Introduction
Over the past few years, software development firms have seen an opportunity in developing third party add-on products for the leading CRM software products on the market including ACT!, GoldMine, SalesLogix, Accpac CRM and Microsoft CRM.

There are a wide variety of add-on products that address a specific need or requirement without having the customer go through an expensive and lengthy development process.

Types of Third Party Add-on Products
These types of products can fall into a variety of categories including database utilities, integration tools, vertical solutions and industry templates, enhancement products, and productivity and system administration tools. Here is a description of how each of these items can leverage your existing CRM System:

• Database Utilities - There are numerous database utilities that are invaluable in maintaining and maximizing the productivity of a CRM system. Some of the solutions include data import/export utilities, duplicate record utilities, easy to use database query tools, and data conversion tools. The predefined data import/export templates and scripts can save an incredible amount of time and result in a faster and cleaner data conversion process.
• Integration Tools - An ideal system would allow you to place orders directly from a customer record within your CRM system and record that order activity within your history. This sort of integration would be a costly proposition if you needed to develop this from scratch. Fortunately, there are a variety of accounting integration add-on products that have been developed and available for resale at a very reasonable price, many of which are supported by the CRM vendors.
• Vertical Solution and Industry Templates - There are many businesses that have standard operating procedures and industry standards that have been identified and developed into a vertical solution for many CRM software products. Some industry examples include personal financial planning, insurance, real estate, employee recruiting, auto dealerships, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and mortgage lending.
• Enhancement Products - Your CRM system may provide adequate functionality in many areas but your business may have a more sophisticated requirement in a specific area. Instead of having to implement a higher-end and more expensive solution, you maybe able to purchase an enhancement product to address that one specific area. A few examples would include enhanced Help Desk capabilities, opportunity management, web & wireless solutions, faxing, shipping, quoting systems, mapping solutions, credit card processing, integration with call center technology, and sales and marketing process automation.
• Report Writing Tools - Many CRM products come with a limited reporting tool or no reporting tool at all. There are many third-party add-on products that are very simple to us that will allow you to process and analyze your data without having to be a programmer.
• Productivity and System Administration Tools - These products allows you to automate many of the administrative tasks that you need to do on a consistent basis in order to keep your CRM system up and running smoothly including database maintenance, data backup and retrieval, data archiving, and synchronization administration. In addition, there are third party products that are available that will constantly monitor your vital customer information in and automatically alert you and your team to critical business issues and opportunities.

How Do I Find Third Party Add-on Products?
There a few different ways to find Third Party Add-on products including CRM trade shows, trade magazines, crm e-newsletters, websites, and through the recommendation of an experienced CRM consulting firm.

What to Watch Out For in Selecting a Third Party Add-on Product
There are risks in deciding to use a third-party add-on product. Many of the firms that develop these products are small and you need to be aware of the long-term viability of these firms. Secondly, these firms may not have the resources to keep up with the changes of the core products that may require maintenance or potential rewriting of the third-party product.

This is a critical issue is you are considering a Back Office/Front Office Integration Tool. In any one year, the Back Office or Front Office System (or both) you are using may come out with a new version. This can break the link between the two products. Does your third party vendor have the resources to upgrade the integration tool within a reasonable period of time?

You need to find out what sort of support and maintenance program the third party developer offers and the cost involved.

Summary
The CRM industry continues to mature along with many third-party products that can take your system to a new level of efficiency and productivity. Before embarking on an expensive search and replacement of your existing system due to existing limitations, make sure you take the time to investigate third party solutions that will address your requirements.

As you would with any software purchase, make sure you do your due diligence, ask for references, and make sure the developer has the resources to stay in business for the long haul.

About the Author
Sidney C. Lejfer is President of Harvest Solutions, a Customer Relationship Management Consulting and Training Organization. He is a featured writer and speaker on the benefits of Customer Relationship Management Technology. Please contact us for additional information.