Snapforce CRM

Snapforce CRM is covered here in 6 connected parts: Snapforce CRM, Customer relationship management, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM (application), Comparison of CRM systems, CRM 114 (fictional device).

Snapforce CRM

Snapforce CRM is a comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) SaaS application, developed by Snapforce.com.^[1]

Overview

Primary use case is customer management and sales automation, although it can also be configured with telephony support.^[1]

Deployment options

Snapforce CRM can be configured to handle inbound and outbound calling, calls are logged to the prospect or customer record automatically in real time.^[1]

Recognition

In May 2014 the company became the first crm software provider to offer telephony services as a native feature.^[1]

Related: Customer relationship management · Microsoft Dynamics 365 · Zoho CRM (application)

External references: ^[1][2][3]

Customer relationship management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategic process that organizations use to manage, analyze, and improve their interactions with customers. By using data-driven insights, CRM often involves dedicated information systems that help store and analyze customer data, support communication, and coordinate sales, marketing, and service activities. CRM systems compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone (which many services come with a softphone), email, live chat, marketing materials, and more recently, social media.^[4]

History

The concept of customer relationship management started in the early 1970s, when customer satisfaction was evaluated using annual surveys or by front-line asking. At that time, businesses had to rely on standalone mainframe systems to automate sales, but the extent of technology allowed them to categorize customers in spreadsheets and lists. One of the best-known precursors of modern-day CRM is the Farley File.^[4]

Strategic

Strategic CRM concentrates upon the development of a customer-centric business culture.^[4]

Operational

The primary goal of CRM systems is integration and automation of sales, marketing, and customer support. Therefore, these systems typically have a dashboard that gives an overall view of the three functions on a single customer view, a single page for each customer that a company may have. The dashboard may provide client information, past sales, previous marketing efforts, and more, summarizing all of the relationships between the customer and the firm.^[4]

Analytical

The role of analytical CRM systems is to analyze customer data collected through multiple sources and present it so that business managers can make more informed decisions. Analytical CRM systems use techniques such as data mining, correlation, and pattern recognition to analyze customer data. These analytics help improve customer service by finding small problems which can be solved, perhaps by marketing to different parts of a consumer audience differently.^[4]

Collaborative

The third primary aim of CRM systems is to incorporate external stakeholders such as suppliers, vendors, and distributors, and to share customer information across groups, departments, and organizations. For example, feedback can be collected from technical support calls, which could help provide direction for marketing products and services to that particular customer in the future.^[4]

Customer data platform

A customer data platform (CDP) is a computer system used by marketing departments that assembles data about individual people from various sources into one database, with which other software systems can interact. As of February 2017, about twenty companies were selling such systems and revenue for them was around US$300 million.^[4]

Components

The main components of CRM are building and managing customer relationships through marketing, observing relationships as they mature through distinct phases, managing these relationships at each stage and recognizing that the distribution of the value of a relationship to the firm is not homogeneous. When building and managing customer relationships through marketing, firms might benefit from using a variety of tools to help organizational design, incentive schemes, customer structures, and more to optimize the reach of their marketing campaigns.^[4]

Effect on customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction has important implications for the economic performance of firms because it has the ability to increase customer loyalty and usage behavior and reduce customer complaints and the likelihood of customer defection. The implementation of a CRM approach is likely to affect customer satisfaction and customer knowledge for a variety of different reasons.^[4]

Customer benefits

With CRM systems, customers are served on the day-to-day process. With more reliable information, their demand for self-service from companies will decrease. If there is less need to interact with the company for different problems, then the customer satisfaction level is expected to increase.^[4]

Related: Snapforce CRM · Microsoft Dynamics 365 · Zoho CRM (application)

External references: ^[4][5][6]

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a set of enterprise accounting and sales software products. Its flagship product, Dynamics GP, was released in 1981.^[7]

Applications

Microsoft Dynamics 365 largely consists of products developed by companies that Microsoft acquired: Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains Software), Dynamics NAV (formerly Navision; now forked into Dynamics 365 Business Central), Dynamics SL (formerly Solomon), and Dynamics AX (formerly Axapta; now forked into Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations). The various products are aimed at different market segments, ranging from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to large organizations with multi-language, currency, and legal entity capability. In recent years Microsoft Dynamics ERP has focused its marketing and development on software as a service (SaaS) products.^[7]

