How to Select the Best CRM (Plus Free Worksheet)

A customer relationship management platform (CRM) is essential for all businesses. It's like the framework and gasoline you need to power your car. But just like faulty structure and gravel in your tank, not all CRM initiatives will drive you to your intended destination.

And that's often due to a backwards way of answering the question: "What CRM should I use?"

A CRM is a tool. At my company, we focus on helping people setup, use, and optimize HubSpot CRM. But that's simply one of many on the market.

CRM companies lie...but not on purpose

Every CRM company on earth has a powerful marketing team behind it. And they all sound similar.

"Track everything in one place! Save time! Get on the same page! Enter contacts! Blah blah blah"

Sure, that's all true. But it's pandering to the "stuff' rather than the problem that led you to the need for a CRM in the first place. (Psst....Marketers, relax....you're doing fine.)

Start with the problems, not the tools

Unfortunately, the reason why so many CRM initiatives fail is -- the teams get enamored by the tools and the shiny stuff without really nailing down what they plan to do and map out where they want to go in advance.

It's like going to the Home Depot, seeing a bunch of cool tools, and then coming home with an assortment of things asking yourself...."What can I build with this?"

Instead of getting swept off your feet by the functionality and the sexy screenshots, smart leaders realize that the best CRM strategy starts on a whiteboard and a set of questions

5 Key Buckets of Questions to Ask When considering a CRM:

• CURRENT STATE: What is our current process? What problems do we have?

Even if you think you don't have a "process" you have one. Map it out. It may be terrible, but you have to start somewhere. When a lead comes in, where does it go? Who is in charge of it? Who ensures it doesn't get lost?

• FUTURE STATE: What is our ideal process?

Technology aside, imagine what a 5-star experience would look like for your customer. How would that impact what sales does? What type of data would you need to keep and track? What are you missing now that you'd need to do in order to get closer to this ideal?

• TECHNOLOGY: What technology do we currently use across the organization?

This is key because knowing how the CRM integrates or "plays nicely" with the other systems in your tech stack is incredibly important. And, as we've found in onboarding and consulting with hundreds of clients, just because the website says it "integrates" with your platform of choice, the definition of what that means can vary greatly.

• PEOPLE: Who will be in charge of this initiative?

The technology is the easy piece. Just like any change in an organization, there is a great deal of communication and buy-in needed from people in all departments, all the way to the front line. People are often threatened by software that could potentially expose their shortcomings. That's never the intention, but human behavior and psychology has to be taken into account as to why you're doing this, how this impacts your team and culture, and the person at the top who will be leading and keeping everyone accountable to driving an ROI from the effort.

• WANTS VS NEEDS: What are mission critical features and what are nice to have?

Too many times, teams approach this conversation with the idea of needing to have everything and the kitchen sink. But then when the account executive (or in our case, us!) present the investment and timeline needed to achieve those outcomes, the "must have list" quickly becomes half the size.

All in all, the selection of CRM -- or even the shift to a new platform if the one you're using isn't cutting it -- isn't a quick decision. It's one that requires strategic thinking and buy-in from all those involved in sales, marketing and service.

Considering a new CRM? Get the free CRM requirements worksheet ??

If your organization is looking at adopting a new CRM in 2023, or considering putting one in place for the first time (correctly), we have a CRM requirements worksheet that should help.

Click here to download the worksheet

Or, if you're ready to dig deeper, schedule a HubSpot CRM consultation with us. No risk, but we can answer questions and help you gain clarity as you move toward the ideal outcome for your team.