How much does a CRM system cost?
If you ever bought a new car, then it will not be a revelation to you that things ultimately cost much more than the amount that was on the price tag and even the cash receipt. But for some reason, such an experience is completely forgotten when a business decides to implement a CRM system or any other corporate software. And begins a series of surprises, proceedings and disputes - why so much, when there was so much on the website calculator ?! "You're deceiving me! You cheat! I have no money! Yes, the CFO will kill me! Yes, this is the budget of Liechtenstein! Are you out of your mind? ”No, they did not. On the contrary, they sat down and sensibly wrote for you what was happening.
If you talk about the CRM system in the abstract, without reference to vendors and business types, you can identify several criteria that any system must meet - only with all three signs it can be valuable for business. That is the very value for which you pay.
CRM vendor, which is ready to answer you on all three points, is most likely able to offer software, about which you can continue to talk.
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So you decided to implement CRM. First you need to evaluate the main factors affecting the cost of the project.
The number of users is probably the first thing that needs to be calculated. The most common mistake is to equate the number of licenses with the number of sales staff. Yes, there are CRM-systems for sales, and there are complex solutions that provide the so-called end-to-end automation: from secretary to warehouse and production (for example, in RegionSoft CRM you can choose the configuration you need and automate several departments at once). In any case, you should inform about the implementation of the heads of departments and collect requirements: most often marketing, logistics, technical support, and even IT services are interested in the CRM system. Do not forget to count the managers, they will be the nodal users and coordinators of implementation and work in the system.
Please note that some CRM systems require the delivery of competitive licenses (by connections) - in this case, the “unoccupied” licenses may be used by other employees while their colleagues are away. Also, this scheme is suitable for companies working in shifts (call centers) and for those workers who do not constantly apply to CRM (for example, the analyst only needs to download data twice a month and he can apply to any free license). There is a nuance: some vendors supply only competitive licenses (for example, RegionSoft ), and some sell them at a higher price along with registered ones - pay attention to this when calculating the cost of implementation.
The need for a remote connection to the CRM-system and mobile access . If mobile licenses are most often shipped for free, the ability to remotely access desktop CRM systems slightly increases the cost. Remote access is the ability to connect to CRM in terminal mode via RDP. It is very convenient if you need to connect to the database from a laptop and any mobile device - in fact, you work in a familiar interface. Starting with 5 '' displays, there are no particular problems with the use of systems.
The required feature pack is probably the hardest part. We will not tell you in detail how to collect requirements and accumulate all the information about the needs of departments - our articles and diagrams will help you:
Implementation Article - Complete Algorithm
An article on how to fail the implementation
What is a CRM system?
Download the deployment plan (without registration, the download will begin immediately)
Download the full article on implementation (without registration, the download will begin immediately)
We note the main points that are worth paying attention to the cost of implementing CRM was optimal.
Refinement is the most important part of the implementation project. If you need to refine the CRM-system, then it is best to do it by the vendor. In this case, you have to pay for the development of technical specifications (why it is paid, we have already written) and for the hours of work of programmers. Some companies believe that they are the most cunning, and save on refinement, turning to freelancers. In fact, the miser pays twice: the freelancer may not cope with the task or pile up crutches in the code - in this case, the system may collapse and damage the business (by the way, read our mini-investigation about freelancers). The vendor, however, is well-versed in his system and is refining quickly and efficiently, since it is not economically or reputable to delay the work or do it again so that it can be redone again.
Integration is another thing to consider when calculating the cost of implementing CRM. Almost no CRM system can “out of the box” contain integration with all the necessary services: someone does not even have integration with mail and telephony. Therefore, check with the vendor what types of applications and for what money you can connect, because there are options.
According to the world's best CRM practices, the ratio of the cost of the software itself and implementation services lies in the range from 1: 0.5 to 1: 2.5. The cost of the project is also influenced by who you are ordering the implementation from - you do not need to be an economist to understand that each link in the chain craves for profit, and the more such links, the more you overpay.
There are a lot of players of different levels, quality, experience, etc. in the Russian market. They offer solutions that differ from everyone: from functionality to destination. And all this is called CRM, because, alas, there is no GOST for what can be called a CRM system. Let's start with the first and in many respects the main difference - the type of delivery.
Are you sure that moving data to the clouds is something like this?
Accordingly, in the modern market, it is customary to single out two basic models for the delivery of CRM systems (and other software).
Which scheme is better? Objectively unambiguous answer can not be given. For example, a startup that does not know where it will be after the new year is better to choose a cloud and SaaS. In general, cloud technologies are brilliantly promoted as a marketing chip, so they are often bought for just one reason: “it's fashionable, I read.” And these costs in marketing are justified - because the cloud is profitable for the supplier. If you open the price lists of CRM-systems, the price of the cloud compared to the desktop seems more than reasonable. But this is not even a trick, but a rather ordinary marketing illusion.
For example, the most inexpensive license RegionSoft CRM costs 7050 p., And from a well-known cloud competitor - 990 p. This is 7 times cheaper, what questions! But there is a nuance - 7050 p. this is once a user and for a lifetime (by the way, now this figure is even less - we have a New Year's action ), and 990 p. - per user per month. At the same time, according to world and Russian practice, the tenure of a CRM system in a normal “survivable” company is 5-10 years. And the cost of owning a SaaS CRM system increases in proportion to the number of months.
Let's try to draw all this on the chart and explain a little. This is really interesting!
For comparison, we took the popular CRM-system, which has in the "basic" configuration one of the lowest prices in the market and RegionSoft CRM in the Standard Plus edition with the ability. remote access and report designer to get roughly functionally close solutions. On this graph, you see the accumulated cost of ownership of the CRM-system for five years, excluding improvements and those. support And if in the first year the cost is comparable, then a SaaS solution by the fifth year will cost you 4.5 times more expensive. And this is despite the fact that we included an update to the major version in the RegionSoft price (approximately once every two years).
And on this chart you see annual payments, and for the SaaS version we took the option without a potential increase in the cost of rent (which in 5 years will certainly occur).
By the way, if you decide to deal with SaaS CRM, then pay attention to the fact that vendors rarely offer a contract for a monthly payment - most often, we are talking about a contract for the year ahead. Thus, the advantage of “I can change the CRM if I don’t like it” turns out to be elusive, especially under the pressure of discounts on this very annual contract. And then you will be offered a renewal at a discount from the new price (consider, at the old price, but without a discount), and then come up with something else. Nothing strange, just a business.
Speaking about the supply of CRM-systems, you can not ignore the free system. They also have their price and are also divided into two types.
Let's start with a less significant type - free CRM-ki as a marketing tool . Vendor provides absolutely free licenses for use with a lot of restrictions. The calculation is as follows: the company, sooner or later, will necessarily rest on a lack of functionality or restrictions on users, entries to the database, etc. At the same time, the company has a part of the client base already stored in the system, employees are used to the interface, some important settings have been made. Naturally, there is only one way out: switch to paid licenses without restrictions. Such is the marketing of slow motion.
The second type of free CRM-systems - open source . These are systems and forks of systems that are offered for free (free) use. Since these systems are backed by software companies and developed communities, these CRMs are quite functional. But we are still talking about business, not about charity, which means that the business behind the open-source business must be earned. So, for what money you subscribe, referring to opensource:
There is also a class of probable costs that differ from vendor to vendor. The fact is that a CRM system cannot exist by itself, it needs infrastructure. In cloud services, as a rule, all expenses for virtual capacities (clouds) are already included in the cost of renting licenses. With some desktop and web-systems, things are worse. We will not go into details and argue that the non-optimized architecture and the Legacy code of the 2000s are largely to blame - just talk about possible infrastructure investments.
There are several categories of vendor services for which it is best to pay so that the implementation of the system is not delayed, and the employees do not perceive it as an alien and hostile tool.
At that moment, when you decide to search for answers to your questions on the Internet or you will stand in a queue for a free consultation, sit down and calculate how much hours of downtime will cost you. As a rule, the number is amazing and motivates to conclude an agreement for priority service. Only here, alas, the business rarely evaluates and considers these watches, but for good reason you would have looked at not only the CRM support plan, but also the entire IT infrastructure and business process management system.
ROI is a very fashionable indicator that CEOs, CTO and CIO like to talk about. And if without irony, then this is a return on investment, in other words, a return on the CRM system. The exact payback period cannot be named: it all depends on how well the CRM system is implemented and used effectively. Alas, it happens that after a brilliant implementation, the system simply stands idle - what kind of payback now to speak. Therefore, if you have been waiting for the formula of recoupment, forgive us for disappointment - but in this case it will turn out to be just a lie. Let's explain why.
Here is a general return on investment formula:
ROI = ((Income - Cost) * Period) / (Investment amount) * 100%
Here is the ratio of all profits earned during the period of holding an investment asset to the value of the investment made (in this case, the cost of implementation). You already understand why there is no formula for calculating investments in CRM? The fact is that it is difficult to isolate the increase in profitability that the system accounts for, since the effect of CRM is not isolated from other events within the company.
Nevertheless, there are ways to reduce the payback period and increase the efficiency of the CRM system. To do this, you first need to tie up a maximum of processes on a CRM system: sales, support, marketing, mail, telephone, warehouse, etc. Secondly, it is necessary to conduct training and begin active work in the system as soon as licenses appear on user PCs. Thirdly, it is necessary to form conditional coefficients of user activity and train them to work in the system continuously. Fourthly, it is necessary to analyze the result of the work and broadcast the success to the whole team.
Why you shouldn’t believe the colorful presentations of vendors with specific ROIs (by the way, very real and taken after the implementation of other customers):
This Venn diagram doesn’t say anything, but she’s so cute! True, it looks like the business presentation of boys in ties? Sometimes even the girls on the slides show - but the value of this does not count, even burst
The CRM-system is capable even with a small impact to bring a tangible result for the business. Nucleus Research conducted a survey of 362 companies with long-term (cloud - 16 months, local software - 23 months) and medium-term (20% of respondents introduced systems in less than 5 months) implementations and found that in one year, sales growth averaged 4 , 5%, reduction of administrative expenses - 3.6%, profit growth 4%, customer outflow decreased by 3.3%. All indicators are taken without linking with each other - a separate effect. If you do not work in finance and do not own a business, these numbers may seem small to you, but this is not so.
Let's try these figures on a small company that had 5,000,000 rubles of sales per year, 100,000 overheads, profits of 1,000,000 and 100 customers, of which 20 changed every year.
So:
Sales = 5,000,000 * 4.5% = 225,000
Adm expenses = 100,000 - (100,000 * 96.4%) = 3,600
Profit = 1000 000 * 4% = 40 000
Clients: left 20, began to leave 19. One remained. On average, each client bought for 50,000, that is, they saved another one for 50,000 for the next year.
The total effect was: 318 600. In principle, this is a paid CRM for a small company and even with training.
By the way, according to the same Nucleus Research, on average, every dollar invested in CRM brings in $ 8.71. And this seems to be true.
The introduction of any corporate software is a very complex multidimensional process, in which everything is mixed in: from technology to psychology. On the one hand, a vendor who knows the product and understands the price and engineering value of its software, on the other hand, the customer’s representatives, who are often far from IT and are confident that “everyone lies and tries” (especially those who do business about these principles). To negotiate, present, collect requirements, draw up TZ, implement it is a huge work of both parties, who often risk breaking due to trifles. And there are no trifles in business. We have compiled a list of unobvious things, ignorance of which can spoil the whole process and break the relationship between the customer and the vendor. Be sure to pay attention to them.
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Primary check for "lice"
If you talk about the CRM system in the abstract, without reference to vendors and business types, you can identify several criteria that any system must meet - only with all three signs it can be valuable for business. That is the very value for which you pay.
- "Maintainability" - the ability to be modified by the forces of a vendor or another performer qualitatively, quickly and without damage to the surrounding functionality. This property directly depends on the quality of the program code: if it is pure and logically structured, then the system is easily configured, dopilivaetsya and updated. And you should not worry about the cloud or desktop system. The developer is responsible for the quality of their product.
- Capacity - the system must meet your needs in the volume of records (number of clients, transactions, etc.). Be sure to discuss with the vendor load, which are assumed in daily work, and the total planned amount of customer base.
- The delivery time of the system. Abroad, the approximate regulatory deadline for implementing the system is 17 months, but at the same time, Gartner and Forrester get systems to the tops of ratings and recommendations that can even start up in 3–6 months on large projects. Tightening the deadlines is not at hand, however, it is worth negotiating with the vendor about reasonable limits - if you need everything at once, then most likely, the developer will make every effort, but it will be much more expensive. Still, rational and reasonable demands are a guarantee of a reasonable price.
