Small businesses in IT hoping to make a better return on investment from their next purchase ought to consider looking into customer relationship management, according to a leading government expert.

Darren Mercieca, an adviser for Business Link, explained: "CRM gives a business a lot of insight into what they have done with customers in the past, for example their buying patterns, and this may provide the scope to do more in the future."

He noted that with such systems, small businesses in IT could store contact details and customer preferences while also looking into sales trends and methods of payment, in effect tailoring the experience to the consumer.

Mr Mercieca added that many companies are feeling pressured into aiding their turnover in any way possible, which CRM can aid given its ability to galvanise relationships between the organisation in question and their current buyers.

According to a recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, nearly a quarter of marketers (24 per cent) believe the best return on investment is delivered by CRM activities, particularly those working in the telecoms and financial sectors.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were guaranteed response times and allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues.