Advantages And Disadvantages Of CRM Solutions In Singapore

For any business, customers are the key to success. Any kind of business, big or small consistently, tries to cater to the needs of its customers. And for this, they need to adopt various strategies from time to time. With the development of technologies, numerous new ways are coming up. All these help them to further know about the customer’s needs. For instance, businesses make use of CRM loyalty solutions. It aids the business to increase their sales and thus increase their profit.

• What is CRM?
• How does it help a business?
• What are its advantages and disadvantages?

You may find the answer to all these questions in this article.

What is Customer Relationship Management?

Customer Relationship Management or CRM is used in businesses to interact with customers. It helps them to get a large amount of information about the customers. It also helps to collect, manage and organise the information of the customers. They work through analysing data. They keep track of sales, marketing and relationship-building goals.

There are mainly two categories of CRM- OnSite or OnPremise CRM software and Web-based or Cloud-based CRM Solutions.

Different CRM software in Singapore

In Singapore, different CRM software is used and are costs differently. The most popular and most used CRM software in the market are-

1. Salesforce- It is the most popular and present in the market for a long time. It costs between 5 dollars to 300 dollars every month.
2. Sage CRM- It is the cloud-based CRM software and costs between 38 to 495 dollars every month.
3. Zoho CRM- It costs from free to 35 dollars every month.
4. Microsoft Dynamics- The cost of Microsoft Dynamics is 15 dollars, 30 dollars and 65 dollars every month.
5. SugarCRM- The cost is between 30 to 150 dollars per month.

Some top companies in Singapore offer the best CRM services to both small and large businesses-

• Tigernix
• Netsuite
• Infusionsoft
• Plexure
• Deskera
• HashMicro
• Episcript
• Ranosys
• SBS Consulting
• Ascentis

 The price of many of the CRMs can be very high. One can find much cheaper versions of CRM in the market. The high cost of CRM also makes a business company hesitant to buy them. However, it is noteworthy to mention that everything has its advantages and disadvantages, so does this.

Advantages of CRM Solutions

There are several advantages to using Customer Relationship Management. Some crucial points are-

1. Helps to increase sales and marketing- The CRM has a lot of information about its customers. It helps them to deal with the customers more effectively. They become aware of their strengths and weaknesses when they deal with customers. It also shows them how much progress they have made. All these help them to provide the best for their customers, which, in turn, help to gain a return on investment in sales and marketing.
2. Provides employees better efficiency– It gives the employees lots of time to work because it reduces paperwork. Therefore the employees can work more efficiently.
3. Integrated working opportunity- A business company may have its different branches as well as offices spread out. The CRM helps the business to collect data from these offices situated in various places. Access to the data becomes very easy because of cloud-based CRM, easy availability of a 4G network, secure software connections etc. It helps the team to work closely in an integrated manner.
4. Helps to provide better service to the customers- The CRM, helps the business company to address the queries of their customers rapidly. They always try to give a better experience to their customers. In this way, they can gain the loyalty of their customers. And solve the problems of the customers more effectively.
5. Opportunity to search online- The CRM used by a business allows the customers to do thorough research about them. It is done, by companies who are conducting their business online.
6. Reduces extra troubles- The CRM helps reduce the inconvenience of misplacing a paper or a file. All the crucial documents and works are found in a particular place. All these help them to become more productive.

The b2b reward CRM is also very beneficial for the business.

Disadvantages of CRM Solutions

There are a few disadvantages related to the use of CRM. It is significant to look into them once.

1. Security issue- Since all data is centralised and kept in one place, security gets hampered.  Sometimes vital data of the customers also get lost with the access of third parties. It is essential to secure the customer’s data even if it’s expensive.
2. Time-consuming instruction- If any business company buys the CRM, it becomes necessary to instruct the employees well. This process becomes very costly and time-consuming. They may make mistakes initially. They would also need a proper trainer who will teach them how to use the software. Few things may need more time than usual to teach. Thus this form one disadvantage of using CRM.
3. Not suitable for all business– CRM is not conducive for all kinds of business. It is only beneficial for only them, where there is a need for personalisation between the client and the company. In such cases, with the help of CRM, the company can customise the products according to the customer’s needs.
4. Difficult to retrieve data if the system fails- Once the CRM system fails, it also becomes difficult to get back the huge bulk of data. The chances of losing the data is another disadvantage of CRM.
5. Very expensive– If the CRM is proprietary, there will be other expenses, like paying the system administrator or software developer.

Key Takeaways

Thus, even if CRM has some disadvantages, the advantages of using them are substantial. It helps to create better company and client relations. Customer Relationship Management is expensive. You may feel hesitant initially to install it. But you cannot ignore the number of benefits that one can get from it. But it’s always better to consider both pros and cons before buying anything.