Do I need a CRM system for local business?

[e11]

My pre-start is going to be selling a variety of items locally / regionally to individuals rather than companies or at wholesale levels and I don't want to pay another outgoing for a system that'll come with features more tailored towards B2B and for the benefit of a larger scale business that I'll not use. I'm after a system that would enable me to keep track of contacts, sales and sales enquiries, to be stored, categorised and later used for the purposes of marketing.

Now I know that some may say why I don't just keep a basic excel sales and contacts log and for the most part that's fundamentally what I'm after, but I currently use a CRM system in my current job, and know how some of the features (not on Excel) can be very useful. Features such as keeping a log of what literature they have received, mode of contact, general trends etc.

Really just after a storage log that allows some kind of data segmentation, campaign creation and possibly the ability to customise the data fields. Has anyone had experience with Microsoft Dynamics or ActiveCampaign or able to point me in the right direction to something more suitable?

 

[fancymore]

I used Microsoft and replaced it with bpm'online after ROI case study.

"2017 ROI AWARD WINNER! Quint Wellington Redwood Group replaced its on-premise solution with Bpm’online Marketing and Sales, driving growth with more complex marketing campaigns."

To the point, I would say that Quint Wellington used Microsoft before replacing it. If you need more details or would like to hear my personal experience. Please contact me, I would gladly help you if I can.

 

[Rob Ellis]

I'm fairly new to the CRM space, but I looked at Dynamics CRM, as well as various other pay / free / freemium products, and I ended up going with Zoho CRM - I'm currently on their free edition, pending them fixing the single sign on via Office 365, at which point I will considering going up to their 'standard' edition to take advantage of some of the sync capabilities between Zoho CRM and Office 365.

Shout if you want to take a look / ask questions, etc.

 

[Alan]

I use the free Zoho CRM - but I'm B2B, however at least one of my clients uses Zoho CRM for B2C so worth a peek.

 

[ikooloo]

CRM for small business, especially those who are selling to individuals rather than businesses, is not great. You may want to consider something like HubSpot CRM, Active Campaign or Insightly...

 

[mcmm]

I use HubSpot but there are a number of pay walls you hit if you want to do something a little more advanced. Also be aware of locking all your content in one provider (you may want to migrate away in the future). The good old days of a local Act! Database are long gone and most are SAAS.

 

[Darren Starr]

It sounds like you want something simple and easy. I have used NimbleCRM and I highly recommend AgileCRM, it is amazing in it's functions and it's free for up to 10 people! Check it out

 

[e11]

Thanks for the reply's. It certainly gives me a lot of content to look at:

Bpm online
Hubspot
Zoho
Active campaign
Agile CRM

I really just have to weigh up the pros and cons to each.

 

[Rob Ellis]

Thinking about it - if you happen to use Office 365, you get Outlook Customer Manager included - worth adding that to the list.

 

[Jason-M]

I looked at a few systems including Zoho and Hubspot, went with Hubspot as I found they offered more in the way the system works.

 

[Karllacey]

I think this is being overthought....you are a start up business stick with Excel and its limited functionality until such time you get established. Most CRMs are compatable with Excel and it would be a case of importing the information in.

As I said, you are overthinking it - get a business first. grow that business, record the information and at such time your business will require a CRM - it will tell you, if you will listen to it...