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations Enterprise Edition (formerly Microsoft Dynamics AX) – ERP and CRM software-as-a-service product meant for mid-sized and large enterprises. Integrating both Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM features, consisting of the following modules: for Financials and Operations, for Sales Enterprise, for Marketing, for Customer Service, for Field Service, for Project Service Automation. It is designed to be easily connected with Office 365 and Microsoft Power BI.^[7]

Microsoft Dynamics ax

Microsoft Dynamics AX was one of Microsoft's Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software products. In 2018, its thick-client interface was removed and the web product was rebranded as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations as a part of the Dynamics 365 suite. MDCC or Microsoft Development Center Copenhagen was once the primary development center for Dynamics AX.^[7]

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (formerly Microsoft Dynamics NAV) – ERP and CRM software-as-a-service product meant for small and mid-sized businesses. Integrating both Dynamics NAV and Dynamics CRM features, consisting of the following modules: for Financials and Operations, for Sales Professionals, for Marketing. Easily connected with Office 365 and Microsoft Power BI.^[7]

Online and on-premises deployment

The Dynamics 365 Business Central system comes in both an online hosted (SaaS) version and an on-premises version for manual deployment and administration.^[7]

Localization

As an international ERP system, Business Central is available with 24 official localizations to work with the local features and requirements of various countries. Local partners provide an additional 47 localizations.^[7]

Editions and licensing

There are two editions of Business Central, Essentials and Premium. Essentials covers Finance, Sales, Marketing, Purchasing, Inventory, Warehousing, and Project Management. Premium includes all of Essentials functionality plus Service Management and Manufacturing features.^[7]

Value-Added Resellers (VARs)

Business Central is primarily distributed and implemented through Microsoft’s global network of Value-Added Resellers (VARs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). VARs provide services such as consulting, implementation, customization, integration, training, and ongoing support. Because Business Central is highly extensible, VARs frequently tailor deployments to meet the specific requirements of industries such as manufacturing, distribution, retail, professional services, and field service.^[7]

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft. The current version is Dynamics 365. The name and licensing changed with the update from Dynamics 2016.^[7]

Related: Snapforce CRM · Customer relationship management · Zoho CRM (application)

External references: ^[7][8][9]

Zoho CRM (application)

Zoho CRM is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) application developed by Zoho Corporation, an India-based technology company. It is delivered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product and includes features for managing sales processes, marketing activities, and customer support.^[10]

History

Zoho CRM was launched in 2005 by Zoho Corporation. In 2010, Zoho partnered with Google as a launch partner for the Google Apps Marketplace, allowing Google Apps users to access Zoho CRM within their existing accounts.^[10]

Bigin

Bigin was launched in 2020. It is intended to support basic customer operations such as sales tracking, onboarding, service delivery, and customer support.^[10]

Operations

In November 2013, Zoho conducted a marketing activity during the Salesforce Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. Although not an official participant in the event, Zoho utilized pedicabs and food trucks bearing its branding in the vicinity of the conference venue.^[10]

Related: Snapforce CRM · Customer relationship management · Microsoft Dynamics 365

External references: ^[10][11][12]

Comparison of CRM systems

This article is a comparison of notable customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are considered a superset of CRM systems.^[13]

Related: Snapforce CRM · Customer relationship management · Microsoft Dynamics 365

External references: ^[13][14][15]

CRM 114 (fictional device)

The CRM 114 Discriminator is a fictional piece of radio equipment in Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove (1964), the destruction of which prevents the crew of a B-52 from receiving the recall code that would stop them from dropping their hydrogen bomb payloads onto Soviet territory. The device is one of several that malfunction in the film, along with Mandrake's telephones, the bomb doors failing to open and the Doomsday Weapon's misuse, a common theme in Kubrick's work of the failure of human planning.^[16]

Real-life parallels

In Peter George's novel, Red Alert (1958), which was the basis for the film, the device is called the CRM 114. George was well-informed; under the U.S. military Joint Electronics Type Designation System (The "AN" System), CRM is the designator for an air-transportable cargo (C) radio (R) maintenance or test assembly (M) and 114 is a feasible series number. If the CRM 114 were a U.S. military item, its official number would be AN/CRM-114.^[16]

Related: Snapforce CRM · Customer relationship management · Microsoft Dynamics 365

External references: ^[16][17][18]