SALES CHECKLISTS
How to choose a CRM that suits your business?
There are many CRMs that meet the core requirements of customer management. The wrong choice could choke your revenue pipeline. Use this checklist to choose the CRM that fits your business needs.
TLDR; Use this checklist if you already have a list of CRM softwares to compare.
Why is it hard to choose between different CRM software?
The practice of managing customer relationships started in the early 1970s . It started with simple lists and tools like spreadsheets. Now, we have lots of specialised SaaS products that do the job. It is a daunting task to find the right CRM for your team just based on features. Most of them offer similar features, while some of them additional buzz words like AI/ML. You could be tempted to choose the cheapest or the one with the best sales pitch. But a wrong choice of CRM can cripple the revenue pipeline of your business.
Why use a checklist?
- The human brain can remember only 7 things (+/- 2) at any given point of time. When you are doing something, it is better to have a list that has all the steps if the number of things you have to pay remember more than 5–7 items.
- A checklist can eliminate mistakes. Following a checklist reduces the potential for mistakes and errors by ensuring you have a reference.
- A checklist ensures that everything necessary is completed.
- Checklists reduce errors by clearly laying out exactly what needs to be done so that nothing is missed. Evaluating sales pipeline systems is not something that you do routinely and the chances of you missing a critical step is high.
Basic features
Every CRM should have certain basic features. Ensure that the CRM that you are evaluating checks all the boxes in this list.
Pricing Plan
There are 2 types of pricing plans, seat based (number of active users) and module based (features). If you have a large and growing sales team then seat based pricing may cost you more for the same number of features compared to module based pricing. Conversely, if you have small sales team, then seat based pricing may be more economical than module based pricing.
Integration ecosystem
A lot of times you would want your CRM to integrate with your existing IT systems. Choosing a CRM with a good out of box support for integrations can save you lot of time, effort and money, which otherwise you would have to spend on building these integrations yourself.
Usability for Sales Team vs. Sales Managers
Some CRMs have a great experience for the sales team to manage their workflows. But they normally fall short in providing powerful analytics for managers. Others may optimise the managers’ experience at the cost of sales team’s experience. Make sure that you are clear about this trade off in your context.
API
Even a CRM with the best integration ecosystem will not have out of the box integrations for some of your legacy systems. In those cases, you would need a well defined and documented API using which you can build custom integration.
Support
Support policies will vary across CRMs. Some provide email support, some use a ticketing system, some have real time chat while others provide phone support. Some might even assign you a dedicated account manager who you can talk to directly. Make sure that you choose the CRM with the support model that suits your team.
Training & Documentation
CRM systems are complex and there will be a learning curve for all users to use the system effectively. Choose a CRM that has a rich and latest body of videos and articles that your users can access and learn.
User Community
A CRM with a vibrant user community will reduce your cost to hire & train users and administrators because there will be user driven forums that provide rich information for troubleshooting, best practices, Do’s and Don’ts etc. A large user community signals better quality and higher stability due to network effects.
