Desktop CRM: practical traumatology of introductions

When firms seek advice about business automation in general and the implementation of CRM in particular, the same symptom is often observed: no infrastructure is needed from scratch, another software is needed. This is often a difficult situation, especially when you see that the software is adequate, albeit the old version, but they don’t know how to use it or don’t want to. We have to collect customer representatives and regretfully explain that the “Make everything” button has not been created, and any software requires responsible work on the part of the person.


I have gathered all the accumulated experience in the implementation of various CRMs and am ready to share it with the fermenters in order to prevent them from stuffing cones and making trouble. I will speak mainly about desktop software, since it is the most secure, effective and flexible, but also difficult to implement. Here it is worth explaining a little. Desktop solutions are selected for analysis for a number of reasons:

• the very concept of “implementation” as a set of actions to install, train, refine and manage a system for business purposes is of little use to the cloud, which, as is known, is most often delivered as a service (SaaS)
  
• Full CRM fine tuning for client tasks is possible only in desktop CRM
  
• desktop CRM is safer in terms of protecting commercial data
  
• Cloud-based systems rarely have advanced development tools , if this is, of course, not a complete open source, requiring substantial investments at least in the salary of your full-time programmer.
  

Based on these factors, I chose three popular desktop CRM systems for analysis:

• Terrasoft CRM - the most famous CRM with good functionality.
  
• RegionSoft CRM - well-known CRM with strong functionality
  
• Client-Communicator (CLIC) - a well-known CRM, an interesting platform solution
  

Given the extensive experience in implementing solutions from many vendors, I can safely say that these systems are the market leaders for small and medium businesses. In addition, for analysis purposes, they are suitable because they have unique interesting solutions for independent and external refinement in their arsenal.

First of all, you need to understand that the implementation process is a business that connects the management of the client company (consultants work right there on its side), company employees and vendors (developers). Accordingly, potential risks may arise from any side.

Client risks

Misunderstanding of business needs is the first, main and most destructive risk. Before automation, you need to fully analyze your business, evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, and decide what you want to change. For example, if you have a small print shop and there are 10 salespeople for a lot of customers for two old risographs, one CRM will not help you. First you need to purchase equipment, to establish production, and then build relationships with customers and within the company through CRM. But this is a very neglected case.
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A sample plan usually works:

• Who you are? If a small company of 3-7 people for whom data security is not critical, you can choose any more or less functional cloud service. You should not forget about the dependence of the cloud on the stability and speed of the Internet connection. For example, if you enter important data with many parameters, and the connection is broken, in many systems, work may be lost and you will have to spend additional time to recover data. This is especially critical when working with cold calls and with a large influx of customers.
  If you are 5-10 people and your commercial data should be safe, then it is recommended to choose a ready-made "boxed" desktop solution (for example, Clic , Terrasoft CRM Sales , Regionsoft CRM Standard ).

I will give the cost of the basic “boxed” editions of the three leading vendors of desktop CRM, with training and standard installation. Such solutions are suitable for small businesses without additional requirements.

	Terrasoft CRM	RegionSoft CRM	Client-Communicator
Version	Sales	Standard	CLIC.CRM
Cost of 10 licenses	87 768	51 700	75,000
License type	nominal	competitive	competitive
Training, up to 10 people	n / a	6,000	12,000
Standard installation and deployment of a typical solution without deployment	n / a	7,000	6,600
Basic technical support	13,165 (15% of license cost)	is free	is free
Estimated total cost of deploying a typical solution for 10 sites	100 933	64 700	93,600

• What are your goals? If there are problems within the company, if you need to effectively manage clients, forgetting about the broken tables in Excel and stickers, covering the entire table, then CRM is what you need. However, we must remember that CRM is not a panacea, it is just a tool.
• How the sales department and the front office are arranged and how they relate to other divisions, how much attention is paid to mailings and customer calls. If the mailing is small and the calls are not critical, then most solutions will do, and if there are calls and mailings, then you should pay attention that the SMS module is paid for by someone separately (for example, Terrasoft CRM ), some CRM have a built-in softphone ( the same Terrasoft CRM , RegionSoft CRM , someone has integration with Skype ( Klik , RegionSoft CRM (they even have Skype for logging conversations)), and someone else has it screwed on.
• Do production and logistics, as they are organized. If logistics and production are developed, then you should pay attention to powerful systems like Klick , RegionSoft CRM , Terrasoft CRM . Although they are somewhat functionally redundant for many companies, they allow the client to optimally rebuild business processes and effectively manage them. Comparable in power and feature set with the best foreign competitors, they are sharpened for the Russian market, which helps significantly reduce the cost of finalizing systems.
• Who are your customers? B2c or b2b. For example, if we are talking about a chain of stores with warehouses, price tags, discount cards and other retail equipment, then the solution RegionSoft CRM is more suitable. If you are a wholesaler or a company that works with a business (trade, bank, advertising agency, manufacturing, etc.), then you can find good solutions from any of these vendors.
• How professional are your system administrators and programmers , are there any? Employee training is paid by almost all vendors, many have paid services that a competent admin could conduct. In addition, if you have a person in the state who is familiar with programming, you can use the tools to refine the forms and reports submitted by all vendors. However, you need to pay attention that for someone it is just an opportunity to create a report or add fields to the cards, and for someone it is a strong solution for full-fledged refinement ( Click and its report designer, RegionSoft CRM and its Application Server ).
• Whether such software is installed in the company and what it does not suit you. For example, the client had a huge and complex analytical CRM. Having demanded a lot of money in the implementation, it did not bring any returns, because the employees did not accept the sea of ​​reports and got entangled in an intimidatingly multi-window interface. As a result, the client chose operational CRM, which has served him and his commercial service for more than a year, according to his goals. If you encounter problems when using software, it is better to analyze them, ask your employees that a new purchase does not become a waste of money.
• If you are a narrowly industrial company , look for an industry solution or order a serious project from a famous vendor. The software developed for you will be the most optimal solution, albeit the most expensive.

