How to choose a CRM software: A comprehensive guide for businesses

Did you know that 70% of businesses struggle the most with closing deals effectively? However, with the right CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) software, you can witness a staggering 300% increase in your conversion rates. 

This growing demand highlights CRM's critical role in today’s business ecosystem, especially for those aiming to meet and surpass customer expectations.

Whether you're a small business owner, a startup requiring a powerful startup CRM, or an enterprise looking to strengthen customer relationships, understanding how to choose CRM software is crucial. For small businesses, selecting a small business CRM can significantly enhance customer relationship management and streamline business operations.

In this CRM selection guide, we aim to simplify the process of choosing the perfect CRM solution for your business. Our expert insights and practical tips will help you understand how to navigate the vast landscape of CRM options. It will assist you in making an informed decision that aligns with your unique objectives and challenges.

The CRM selection checklist for your business

Not every CRM works for a business—it needs to suit your business and your processes. Here are 10 steps to choose the right CRM:

1. Identify your business goals and needs 

The right CRM isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. To find the perfect fit, start by understanding your business goals and the problems that your team is facing. Make a list of all your expectations and requirements of the business.

The choice of the right CRM  broadly depends on the needs and goals of your     business. Whether it is increasing customer satisfaction, improving sales processes, or enhancing contact management, it is crucial to test the compatibility of the selected CRM system with your organization. 

The CRM is no longer limited to the sales process; it is now customer-oriented and designed to amplify customer experience.

Ask yourself these questions to identify the business needs:

• What problem are you trying to tackle?

• What element is missing in your customer relationship management?

• Is the tool customizable to your team’s needs?

• Can the CRM solution easily integrate with your existing tools? 

• What features are necessary to enhance the marketing and sales team?

• What level of scalability does the business require to support future growth?

• What are the main priorities for streamlining processes and increasing efficiency?

Answering these questions will help you understand your must-have CRM features and help you achieve your business goals.

Discover how Freshsales helped Blue Nile unify customer data, understand the organization's needs, and create personalized customer buying experiences.

2. Find the perfect CRM feature for your business 

CRM software was initially designed to help companies increase their sales. However, with time, it has evolved into a comprehensive suite for sales and marketing teams.

Once you have decided on your business goal, the next step is to map out all the expectations of your sales and marketing teams and create a list of CRM features, such as: 

• Lead management 

• Reporting capabilities 

• Contact management 

• Integration with an existing tool 

• Sales forecasting 

• Marketing automation 

• Sales automation 

• Managing sales pipeline 

After deciding the features that your business needs, categorize them into critical, required, and nice-to-have features. This will help you focus on the most important features and avoid paying for extra and unnecessary features. 

3. Ensure the CRM integrates with your existing tools 

ntegrating your CRM system with existing tools like marketing automation enhances data flow. Thus, promoting improved collaboration among different departments in your organization. 

A seamless CRM integration not only helps you save resources but ensures your sales pipeline is not negatively affected. Not integrating properly can lead to inefficiency, missed chances, and loss of money.

From Gmail and Outlook to Slack and Jira, your CRM must be integrated with your existing tools so that you can streamline your business processes and enhance workflow. 

Integrating your CRM system with other tools can transform your business operations, offering several compelling benefits:

• Improves efficiency: CRM integrations reduce manual workloads by automating data entry and syncing information between systems, freeing up time for strategic tasks.

• Better customer experience: Enhance your customer experience by providing a unified view of customer interaction across all the platforms

• Increased sales: Boost your sales with data-driven insights and analytics and close more deals with personalization.  

• Enhanced data accuracy: Ensure consistent and up-to-date information across all your business teams.

Enhanced collaboration: Leverage CRM for better teamwork by allowing different departments to share and manage customer data seamlessly.

4. Ensure the CRM simplifies your workflow 

CRM software aims to simplify the customer journey by coordinating marketing, development, customer relations, and sales teams.

As a customer steps on your website, their every action- scrolling, sharing, or adding items to the wishlist- everything is tracked. This data allows sales teams to understand customer preferences, enabling personalized product recommendations and targeted marketing efforts.

The best CRM system goes further, automating sales reports, emails, and advertising campaigns, thereby optimizing the sales process.

