ENTERPRISE IT customised to deliver the kind of innovation you ’ re after . For us it was one we could modify . We chose Salesforce because it ’ s a platform we could innovate on and has out of the box customisation capabilities .”
Another is British-based Workbooks , a marketing automation software company which sits at the less expensive end of the market . John Cheney , CEO and co-Founder says : “ Our objective was to build a platform that medium-sized enterprises could implement . The core CRM services extend beyond sales , marketing and customer services to include marketing automation , as well as event management , order management and fulfillment , invoicing and supplier management functions . This is typically at 50-70 % less cost than Salesforce or Microsoft .
Assisting technologies Cloud-hosted , or enabled , CRM plays a key role in today ’ s business because it is accessible for all business types , sizes and budgets , as well as being adaptable to their changing needs .
“The rising emphasis placed by customers on CX means CRM has become a business necessity rather than a luxury ”
STEPHEN HIGGINS HEAD OF CRM , COLUMBUS UK
Higgins suggests 90 % of modern CRMs are now cloud-based with the best CRMs seamlessly upgrading on a regular cadence users won ’ t even notice being applied .
“ This ‘ evergreen ’ strategy has been available for some time and is a given today among CRM professionals , unlike Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP ) that is only just getting there . So this is another headache the Enterprise IT function can happily say goodbye to and provides the chance to prove a full cloud deployment can work for an organisation before tackling a complex ERP ,” he says .
Cheney echoes this view by adding : “ The past year has shown us that cloud-based CRM , ie , a CRM that can be accessed from anywhere , is essential for businesses whose teams are distributed around the country , or indeed the globe .”
Artificial Intelligence also looks set to be crucial in the use of CRM . Owing to its ability to automate and empower menial and tedious tasks , enterprises are
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