Why bother custom-coding integrations between applications, if you can avoid it? Ease of integration is just one more reason to pursue SaaS CRM, rather than using on-premise CRM.

The adage about how much less it costs to keep the customer you have, instead of finding a new one, is even more true in a down economy. Indeed, if the cost ratio between acquiring new customers and retaining old ones was 10:1, today it’s probably more like 100:1, given the relative scarcity of customers with available spend. But what can the service department do to help?