It’s simply a Product + Service on rent.
I understand that until now you may have purchased softwares installed in your computer or local server to use it. It’s only a one time job with one time purchase. But they were all softwares and only softwares. CRM is something comes with various services like customization, training, support, upgrades and much more.
A well built CRM is an Enterprise Software comes with lots of capabilities on a very robust platform. If you want to build any such software yourself for your company by hiring a software team, it takes years to programm it with development costs like fortune. Subscription model is much better, especially for small and medium enterprises. Start using it immediately with very low initial costs.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
What about my data security?
This is the most frequently imagined, asked and debated concern. Most of the entrepreneurs think that if the data is lying in their own premise or network physically, it’s safe. Not true. Once connected to internet, it’s vulnerable to all those attacks that can happen to a website or web based app.
Another perception is that your service provider has access to your data. Not necessarily!
Firstly, your data is more secure if it is hosted on server from hosting provider like AWS behind secure firewall. Most of the hosting services provide daily backup makes your data easily retrievable in case of data loss due to any reason.
Secondly, your CRM provider’s primary business is CRM not your data. They don’t have time to peep in what you have in your contacts. On the contrary, if you have some tech geek in your company to manage CRM as Admin has access to everything. He is not going to work for your company for the rest of his life and can flee to your competitor with your precious customer data. Makes Sense?
D evelopment and support are the running cost. CRM provider requires team of professionals to manage many things. Adding new features, sharpening existing features, technical support, features and functions related support, analyst to understand your requirements for new features, developers team and of course marketing team.
Consider, these costs are divided between hundreds or thousands of subscribers over a period of time. This is win win situation for both CRM provider and you as you pay very nominal monthly or yearly amount to get support and new enhancements which is otherwise a big cost if imposed on you. CRM provider earns by attracting large number of subscribers to make these costs feasible to deliver better product and support.
Free Updates.
CRM providers update functions, UI, automation and add more and more integrations from time to time. Most of them offer new features and updates free or there is relatively very low migration cost to newer versions. This is one of the strongest reason you should opt for subscription rather than buying something one time and keep using it for years together till you feel it’s outdated.
Services related to CRM.
As I mentioned earlier, CRM comes with service and support. You may need some changes or development to match your niche requirements, add some plugin, need regular backup or anything that you are finding difficult to understand related to feature. Importantly, you need training videos and reference material for new member in your team which is a cost if you try to do yourself. Guess now you understand importance of Subscription based CRM-Better Adaptability.
Though we suggest to go for Subscription based (SaaS Based) CRM, we also understand data security related concerns from large enterprises. At Sales Hiker we also offer licensed based CRM hosted on your server with complete control over data. Please connect with us to know more about how this is achieved.
