In this age of social media and instant communication, customers are growing increasingly demanding of the businesses they patronize. They expect results immediately, they want answers instantaneously, and they want to know that they are not only acknowledged, but also appreciated.

As such, businesses are at a disadvantage when they don’t make their customer relationship management (CRM) a priority in their business model. While larger corporations have the advantage of sizable revenue to maintain their own CRM applications in-house, smaller operations face the challenge of acquiring, maintaining and retaining their customer base on a limited budget.

That’s where web-based CRM hosting comes in. At a time when businesses are grasping at straws to find cost-effective solutions to their CRM dilemmas, web- based CRM programs make perfect sense. It’s not just about the money, either. Well, it’s partly about the money, but it’s about a number of other benefits as well.

• Cost of Software vs. Web-hosting – Much like other types of service-oriented programs, customer support software can be costly and difficult to maintain. Whereas on-site customer support programs often have to be updated, maintained, and sustained by an in-house IT department – an altogether separate cost – a hosted CRM program gives businesses the advantage of a fully supported system for much less.
• Instant Gratification for your Customer – Your customers want to know that their needs are being attended to immediately, from the initial contact they make with your business all the way through the relationship you develop. From the emerging use of social media as a way of building the customer relationship to the implementation of sales force automation software to identify the customers’ needs in relationship to your business, web-based hosting of your customer support management can be a real-time solution, giving you the most efficient use of your resources, and your customers the instant gratification they expect and deserve.
• Simplified Workflow and Visible Results – Through ready-made systems, databases and integration, hosted CRM software gives you the opportunity to concentrate on what really matters – your customer. No need to worry about outdated software with difficult-to-understand interfaces and unnecessary plug-ins that take up space and confuse your sales and customer support team. Web-based CRMs tend to be more results-oriented, with noticeably shorter hold times for customer support and service call-ins, easily accessible analytics and a smooth workflow that will enable your company to enjoy a happier customer base while increasing productivity.

Before you spend your hard-earned pennies on an in-house customer relationship management tool (and the staff to maintain it), consider a web-based CRM program to take care of your customer service and support needs.