You might think that CRM is an over-hyped contact management system. But any business manager realizes that increased customer satisfaction, better co-ordination between employees and well-informed staff will boost an organization’s profits. All these benefits can be realised through CRM. A CRM solution goes beyond simple contact management. It also affects departmental functions such as sales, marketing and HR to make your organization increasingly customer-focussed through the use of technology.

Customer services: Any good CRM solution will cover the full spectrum of customer services, from complaint management to providing better product information. Customer service levels can be enhanced by automated communication systems, prompt reporting of customer problems and more effective responses to those problems. The customer experience is enriched by a system that makes management and employees accountable and service-oriented. This leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Marketing: By providing information on business environment, competitors and industry trends, marketing automation can help you remain competitive. And watch out for enterprise feedback management (EFM) tools. EFM looks at the reasons behind customer behaviour. You need to understand these reasons so that you can provide personalised solutions and a higher degree of service, which will help you differentiate yourself from competitors.

Sales: CRM can also help with the automation of sales functions, from tracking customer preferences to quote management. Employees’ time is better managed by support from the systems and some of the chaos surrounding sales leads is lifted. Sales leads become more structured and all contact with potential customers is recorded and stored, which means it can also be analysed. All of this can save you money in the long run. Furthermore, organised documentation and easy access to the latest client information and communication records will lead to better time management, which will result in improved client interactions, savings and even more sales.

Some of the benefits of CRM for a business like yours are:

· More effective sales calls

· Increased sales through repeat business from past customers

· Improved ability to provide a higher level of customer service

· Greater customer satisfaction because you understand their unique needs

· Enhanced and up-to-date communication

· Accurate client account records

In this highly competitive business environment, an in-depth understanding of customers and their preferences has never been more critical. If you don’t utilize current technology to generate timely and effective information about your customers, you will lose out to competitors.

Once you’ve made the decision to switch to voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephony, you must perform due diligence to ensure you pick the right service provider and solution. Clearly, cost savings are topmost on your mind, but you need to consider overall efficiency as well. Your options are wide-ranging and every vendor has a slightly different solution to offer. And this can be extremely confusing.

In choosing the solution that most closely fits the needs and scale of your company, you should aim to focus on three major aspects:

• The provider’s technical expertise: This will show the commitment of the vendor towards internet telephony. Solutions offered must provide scalability and flexibility.
• How responsive its support team is: Examine how complete its suite of support services are. Also, look for a responsive and accessible after-sales support team.
• Whether the provider has a customer-focused approach: A customer-friendly, interactive and alert approach is likely to signify the vendor’s level of interest in forming a long-term relationship with you.

A provider should also demonstrate a solid understanding of your businesses needs and the ability to build solutions to match those needs. You must also ensure that the solution can scale up as your company grows.

In preparing to purchase a VoIP system, you need to clearly define your business needs for both the present and the future. Aligning your convergence systems with realistic growth goals and organizational vision is a worthwhile exercise.

When you come to choose a solution, you should look out for:

• A complete suite of communications and business applications
• Back-up options for emergencies or system failures
• High reliability and availability records
• Flexibility and scalability
• Multi-vendor interoperability
• Excellent voice quality
• Easy implementation and management
• Integrated networking between sites
• Clarity about total costs and the payback period
• Guarantees of quality and service levels
• Robust support options

You need to get this right because if you end up with an unsuitable IP telephony system, skilful implementation or competent service will not solve the problem.