Part 6: More than just CRM – A Business Management Software

Believe it or not there are still business owners out there who do not recognize and realize the massive benefits that using one single CRM solution can bring to their business.

A lot of that can be attributed the systems of the past, but today we have a new age of CRM. CRM 2.0 is the latest incarnation of CRM, and it completely utilizes the power of the web. SaaS CRM, Cloud CRM, Web-based CRM and Hosted CRM are all incarnations of CRM 2.0. The basic premise being that they are all hosted on the web across multiple servers to ensure maximum uptime. If one of the servers goes down, then the software would still be able to run, to ensure that users have access to their all important records.

Additionally, CRM 2.0 came heavily featured with additional marketing automation tools, the line between CRM and marketing automation began to blur slightly, and many features were added to CRM systems. This created a solution that was better able to suit the needs of sales and marketing teams. Giving them a more complete picture of customers, and a broader set of tools to use at their disposal. CRM 2.0 further consolidated other features into a single system, everything through from accounting and invoicing to customer and employee management. You can even create and schedule meetings, marketing campaigns, manage projects and tasks, create shared documents, write e-mails and blogs and so much more.

CRM 2.0 - And the Future?

When looking towards future trends in CRM, you wonder what the next step may be. Many companies like WORKetc and BPMonline have taken a new approach that consolidates other software systems, and includes them as part of the CRM platform. WORKetc adds features such a project management and billing, whereas BPM added business process management, both systems creating a new compound CRM solution. Other trends that have occurred, are systems that expand on CRM features, like increased knowledgebase and search functionality from companies like Coveo. Coveo has created an entirely new solution that uses intelligent search to help you resolve customer issues faster than ever before.

CRM 2.0 - What does it all mean?

Running a small business can be a very time consuming and difficult task, but by using a good CRM software solution can relive a ton of pressure. CRM 2.0 brought all systems to the web to make sure that you could always access your solution and expanded the feature set with marketing automation. However, the next stage in CRM, will undoubtedly show more compound CRM solutions such as WORKetc and several specialty solutions such as Coveo that will help you manage your business more efficiently and to better serve your customers.