CRM vendor, which is ready to answer you on all three points, is most likely able to offer software, about which you can continue to talk.
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Mandatory components
So you decided to implement CRM. First you need to evaluate the main factors affecting the cost of the project.
The number of users is probably the first thing that needs to be calculated. The most common mistake is to equate the number of licenses with the number of sales staff. Yes, there are CRM-systems for sales, and there are complex solutions that provide the so-called end-to-end automation: from secretary to warehouse and production (for example, in RegionSoft CRM you can choose the configuration you need and automate several departments at once). In any case, you should inform about the implementation of the heads of departments and collect requirements: most often marketing, logistics, technical support, and even IT services are interested in the CRM system. Do not forget to count the managers, they will be the nodal users and coordinators of implementation and work in the system.
Please note that some CRM systems require the delivery of competitive licenses (by connections) - in this case, the “unoccupied” licenses may be used by other employees while their colleagues are away. Also, this scheme is suitable for companies working in shifts (call centers) and for those workers who do not constantly apply to CRM (for example, the analyst only needs to download data twice a month and he can apply to any free license). There is a nuance: some vendors supply only competitive licenses (for example, RegionSoft ), and some sell them at a higher price along with registered ones - pay attention to this when calculating the cost of implementation.
The need for a remote connection to the CRM-system and mobile access . If mobile licenses are most often shipped for free, the ability to remotely access desktop CRM systems slightly increases the cost. Remote access is the ability to connect to CRM in terminal mode via RDP. It is very convenient if you need to connect to the database from a laptop and any mobile device - in fact, you work in a familiar interface. Starting with 5 '' displays, there are no particular problems with the use of systems.
The required feature pack is probably the hardest part. We will not tell you in detail how to collect requirements and accumulate all the information about the needs of departments - our articles and diagrams will help you:
Implementation Article - Complete Algorithm
An article on how to fail the implementation
What is a CRM system?
Download the deployment plan (without registration, the download will begin immediately)
Download the full article on implementation (without registration, the download will begin immediately)
We note the main points that are worth paying attention to the cost of implementing CRM was optimal.
- After you collect the requirements, process them - highlight the general, agree on compromises, identify the main processes that will affect the automation. The more unsystematic and abstract the requirements passed to the vendor, the more expensive the implementation can be.
- Requirements must always be collected - this will help you choose the desired system configuration. The “wrap-all” principle works poorly here - extra functions when using the system will annoy users and increase the cost of licenses. For example, if you do not have a warehouse and production, it is better to give preference to RegionSoft CRM Professional / Professional Plus, but not Enterprise, which in fact is already an ERP-system.
- Do not order a revision just to order, or because you think that you will need the function sometime. If you are not sure that you urgently need functionality, work in the system for a while - perhaps a basic set of capabilities will cover all your needs.
Refinement is the most important part of the implementation project. If you need to refine the CRM-system, then it is best to do it by the vendor. In this case, you have to pay for the development of technical specifications (why it is paid, we have already written) and for the hours of work of programmers. Some companies believe that they are the most cunning, and save on refinement, turning to freelancers. In fact, the miser pays twice: the freelancer may not cope with the task or pile up crutches in the code - in this case, the system may collapse and damage the business (by the way, read our mini-investigation about freelancers). The vendor, however, is well-versed in his system and is refining quickly and efficiently, since it is not economically or reputable to delay the work or do it again so that it can be redone again.
Integration is another thing to consider when calculating the cost of implementing CRM. Almost no CRM system can “out of the box” contain integration with all the necessary services: someone does not even have integration with mail and telephony. Therefore, check with the vendor what types of applications and for what money you can connect, because there are options.
- Need integration with third-party services, such as telephony, virtual PBX, site, 1C, etc. As a rule, it is paid, since each company has its own wishes on the integration parameters. By the way, if you are told that integration with 1C is available in the basic package - do not believe it. The maximum that you will receive is data exchange in manual or automatic mode. This integration is quite a specific and time consuming process. The same story with telephony - each company has its own preferences in choosing a virtual PBX and provider. Sometimes the CRM-system is quite tightly tied to the provider of IP-telephony (vendors are profitable). In this case, you will have to lay in the cost of ownership of the system and tariffs for communication. But it is better to avoid such bundles - tariffs can be significantly higher than the average in the market.
