There are hundreds of CRM systems on the market. Although it's true that some are outright terrible, it's usually horses for courses. It's more about how the CRM you're considering fits your business. After it's all said and done, CRMs typically fall into four categories.
CRM is tacked onto another system as an additional "feature"
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Plus |
Minus |
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No cost |
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They store contact information |
All they do is store contact information |
Price guide: Included
Examples: any ERP or Account system claiming to have a built-in CRM.
A basic "plug and play" solution.
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Plus |
Minus |
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Economical pricing |
They “work how they work” with limited customisation |
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Cloud-based & Mobile |
Usually don’t integrate with other business systems |
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Good for basic lead, opportunity and account management |
They’re usually a short-term “bandaid” solution and don’t scale up well as business requirements evolve |
Examples: PipeDrive, CapsuleCRM
Price Guide: $10 - $50 per user, per month
Some Industries have “all-in-one” CRM tools that can run many functions within a business. They leverage industry knowledge and best-practices to design what they see as the best way of operating in that vertical.
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Plus |
Minus |
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They can be well thought through and align with industry norms |
You have to change the way you operate to align with the way the system works |
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They can remain isolated from other |
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They’re typically smaller niche players meaning they’re potentially vulnerable to lack of investment in development and support |
Examples: Fergus Trade Software, Infinitylaw
Price Guide: $20 - $60 per user, per month
Leading cloud technology platforms empowering businesses to build processes across almost any function from marketing and sales, through to service and project management.
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Plus |
Minus |
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Heavily customisable - with an underlying platform that can be developed on with clicks or code |
They’re not cheap |
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Trustworthy - with multiple data centers, robust security, strong customer support and local sales representatives and consulting partners |
They can be a challenge to evaluate feature-for-feature - often it’s only when you try to implement them that you realise their unique strengths, quirks and limitations |
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Constantly evolving - with multiple releases each year keeping their customers at the forefront |
They act as a set of tools to build with. Customisation is required to drive value from the investment |
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One platform - that either integrates with or natively handles virtually all business functions |
Examples: Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365
Price guide: $50 - $250 per user, per month
Decide from the outset which CRM camp you fall into, and then evaluate competing solutions. Compare a Ferrari against a Maserati, not a Ford.
Continue to the next post in this series: Documenting your CRM requirements
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