South African businesses are slowly but surely catching onto the trends that are being used overseas. One of these trends is CRM systems, which have become more and more popular in the South African business landscape. You might be wondering whether it’s time for your business to look into investing in one of these systems.
When you look closely at the benefits that a CRM brings to your business, there are plenty of reasons why you should get one. But then you still need to decide which CRM you should go for. Should you bite the bullet and go with the most popular option even if it is incredibly expensive? Or are there other CRMs that are better suited to South African businesses?
There’s a lot to consider when you need to choose a CRM, but it’s important to make the right choice because changing to a different CRM once you’ve already committed to one is not an easy task. Keep reading to find out which CRM you should use in South Africa.
The Best CRM Software for South Africa
South African businesses are unique and often very different to foreign businesses. As such, we also have unique requirements when it comes to the systems (and CRMs) that we need to use.
There are a few popular choices when it comes to CRMs worldwide, but if you’re in South Africa you’ll need to narrow it down. Below are some of the most popular CRM options in South Africa, and this will give you more of an idea as to which CRMs you can start looking into:
- HubSpot CRM
- Salesforce Sales Cloud
- Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Zoho CRM
- Insightly
- Pipedrive
It’s important to keep in mind that you need to choose the right CRM for your needs and preferences. Salesforce might work for a business like Vodacom, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s also the right CRM for your business!
Things to Consider
When choosing a CRM in South Africa there are a few important factors that you need to consider. With hundreds of potential CRMs on the market that you could choose from, it’s incredibly difficult to make a final decision and commit to one system — especially if you don’t know what to look out for!
Costs
The first factor to keep in mind is the costs involved in the CRM system that you choose. There are two different costs that you will need to consider — this is often not clarified by the CRM beforehand, so make sure to double-check both of these costs.
The first cost is the recurring fees that you need to pay. All CRMs will have a monthly cost that the business needs to pay. Make sure that these costs can fit into your budget, and shop around to see which CRM suits your budget best.
The second cost is the implementation of the CRM. These systems are incredibly complex, and the initial set-up to get the system up and running is vital. You can’t cut any corners during this process!
Some CRMs even require specialised support to keep them running, which can add even more costs to the overall package that you’ve chosen. Salesforce is one example of this, where some businesses pay up to $6500 per month for their CRM solution.
Difficulty to Implement
CRM systems need to be integrated with your business before you can use them. Many business executives attempt to tackle this process on their own, but that’s often where it all goes wrong. CRM implementation is difficult, and that’s why nearly 70% of all CRM initiations fail before the system is even launched.
From migrating data to ensuring that the system is running smoothly, you need to have a ton of experience and expertise in order to successfully integrate a CRM into your business. Some CRMs are more complex than others, and this is where your decision will become important.
Some CRMs require tons of investment and effort just to get them up and running. So, if you’re not prepared for those extra costs and the potential headaches that come with it, you’re going to need to do some thorough research into each CRM before you make your final decision.
Benefits
Every CRM is unique and offers different features. It’s important to review the features, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each CRM before you make your decision on which one you’re going to invest in.
Make sure that you understand what the CRM has to offer for your business, and assess whether it meets your needs. If the CRM is lacking in one area, or the ROI does not match up with what you would get from another CRM, you should take this into consideration when making your decision.
Scalability
South African businesses often start small and grow. Some businesses don’t even grow that much, but they remain at the perfect scale. Either way, you want your CRM to grow with your business.
Whether this is adding on new features in the future through updates or moving up to more expensive packages as your budget increases. It’s never a good thing when you’re paying for features that you’re never going to use, so make sure that the CRM fits the scale of your business!
Support
With CRMs being such complex systems, you’re going to need some help every now and then. It’s so easy to run into errors or encounter specific problems that only experts have the solutions to, so you want to be sure that you’ll have support both locally and internationally.
If you’re using a CRM that very few other businesses in South Africa are using, it’s likely that you won’t be getting reliable local support. You’ll then have to rely on international support which comes with a whole host of challenges.
The best way to assess the support that you will be getting from each CRM is to dive into user reviews. You’ll ideally be looking for fast and reliable support on a 24/7 basis. The best CRMs will have support available through multiple different contact methods as well. As ironic as it might sound, there are some CRM vendors who don’t have great customer support!
User Friendliness
At the end of the day, your team will be using the CRM. This is why it’s so important to have the right CRM implemented into your business. If your team can’t get to grips with how the system works, it’s highly likely that your CRM implementation will fail.
If your team is not skilled in IT, then you should steer clear of the more complex systems and rather invest in one that’s more user-friendly. This will be a major factor for business executives to keep in mind, especially in South Africa.
Luckily, there are tons of CRMs on the market that are user-friendly, and many of them (such as HubSpot) come with tons of resources and even online courses that help you to teach your team members how to get the most out of the CRM.
Conclusion
Choosing the right CRM for your South African business can be tricky. There’s a lot to consider when making your decision. Ultimately, a CRM should benefit your business and make your team’s job easier, rather than causing them more headaches. Make sure to take your time and draft up a full assessment of the pros and cons of each CRM before you come to a conclusion about which one you want to invest in.