- Integration is needed literally with everything but the most basic CRM functions: with an email client, with a telephony service, with chat, with a warehouse system, with a project management system, and even with reports. Such policies are followed by SaaS systems, which supposedly provide the client with complete freedom of choice of configuration: from a widget (third-party applications) you can assemble a CRM system as a designer. However, this option with the apparent convenience is not "Do not pay for too much," and "Pay for everything connected." This means that besides the fact that you pay the vendor for the cloud system, you will pay all the widget providers (sometimes 50-150 rubles per widget per month, but in the end + to the monthly fee). There is statistics that third-party add-ons range from 10 to 35% of the cost of software, or even more. There is one more drawback: in case of a failure in functionality, you can be transferred from the vendor to the widget provider and back.
- We need specific integration: data exchange with 1C according to the schedule, collection of information from the company's website via web-forms, telephony scripts, etc. In this case, you need to lay the budget for the development of integration services or for the purchase of special solutions. For example, we often solved similar tasks for business and eventually came to the creation of the RegionSoft Application Server and the RegionSoft VoIP Connector . With their help, you can solve a huge number of integration tasks and significantly expand the capabilities of a CRM system.
Who to buy a CRM system from?
According to the world's best CRM practices, the ratio of the cost of the software itself and implementation services lies in the range from 1: 0.5 to 1: 2.5. The cost of the project is also influenced by who you are ordering the implementation from - you do not need to be an economist to understand that each link in the chain craves for profit, and the more such links, the more you overpay.
- The cheapest option is to contact the vendor directly. In the courtyard of the XXI century and any vendor is able to implement the project remotely using a set of technologies. Accordingly, if there is no language barrier and the vendor works for your region, feel free to work directly.
- A little more expensive or the same you will cost the introduction of a partner vendor. As a rule, partners adhere to the basic prices of the vendor and share the income with the developer, earning on additional services, for example, on refining, training, setting up.
- But the franchisee is not quite partners and can give a commercial margin on the sale of licenses and implementation. As a rule, they provide a full range of services and technical support. Franchisees can also take on the burden of offering their own development or the development of other companies.
- It is even more expensive to contact a system integrator. True, this option is more suitable not for small and medium-sized businesses, but for big business, which requires the presence of contractor representatives on the company's territory and complex automation: from purchasing servers or a place in the cloud to training and creating special instructions. In addition, not all CRM systems are implemented through system integrators.
- The most expensive option is to implement the project by freelancer. With a high degree of probability, you will have to contact the vendor for resolution of problems encountered during the work of the freelancer. Thus, you will take away more time of developers (it’s necessary to figure out what you got felled by freelance typing programmers) that will be included in the bill.
- Separately worth the option of self-implementation. This is quite a reasonable way, if you have a good system administrator or programmer in your staff who understands the features of a business. In this case, you can save on installation, on configuration, and even to some extent on refinement. The only thing that is not worth saving is training, because the experience of the vendor will allow you to walk not only on the product, but also on typical pain points, knowledge of which reduces the likelihood of annoying and stupid mistakes and thus saves time and nerves.
Types of delivery of CRM-systems
There are a lot of players of different levels, quality, experience, etc. in the Russian market. They offer solutions that differ from everyone: from functionality to destination. And all this is called CRM, because, alas, there is no GOST for what can be called a CRM system. Let's start with the first and in many respects the main difference - the type of delivery.
Between the earth and the clouds
- Desktop CRM - CRM-systems, which are placed on the main north and on the workstations of workers as an application. They can work locally even if there is no Internet connection, and the application itself is launched from the disk of the working PC. The main advantage is the ability to work without a network and a high level of system data security.
- WEB CRM - CRM-systems that can have a central repository within a company or on a third-party server, and access is provided through a web browser (users open the application as a tab and work). This type of software is sensitive to the availability and speed of the Internet connection, in general cases it is less secure than desktop software.
