The Hidden Costs Of An Online CRM System

All I want is a free lunch and a perfect world for my CRM system. Is that too much to ask? A certain online CRM company likes to think it has the answers.You can be setup and running for $10 a month for 10 users or $1200 a year. Wow, just what I was looking for. Or is it?

They are not lying. You will only pay $1200 during the first year. But, and that is a big but, the second year you will have to pay $11,000 for the previous year if you want to continue to use the system. Say what? What happened to my free lunch? Free lunch is over and it is time to pay up. Did you really think a company can survive on $1200 a year for 10 users? Sales people are the easiest people to sell to.

You may be thinking "Bang, Zoom. To the moon Alice. To the MOON!" But most of you will look at the cost of switching to a new system and possibly hiring a person to administer it. I mean, come on, I have spent a year getting this thing setup. This could cost you a lot more then the $11,000.

So most will bend over and say "Thank you sir may I have another". And yes you may have another because they are also going to charge you $12,000 for the coming year. So your 10 seat $1200 a year CRM system now cost you $23,000 the second year. Ouch! I should have read the fine print.

However, there is hope. Chances are you are already using Microsoft Office and Microsoft Exchange for everyday business use. Even if you are a small shop you can easily host the Microsoft Exchange with a hosting company for a low cost.

There are Outlook CRM extensions to the Microsoft Office system that are a fraction of the cost of an online system because they do not have to reinvent the wheel. They utilize existing Office applications. Some even have more options and are customizable then an online system. There may not be any free lunch but maybe there is a perfect world for my CRM system.

Many of today's most successful businesses have chosen SalesOutlook's Outlook CRM Software as their software choice for customer relationship management.