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Home > CRM Business Case > CRM and customer service projects > SaaS CRM > SaaS and on-demand CRM: Building a business case |
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SaaS CRM
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Q: "I'm the CRM director for a midsized business. I have to give a presentation for the front office next month, and I'd like to convince them that Software as a Service (SaaS) CRM or on demand CRM is the right choice for our organization. Can you help me design a business case for SaaS CRM?"
A: With CRM on demand and SaaS CRM, it's all about actual business results. Purchasing a CRM application as an on-demand service (i.e., Software as a Service or "SaaS") should motivate both the buyer and seller to maximize quantifiable business improvements. The extent to which customers gain business value from SaaS CRM applications drives their level of usage. In turn, the level of usage determines the success of the provider. This is a welcome change from the traditional onsite license model, in which the upfront costs led both parties to put significant effort into justifying the investment, while doing little after a deployment to measure and improve results. ROI is still important -- but focus on actual business results When purchasing SaaS or on demand CRM, companies should complete an ROI analysis. However, a greater portion of their efforts should be focused on measuring and improving the actual value enabled. It is also important to continually assess results. Determining how much the service should be used in the future (i.e., will the usage level be maintained, expanded or reduced?) is part of this ongoing process of assessing and improving actual results. Questions to ask internally Companies should ask the following questions when considering investing in a CRM on demand or SaaS application:
Note: The costs used to assess the investment should include expenses related to making changes to business processes, skills, roles/responsibilities and the incentives needed to achieve the expected results. Questions to ask vendors As mentioned earlier, SaaS or on demand CRM providers should take a more active role in working with their customers to maximize their services, as their success is closely tied to their customers' success. During the sales process, buyers should ask vendors the following questions to assess the level of assistance they will provide:
The responses to these questions can help:
1) Determine whether the investment in the application is justified, and They should also set up the metrics, dashboards and processes for measuring and continuously improving the actual value once the application is implemented.
Don't miss the other installments in this ROI series
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Dan Merriman, President, Chapin Consulting Group 