- Cloud CRM - CRM-systems, the central repository of which is located in the cloud provider (rarely - the vendor), and custom applications are available in the browser. Extremely sensitive to the quality of the Internet, less resistant than others to cyber threats, but it unfolds (but does not tune and does not begin to work!) In the literal sense of the word in 5-10 minutes.
Accordingly, in the modern market, it is customary to single out two basic models for the delivery of CRM systems (and other software).
- On premise - the software is installed on the territory and at the facilities (computers, servers, workstations) of the company, payment is made at a time (pay once per project), according to the SaaS model (software is provided for rent), by installments (you pay for the software amount, but in a few discrete payments). The software after purchase belongs to you.
- SaaS service (CRM or other software) is provided as a service, that is, it is leased and is located either on the company's facilities or on the servers of providers, data centers, data centers. Cloud SaaS is now the most common, as it is easy to deploy and beneficial for the vendor due to subscriber payments. Renting software as a service, you pay for it, as for the Internet or mobile connection. Software in this case does not belong to you.
Which scheme is better? Objectively unambiguous answer can not be given. For example, a startup that does not know where it will be after the new year is better to choose a cloud and SaaS. In general, cloud technologies are brilliantly promoted as a marketing chip, so they are often bought for just one reason: “it's fashionable, I read.” And these costs in marketing are justified - because the cloud is profitable for the supplier. If you open the price lists of CRM-systems, the price of the cloud compared to the desktop seems more than reasonable. But this is not even a trick, but a rather ordinary marketing illusion.
For example, the most inexpensive license RegionSoft CRM costs 7050 p., And from a well-known cloud competitor - 990 p. This is 7 times cheaper, what questions! But there is a nuance - 7050 p. this is once a user and for a lifetime (by the way, now this figure is even less - we have a New Year's action ), and 990 p. - per user per month. At the same time, according to world and Russian practice, the tenure of a CRM system in a normal “survivable” company is 5-10 years. And the cost of owning a SaaS CRM system increases in proportion to the number of months.
Let's try to draw all this on the chart and explain a little. This is really interesting!
For comparison, we took the popular CRM-system, which has in the "basic" configuration one of the lowest prices in the market and RegionSoft CRM in the Standard Plus edition with the ability. remote access and report designer to get roughly functionally close solutions. On this graph, you see the accumulated cost of ownership of the CRM-system for five years, excluding improvements and those. support And if in the first year the cost is comparable, then a SaaS solution by the fifth year will cost you 4.5 times more expensive. And this is despite the fact that we included an update to the major version in the RegionSoft price (approximately once every two years).
And on this chart you see annual payments, and for the SaaS version we took the option without a potential increase in the cost of rent (which in 5 years will certainly occur).
By the way, if you decide to deal with SaaS CRM, then pay attention to the fact that vendors rarely offer a contract for a monthly payment - most often, we are talking about a contract for the year ahead. Thus, the advantage of “I can change the CRM if I don’t like it” turns out to be elusive, especially under the pressure of discounts on this very annual contract. And then you will be offered a renewal at a discount from the new price (consider, at the old price, but without a discount), and then come up with something else. Nothing strange, just a business.
Free cheese and small mousetraps
Speaking about the supply of CRM-systems, you can not ignore the free system. They also have their price and are also divided into two types.
Let's start with a less significant type - free CRM-ki as a marketing tool . Vendor provides absolutely free licenses for use with a lot of restrictions. The calculation is as follows: the company, sooner or later, will necessarily rest on a lack of functionality or restrictions on users, entries to the database, etc. At the same time, the company has a part of the client base already stored in the system, employees are used to the interface, some important settings have been made. Naturally, there is only one way out: switch to paid licenses without restrictions. Such is the marketing of slow motion.
The second type of free CRM-systems - open source . These are systems and forks of systems that are offered for free (free) use. Since these systems are backed by software companies and developed communities, these CRMs are quite functional. But we are still talking about business, not about charity, which means that the business behind the open-source business must be earned. So, for what money you subscribe, referring to opensource:
- Paid technical support vendor, one-time and package. Expanding the open-source project, you will not get by with the support of the community and on your own, which means you will have to pay for contacting the company. It is technical support along with refinement that makes up the main source of income for vendors of open source projects.
- Refinement. For example, if you use a fork of a foreign CRM system, you will definitely need modules related to Russian document management, primary documentation and integration with 1C.
