What are the advantages of using SharePoint as a CRM?

SharePoint is a highly customizable web-based content and document collaboration platform from Microsoft that allows businesses of all sizes to enhance their internal communications, working processes and overall efficiency. In this article, we will discuss some of the main benefits of using SharePoint and Power Automate as a CRM.

There are many reasons that a business might want to leverage SharePoint as their CRM solution. Historically this type of internal pooling for information was known as an Intranet. A thoroughly modern system like SharePoint Online offers a huge wealth of features to allow your teams, and organisation as a whole, to share and collaborate in new and powerful ways.

The wide range of SharePoint’s API and Microsoft’s Power Platform allows you to connect and sync SharePoint to myriad data services meaning you can connect different systems so they can all be used from one place. It offers facilities like CRM, sales management, stock and inventory management all under the same ‘umbrella’ so staff only need to log into one system to get multiple jobs done.

The features and benefits of SharePoint and Power Automate can broadly be divided into the following categories:

Efficiency

By using SharePoint as your CRM, businesses can improve their overall efficiency. The platform provides users with a central location to access information and tools, which can help improve communication and collaboration between team members.

In addition, SharePoint offers a range of features and applications that can help businesses to streamline their processes by only having to enter data once but use that data in many places. Integrating with Power Automate, you can automate those repetitive processes to allow your employees to complete more complex tasks and do more to move the company forward.

Security

SharePoint is a highly secure platform, from both an internal and external perspective, which helps to protect businesses from data breaches and other security threats. Internally, you can set different levels of permissions based on the job role, information type or even the time of access. You can have different permissions on the SharePoint site, list/document library, or item/file level.

Leveraging the security available via Microsoft 365, the platform offers a range of security features to protect from external threats, including data encryption, two-factor user authentication, and activity logging. In addition, SharePoint is compliant with several industry-standard security protocols, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Flexibility

SharePoint is a highly flexible platform that can be customized to meet the specific needs of businesses. The platform offers a range of customization options, including the ability to create custom applications, workflows, and forms. In addition, businesses can also choose to deploy SharePoint on-premises or in the cloud.

Value for Money

SharePoint offers several features and applications that can help businesses to save money. For example, the platform includes a range of tools that can help businesses to manage their costs, such as the ability to create and track budgets. In addition, using SharePoint as your CRM offers several features that can assist businesses to improve their productivity, such as the ability to create and manage projects, and generate invoices for those projects.

Let’s dig a little deeper and look at some examples of ways SharePoint can help your business.

You want your team to communicate better

Email is great, but it’s not a good way to have a real-time digital discussion or share working files with multiple collaborators. SharePoint offers a centralised location for team members to access information and tools but allows for instant two-way communication too via comments or you can integrate fully with Microsoft Teams as a place to collaborate directly within the app. Forms and polls allow team members to move ideas forward quickly and efficiently.

You want information all in one place and accessible from everywhere:

The cloud-based access that SharePoint affords users is one of its defining features. Being able to access the same information, no matter where you are or what device you’re using, is crucial for businesses in today’s fast-paced world. The range of security features means that ease of access needn’t come at the cost of peace of mind.

You want something that will support existing processes while offering future improvements:

SharePoint’s flexibility and customisation options mean that it can be adapted to support existing processes while also offering improvements for the future. If your teams grow or change, SharePoint can adapt. New products or lines of business can easily be accounted for. You’ll be able to continually reshape and repurpose the same SharePoint instance to keep your business streamlined and on target.

Given its inclusion in most Microsoft 365 subscriptions and ease of setting up your initial site, it’s exceedingly good value for money.

Put all these factors together and SharePoint is a highly effective tool for business in the 21st century. It offers the perfect blend of features, flexibility, security and value for money. If your business isn’t using SharePoint yet, now is the time to take advantage of all it has to offer.

If you’re not sure where to start or how SharePoint could help your business, go ahead and give our team a call on 02070426310, or use the contact page on our website.