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FAST ACCURATE

SOFTWARE RFI/RFP REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION

Save weeks of time and effort

Reduce the risk of missing out vital requirements

Accounting Software Checklist

CRM Software Checklist

Payroll Software Checklist

HR Software Checklist

Click the links above for details

Software Selection Guide

An Insider’s Guide, with Practical Advice, Hints and Tips for selecting new Accounting, CRM, HR, Payroll software.

Click here or the link above for more details

Good CRM Software

The essential criterion of good CRM software includes:

Click the links for more information, then visit:

Software efficiency for software operational efficiency and ease of use key criterion

Software vendor for essential criterion of a good software vendor including - maintenance and support, implementation assistance, user training and vendor / support organisation reputation

CRM Software functionality - Good CRM software should:

Have high functionality

Have the functions included within the software, rather than as add-ons

Perform the CRM functions:

  • required by your organisation
  • the vendor claims the CRM software performs

Provide the following CRM and system-wide functions (depending upon your requirements)

Market Research:

  • support multiple types of market research information and intelligence
  • off-line and web-based questionnaires / surveys
  • competitor tracking

Marketing:

  • marketing campaign design and planning
  • campaign / prospect list generation
  • personalised campaigns
  • campaign execution and management
  • campaign project and task management
  • support multiple marketing methods eg email, e-marketing, telemarketing, direct mail, event and trade promotion marketing
  • budget and revenue tracking
  • real-time campaign response tracking

Sales:

  • sales strategy
  • territory management
  • account configuration
  • contact information and contact management automation
  • integration with 3rd party contact management systems
  • support multiple sales process stages eg prospecting, opportunity management, lead routing, pipeline management, activity management
  • telesales and computer telephone integration
  • support multiple sales methods eg team selling, website sales, customer portal, mobile / field sales, channel partners
  • automated sales alerts
  • sales forecasting and business planning
  • multi media reference library and literature requests
  • design customer solution (personalised proposals, quotations, pricing, order management, product / service configuration, invoicing)
  • sales incentives and commissions
  • sales process scripts

Customer support:

  • account and contact management
  • activity management
  • customer support ticket management and escalation process
  • contract management
  • product returns and tracking
  • defect tracking
  • quality and change requests
  • knowledge database of common product / defect problems and resolutions plus common procedural problems and resolutions
  • customer support portal, with problem / issue capture via web forms
  • customer support / service alerts

Field support

  • account, contract and warranty management
  • service management
  • service call logging
  • schedule optimisation and despatch service requests / engineers
  • problem resolution and solution management
  • fault progressing and escalation processes
  • asset management and preventative maintenance
  • service parts and mobile parts management
  • repair management

Contact centre

  • multiple channel / multiple role contact centres
  • communication and CTI
  • email response management
  • customer self-service via internet / portal

System-wide functionality:

  • e-crm ie fully web enabled, to operate over the internet / intranet
  • employee self service (ESS) / manager self service (MSS)
  • employee portal
  • workflow enabled
  • document image processing (DIP)
  • euro compliance
  • multi company, country and currency
  • support multiple Windows versions

Be a fully 'open system'

Be written in a widely used programming language

Be fully integrated, or easily / seamlessly integrated with other relevant systems (if stand alone modules)

Provide links to other systems eg sales order processing, invoicing, distribution and desktop software

Have the scope to grow with the business

Be flexible to accommodate changing user or business requirements

Support good CRM practice

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System reliability - Good CRM software should:

Be totally reliable

Consistently and predictably perform the required CRM software functions

Provide internal system controls to ensure accuracy, integrity and completeness eg data input and accuracy checks, validation, authorisation

Maintain full records of all CRM transactions

Support manual control procedures eg control reports

Provide system security via multiple, configurable passwords / levels of security and internet security

Provide backup and restore facilities for programs and data

Support your organisation, by running over your (chosen) network, database and hardware platform(s)

Run on a well-supported network, database and hardware

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Management information - Good CRM software should have:

Full online enquiry and drill down / around capability

Multiple search and select facilities

A suite of ready-to-use standard CRM system reports / enquiries

Standard reports / system enquiries that can be tailored to the user requirements, saved and then reused when required

Interactive graphics

Reporting across modules

E-reporting ie reports that can be prepared, reviewed and sent over the internet

Easy to use, flexible report writer either from within the CRM software or provided by third party software

Business intelligence tools eg

  • OLAP
  • data warehouse
  • data mining

Advanced analytics and business intelligence

  • self service, customer, product and service analysis
  • pre-built configurable applications, analyses, alerts and reports
  • combined business intelligence and analytics

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Value for money - Good CRM software should:

Be low cost or have a total cost less than budgeted

Have a reasonable annual cost for maintenance and support, with the annual increase %, no more than inflation

Represent good 'value for money'

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Visit:

Software efficiency for software operational efficiency and ease of use key criterion

Software vendor for essential criterion of a good software vendor including - maintenance and support, implementation assistance, user training and vendor / support organisation reputation

CRM Software Trends for a summary of the latest trends in CRM software

If you have yet to determine your new CRM software needs, the impartial  CRM Software RFI/RFP Requirements Checklist will save you time producing your statement of requirements / RFI / RFP. Click the link for details.

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