When choosing a business software system, there are certain things that will remain consistent. Namely: functional requirements, technical requirements, and investment. This is true when choosing a CRM system.  In my article, “Why your Company needs a CRM System”, you can learn the key reasons CRM systems can make you more competitive.  Here, we will talk about the CRM selection process.

Functional Requirements – What it must do

In these conversations, I typically tell my clients to first begin by looking at functional requirements. It may be that the first instinct is to first weed out the most costly options – but that isn’t the case, and we’ll see why shortly. When looking at functional requirements, it’s important to understand that businesses are not created equal.  Thus, what works for one company may not work well for yours.

Let’s take a look at the example of entertainment-based talent agencies. In this environment, when an industry person talks about leads, they don’t mean leads in the traditional sense of potential clients of customers. No – they’re talking about placements in film, television, commercials, etc. What the talent agent is looking for is a way to get their people work. So, in a CRM system, this will look different from a traditional product sale lead. Instead of tracking leads, these agencies track the conversations and deal points occurring between studios. Their CRM will have an attribute database about their talent, which catalogs qualities about a pool of talent that will help them get work (for example, a spot is looking for talent that can dance and ride a horse).   These kinds of requirements are not part of a traditional CRM so you won’t find them out-of-the-box. What the talent agency has are specific requirements – and these specific requirements will help guide the decision maker in making a good  CRM selection.

I often find that clients must discover their distinguishing factor when considering which is the right CRM. Similar to the way I would suggest to choose an ERP, I also suggest writing a list of  functional requirements for the CRM. Really ask the questions – what do I want the CRM to do? How do I want the system to communicate with my employees? What information do I want in the CRM about a customer? It’s important when moving forward to craft a thorough list so that you will be in a good position for growth.

The Investment Time Horizon

While we’re on the subject of growth, it’s a good time to talk about about the investment. Remember that I said that simply weeding out a CRM system based on cost wasn’t the way to go? This is because you may have a 3-5 year plan for your business that foresees robust growth in year two.  However, if you’ve only set up a list of requirements that will take you through year one, and choose that system, you may be left holding the bag when you begin to grow, and thus you will stifle your growth. Make sure that you include a wish list in your functional requirements – and then assess the investment costs.

Technical Requirements – How it must do it

Technical requirements can be organized like you will organize your functional requirements when choosing a CRM system. Many people are now switching to Cloud services – a shift we highly recommend. With a solution like NetSuite, you will not have to worry about storing customer data and running out computing capacity. By switching to the Cloud, you should be able to cut down on IT costs which may be wasteful to your business. There are, of course, reasons to go with a traditional IT structure – and if you carefully assess your list of technical requirements, you may find that going with premise IT may be the only solution.  However, we are finding more and more that clients are making their technical requirements demand Cloud solution.

It’s not Perfect – Act to Lower your Risk

In the end, you will need to make an assessment without perfect information.  Your choice will entail some level of risk.  The actual detail work required to make a grounded assessment is much more involved than it may appear from this brief description.  I have done many system selections in my career and the process, if done right, will minimize the risk of picking poorly fitting software while help the business culturally get ready to make the commitment to the new practices afforded by a powerful, well fitting, CRM solution.

If you would like help making a decision around a CRM system, perhaps we can have a conversation.

Marty Zigman

Holding all three official certifications, Marty is regarded as the top NetSuite expert and leads a team of senior professionals at Prolecto Resources, Inc. He is a former Deloitte & Touche CPA and has held CTO roles. For over 30 years, Marty has produced leadership in ERP, CRM and eCommerce business systems. Contact Marty to set up a conversation.

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