The second common problem on the part of the client’s management is the requirement that everything be earned immediately, quickly and smoothly. It is impossible: employees must get used to the interface, understand the structure of CRM, fill it with data. Only after that they will be able to fully use all the functionality. Manual refusing to adapt to the new program is doomed to confusion and countless mistakes.

The third scourge is greed . Greed is pursuing the introduction of almost any project. It begins at the moment of choice, ends with modifications and training. Here you can simply list the rules that need to be understood and at least partially accepted.

• Price is not the main criterion for choosing CRM. The main criterion - the novelty of the version and the functionality - the product must be developed, not abandoned by the developer, and the functionality must meet modern requirements. For example, versions of primary documentation forms should be up to date, the interface should be convenient, the warehouse and logistics should support trading equipment, etc. ... Today, a set of functions has developed on the market that is supported by all the leading CRM systems. If the vendor can not offer basic functionality - know, despite the low starting price, you will invest in full CRM. This is the same situation when a company outgrows software and starts paying twice.

When introducing CRM in companies, there is often a need to “finish” software for business needs. And many deliberately refuse to work out, even recognizing its urgent need, for reasons of "economy." This is tantamount to the conventional principle of "Smoking" Kazbek "saves on matches." The price of refinement is the price of convenience, efficiency and quick start of work.

There are two main cases of refinement: for companies that have their own specifics (HoReCa, pharmacy, construction, event, etc.) and minor modifications (reports, modules, card fields) for mass implementations. In the first case, the costs are significant, but the result should provide the company with the most effective and suitable tool for the job. In the second case, these are the wishes of the client, based on the basic functionality and refinement is not so expensive. In this situation, you can modify the CRM even by the staff of a professional professional programmer - vendors provide tools for working with reports (report designers Klik, Terrasoft CRM, report designer and Application Server RegionSoft CRM mentioned earlier) or pay a vendor ready to make all changes to the most concise deadlines.

From this follow three more principles.

• Revision paid. Always paid. There is no need to require the developer to “sift” a button for social networks for free, and even more unanswered will be the request to “just change the fields and a little here is the algorithm”. Your clients pay you, and in this situation you pay. Once you have to pay for the revision, try to organize your requirements so that for your money you will receive the highest quality and relevant delivery.
• Do not save on training - the costs are not so high, and the work of trained employees starts much faster.
• Pay for the update. Of course, all vendors have free updates within certain limits. However, if a new global version is released and you are offered to install it for a reasonable amount - study the innovations and update, you will get a modern stable version with good technical support.

Risks from the client

• Sabotage new software. At first glance, it sounds strange, but it occurs constantly. The roots of this phenomenon are more likely to go to psychology: managers are afraid of excessive control, novelty, time spent on training and understanding. This problem is easily solved: almost all vendors offer training, many have good manuals and built-in help. It is important that after implementation you have an employee who knows the system at the expert level and is ready to share knowledge with others. This can be an IT person or a merchant, it is important that the understanding is really deep. Saving time and money on training, you lose a certain layer of efficiency when working with CRM.
• Partial loss of old customers. This situation occurs when employees make new deals and new deals in CRM, while old ones continue to lead in files and paper notebooks. While introducing an old database into CRM by unloading (if possible) or manually is not only a way to keep customers and track relations with them, but also an excellent opportunity to practice by studying the entire system functionality.

Risks from the vendor (developer)

These risks are usually associated with the behavior of the client. Therefore, in the implementation process, the client must understand some features of interaction with the developer.

• The technical task - I am sure, the sore point of any IT project: from writing a landing page to integrated business automation. No matter how sad it is, very often customers do not know how to write it, and vendors cannot fully know and understand what the client needs. In this situation, there is a solution: the client to set out all the requirements in human language, without claims of technical “procrastination”, and the vendor - to formalize the requirements, if necessary. Moreover, try to state the purpose for which you need this or that function - most likely, the developer will offer you a simple and accessible solution based on the goal, and not from the description of the required functionality.
  The terms of reference should not be a project plan, but a full detailed description of what you (the customer) want from CRM software. The more literate and more detailed TZ will be compiled, the faster and more successful the implementation will be.
• Improvements. In the course of the modifications, the requirements for the project, and consequently, the deadlines, may often change. In this situation, both sides lose. In order to avoid such problems, it is necessary again to proceed from a correctly drawn up technical task. In addition, the client company must accurately assess the need for improvements to its goals, otherwise numerous changes in the supply will lead to greater costs.

Considering the process of implementing CRM from three sides, we can conclude:

• carefully analyze the processes within the company before implementing
• do not save on making the system as relevant to your business and its goals
• work closely with the vendor, who in this situation is not just a performer, but a professional who perfectly knows his system and is ready to deploy it with maximum efficiency

So guys: