Which CRM system suits my company?

Functionalities and industry specifics

Nowadays, most CRM solutions support various business processes and are universal and suitable for CRM, Sales, Service or Marketing departments.

However, every CRM system has a clear focus on certain business areas and processes. Even if most CRM systems will support your specific needs, it makes sense to engage into the CRM system selection process in depth considering all aspects.

Regional or international use

The requirements for the regional availability of the CRM solution often lead to requirements for multi-language support, as well as a multi-currency capability.

You may also need to consider local laws when choosing a CRM solution.

Local business- and IT-support is usually also required.

Integration with the system landscape

Normally your company should already be using various IT systems and the available data have to be synchronized with the CRM system.

For example, if your customer data are already recorded in your ERP system, we recommend to synchronize the ERP with the CRM system in order to avoid double entries.

System flexibility

The question of CRM system flexibility and adaptability arises in particular since small CRM solutions often allow only simple adjustments to the user interface and the underlying business processes.

Large, complex solutions generally also offer the option of adding completely new modules or business processes.

Types of use and cloud solutions

Which devices (PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone) you will use to access the CRM system is an important question when deciding on a CRM solution.

For the selection, it also must be clarified whether you want an online hosted technology (cloud) or a solution installed in your company (on-premise).

A CRM cloud solution eliminates the need for a dedicated hosted CRM infrastructure.

On-premise CRM solutions are provided and operated by the company's own IT department in a dedicated data center. The CRM data remain in the network of your own company.

Effort and costs

In addition to the optimal functionalities for your company, the total costs for the CRM system selection must also be taken into account.

Along with the classic license costs, these costs usually include the analysis and definition of customer processes supported by the system with their system requirements.

Furthermore, there are costs for the technical implementation partner for customer-specific system adjustments, the integration to the necessary services and systems, and data migration, as well as the data import from other systems.

You also need to plan the hosting of the solution (on-premise or cloud), maintenance and operating costs, and training courses to enable employees to use the system.