- Completion and development on your own - in this case, you have to pay for the work of a freelancer or a programmer in the state.
- Licensing issues are the rarest of situations, but still happen. You can get on the payment associated with the commercial use of a non-commercial project (if, for example, you charge for using your personal account in CRM from your partners). And, of course, there will definitely be difficulties if you modify CRM and decide to sell it as your fork.
Payments that are not all
There is also a class of probable costs that differ from vendor to vendor. The fact is that a CRM system cannot exist by itself, it needs infrastructure. In cloud services, as a rule, all expenses for virtual capacities (clouds) are already included in the cost of renting licenses. With some desktop and web-systems, things are worse. We will not go into details and argue that the non-optimized architecture and the Legacy code of the 2000s are largely to blame - just talk about possible infrastructure investments.
- The cost of a DBMS is the saddest part of the cost that the vendor puts on customers. Some CRM systems, starting with n users, require MS SQL DBMS (there is also Oracle DBMS), which costs a lot of money and needs to be purchased separately, in excess of the cost of licenses. At the same time, there are many free and "light" DBMS that can withstand most of the load and do not cost anything. But in order to work with such databases, you need to continuously optimize the code and take care of the architecture of the project. For example, we in RegionSoft CRM have been using Firebird DBMS for many years, including for loaded projects, and have never encountered a serious database crash.
- Equipment costs are a special item. If the company is large, there are a lot of users and records, but at the same time there are high security requirements, you will most likely have to purchase a server to store the database and backups within the company. But again, this is a one-time cost. And, of course, you may need to update the fleet of specialized equipment: cash registers, barcode coders, card readers and so on. But these are no longer features of a CRM implementation project, but features of each specific business.
- Sometimes vendors of cloud systems impose restrictions on backups or administration systems and sell them as an independent complimentary solution. Therefore, before making a deployment decision, be sure to specify how often backups are created, how they are transferred in the event of an accident or vendor termination, and how much the system is administered (for example, Active Directory capabilities may be limited).
Without which almost can not do
There are several categories of vendor services for which it is best to pay so that the implementation of the system is not delayed, and the employees do not perceive it as an alien and hostile tool.
- For data import - if you have a ready-made client base, you migrate from another CRM system or corporate software, it is better to entrust the migration of data to the vendor in order not to end up with a damaged database. In addition, he can do it much faster than your employees.
- For initial configuration - if you do not have a good IT specialist in your staff, it is better to ask the vendor to help set up telephony, templates, directories, first business processes. In this case, you should carefully understand what and how you are doing in order to independently cope with similar tasks in the future.
- For training - the fee for it, as a rule, is not very high, and the training itself is conducted online. Therefore, it is a useful waste of time and money, which will enable you to start quickly and competently, without breaking the system and not addressing the vendor with already much more serious (and expensive to solve) problems.
- For technical support - this is almost no comment. Priority and high-quality technical support is always paid, but it always allows you to do a better job with a CRM vase. At the same time, no one will come to your office - for most serious vendors, all help is provided through tools of remote access to a computer as soon as possible and only for business.
At that moment, when you decide to search for answers to your questions on the Internet or you will stand in a queue for a free consultation, sit down and calculate how much hours of downtime will cost you. As a rule, the number is amazing and motivates to conclude an agreement for priority service. Only here, alas, the business rarely evaluates and considers these watches, but for good reason you would have looked at not only the CRM support plan, but also the entire IT infrastructure and business process management system.
- For updates. If a vendor announces a paid transition to a new major version, it is always best to switch - you will receive both the latest functionality, and more stable operation, and other benefits. It's like a car overhaul: I did it - and N more years without troubles.
ROI - ask about it anyway
ROI is a very fashionable indicator that CEOs, CTO and CIO like to talk about. And if without irony, then this is a return on investment, in other words, a return on the CRM system. The exact payback period cannot be named: it all depends on how well the CRM system is implemented and used effectively. Alas, it happens that after a brilliant implementation, the system simply stands idle - what kind of payback now to speak. Therefore, if you have been waiting for the formula of recoupment, forgive us for disappointment - but in this case it will turn out to be just a lie. Let's explain why.
