Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is essential for businesses to effectively track and manage interactions with customers and prospects. However, commercial CRM systems can be expensive – and while they may be usable for everything from an ice-cream stand to a multinational construction firm, that very flexibility means they may not fit your precise needs.
Custom CRM systems can fit your business much better – but, according to some studies, failure rates for CRM projects can be as high as 70%. That’s where Durable Programming comes in – we can develop custom CRM solutions using powerful open source technologies, reducing cost and using our experience to make your project a success.
It’s important to select a particular goal when starting a CRM project; often, your choice of indicators – often called KPIs – will influence many decisions in your CRM project.
Conversion Rate
As the old adage goes, “one test is worth a thousand expert opinions.” With a well-implemented CRM, you can track your conversion rate – enabling you to see what customer segments are converting the best. This insight can be used to focus efforts on likely-to-convert customers, but also can be used to design experiments for increasing conversion rates on less productive market segments.
“If you’re not testing, you’re leaving money on the table.”
– John Guidon
Total Revenue
A CRM should be a centralized place to store all your customer data. By linking sales, marketing, and operational teams, you can all work towards a common goal: increased total revenue. By combining all available customer data into one central system, it becomes far easier to identify trends and thereafter respond in a united effort.
Customer Lifetime Value
The best customers are the ones you already have. A well-organized CRM system stores feedback from various departments, as well as from public sources (social media, review sites), and can help you collect actionable feedback – helping you turn current customers into future customers. Further, careful analysis of CRM data can provide insights into what additional value you can provide – leading to new products and service lines.
By building on open technologies, Durable Programming can craft CRM solutions targeted to a businesses’ specific sales, marketing and customer support requirements – at a lower total cost of ownership versus commercial products that charge ongoing license fees. Our custom CRMs can be shaped to a company’s existing processes rather than having to adapt workflows to the constraints of generic software.
We can integrate a custom CRM with other business platforms, such as accounting, project management, customer support, and email automation systems. Data can flow seamlessly between the CRM and external apps for greater efficiency and visibility.
In addition to upfront development, Durable Programming can provide ongoing enhancements to evolve the functionality of the CRM as business needs change over time. Because we build on open source software, there’s no vendor lock-in. The client owns the CRM source code and data, not a software vendor.
Some examples of CRM features and integrations we can implement with open source tools include:
- Lead capture and contact management
- Deal tracking and sales forecasting
- Marketing campaign management
- Email sync and automation
- Quote and proposal generation
- Social media monitoring
- Customer support ticketing
- Analytics and reporting
Whether replacing legacy commercial CRM systems to reduce costs or developing a company’s first CRM platform, Durable Programming can deliver a tailored solution to match the organization’s business requirements. Our open source approach provides flexibility, savings and control not possible with SaaS products.
To discuss how we can apply open technologies to address your Customer Relationship Management needs, give us a call. We’ll work closely with your team to understand your goals and design a custom CRM solution to drive productivity and customer satisfaction.
