Optimal e-CRM System Selection for a Growing Business
This paper evaluates electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) systems for a small photography business seeking to track client purchases and automatically recommend complementary products and services. Drawing on academic definitions and research, the paper outlines the core advantages of e-CRM adoption, identifies the types of customer data that should be stored, and compares two leading vendors — Salesforce and Zoho — across key criteria including functionality, mobile access, integration capabilities, and pricing. The analysis concludes with a recommendation that Salesforce represents the superior choice for a small, growing business based on its design focus, automatic upgrades, and flexible pricing model.
- Introduction: Business context and paper purpose stated
- Advantages of e-CRM Systems: Academic benefits of adopting e-CRM technology
- Data to Store in the e-CRM System: Customer data types recommended for storage
- Comparison of Two e-CRM Vendors: Salesforce vs. Zoho features and drawbacks
- Recommendation: Salesforce identified as best-fit vendor
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What makes this paper effective
- It applies academic definitions and peer-reviewed research to a concrete business scenario, grounding the vendor recommendation in theory rather than personal preference alone.
- The comparison table structure presents competing vendors in a balanced, scannable format that clearly delineates advantages and disadvantages for each system.
- The paper maintains a practical, client-facing tone throughout, making complex technology concepts accessible to a non-technical small business audience.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied comparative analysis: it moves systematically from defining the subject (e-CRM), to establishing selection criteria (benefits and data needs), to evaluating specific vendors against those criteria, and finally to a justified recommendation. This funnel structure — theory → criteria → comparison → conclusion — is a model approach for technology selection reports in business writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief introduction that states the business context and purpose. It then devotes a section to establishing the value proposition of e-CRM systems using cited academic sources. A focused section addresses data management considerations. The core analytical section presents a two-vendor comparison in table format, and the paper closes with a short, direct recommendation. This five-part structure is compact and appropriate for a business advisory memo or short analytical report at the undergraduate level.
Introduction
Based on Our Town Photography's dual goal of tracking its clients' purchases while being able to automatically offer similar products and services that complement those purchases, the following overview and comparison of electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) systems is provided, followed by a recommendation concerning the best system for the company's needs.
Advantages of e-CRM Systems
Simply stated, e-CRM systems take advantage of cloud-based technologies to offer companies an efficient means of tracking customer purchases and demographic data in ways that can facilitate marketing efforts. As defined by Turban (2012), "Electronic CRM (e-CRM) is the electronically delivered or managed subset of CRM. It concerns all forms of managing relationships with customers when using information technologies" (p. 37). While e-CRM is a subset of CRM, virtually all CRM systems use some type of information technology, and the terms are frequently used interchangeably (Turban, 2012).
According to Kapoulas and Ratkovic (2015), e-CRM systems provide a number of benefits for organizations of all sizes and types. Specifically, Kapoulas and Ratkovic (2015) report that "organizations that adopt e-CRM [can] reduce the cost of contacting customers [and] can put more resources into dealing with customer enquiries, which can lead to increased profitability" (p. 24). In addition, e-CRM systems enable companies to provide faster service and response times to customer inquiries, as well as making two-way interactive service relationships possible (Kapoulas & Ratkovic, 2015).
Finally, Kapoulas and Ratkovic (2015) note that "e-CRM increases consumers' mobility amongst products and suppliers, customer satisfaction and service, online sales, website patronage, loyalty, retention and profitability" (p. 24). Taken together, these attributes make the acquisition of an e-CRM system for Our Town Photography a timely and valuable undertaking. However, it is also important to understand what type of data should be included in these systems and how that data should be managed, as discussed below.
Data to Store in the e-CRM System
While it is important to include as much relevant customer data as possible in an e-CRM system, it is equally important to avoid the appearance of intruding on customers' privacy. Some of the more readily available data that can be stored in Our Town Photography's e-CRM system includes customer names, addresses, and purchase histories derived from credit or debit card transactions. In addition, other customer data such as stated preferences and birthdates should also be included to support targeted marketing efforts.
References
Kapoulas, A. & Ratkovic, D. (2015, January 1). E-CRM dilemmas in developing markets: The case of a tourism company in Serbia. European Journal of Tourism Research, 9, 24–26.
Turban, E. (2012). Electronic commerce: A managerial and social networks perspective. New York: Pearson.
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