From just 7 percent in 2013, the number of small business buyers in the US that want integrated CRM software suites has made a massive jump to 42 percent in 2014. Similar signs of growth have also been evident in the UK (26 percent) and Australia (34 percent).
These numbers come from software research and advisory company Software Advice, which has recently released the 2014 edition of their CRM BuyerView Report.
“Small businesses are increasingly looking to implement a full, end-to-end CRM solution,” explains Jay Ivey,CRM market research associate at Software Advice. “They want to better align marketing and sales. They want to enable sales reps with access to lead nurturing data and interaction histories from across the sales pipeline.”
Year-Over-Year Comparison: Integration PreferencesBottom line: more small businesses are looking for CRM systems that can manage the entire customer lifecycle from start to finish. A single standalone solution for just sales force automation, just basic marketing automation, or just customer service is no longer enough. Users need something more than a CRM.
WORK[etc] goes beyond what the average CRM can do by letting users manage and track all aspects of the entire customer lifecycle. Its core online CRM system is complemented by robust project management, sales, billing, reporting, collaboration, help desk, and more. Using just the one system, you can:
- Find, sell to, implement projects for, support, and hopefully sell more products and services to your customers
- Consolidate business-critical data instead of leaving them strewn across different apps
- Easily access and manage almost all aspects of your business, from sales and marketing to projects and support
- Import data from and to Xero and Quickbooks quickly and painlessly
- Turn any email in your Gmail or Outlook inbox into a lead, contact, or support ticket, sync Google Contacts and Calendars, and access files in Google Drive
Top-Requested CRM IntegrationsThe report also notes that over 70 percent of respondents said that interaction tracking was their top requested CRM feature. In WORK[etc], the activity history encapsulates the true meaning of CRM. It lets you track a running record of the relationships you have with your contacts, from the very first email you sent them to the latest support ticket that they filed.
To ensure that your small business becomes a success, you need the best weapon you can have in your arsenal. You need WORK[etc] — it’s more than just a CRM.
