What are your thoughts on this?
~Houman
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