Big-Time Sales and Service Tools for Not-So-Big Businesses

With today's CRM application and server options, even small companies can centralize data and automate sales and service without breaking their stride—or their budget. by Meg Moore

For many small businesses, the idea of implementing customer relationship management (CRM) technology comes with a host of reservations. Owners/managers worry it will be too costly and complex, since it often has been available only to larger companies. And beyond the expense of putting it in place, owner and managers are concerned with another issue: "Our employees aren't ready to learn a whole new way of working. What if we build it and nobody comes?" But the fact is, small companies often need CRM as much as, if not more than, their enterprise counterparts.

The problems with piecemeal processes

Typically, a small business keeps its customer information and sales leads in myriad of places—on various employee desktops, in spreadsheets that only one person can access, as isolated "contact lists" within individual's e-mail applications or, worse, on pieces of paper scattered about the office.

That approach, of course, creates plenty of problems. Potential sales leads get lost before salespeople can pursue them. Commitments to customers sometimes fall through the cracks while employees waste precious time trying to track down information. Small-company managers or CEOs typically lack critical visibility into their sales pipelines, preventing them from gaining a comprehensive view of their business operations.

Some low-end software might allow an individual to track sales and manage leads on their desktop, and perhaps share information with coworkers and customers through an e-mail application. Such applications impose critical restrictions on sales, service, and business growth. Data is not centralized among staff—making it generally inaccessible to managers and decision makers—and the number of customer records that can be stored among individual systems is limited.

To overcome the challenges of piecemeal processes and segregated data, small companies need more than single-user desktop applications. They need an integrated system that not only manage sales and services, but also allows unlimited data storage and secure, role-based access to that data—all without a dedicated IT staff and without gigantic integration headaches.

A look at a seamless solution

One such solution is a combination of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server and Microsoft CRM. The premium version of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition enables small companies to deploy Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with one simple out-of-the box implementation. That structural foundation provides the right platform for introducing Microsoft CRM, which gives employees throughout the company easy, one-stop access to customer, sales and service information.

Part of Microsoft CRM's appeal is its two primary functionalities: one for sales and marketing and one for customer service. Let's say that a company that sells running shoes to specialty retailers uses Microsoft CRM to manage customer contacts. Without CRM, if a retailer called with a request or a complaint, the employee answering the phone may have had no information about that customer's earlier dealings with the company. With Microsoft CRM, the employee can quickly access the customer's history and respond appropriately in a timely fashion. Ultimately, that access to comprehensive customer information translates into faster service, and more satisfied customers.

On the sales side, Microsoft CRM can prove invaluable for managing sales leads. If a faucet distributor's account representative meets several plumbers at a trade show, that employee now has a place to safely capture that important contact information. (In the past, those leads might have languished indefinitely in the employee's suitcase or jacket pocket.) With Microsoft CRM, the rep can enter the information directly into the system, categorizing leads according to their potential–labeling them “hot” or “warm,” for example. Other employees with appropriate access privileges can view those leads, and the system can be set up to automatically route the most promising ones to the right people for high-priority attention.

Microsoft CRM also grants business owners invaluable visibility into the sales pipeline through preformatted reports. “For many small companies [gathering this information] has been a real chore,” says Roger Collins, managing director of The CRM Business, a U.K.-based CRM consulting firm.

"With CRM, you can view the up-to-date sales pipeline anytime you want. Couple this with the remote Web workplace features of Small Business Server, and it means that the owners and directors of a small business can monitor sales activities and access a wide range of business-critical reports anytime from anywhere in the world.”

It's no secret that employees often fail to use new technologies to their full potential because they find them too complex to learn or too difficult to use. Microsoft CRM eliminates that barrier because it works with familiar, widely used productivity software such as Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office applications—a bonus that cuts user training time and costs. “Everyone in the business can carry on using Outlook as they always have done,” explains Collins. “But now contacts can be stored centrally in CRM and all activities associated with an account or contact can easily be reviewed and reported on.”

Case in point

Consider the case of Women in Cable and Telecommunications (WICT), a 4,000-member national professional organization based in Chantilly, Va. Because of outdated technology, the organization's membership and financial information was scattered among several databases. That arrangement proved frustrating to WICT employees trying to find information about member dues and service requests.

The association implemented Microsoft CRM and Protech CRM for Members from Microsoft partner Laurel, Md.-based Protech Associates Inc, running on Microsoft Small Business Server. As a result, WICT employees can now easily access all membership and financial information using those familiar Microsoft interfaces. In the bigger picture, the combination allowed the association to implement a highly effective CRM solution without a major IT investment.

Now everybody can play

Companies can deploy Small Business Server in a day or two, and Microsoft CRM installs easily atop the server. Together, they provide a low-cost solution that can easily scale with a growing business. And the solution is a global one, available in 14 languages in more than 53 countries.

That all adds up to a clear message for small companies that once thought they couldn't afford to join the CRM game: Now everybody can play