CRM often takes a back seat to other initiatives, such as creating a customer loyalty card program. It can even take a backseat to marketing campaigns. In other words, your company may not feel like it needs to differentiate its customer approach. But if you want to keep customers happy, you must use CRM. So, what are the most important features of CRM? And what are the risks and benefits associated with CRM? Read on for some tips. Analytics-driven business culture In an analytics-driven business culture, executives set the tone by regularly reviewing scorecard and dashboard findings. Without this leadership, lower-level managers may lose trust in the data and stop using it for decision-making. Additionally, a culture that prioritizes data governance includes policies and procedures to govern the use and management of data. To develop an analytics-driven business culture, follow these steps. You will see the results of a stronger analytics culture sooner than you think. First, create a data-driven culture. In other words, empower employees to use data to make critical decisions. For example, if a product team meets weekly to discuss the progress of a roadmap, the product manager should arrive at each meeting with appropriate data analysis. This will inform the discussion and help prioritize initiatives. It's not only the leadership that needs to make these changes, but the entire company must adopt a data-driven culture. Next, empower business users. A data-driven culture empowers business users with self-service tools. Knowledge workers can easily visualize and interact with data without the assistance of IT. In addition, data analysts can create local reports, work with the data team, and build cross-functional applications. By fostering this culture, data scientists can better analyze and utilize corporate data. The key to a successful analytics-driven business culture is fostering a culture of collaboration and empowerment. Creating a data-driven culture requires significant change at all levels. It may involve a significant transformation or a series of smaller changes over time. Change management best practices should be prioritized. The most common obstacles to change include miscommunication, insufficient resources, and cultural acceptance. These barriers are overcome through careful planning and preparation. Creating a change management committee is a great way to foster this change. In addition, external vendors can help with this process. Developing a data-culture starts with curiosity. The data providers themselves want to understand what's going on, and this dialogue builds credibility. Developing a data culture requires building relationships with data producers, which can create a feedback loop that rewards data quality. This is critical to data literacy. By building a relationship with data producers, organizations can foster a data culture that values their work and rewards those who produce it. As an added bonus, data producers are more likely to share better-quality data with the organization. Cloud-based CRMs While on-premise CRMs require a dedicated team and are often more expensive, cloud-based CRMs have a lower upfront cost and are typically paid monthly. The main drawback of cloud-based CRMs is the lack of flexibility, though you do get standard security features and integrations. However, if you need more functionality, you can often license customized versions from a third-party vendor. On-premise CRMs also rely on a third-party vendor for software and hardware and are more difficult to expand. Unlike on-premise CRMs, cloud-based CRMs are accessible via the Internet. They require no installation or maintenance, and store all data on a server that is not located on your premises. Since these types of CRMs require a web connection, they are ideal for small businesses because they don't have the expertise or funds to maintain an onsite technical team. As a result, cloud-based CRMs allow smaller businesses to have access to sophisticated technology at a low cost. Another advantage of cloud-based CRMs is the ease of use. In contrast, physical CRMs require a lot of IT resources. You may need to call in a tech support team if there's a problem with your software. Moreover, most CRM software upgrades are available online. If you're not comfortable upgrading your software on-premise, you can download the latest version on your laptop during lunchtime and complete it when you return. This way, you're not losing valuable time and revenue because of technical difficulties. Another great benefit of cloud-based CRMs is their low up-front costs. Unlike on-premise CRMs, cloud-based CRMs are not limited by software licenses. They are compatible with a range of other software applications. You can also access the data on-the-go, and even share it with others. In addition, cloud-based CRMs allow you to update the software without any changes to your business's process. When looking for a cloud-based CRM, you should consider how many features are essential for your business. Salesforce, for example, offers more than 3,000 custom apps. It also offers a platform for developers and agencies to build customized apps. On the other hand, Salesforce is a more expensive option, so you may have to hire a developer to get the most out of your CRM. And don't forget to factor in the cost of additional products. Integration with marketing tools The goal of CRM and marketing automation integration is to build stronger relationships with customers. Separate software can track multiple conversations with the same customer, and this is not beneficial to the overall relationship. With integrated software, the entire team has access to the same data, which allows them to tailor the experience for each customer. The process of CRM integration with marketing tools is a powerful way to personalize the customer experience and accelerate thesales cycle. The benefits of CRM integration are significant for both the sales and marketing teams. A CRM integration provides comprehensive insights into customer behavior and online activities, allowing marketers to deploy highly targeted automated campaigns and lead scoring. A centralized database of customer behavior helps marketers determine what products and services customers may be interested in based on their previous purchases. Other benefits of CRM integration include identifying customer profiles, personas, and cross-selling. These benefits makeCRM integration a valuable asset for marketers looking to improve customer engagement and generate more revenue. CRM integration allows marketers to manage social media accounts from one central dashboard. This eliminates the need for a separate application. CRMs can also be integrated with customer data tools, allowing marketers to manage social media marketing from a single place. CRM integration helps marketers better track customer data and measure customer interactions. It provides valuable data on the number of visitors, pages viewed, and items added to a basket, among others. CRM integration can be beneficial to e-commerce businesses, as well. Marketing and sales activities can be streamlined with the help of productivity tools. Tools like Trello and Slack can be integrated with CRM and improve team coordination. Social media platforms are increasingly important sales tools for almost every type of business. CRM integration with social media helps businesses gain deeper insights into customer behavior and reach their customers more effectively. With the help of CRM and marketing tools, businesses can reach their goals faster and make more profit. It's important to note that CRM integration with marketing tools doesn't mean that CRM and marketing tools have to be integrated. Cost of CRM implementation The first step of implementing CRM is to gather the team's approval. While your sales team may think CRM will benefit the business, management may be less than convinced. You may have to convince the C-suite that it will benefit the company. After all, the C-suite has the authority to change the company's processes and procedures. Regardless of the level of approval you get, you'll need to be sure to overcome their concerns before disruptions occur. Depending on the number of users and the complexity of the implementation, the costs may vary significantly. CRM subscriptions and system administrator salaries are additional expenses. In addition, CRM implementations contribute to the ecosystem of related software vendors, consulting firms, and third-party maintenance providers. Some analysts predict that the ecosystem will be six times the size of Salesforce itself by 2020. The cost of CRM implementations, however, should be kept in mind. In addition to monetary considerations, you should consider the benefits and risks associated with CRM implementation. While there are many benefits of CRM implementation, you should consider how much time your team will need to adapt. This is a time-consuming process that requires training. Moreover, your employees will be affected, making it essential to budget for this time. Training your staff is also an expense to consider, so make sure your budget includes enough time to ensure successful user adoption. And don't forget to factor in employee training and development costs - the implementation stage alone could take up to 10 percent of your final budget. When evaluating costs of CRM implementation, it's best to consult with a consultant about the hardware requirements. Most CRM vendors have minimum requirements for hardware, and using this spec is likely to cause higher maintenance costs. If you don't have the budget for proper hardware, you may end up paying 1.5 to two times more than the total cost of the CRM. If you're looking to purchase a new system, consult the manufacturer of the CRM to understand the best hardware specs.