By Dur-e-Sabih – The benefits of using a CRM are undeniable, and a custom-made CRM is more efficient than a pre-made one. One big reason is cost-efficiency. Many ready-to-use CRM tools offer features that fail to meet the business needs. Therefore,upgrading to the premium version becomes mandatory.
Unfortunately, these paid versions come with a hefty cost. Apart from it, except a few features, many others are not useful for our business. Thus, we end up spending on something which is not 100% useful.
Customized CRM tools are the best solution. If we built this software from scratch, we could achieve cost-efficiency in no time. Wondering how to build? Read below:
Identification of Business Goals
Irrespective of the business type, one common goal of using CRM is increasing profits. But, what route do you want to select for attaining a high profit? Determine this route and then design your CRM accordingly.
Read: 5 Easy Ways for Your Business to Save Money
For instance, you can focus on reducing operational costs by automating tasks. On the other hand, you can concentrate on the marketing and look forward to increasing sales. In case if you want to customize only the marketing functions, you don’t even need to make changes in other departments.
Furthermore, let’s have a look at some common goals:
- Augmenting consumer experience
- Maintaining centralized data
- Getting insights on consumer behavior
- Analyzing the impact of marketing campaigns
- Enhancing internal communication
Study and Select the Type of CRM
Depending on your business goal, you will now select an appropriate type of CRM. Broadly, there are three CRM categories. These include:
Operational CRM
If your goal is related to operations like automating things, increasing customer support, getting sales insights, etc., operational CRM is the right fit. It provides a custom-made dashboard and instant reporting for increasing operational efficiency.
Read: How To Create a Mobile App For Your New Business
Analytical CRM
If customer acquisition is all that you need, then analytical CRM can resolve your problem. It helps you track the route from where customers are coming, thus aiding in a more targeted approach.
Collaborative CRM
Instead of targeting new clients, if you want to focus on retaining, consider collaborative CRM. With its incredible features, you can track the problems in your sales funnel. Thus, identification of the root cause of bounce rate becomes possible.
Decide the Core Features
Though all of us have some distinctive business requirements, other common needs remain the same. So, after deciding the type of CRM because of your customized needs, you need to decide on some basic features. They may include the following:
- Task management
- Contact management
- Lead management
- Notifications and scheduling
- Reporting and graphs
- File sharing and collaboration
Advanced CRM Features
Apart from the above basic ones, we often require some advanced features like:
- Invoicing
- Pipeline view ( view of lead’s journey from start to end)
- Mobile access
- Chatbots
- Third-party integrations
When I was creating a real estate CRM for my real estate business, I included all of these features. This perfect CRM package has now become my viable business solution for the long run.
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Decide Rules and Specify Access
Never compromise on security and management. Using a CRM does not mean that everyone from every department can get access to data. There should be some rules, and only the employees related to that data can get access.
Create a Budget
Firstly, decide a budget that your business can afford for a custom-made CRM. Now, jot down the features and see how much cost will incur. In the end, evaluate the cost of each developmental step like:
- Designing
- Coding
- Testing
- Maintenance
Final Words
In short, creating customized CRM software is ideal for every business. It increases efficiency, reduces cost, and lets us emphasize more on the core competencies. If you haven’t developed a tailor-made CRM for your business, start it from today!
Dur-e-Sabih provides ghostwriting and copywriting services. Her educational background in Accountancy helps her in tackling topics ranging from career and business productivity to web development, finance, and digital marketing. She writes blog articles for Real Estate CRM.
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