Hosted vs. On-Premise CRM

There are two primary types of CRM solutions for businesses: hosted CRM and on-premise CRM. Hosted CRM (also known as 'on-demand CRM') entails a company outsourcing a portion or all of its CRM functions to an ASP (application service provider). Unlike licensed on-premise CRM software, hosted CRM tools are payable on a monthly basis without requiring complex implementations or the assistance of an in-house IT team. The result is a cost-effective solution that promises to deliver a quick ROI (return on investment), while freeing a company to focus on its core competencies.

In fact, according to a study from Nucleus Research, more than 80 percent of companies that outsourced CRM achieved a positive ROI. The study reported that problems with the on-premise CRM model include high software and consulting costs, ineffective user adoption, and poor management.

But for all its promises of immediate payback, the hosted CRM model does have its shortcomings. For one thing, whereas on-premise CRM solutions can be tailored to the particular needs of an organization, on demand solutions don't allow for the same degree of customization. What's more, on-premise solutions are easier to integrate into a company's existing business processes and applications.

For small- to medium-size businesses, however, the price is right when it comes to hosted CRM tools. By paying per user per month, a company can gain access to a sophisticated application in a mere 30 days without having to burden its IT department or cut of its cash flow. And of particularly good news to growing companies is the fact that today's on-demand CRM solutions are highly scalable and easy to upgrade.

Wilden Pump & Engineering

At Wilden Pump & Engineering, " Engineered Revolution" is more than just a marketing tag line. It's away of life that represents Wilden's commitment to providing its customers with the most advanced pumps available. And Walter Bonnett, Marketing Technology Coordinator at Wilden, has taken on this way of life by revolutionizing the way business is done. Step by step, he is streamlining operations and creating processes to increase sales productivity and improve marketing - to secure its position as the industry leader.

When Bonnett joined Wilden, between Wilden' s inside sales team, regional field sales managers, and a network of over 200 distributors worldwide, lead delivery was slow and the information about each lead was incomplete. Distributors were unhappy, because the delay in receiving leads - which were of ten duplicates of previous leads - was too slow so by the time they received them, they were no longer "hot". The daily summary of basic information on leads was not good enough and they were losing sales because of it. Further, the marketing team of ten had to guess what their customers' pains were, how their existing pumps were working, and what upcoming expansion projects they had. Even basic information like the application for the pump was missing from the customers' records, and they had to blindly market all pumps to a multitude of industries.

After investigating several CRM packages to help overcome these internal challenges, Wilden selected Maximizer Enterprise and implemented the software to fit into the company's sales and marketing process and help achieve its sales object ives.

Now, the inside sales represent at ives assign leads to each region by creating a new opportunity for each qualified lead. Distributors log into the web-based portal to view all the details on each of t heir leads. And each regional sales manager accesses the information from the field to view all opportunities for the distributors in his area. So distributors receive "hot" leads in real-time and have all the background information needed to make an informed and effective sales call.

More importantly, giving distributors and remote employees access to the customer base enables them to input details into each opportunity as it progresses from lead to close. Information such as what the prospect's problems or needs are, what they want to pump, what type of facility they have, and what pumps they are currently using are input ted into the customer record in customized fields so the data can later be analyzed. This is proving valuable for managers to know the status of sales opportunities, or why certain deals may have been lost. Further, the marketing team was previously unable to distinguish effectively between new and old prospects. Now they can precisely target their direct mail and email campaigns to the right audience.

"Historically, we have been out of touch with our end users, since we let the distributors build the relationships with them," says Bonnett. "Maximizer Enterprise puts us closer to the end users, which means we now have a better understanding of their needs. The processes we established and information we are gathering are helping us stay competitive in our position as the industry leader."

Business Challenges and Successful Solutions

Small to medium-sized businesses want to stay competitive, increase revenue, and remain profitable at the same time. This can be a challenge. Whether companies find this chal lenging because of a slow economy, market saturation, or other reasons, many companies are re-evaluating business strategies and internal processes to overcome these obstacles. Companies are realizing that in order to maintain their status or grow, they need to focus on their existing customers as much as or more than acquiring new customers, and do so cost-effectively. They cannot afford to lose a customer,ignore specific customer demands, or treat even one customer poorly, because for most companies, hanging on to a customer means increased revenue through cross-selling, up-selling, and repeat business year after year. Losing one customer over a dispute over a $50 part has a far greater impact than today's $50 - the company would lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars in future revenue from that customer who will spend money with the competition for years to come.

Real igning a company's employees and processes to focus on customer satisfaction is not always easy. The sales department is focused on closing deals for the month, the marketing department is focused on generating new leads with new campaigns, and the service department is trying to pull in their own revenue - so who's job is it to care about the customer? It 's everyone's job.

For many successful companies, creating a customer -focused business strategy was the first step. The companies' leaders proactively implemented customer -focused plans, processes, tools, and corporate culture. By instilling the commitment throughout the organization - in sales, marketing, customer support, and other departments - employees became dedicated to serving customer needs and treating each customer as an individual. To help employees do their job, companies refined workflow and business processes and invested in software that connects everyone in the organization to each other, and to the customer.

That's where Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software fitsin. Using CRM software, marketersare able to profile and market to customers, sales teams can collaborate on sales opportunities, service representatives can manage customer support cases, and everyone in the organization can track contacts, communications, and account activities. The results that successful companies have seen include gaining a competitive edge, increasing referral business, increasing market share, rising sales, and cost savings.

Senior Flexonics Pathway (manufacturing), Wilden Pump & Engineering (manufacturing), Ipsos-Reid (research services), The Oxford Princeton Programme (education), and Connect Tech (high-tech/distribution) are five examples of how companies are winning with a customer -focused culture, redefined business processes, and CRM software tools. They are succeeding in their commitment to satisfying customers throughout their life with the company, and building profitable relationships by doing so.

Business Technology Solutions Overview

At Business Technology Solutions, our mission is to help our clients enhance their business processes through the implementation of technology solutions, making them more efficient and profitable as a result. Our clients are typically small and mid-size organizations in the distribution, manufacturing, service, and health and long-term care industries. In addition, many of our clients use specialized applications specific for their industry, like point of sale for retail and restaurants, and/or require integration to an accounting or HR and payroll solution. As a technology consulting organization comprised of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and certified Human Resources and Payroll professionals, we have the ability to understand our clients’ unique accounting, business management and human resource needs. Working in concert with each client’s team, we take the time to really know their business, its objectives and chief concerns. Then, we’ll apply technology to improve efficiency and customer service and reduce redundancy and cost – helping streamline business processes and enhance their bottom line. At Business Technology Solutions (BTS), we strive to orchestrate real business solutions to meet our client’s needs.

Human Resource Management Center (HRMC) Overview

Founded in 1984, Human Resource Management Center (HRMC) is a pioneer in applying cutting edge technology to solve business' most pressing human capital challenges. The company's flagship HRMC AcclaimSM solution simplifies the management of all phases of the employee lifecycle, and the identification of opportunities for improvement. HRMC's technology automates a range of interrelated processes within a flexible, user-friendly framework, enabling organizations to streamline the acquisition and assessment of talent, evaluate new employees' readiness to contribute, and analyze the impact of a company's culture on retention and performance. Whether accessed over the Web or the phone, users--from job prospects to long-time employees--are led through an interactive experience that approximates true human dialogue, resulting in more effective interviews and employee surveys. HRMC Acclaim is easy to deploy and can be up and running within two weeks. It can be integrated with and extend the functionality of existing applicant tracking and HRIS systems, or provide companies with a complete, end-to-end automated solution from the ground up.