Do you have a new business or a growing business and are you finding that customer contact and organization is getting away from you? If so, you may want to consider investing in a Customer Relationship Management system or a CRM. You can choose from crm open source options, completely free programs, or commercial programs. These programs can help your organize your customer base, and helps you to increase sales, which ultimately means that you are growing your business.
Before the age of computers, the way the businesses kept track of customers and potential leads was via a traditional filing system. Of course, files were often lost and in the process it meant that many customers were never pursued, which meant a loss of business. Keeping handwritten files on customers and leads was no easy task back in the day, but with the use of a CRM program, you can now keep track of your customers in an organized way that helps you know when customers purchased, what they bought, and then how to target market them.
The CRM is not just a database that helps you keep track of your customers, it may have begun that way, but today it offers many facets that can help you increase your sales volume. Moreover, it helps to increase customer contact via live chat, which is often easier for customers to contact you than placing a phone call. It also gives the client more options and ways to get in touch with you that makes you more assessable, which of course increases your customer satisfaction.
Keep in mind when you are looking for a crm open source system, free system, or a commercial system that they all have their own unique platforms and you will need to make sure it is compatible with what you currently have. Keep in mind, if you are looking into a CRM, that when you contact that company, they may try to sell you something you do not need. Therefore, know what your needs are before you begin looking at the various systems and have an idea of what you need. Of course, leave room for growth, but never get more than what you think you will need in the next five to ten years.
Finally, take your time as you begin looking for your CRM and test out several programs so that you can get the system that works best for you and your business.
The Benefits of Using Open Source Software
Many people have found that there are many benefits to using open source software applications rather than the standard commercial software products. When it comes to open source products, many developers and programmers spend hours volunteering their time to make different programs that are distributed with the source code free or can have a fee when sold for commercial reasons. The beauty of open source is that there is a time and investment on the developer's part to make a product better and more user-friendly than the commercial products.
What makes the developers motivated is for self-pride but also for peer recognition for their hard work on a project. Moreover, their contributions can be added to their resume and can help them advance their personal careers. Typically, open source offers many benefits over commercial products including:
Chat
Greater reliability because it is tested more
Stability - due to the "eyes" continually on the program and code during development
Ability to fix bugs quickly because there a number of people testing different features of the program
Because the source code is open to all, it means you are not just trusting the commercial developer's code to work correctly on your computer
Software vendors often go out of business or stop development on a product you have paid for, with open source programs, you have the source code and therefore it can continue to be developed.
Many people and businesses like the ability and freedom to modify the open source program so that it is tailored for their needs, which of course means greater ease of use for many people.
This allows a business to create a customized version of the software to work best for their needs, such as open source or a Customer Relationship Management. This is becoming a must-have application for businesses all over the world, and the open source options gives you freedom to change it anyway you wish.
In the end, open source software options give individuals and businesses more choices to use products that were not just developed by those with personal investments, but those developers also use the program. You can think of open source software as a group effort, because that is exactly what it is since everyone is working together from the developers to the end-users. When everyone is working for the same final product, the result is a powerful application that can continue to be developed over the years.
