How much traffic is my website getting? What products are visitors looking at? Are there items generating interest but not selling? Can I integrate customer service with tech support to immediately fix critical issues? These are all important questions to ask when considering which ecommerce CRM providers are a good fit for your online store.

A good Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is tied into your ecommerce site, and will give you answers to those questions and more. But in order to find the right CRM for your online business, you will need to screen all of the prospective customer relationship management vendors in detail.

Selecting the right CRM for your online business is only part of the equation. You will also need assurance that if you have any issues with the CRM, or need to modify it, that the vendor will be there to help you. The following are some of the qualities you should look for when screening prospective customer relationship management vendors.

• Has the CRM vendor been in business for a long time? You want to align with a CRM provider that has been working in the ecommerce sphere for a considerable number of years. They will be able to advise you on what some of the best industry practices are. Their insight can help shorten your learning curve and enable you to capture additional market share.
• Does the vendor provide customization services? This is a key facility that every CRM vendor should offer their ecommerce clients. The primary benefit of owning an online business is to offer your products and services to the world. You’ll also need your CRM software to grow with your organization, and that requires customization. Without this ability to customize the CRM, your growth could be slowed or even stopped dead in its tracks.
• Does the vendor keep the CRM protected from malware and malicious code? This is vital when your entire business is operated over the internet. Your customers want peace of mind knowing their data is safe. If the CRM vendor is not proactive making sure their platform is using state of the art security, then your entire business could become victimized by malware. It would not be wise dealing with an organization that does not take security seriously.

Once you have gone through your list of ecommerce CRM providers and have found the ones that seem to be a suitable fit, you can proceed with deploying the CRM. One of the key features your CRM deployment should have is the ability to handle customer support issues. By handling customer support from within the CRM, you can foster a stronger sense of loyalty with your customers. This improved loyalty can lead to more sales and selling opportunities.