Setting up an on-premise customer relationship management (CRM) system requires a significant investment of time, energy, and money because you need space for the hardware, pay for a license, install the software, and maintain the on-premise CRM yourself.
Web-based CRMs offer a popular alternative — easy to set up, and maintain, and affordable. In this post, we’re going to look at web-based CRMs, discuss the benefits of using them, and compare some of the most popular solutions on the market, including monday sales CRM.
What is a web-based CRM?
The term “web-based CRM” refers to customer relationship management software. It uses the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, a monthly subscription where customers can choose from different pricing plans. Unsurprisingly, web-hosted CRMs account for 75% of total CRM spend.
A web-based CRM hosts your customer data on its servers. You can access this data from anywhere via the Internet. It allows you to gain real-time customer insights, automate processes, and more.
You don’t need to run or update the software to use its features — the vendor takes care of that for you. A web-based CRM hosts your customer data on its servers. You can access this data from anywhere via the Internet. It allows you to gain real-time customer insights, automate processes, and more.
What are the benefits of using a web-based CRM?
Let’s look at some benefits companies experience while using a web-based CRM.
Cost-Effective
The standout benefit of web-based CRMs is cost-effectiveness. When it comes to price, there’s no comparison between web-based CRMs and on-premise CRMs. In fact, quite a few web-based CRM software providers offer free plans that provide enough value for small businesses.
However, these tend to be limited in terms of functionality and usage — often making a paid plan the better option. Additionally, some web-based CRMs offer a significant discount if you pay annually.
Easy installation
Another benefit of choosing a web-based CRM over an on-premise CRM is the ease of installation. You don’t need to buy hardware, get a license, or install the software yourself.
Instead, you go to the vendor’s website, sign up, and get immediate access to its customer relationship management features.
Yes, you will still need to set up your web-based solution and there will still be a learning curve, but it’s nothing compared to the hassle of installing an on-premise CRM.Scalability
Ideally, you want a CRM that can accommodate growth. While you can set up an on-premise CRM in a way that makes it scalable, it often comes with limited features and capabilities.
On the other hand, web-based CRMs tend to be designed for scalability. No matter how large or small your company becomes — your web-based CRM will have the features to accommodate your business’s needs as it evolves.
Easy access
Web-based CRMs are accessible from anywhere provided you have an Internet connection and login information.
Moreover, they typically have web and mobile versions. Meaning you can access the software from both computers and mobile devices. This is a convenient feature if your company has team members located around the globe and on the go. And since they’ll have access to the same centralized data 24/7 — web-based CRM allows team members to achieve seamless collaboration.
4 Essential features of a CRM
So what are the must-have features that you should look for when choosing a web-based CRM for your business?
- Automations. Create complex and simple automations so team members don’t have to spend time on repetitive and time-consuming tasks. monday sales CRM comes with common automations that involve customer service, sales, and marketing.
- Analytics and reports. Gather, collect, and track invaluable insights about your customers across the sales funnel. This will ensure team members make better-informed business decisions using reliable customer data.
- Third-party integrations. The ability to connect a web-based CRM with your current tech stack prevents the need to switch back and forth between systems. Types of third-party integrations include email, calendar, ERP, documents, and more.
- Document management. Access and manage the document lifecycle with ease. This includes creating, customizing, and keeping documents up-to-date within your web-based CRM.
We believe that these should be non-negotiable. Beyond that, it all depends on your business’s needs.
Top-reviewed web-based CRMs
Here are three popular web-based CRM solutions to check out:
- monday sales CRM is a cloud-based OS — and has a sales CRM product. It’s a complete solution for organizing, streamlining, and managing your processes throughout the entire sales cycle. It’s fully customizable and users need no knowledge of coding to use its features.
- HubSpot CRM is a web-based CRM designed to help nurture customer relationships at all stages of the customer journey. It includes sales engagement tools and analytics for teams that are growing.
- Zendesk Sell is a web-based CRM that is a part of the Zendesk suite that can be used as a standalone CRM system. It offers basic CRM software functionality and its interface is simple and easy to use.
Grow your business with monday.com’s web-based CRM
monday sales CRM is web-based and different from other similar solutions because we offer a complete work operating system.
monday sales CRM is a fully customizable web-based CRM that you can use for any industry or business need. Here are just a few ways you can use it:
- Manage projects: project management, task management, and team collaboration functionalities that you can use to ensure projects are completed on time
- Manage product development: roadmap planning, scrum management, sprint retrospective, bug tracking, and feature backlog functionalities that you can use to develop new products and maintain existing ones
- Manage content creation: overview of all your creative projects, streamline content creation, provide feedback and give approvals
- Market your business: marketing calendar, marketing workflows, and marketing campaign tracking
- Keep track of everything that’s happening in your sales pipeline: overview of your entire sales pipeline, sales workflow creation, and team notifications to boost task management
Frequently asked questions
How do you choose a web-based CRM?
- Figure out what features you need
- Determine your budget for a web-based CRM
- Make a list of web-based CRMs that fit your criteria
- Sign up for free trials and try them all out
- Pick the one that you like the best
Is a web-based CRM secure?
It depends on the solution you choose. But reputable web-based CRMs such as monday.com offer advanced security features that can help you better protect your business data.
Provide a better customer experience with monday.com’s web-based CRM
It’s important to have a solid customer relationship management system in place if you want to stay on top of things as your business grows.
monday sales CRM is easy to use, scalable, and affordable. It has everything you need to provide a great customer experience at every stage of your sales pipeline.
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