When Tony Wong, director of customer service for Printrak International Inc., an Anaheim, Calif., company that develops fingerprint tracking technology for law enforcement agencies, arrived at Printrak, the company had 30 customers, and everyone knew each one by name. But that number mushroomed in just a few years to 700, and the older customers weren't pleased. Printrak was able to restore its personal touch with Applix Inc.'s Applix Enterprise customer-relationship management software. The automation that comes with customer-relationship management applications helps small companies act bigger than they are. For instance, a self-service Web application can let a small company provide attentive support without having to operate a huge call center.
Smaller companies have one or two people to do all their marketing.
Small and midsize businesses demand products that are simple, agile, powerful, and painless. Implementations must be easier. Many small and midsize businesses don't have large IT organizations with experience in implementing and managing enterprise applications. An implementation can tie up a smaller company's IT staff, forcing it to hire more employees or consultants.