At the eCRM show taking place in the shadow of Internet World this week, customer relationship management is emerging as the latest area of business to be taken on by application service providers (ASP).
Several companies introduced hosted services that use the Internet to help businesses manage their relationships with customers across sales, marketing and support divisions. Other companies have retooled existing software offerings to make them available in a hosted form.
"The point of all these tools is to take a large corporation and make it look like a mom and pop store," said Blaine Ballard, a systems manager in the customer services division of regional carrier US West, who was at the show looking at new CRM software from Xchange.
CRM software lets businesses offer customers an improved, more personal level of service, which in turn helps retain customer loyalty and maximize a company's profitability, Ballard said.
Using a hosted CRM service helps businesses save money because it frees them from the capital costs of installing hardware and software in-house and providing technical support for it, said Nathan Malone, a business analyst with Ineto, an Austin, Texas company that provides hosted communications services for businesses. He was at the show checking out a hosted CRM service from Neteos.
Hosted services also leave smaller companies free to focus on their core competences, and provide them with greater flexibility to switch to a different provider if a better CRM solution comes along, Malone said.
The following are just a few of the products and services announced at eCRM this week.
Features include a proprietary Neteos technology that allows the company to quickly customize its service to match the "look and feel" of its customer's Web site, according to Dave McNamara, vice president of sales and marketing with Neteos.
ERMNow expects its product to do well among companies with revenue of between $10 million and $350 million. "Smaller companies could probably get away with using ACT or Goldmine," McNamara said. The service is offered at a per-seat monthly subscription fee ranging from $50 to $150 depending on the breadth of the service suite, the company said in a statement.
Neteos, in Burlington, Mass., is at +1-781-270-7900, and www.neteos.com/.
Xchange, in Boston, is at +1-617-737-2244, and www.xchange.com/.
Quiq, in San Mateo, Calif., is at +1-650-655-4777, and at www.quiq.com/.
Touchtone is based in Costa Mesa, Calif., and can be reached at 714-755-2810 and at www.touchtonecorp.com/.
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