CRM, integrated with your core-business software
In this post I would like to tackle an issue that has often become a point of dispute between different “schools of thought”: Do you need your CRM module, integrated with your core-business-function software, or not? How does an integrated CRM module help you (better) than a separate system? First, we need to remember that (most will agree) CRM is not “this” or “that”. Every operation or enterprise has its own needs and requirements. Everybody is looking at their customers in a different way: Somebody may be particularly interested in the accounting balances and early warning on high ones. Another may be interested in Ticket/Problem handling. A services company might be interested in keeping time records per customer per project. The examples are endless. For that, I will try to provide general answers that have (I hope!) global applicability. Firstly, I will acknowledge that separate CRM products will often offer more functionality (since that software vendor specializes in the CRM ar...