Mobile customer relationship management (CRM) is making headway in the small- to mid-sized business space. Those companies already implementing a CRM model should look into mobile CRM, as the capabilities have widen significantly since the introduction of smartphones and tablets.
Below is information on available solutions.
CDC Software’s mobile CRM solution provides a rich user interface, the ability to work offline or online, and robust security features. It is available for Android-based devices, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad, and Windows Phone. List price is $15,000 per server plus $600 per user. Price is specific to customer, as configurations vary.
Cellit, LLC offers smaller companies Cellit Spark, which starts at as low as $49 a month. Interested parties can sign up at cellitspark.com. Larger companies looking for account management and data collection can look at plans that start at $225 per month, including 2,500 messages, referred to as Cellit Studio. Both programs utilize direct marketing via text messaging.
CWR Mobility BV’s latest release is CWR Mobile CRM 2011, which provides both online and offline access to CRM data with cross-platform support for both smartphones and tablets. In the cloud, a customer can add mobility to its Microsoft Dynamics CRM online for $22.50 per user per month. For on-premise deployments, an SMB can add mobility for as little as over $200 a device and an Enterprise customer $400.
Maximizer Software Inc. recently launched its CRM product, Maximizer CRM Live, as a Web-based monthly subscription. The cloud-based application offers the same benefits as the original on-premise software solution. Both are built on the same data model, meaning users can move from one to the other seamlessly. Maximizer CRM Live starts as low as $39 per user per month for five or more users, or $49 per month for less than 5 users.
Sage SalesLogix Mobile is available at no extra charge to Sage SalesLogix v.7.5.3 customers. This expands functionality to Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, and iPad, as well as HTML5/CSS3-compliant browsers such as Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari. The solution requires no mobile middleware and works with SalesLogix on premise and through the cloud. A task-oriented user interface allows the user to create, view, and edit; access a Quick Actions menu; manage schedules; and log email and phone interactions.
Salesforce.com, inc.’s mobile CRM solution is offered in two versions—Mobile Lite and Salesforce Mobile—for both iPhone and BlackBerry users. Mobile Lite is free for all Salesforce editions and includes support for leads, accounts, contacts, opportunities, tasks, events, cases, solutions, assets, and dashboards. Salesforce Mobile is available with the Unlimited Edition of Salesforce, and can be added on to Professional and Enterprise editions. Both solutions offer customizable interfaces, security, and an intuitive user experience.
Through Salesforce.com’s Chatter product, a social enterprise collaboration is available. Users share status updates with co workers, post documents, follow records, and collaborate privately through groups via Facebook. Chatter is free and you do not have to be a Salesforce.com customer to use.
Mobile Propels Energy Services
Orion Energy Systems, based throughout North America, provides high-efficiency energy solutions. Its customer base includes over a hundred Fortune 500 companies and ranges from cold storage facilities and aircraft hangers to grocery stores and automotive centers. Offering technologies that reduce energy consumption by 50 percent or more, potential clients continue to surface. Orion’s sales force needed a CRM method to effectively control and cater to this sharp increase in interest.
They immediately looked at Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which with the help of CWR Mobility BV’s CWR Mobile CRM product allowed them to simultaneously go mobile. The solution gives Orion’s mobile sales representatives immediate access to account and contact data as well as information on potential opportunities. Follow up tasks and sales processes are streamlined, which allows for more face-to-face time with customers.
As soon as the program was downloaded, members of the Orion sales team began using the solution in the field. Since CWR Mobile CRM works on multiple mobile platforms, all members were able to download the program to their phones—allowing for a similar experience on each device.
“I’m amazed at the development of this technology. Our sales process hasn’t fundamentally changed, but CWR Mobile CRM really makes it much more efficient and friendlier for everyone involved. It is an incredibly powerful tool,” explains Girtus Rubenis, business development, Orion.
CRM Success
Read a full feature article on mobile CRM in the July/August issue of Business TechEdge magazine.
