Bespoke CRM vs Off the Shelf CRM – which is better for my business?

What is CRM software?

Firstly, let us answer the question ‘What is CRM software?’.

CRM software gives you a helicopter view of how your business is interacting with its clients, the products and services they are using, and their ordering behaviours.

Information gleaned from a CRM guides you on how to streamline processes so that you can be more profitable and improve customer experience. By monitoring every customer touch point across the lifecycle of the relationship, including marketing, e-commerce interactions, sales and customer service enquiries, you can learn valuable lessons for the continued growth of your business.

Sounds good? It is. At E2E we work with businesses of varying sizes to develop bespoke CRM systems that transform their processes and improve their relationships with customers.

What is bespoke CRM?

Bespoke CRM is software that is designed and developed holistically to meet the specific needs of your business, your customers, your teams and the way your business operates.

At E2E we learn as much as we can about a business’s operation before we begin to design a bespoke CRM system. Without that background research, we wouldn’t be able to develop truly productive and beneficial CRM software.

Your bespoke CRM will monitor your workflow, cost efficiencies, time efficiencies, forecasting, analytics, service delivery and growth, based on aspects such as the intricacies of how you operate, the demographic of your customers, the deployment of your staff and the industry you are in. It will also help you to automate complex processes to improve efficiencies.

What is off the shelf CRM?

Off-the-shelf CRM is generic software that is pre-built and mass-produced for a wide range of customers and industries. Many of the features will be irrelevant to your business, simply because of its mass-market appeal, so you would need to find a way of navigating your way around them to only use the functionality you want.

Why a bespoke CRM system is better than off the shelf

At E2E we witness how our customers benefit from bespoke CRM every day! We firmly believe that a bespoke CRM system is better than an off-the-shelf product.

Bespoke CRM allows you to identify and monitor priorities for you and your customers in the management and growth of your operation, rather than being tied to the parameters of a generic customer management system.

Customisation

Bespoke CRM is fully customisable. In consultation with skilled developers you can design the most comprehensive and targeted management system for your needs. You can decide upon the design and functionality as well as the breadth of information you want to collect and the outcomes you want to manage.

Software can only perform based on the information it is given. While an off-the-shelf CRM package makes assumptions about your business and accommodates generic processes, you can feed bespoke CRM with more complex data and directives to reap more sophisticated results.

Cost

An off-the-shelf CRM system is usually cheaper to buy than a bespoke CRM. However, the long-term gain of a bespoke CRM system that cuts unnecessary costs and improves efficiencies for the long term far outweighs the initial cost incentive of an off-the-shelf product.

As a capital expenditure for long-term growth, a bespoke CRM system also adds value to your business so it will be considered an asset if you decide to sell.

Flexibility and scalability

An off-the-shelf CRM is unlikely to be flexible enough to be able to grow with your business. There is also the chance that it will become outdated or develop bugs over time. Bespoke CRM is scalable and can be updated, offering you flexibility as your business grows or diversifies.

Security

Data security is an important element of a CRM system. With an off-the-shelf CRM you are limited to the security protocols and support that are provided with the system. By designing a bespoke CRM system you can introduce an appropriate level of security that will protect your business from data breaches. When handling customer data, this is key to customer confidence and trust.

Integration

Your CRM needs to have the functionality to integrate seamlessly with other applications such as databases, email systems, marketing tools and ERP systems (enterprise resource planning). A bespoke CRM system can be fully integrated to provide a cohesive view of your customers’ interactions while many off-the-shelf systems cannot.

Automation

Bespoke CRM can be programmed to automate complex processes, saving time and reducing the chance of errors. Staff can then spend time on other higher-priority tasks. Due to limitations in integration and scalability, off the shelf CRM can be limited in automating processes and introducing efficiencies.

User friendly

Because of its integration with other systems, bespoke CRM can be designed to be more user-friendly than off-the-shelf packages. The inflexibility of an off-the-shelf CRM system means it might be more complicated to use or very different to other systems within a business which can cause problems for staff.

Let E2E design a bespoke CRM system that will drive growth and enhance your services

Speak to the team at E2E to find out more about bespoke CRM.