Customer relationship management is one of the most important aspects of a business. That’s precisely why enterprises invest a lot of money in selecting the right CRM tool.
In the last few years, cloud technology has revolutionized the way organizations have adopted CRM. According to an IBM report, in 2008, only 13% of organizations used a cloud-based CRM, but the share increased to 87% by 2017.
In addition to being agile, a cloud-based CRM also enables organizations to access data from anywhere from any device, which in turn helps a geo-distributed team accelerate the decision-making process.
According to a Grand View Research report, the global CRM market is estimated to grow up to USD 114.4 billion by 2027.
Owing to the enterprise digitalization and remote workforce requirements, a great deal of this growth will comprise implementation of cloud-based CRM tools.
Here are a few key cloud CRM benefits for businesses
1. Cost Efficient
Moving to a cloud-based CRM is a financially sound decision. It saves a huge, upfront investment on the infrastructure and allows the organization to outsource the maintenance work to a consultant at a fixed cost.
Unlike the traditional, on-premises model, organizations can operate on a pay-as-you-go subscription model.
2. Anywhere, Anytime Access
With organizations now spread across geographies, anytime-anywhere access is a primary requirement for efficient collaboration and faster decision-making.
Unlike on-premises CRM, the cloud-based CRM allows access to data from anywhere round-the-clock. This feature enables global teams to have less dependency on each other for data sharing and reporting and helps them save a lot of time that would have otherwise been wasted on coordination.
3. Always Up-to-date
Automatic updates in the cloud ensure that the CRM is always up-to-date with the latest features, including the latest security patches. In a traditional, on-premises CRM, updates must be proactively planned and executed.
Due to intensive planning involved in updating an on-premises CRM, major enhancement updates keep getting delayed.
4. Flexible
Very few on-premises CRM tools are flexible and channel-agnostic, whereas a cloud CRM offers a lot of flexibility. With cloud-based CRM tools, organizations can buy tailor-made solutions specific to their needs.
Related: The Market for Global SaaS Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is Growing
For example, small and medium enterprises can get started with the minimal features that can help them with their current work and expand their capacity eventually as needs grow.
With a Cloud CRM, if required, organizations even have the flexibility to downsize.
5. Easy Installation and Support
The best part about a cloud-based CRM is hassle-free implementation. A modern cloud CRM can be installed in significantly less time.
The only requirement is to have good internet connectivity. An organization moving to cloud CRM also doesn’t need to set up hardware, pay for servers and software maintenance, or expand their IT support team for maintenance.
Why you need the right implementation partner
Very much like any other technology investment, choosing the right implementation partner has a significant impact on the success or failure of a CRM implementation.
For example, Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics CRM are both great cloud-based CRMs, and one may be a better fit for a business than the other.
However, organizations can only benefit from the CRM if it’s implemented and managed correctly.
The right CRM partner facilitates the organization in identifying the solution best fit for their organization, implementing the tool correctly, and driving the process and people-related changes for the CRM adoption to become successful.
Implementation support becomes doubly important when the organization is new to the cloud culture.
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