CRM as a Service

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, a vital part to most businesses, have taken numerous forms over their history. However, one particular approach - available for 20 years now - has caught on more and more: SaaS – “Software as a Service”.

This is ultimately due to the ever-rising complexity of CRMs. 

Originally promoted as a system that was focused on the user but delivered without the need for deep IT skills, today’s common solutions are packed with features that bloat the product and confuse the user with too much unnecessary data. 

A report by Forester commissioned by Freshworks in September 2018 highlighted issues that will be familiar to many. They highlight how organisations are:

1. Struggling to make the most of their investment
2. Frustrated by high costs and long time-to-value
3. Left with bloated, overly complex solutions that do not help them deliver more efficient and effective customer experiences

With want to utilise new complex CRMs, SaaS’ popularity has rocketed. However, its coming at a big cost.
According to Forester, “Buyers think that their current SaaS CRM solutions are costly. Licensing for SaaS CRM is complex and buyers are pushed to higher tiers of licenses due to specific feature requirements”. Entry level product pricing rarely provides the necessary integration tools and functionality required. Some vendors have a policy which forces companies to “upgrade to viability”.

Unfortunately, even the historic benefits of SaaS CRM are also being eroded. 

Forester found “CRM systems are hard to set up as they need IT involvement to configure and customize. The result? CRM solutions cannot deliver the value expected by the business.” Particularly for smaller organisations where there may not be a dedicated IT resource, the possibility of successful CRM can seem remote or unaffordable.

When asked what is wrong with current SaaS CRM, buyers talked unsurprisingly in financial terms. Speaking about the…

• Challenges associated with set up including both upfront and incremental and/or hidden costs of ownership. Buyers are now actively looking for solutions with easier to manage overheads and costs. 
• The costs associated with the set up and integration of their solution and their reliance on IT to make the needed changes. Increasingly they are looking for more cost effective ways of integrating data into their CRM system.

Indeed, Forrester’s research found even the training and user adoption, not top concerns today, are an emerging trend as onboarding and quick time-to value becomes increasingly important.

These challenges compound the problem of sourcing and implementing a successful CRM project. Historically CRM implementation partners have worked with clients to develop an estimate of the services needed to implement a system. Included in these estimates were the costs associated with data migration, configuration and user training. 

The result is an imbalance in risk.

The client, who has less experience of the chosen CRM tool, takes the greatest risk in selecting the right partner and approving the estimate of time required. 

Rebalancing the risk means changing the relationship between the client and the supplier. What is needed in not Software as a Service – but CRM as a Service (CRMaaS). A change from the supply of software and services – to the delivery, maintenance and long term support of CRM within an organisation. Importantly it should be delivered for a fixed monthly fee. 

This mechanism would more equitably share the risk.

Now both parties have a financial incentive to work together, to ensure that CRM delivers the value expected by the organisation. The CRM implementation partner can provide services which improve system utilisation and increase user engagement. 

The client equally benefits from ready access to a team of specialists, without the need to specify and contract for additional work.

With a background of over 16 years of CRM experience, with hundreds of CRM implementations, Collier Pickard has the data required to structure such a CRMaaS product. By analysing data on not just the implementation, but the ongoing operating costs of CRM systems, we are uniquely able to propose a simple flat rate, monthly cost per user model for CRMaaS.

We hope to lead the way with CRMaaS. Helping the vast array of businesses stuck with a Software Service, requiring huge additional costs to perfect and mostly failing to deliver. By promising a fixed monthly fee we guarantee value for money and ultimately a CRM system that works!

To find out more about CRMaaS or discuss your new or existing CRM needs feel free to contact me at:
Nick Rainbird
(nick.rainbird@collierpickard.co.uk) / 01959 560410