How to choose a CRM system: A step-by-step guide

A customer relationship management (CRM) system helps sales teams manage leads, track opportunities, and streamline communication with prospects and customers. With the right CRM, sales teams can automate routine tasks, access valuable insights, and improve collaboration, ultimately driving higher sales and customer satisfaction.

However, achieving these benefits starts with choosing the right CRM solution. Use these tips to ensure you set up your sales team for success and provide the best customer experience possible.

More in this guide:

• How to choose the right CRM
• Questions to ask when considering CRM software
• Mistakes to avoid when choosing a CRM
• Frequently asked questions
• Choose a sales CRM that seamlessly integrates with your CX tools

How to choose the right CRM

Whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise, following these steps will teach you what to look for in a CRM that drives your business forward and enhances your customer relations.

1. Assess your business needs

When selecting a CRM, assessing your business's unique needs is crucial to ensure the software aligns with your goals and drives efficiency. Start with these assessments:

• Identify your business goals: Understanding your business objectives helps align the CRM choice with your overall strategy. Consider goals like improving customer retention or increasing sales.
• Evaluate your current processes: Analyse existing workflows, identifying what works well and areas for improvement. Your CRM should appeal to your findings for both cases.
• Consider the size of your business: Small businesses may need a more cost-effective CRM that starts with essential features. Large enterprises often require more robust features, and mid-sized companies might need something in between.
• Include industry-specific requirements: Different industries have unique CRM needs. For example, retail businesses may require point-of-sale integration, and healthcare organisations will need compliant security features.

By understanding your industry's specific requirements, you can ensure that the CRM you choose can handle your unique business needs.

2. Determine your must-have features to look for in a CRM

Since your business has different needs than those in other industries, you need to find a CRM that has the capabilities to satisfy them. Learn about the below common CRM features for inspiration on what to look for in a potential provider:

• Contact and lead management: This feature allows businesses to centralise and organise all customer and prospect information in one place, including contact details, interaction history, and lead scoring capabilities. Contact and lead management helps maintain accurate, up-to-date customer profiles, facilitating more personalised and targeted communication.
• Sales pipeline management: This equips you with a visual representation of the sales process, from initial contact to closing deals, allowing sales teams to track progress, identify bottlenecks, and forecast future sales. It often includes tools for task management and deal tracking, helping sales representatives and managers optimise their efforts and improve conversion rates.
• AI and automation capabilities: These features may include automated data entry, predictive lead scoring, AI agents, and AI-powered customer behaviour analysis. By automating routine tasks and providing intelligent recommendations, these capabilities free up time for more strategic activities and help businesses make data-driven decisions.
• Customisation: This allows businesses to tailor the CRM to their specific needs and workflows, like creating custom fields, designing personalised dashboards, and integrating with other business tools. A highly customisable CRM ensures that the system aligns closely with your unique processes and requirements, improving adoption rates and overall effectiveness.
• Reporting and analytics: These features provide deep insights into business performance, customer behaviour, and market trends. These tools often include real-time dashboards with data visualisation and detailed reports on various metrics. Advanced analytics capabilities may offer predictive modelling and trend analysis, helping businesses proactively identify opportunities and address challenges.

3. Understand budget considerations

By carefully considering these budget concerns, you can make a more informed decision about which CRM offers the best value for your financial situation:

• Pricing models: Different CRMs offer various pricing structures, such as per-user subscriptions, tiered pricing based on features, and free versions with limited functionality. Understanding how each model aligns with your business structure and growth plans is important. Consider how pricing scales as your user base or feature needs increase.
• Hidden costs: Beyond the base price, factor in additional expenses like implementation and setup fees, data migration costs, ongoing support and maintenance, and customisation or integration expenses. These hidden costs can significantly impact the total cost of ownership.
• Return-on-investment (ROI) analysis: Estimate potential increases in sales, customer retention, and time savings from automation and improved processes. If available, look for studies from similar companies that used the software to set more realistic expectations.

This approach helps avoid unexpected costs and ensures the chosen system will provide a positive return on investment.

4. Ensure it will give you a 360-degree view of the customer

Considering how well a CRM will integrate with your existing tech stack is crucial for achieving a comprehensive 360-degree view of the customer. When a CRM seamlessly connects with other business systems, such as marketing automation tools, e-commerce platforms, and customer support software, it consolidates customer data from various touch points into a unified profile.

This integration allows businesses to track and analyse the entire customer journey, from initial awareness through post-purchase support, providing invaluable insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and needs. This cohesion eliminates data silos and reduces the risk of miscommunication or duplicated efforts across teams.

For example, sales representatives can see a customer's support history, while customer service agents can view recent purchases or marketing interactions. This holistic view empowers employees to provide more personalised and efficient service, anticipate customer needs, and identify cross-selling or upselling opportunities.

5. Evaluate CRM software options

Once you’ve clearly defined what you need from a CRM system, you can start comparing different software. A few ways to do this include:

• Read reviews and recommendations: Consult user reviews and industry recommendations to gain insights into real-world experiences with different CRM systems. This can help identify potential strengths and weaknesses that may not be apparent from marketing materials alone.
• View demos and test free trials: Take advantage of product demonstrations and free trial periods to get hands-on experience with the CRM software. This allows you to assess the user interface, functionality, and overall fit for your business needs before committing.
• Quality of the system’s customer support: Evaluate the CRM provider's customer support team's availability, responsiveness, and expertise. Reliable support can be crucial for smooth implementation, troubleshooting, and maximising the value of your CRM investment over time.

Questions to ask when considering CRM software

The above steps address the primary considerations of choosing a CRM, but some additional questions to ask before making a purchase include:

• Does the CRM offer mobile capabilities?

• Can you customise the CRM to fit your specific workflows and processes?

• How does the CRM handle data security and privacy?

• What is the implementation process like?

• Does the vendor offer training and support resources?

By asking these questions, you can gather the information needed to make an informed decision and select a CRM that aligns with your business objectives.

Mistakes to avoid when choosing a CRM

When selecting software, you must be aware of common CRM problems that can lead to disappointment or failure. Here are some notable mistakes to avoid:

• Underestimating implementation challenges: Implementing a CRM can be complex, requiring time, resources, and potential data migration. Underestimating these challenges can lead to delays and disruptions.
• Prioritising features over usability: While features are important, a user-friendly interface is crucial for adoption and long-term success. Avoid focusing solely on features without considering ease of use.
• Neglecting training and support: Inadequate training and support can hinder user adoption and lead to frustration. Invest in proper training and ensure ongoing support is available.
• Overlooking scalability: As your business grows, your CRM needs may change. Choose a CRM that can scale to accommodate future growth.
• Focusing solely on cost: While cost is a factor, don't prioritise it over other essential considerations like functionality, usability, and long-term value.

By avoiding these common mistakes, you can increase your chances of selecting a CRM that will drive business growth and improve customer satisfaction.

Frequently asked questions

Choose a sales CRM that seamlessly integrates with your CX tools

Now that you know how to choose the right CRM, it's time to take the next step. Zendesk Sell offers a powerful, intuitive CRM that streamlines your sales process with lead management, sales pipeline tracking, and reporting tools. With an easy-to-use interface and robust automation, Zendesk Sell empowers your team to focus on building strong customer connections. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with our customer service software, providing a unified view of your customer interactions across sales and support. See Zendesk Sell in action in the demo.