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Customer relationship management (CRM) is a powerful technology that gives your business a single view of each customer, making it easier to manage relationships, gain valuable insights, and deliver personalized interactions. It does this by collecting all of your relevant customer interactions in one place, enabling data to be better organized, tracked, and analyzed.

Traditionally, it was common for businesses to have on-premise CRM systems, which forced them to invest in software and hardware that they then had to maintain. Today, most organizations have made the switch to modern cloud CRMs, where the software and data storage exist on the internet and offsite. Operating your CRM in the cloud has a host of benefits, including easier setup and operation, greater flexibility to scale quickly, and the potential for increased profitability.

Let's take a look at what exactly a cloud CRM is, what the advantages are, and how to choose the best one for your organization.

What we'll cover:

• What is a cloud CRM?
• How does a cloud CRM work?
• The benefits of a cloud-based CRM
• Key features of a cloud CRM
• How to choose the best cloud CRM
• Finding your cloud CRM for the future

A cloud CRM, or a cloud-based CRM, is customer relationship management software that's hosted over the internet by a third-party provider. That provider is responsible for keeping the software up to date and working reliably, as well as maintaining functional and secure data storage. With this solution, customer data is accessible from anywhere, using just about any device, giving businesses an edge in their CRM capabilities.

These are big advantages over traditional on-premise CRMs, which require businesses to host and operate the servers and networks that house the customer database. In addition to building and maintaining the infrastructure, the business is responsible for managing and updating the CRM software on an ongoing basis. They also have to hire an IT management team —?or divert existing resources —?to maintain the CRM. Ongoing updates to on-premise CRMs also lead to forced downtime when the IT team makes updates (assuming they don't work overnight or on weekends), during which staff members may not be able to access the system.

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A cloud-based CRM is a type of software as a service (SaaS), which means the solution is hosted online through an external provider. A cloud CRM application is delivered over the internet, which has benefits for employees, the IT team, and the organization as a whole.

With a cloud CRM, employees simply connect through an internet-based application or dashboard. Anyone who needs access to the CRM system for any reason — such as to find customer contact information, check marketing campaign metrics, or review past customer service requests — can do so anytime via a desktop or laptop computer or using mobile CRM with a smartphone or tablet.

Cloud CRM platforms easily integrate with other applications, allowing for the safe, free flow of data and delivering a complete picture of the organization and its customers. This 360-degree view is continually updated, ensuring every part of the business is accessing the most current customer information. These unified, timely insights improve relationship management across the entire customer lifecycle, spanning departments such as sales, service, marketing, and digital commerce.

A cloud CRM solution can integrate seamlessly with your full suite of business tools, allowing information to flow unimpeded and giving you a true 360-degree view of your customer. With all of your data in one place —?from both internal sources and integrated from outside apps — silos are removed, enabling your teams to work together with the latest information.

And with a cloud CRM, your business's IT staff are not responsible for building the CRM infrastructure, nor do they have to worry about logistics and security management. They also don't have to worry about ongoing maintenance. A cloud CRM saves your IT staff from staying on top of implementing changes that sometimes involve manually updating every computer on the system.

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Adopting a cloud CRM can help both B2C and B2B companies. Whether you're a small business needing a CRM or a large enterprise, the right SaaS-based system can help you boost employee productivity, increase profitability, and serve your customers better.

For example, with a cloud CRM, a sales manager can set realistic targets based on continually updated data; a marketer can create automated, AI-powered drip campaigns based on specific actions; and a customer service specialist can immediately pull up the full history of a contact while interacting with them.

Here are some of the key benefits of CRM systems based in the cloud.

When CRM software is cloud-based, you don't need to purchase hardware, host servers, oversee security, or manage the system. This means there are significantly lower upfront costs as well as ongoing costs. The CRM solution can be implemented and integrated into existing systems with a much smaller initial investment, and you can leave maintenance to the provider.

When your CRM solution lives in the cloud rather than on-premise, there's no downtime needed for software installations and updates. All of that happens automatically and is handled by the system provider. This means fewer interruptions for your business and frees up your IT team members to spend their time elsewhere.

Because of their ease of integration with other SaaS systems, cloud CRMs enable you to sort, clean, analyze, and consolidate data sources into a unified, shared customer view much more efficiently. Moreover, this data — such as each customer's interests, purchase history, and interactions across channels — can be updated automatically, providing timely insights for all of your teams' quick decisions.

With the unified data captured by a cloud CRM, your business can create dynamic messaging tailored to individual customers. Because the data in the CRM is accessible as soon as it's updated, this outreach can be constantly refined and personalized to match the ever-changing journey of each customer.

Security is paramount for CRMs, given that these systems are handling sensitive customer data. A cloud CRM can make achieving trusted security much easier and less costly with features such as automatic backups, ongoing monitoring, and automatic software updates that protect against emerging threats.