Here is a general return on investment formula:
ROI = ((Income - Cost) * Period) / (Investment amount) * 100%
Here is the ratio of all profits earned during the period of holding an investment asset to the value of the investment made (in this case, the cost of implementation). You already understand why there is no formula for calculating investments in CRM? The fact is that it is difficult to isolate the increase in profitability that the system accounts for, since the effect of CRM is not isolated from other events within the company.
Nevertheless, there are ways to reduce the payback period and increase the efficiency of the CRM system. To do this, you first need to tie up a maximum of processes on a CRM system: sales, support, marketing, mail, telephone, warehouse, etc. Secondly, it is necessary to conduct training and begin active work in the system as soon as licenses appear on user PCs. Thirdly, it is necessary to form conditional coefficients of user activity and train them to work in the system continuously. Fourthly, it is necessary to analyze the result of the work and broadcast the success to the whole team.
Why you shouldn’t believe the colorful presentations of vendors with specific ROIs (by the way, very real and taken after the implementation of other customers):
- estimates for the expansion, integration and management of a new IT system are rarely realistic
- ROI of another business does not apply to you, because you have your own processes, deadlines and employees
- all profit growth can not be recorded at the expense of CRM-ki, in the end, it is only a tool, behind which are living reasonable people
- the vendor does not have your data on the state of the company prior to implementation and cannot promise growth and profit without knowing the scale of the disaster or, on the contrary, your success.
The CRM-system is capable even with a small impact to bring a tangible result for the business. Nucleus Research conducted a survey of 362 companies with long-term (cloud - 16 months, local software - 23 months) and medium-term (20% of respondents introduced systems in less than 5 months) implementations and found that in one year, sales growth averaged 4 , 5%, reduction of administrative expenses - 3.6%, profit growth 4%, customer outflow decreased by 3.3%. All indicators are taken without linking with each other - a separate effect. If you do not work in finance and do not own a business, these numbers may seem small to you, but this is not so.
Let's try these figures on a small company that had 5,000,000 rubles of sales per year, 100,000 overheads, profits of 1,000,000 and 100 customers, of which 20 changed every year.
So:
Sales = 5,000,000 * 4.5% = 225,000
Adm expenses = 100,000 - (100,000 * 96.4%) = 3,600
Profit = 1000 000 * 4% = 40 000
Clients: left 20, began to leave 19. One remained. On average, each client bought for 50,000, that is, they saved another one for 50,000 for the next year.
The total effect was: 318 600. In principle, this is a paid CRM for a small company and even with training.
By the way, according to the same Nucleus Research, on average, every dollar invested in CRM brings in $ 8.71. And this seems to be true.
Unobvious, but likely
The introduction of any corporate software is a very complex multidimensional process, in which everything is mixed in: from technology to psychology. On the one hand, a vendor who knows the product and understands the price and engineering value of its software, on the other hand, the customer’s representatives, who are often far from IT and are confident that “everyone lies and tries” (especially those who do business about these principles). To negotiate, present, collect requirements, draw up TZ, implement it is a huge work of both parties, who often risk breaking due to trifles. And there are no trifles in business. We have compiled a list of unobvious things, ignorance of which can spoil the whole process and break the relationship between the customer and the vendor. Be sure to pay attention to them.
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New Year's action on the CRM-system and other business automation tools
If you need a CRM system or other business automation software, then we have New Year discounts. Until December 16 - 15%, and then will be less. Here is a list of our own software, which is subject to the promotion:
* RegionSoft CRM 6.0
* RegionSoft CRM 6.0 Media
* RegionSoft Application Server
* RegionSoft VoIP Connector
* RegionSoft Retail and RetailReplicator
* RegionSoft GeoMonitor
* RegionSoft Barman
And further! If you decide to purchase licenses quickly, 90 minutes of online and very extensive training as a gift. Because without training, it is bad, tested by thousands of implementations.
The countdown has gone :-)
* RegionSoft CRM 6.0
* RegionSoft CRM 6.0 Media
* RegionSoft Application Server
* RegionSoft VoIP Connector
* RegionSoft Retail and RetailReplicator
* RegionSoft GeoMonitor
* RegionSoft Barman
And further! If you decide to purchase licenses quickly, 90 minutes of online and very extensive training as a gift. Because without training, it is bad, tested by thousands of implementations.
The countdown has gone :-)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/343632/
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