How Much Should You Spend on Customer Management System: A Handy Checklist

Customer management system is a system that takes care of a company’s interactions with its customers: existing and potential future customers.

With the help of customer support software, businesses can manage relationships with their service users, suppliers etc. in addition to their customers, providing them better support.

What is Open Source Customer Management Software?

Open source customer management system helps businesses better manage their sales, marketing and customer support processes without incurring any cost related to CMS purchase and implementation. Open source customer management system software comes with a public source code, which can be modified to suit your business’s needs.

Paid Vs Free Customer Management Software: Which One is Better?

Both paid and free customer management software are available for use. Below we list some major differences between the two:

Criteria	Free CMS Systems	Premium CMS Software
Cost	Free of charge	Price varies from software to software
Product support	Free customer service software provides limited support and largely takes help from the developer’s forum	Paid customer support solutions have dedicated support
Integration with third party apps	Limited integration with third-party applications	Wider integration. In addition, you can sync contacts and calendar apps too.
Flexibility	Free customer service software systems (if open source) allow you to include/remove as per the needs of your organization.	Paid customer service systems provide customization at the implementation stage and high scalability.
Suitability	Suitable for start-ups	Suitable for growing businesses and larger organizations with a wide customer base.

On-Premise Vs Cloud-Based Customer Management System

Based on data storage and accessibility, customer service software can be broadly classified into two categories: on premise customer management system and cloud-based customer management software.

We list the basic differences between the two types of customer support software to make it easy for you to decide which is better suited for your business.

Criteria	On-premise customer service system	Cloud based customer service system
Information storage	Information stored in on-site servers	Information stored in remote servers
Maintenance	Maintenance of hardware components, data center and IT resources	No such maintenance required
Collaboration	Different teams may not be on the same page with respect to the updated data points.	Different teams can access data at the same time and stay updated about any additions or alternations in the existing data
Upgrades	As updates are not automated, businesses may miss out on crucial updates.	Cloud based customer support software offers automated and timely updates.
Accessibility	Access is provided on the basis of location, IP address etc.	Users can access the data from anywhere and from any device.

Must-Have Customer Management Software Features for Any Plan You Choose

For any organisation, be it small or large, the appropriate customer management system software must have some basic features for handling customers in a better fashion.

1. Omnichannel customer support

Customer support software for small business should provide customer support across several channels, such as, social media, emails, live chat, etc. This helps address queries instantly and ensures higher customer satisfaction.

2. Inbuilt Ticket System for smart ticketing management

Customer management system (CMS) must have inbuilt ticket systems that generates a ticket whenever a customer raises a grievance. The ticket remains active till the time the grievance is not resolved. Using this, the customer and the CRM executive can both see the current status of the grievance.

3. Customer sentiment analysis

Customer experience management software, open source or premium ones, should help users with customer sentiment analysis based on their responses and engage with them to provide better service and build loyalty.

5 Best Buys: Customer Management Software for Small Businesses

• Freshdesk
• Salesmate
• Zoho
• Salesforce
• Capsule CRM

Customer Service Software	Pricing
Freshdesk	The starting price is ₹1399 per month.
Salesmate	₹899 per user per month.
Zoho	The starting price is ₹500 per month.
Salesforce	The starting price is ₹1873.15 per user per month.
Capsule CRM	The professional package costs ₹1129.82 per user per month.

• Freshdesk

Freshdesk is an efficient customer management system developed by Freshworks for faster resolution of customer queries. Freshdesk customer management system software has an efficient ticket generation system, supports collaboration between multiple teams and allows automation of repetitive tasks.

Freshdesk Features

1. Efficient ticket generation system
2. Allows collaboration between teams
3. Automates repetitive tasks
4. Omnichannel support
5. Full customization from customer portal to building custom apps

Pricing- The starting price of Freshdesk customer management software for small business is ₹1399 per month. For demo and detailed pricing, visit Freshdesk.

• Salesmate

Salesmate customer management system CMS helps you to provide a personalized experience to each customer while solving their query. This customer service software is suitable for managing email marketing campaigns.

Salesmate Features

1. Personalized experience for each customer
2. Suitable for carrying out email marketing campaigns

Pricing- The price of Salesmate customer support software is ₹899 per user per month.

• Zoho

Zoho customer management system helps track visitors on your website. It also provides an enhanced notification system with pop-up alerts, which makes it suitable for small scale enterprises.

Zoho Features

1. Suitable for keeping track of visitors on different pages of your website
2. This customer support software has an enhanced notification system with pop up alerts

Pricing- The starting price of Zoho customer management software for small businesses is ₹500 per month.

• Salesforce

Salesforce customer management software offers a version for small businesses called Lighting essentials. This version allows several features such as integration with email apps and customisation as per your business needs.

Salesforce Features

1. Salesforce’s CRM software for small organisations is called Lighting essentials
2. Allows integration with email apps
3. Supports customization as per business need

Pricing- The starting price of Salesforce customer management software for small business is ₹1873.15 per user per month.

• Capsule CRM

Capsule CRM has an easy to use interface and an enhanced functionality. It can be used on desktop as well as mobile devices. However, some users might complain of limited options regarding campaign management.

Capsule CRM Features

1. Easy to use interface
2. Available for use on both desktop and mobile devices

Pricing- Capsule customer management software for small business is free of cost for maximum 2 users.

The professional package costs ₹1129.82 per user per month.

Wrapping Up

Factors like your company size, customization, integration with other apps, etc. are important to consider while purchasing customer support software for your organisation. This extensive guide tells you everything about customer service software, saving you time and money.