CRM Software

[Plotloss]

10 Pence Short said:

I understand what CRM software is for, but what does it do that you couldn't write in something like, say, MS Access?

It avoids you having to write it in Access.

Which is a USP in itself.

[silent k]

10 Pence Short said:

I understand what CRM software is for, but what does it do that you couldn't write in something like, say, MS Access?

It depends on what you want it to do, for example if you just want a simple database with all your contact records in then fine it's pretty easy to do in Access. But then you find you want to record notes, give yourself to do activities, run campaigns, give other people access, access it via the web, etc. This is where a bought in app will be able to do it all straight away and with a lower overall cost.

As I said though, I am biased!

[skwdenyer]

10 Pence Short said:

I understand what CRM software is for, but what does it do that you couldn't write in something like, say, MS Access?

I understand what a car is for, but what does it do that you couldn't knock up in something, like, say Meccano?

Actually in my experience most CRM packages are worse than useless - the force you to key in endless data, don't really integrate in any meaningful way with things that you actually need to integrate with, and are prohibitively expensive or even impossible to extend or customise.

For a friend of mine I actually built an entire business management system in MS Access (for a dozen or so concurrent users) since there was nothing sufficiently flexible.