With a cloud-based CRM, it's easier to scale the solution up or down as your business evolves and your needs change. Employees can be added or removed from the system quickly, and new tools can be incorporated as needed. This flexibility also means you will only pay for the scale and features you need.

A CRM based in the cloud gives your team members the ability to access the system at any time on any platform. They can work on it from the office, at home, or in the field. This enables teams to be more collaborative and responsive, working together from wherever they are to adapt to changing conditions and customer behaviors.

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Cloud-based CRMs are dynamic systems that can help your business across a wide range of areas, from powering more relevant marketing and driving more sales to enabling more effective customer service.

A modern cloud CRM will offer a host of powerful tools. Analytics dashboards can show you exactly what's getting clicked on in your marketing emails. Unified customer profiles flag customers who still have service cases open, and built-in artificial intelligence (AI) can summarize sales calls and even write outreach emails for you.

Here are some of the CRM features to look for when considering and evaluating cloud CRMs.

One of the most difficult challenges businesses face is dealing with a deluge of data. There's so much information coming in so quickly from so many different sources that it can feel impossible to keep up. A CRM can solve this problem by uniting customer data in one place. This lays the foundation for true collaboration among teams.

Having all your customer data in one place doesn't benefit your business if that information isn't accessible and presented in useful ways. A good cloud CRM will have reporting tools and dashboards that can be personalized and accessed quickly and can also deliver many different types of insights, from customer habits and interests to pipeline effectiveness and profitability.

A modern cloud-based AI CRM has built-in AI that's trusted and is a seamless part of the software experience. Grounded in your customer data, the AI should be able to help with a wide range of areas, from generating relevant experiences to automating administrative tasks such as data entry. AI agents can even provide autonomous support to employees and customers, providing relevant answers and service. It should also be able to uncover insights hidden in your data that help you find new opportunities to drive revenue and serve your customers better.

A core feature of every CRM is centralized contact management, allowing any team member to easily access customer information. This contact management should enable customer and lead data to be updated easily so that the details are as correct and current as possible. It should also clearly present the history of each contact so anyone interacting with a customer or lead can speak about past issues and inquiries.

Cloud CRMs can track leads from the first interaction through conversion and beyond, delivering a full visualization of the customer journey. AI provides insights such as the best next step to take based on what's worked with similar customers in the past and sales projections. These insights can be used to move prospects through the pipeline, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and refine broader strategies.

To unite data in one place, it's essential that your cloud-based CRM integrates with external data sources and connects with business tools such as email and website hosting platforms. Through simple integrations, the system can gain complete, accurate data from your other software solutions to give you a true picture of your business and customers.

A key benefit of cloud CRMs is their ability to help cut down on repetitive work through process automation. With aid from AI CRM features, including generative CRM, it's possible to boost efficiency by automating tasks such as sending emails to prospects when certain actions are taken and updating team members about progress toward goals.

A cloud CRM makes it easier for team members to work together no matter where they are. The system can also streamline collaboration by serving as a consolidated, up-to-date record for all customer interactions and integrating with workplace communication tools such as Slack.

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To choose the best CRM, start by developing a CRM strategy. This means taking a step back and defining your organization's needs and goals. From there, you can evaluate various cloud-based CRMs based on your criteria. As you look at the different solutions, keep these considerations in mind.

Make sure that you'll be able to customize your CRM to fit your specific needs. These might include creating dashboards that matter to your business, adding relevant fields to capture the data you need, and managing the types and classification of that data.

Once implemented, a cloud CRM will become essential to your business, delivering critical information and insights to teams across the organization. Given that, make sure the solution provider has a lengthy track record of delivering consistent, reliable customer support. The CRM should also include robust, ongoing training that enables each individual to learn at their own pace.

Starting with a clear budget can help you determine which cloud CRMs you should be looking at. Keep in mind that many solutions offer tiered and flexible pricing, so the cost will be determined not just by who the provider is but also by which features you choose.

Your business is sure to change over time, so it's important that your cloud CRM can adjust and grow with you. Look for a solution where you're only paying for the features you need and the current number of users you have, with the option to scale as your organization evolves. This ensures you won't have to start the search for a new CRM in a few years when your growing business needs to expand its tools.

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Cloud CRMs are already incredible tools for businesses, delivering everything above, coupled with cost-effectiveness, flexibility, security, scalability, and reliability.

And this is just the beginning: Technologies such as AI are now making cloud CRMs even better by unlocking more data, automating more tasks, and enabling more personalized customer experiences. Think about what tomorrow may bring when considering which cloud CRM to go with. Specifically, look for an intelligent AI-powered platform — such as the Salesforce CRM — that is rapidly evolving and innovating. You'll set your business up for success, not just today but far into the future. Get started by choosing a free trial of a CRM system that's specific to your business needs.

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