5 Ways a CRM software streamlines your business: 

• Automation: Automates repetitive tasks like sending emails, scheduling follow-ups, and generating reports, freeing your team’s time for strategic planning. 

• Task management: Organize your tasks using CRM by providing centralized task management, deadlines, and progress for improved workflow. 

• Centralized data: Eliminates data scattered across spreadsheets and emails by offering a single source of data for all customer information, promoting better collaboration.

• Improved customer journey: Tracks customer interactions across different touchpoints, allowing you to personalize customers' experiences and optimize their journeys for increased satisfaction.

• Better reporting and analytics: Provides insightful dashboards and reports, enabling you to gain valuable data on customer behavior, sales performance, and marketing effectiveness.

Moreover, CRM solutions can sometimes act as a project management tool, assigning tasks, setting reminders, and ensuring that nothing is left out. They help keep everyone in the loop and hold them accountable for their work. 

CRM benefits extend beyond streamlined sales processes. It provides valuable data and insights into customer behavior, sales performance, and marketing effectiveness. This information empowers data-driven decision-making and workflow optimization, ultimately driving business growth and happy customers.

5. Check for the scalability and customization of CRM tools 

When selecting a CRM, it's essential to look beyond the immediate needs of your business and consider long-term scalability.

A scalable CRM system will efficiently manage your current customer data and help you grow your business, accommodating increased data volumes and more complex processes as your customer base expands.

"An enterprise CRM system has to scale with the business, accommodate evolving requirements, and support integration with other systems," - Krishnan Venkateswaran, chief digital & information officer at Titan Company

Not to mention, having customization capability in a CRM is an add-on. From marketing tools to sales management, customization can help streamline workflow and offer tailored solutions to customers. This will also help the teams adapt the CRM tool better and streamline their work. 

6. Prioritize user-friendliness

A difficult-to-use CRM can be time-consuming, frustrating, and unproductive, leading to errors, inefficiencies, and decreased productivity among users.

Therefore, you must choose a CRM with intuitive user interfaces that translate to a smoother workflow, better collaboration, and a maximized return on investment. Freshsales is a prime example of such a CRM. 

Its UI and UX are not only user-friendly but also ensure that you don’t struggle with complex navigation or long processes. Its intuitive design facilitates seamless adoption by your team members, minimizing training time and accelerating productivity. 

Review

“The simplicity of Freshsales is its most striking feature. Unlike other platforms that often feel cumbersome and clunky, Freshsales offers a streamlined, intuitive user experience that makes it accessible even to those who might not be tech-savvy.” G2, Information Technology and Services

Furthermore, Freshsales' commitment to ease of use extends beyond its interface; its robust features are designed to simplify complex tasks and streamline workflows. Whether it's managing leads, tracking sales activities, or automating marketing campaigns, Freshsales empowers users with tools that are both powerful and simple to use.

Prioritizing ease of use in your CRM selection process ensures smoother workflows, improved productivity, and maximized ROI from your CRM system

7. AI in CRM 

AI in CRM can transform how the sales and marketing team operates. It streamlines and automates daily tasks and personalizes how you interact with shoppers boosting customer relations.

How AI can boost CRM systems

AI-enhanced CRM systems offer a multitude of benefits that can significantly boost the performance and productivity of marketing and sales teams:

• Automated tasks and workflows: AI can help you free up your valuable time by automating repetitive tasks like data entry and lead nurturing. 

• Personalized customer interactions: With AI-powered CRM, you can deliver targeted messages and recommendations based on customer preference and behavior. 

• Predictive analytics and sales: Gain insights into future sales trends and customer behavior to make data-driven decisions.

• Improved chatbots and virtual assistants: Provide 24/7 customer support and automate lead qualification processes.

• Sentiment analysis and risk management: Identify potential customer dissatisfaction and proactively address issues to minimize churn.

CRM solutions like Freshsales combine sales and marketing automation and leverage AI to offer businesses a comprehensive 360-degree customer view across the entire journey. Freshsales, with its Freddy AI, can automate the sales force, streamline marketing automation, and ensure seamless eCommerce integrations. 

With CRM’s AI capability, businesses can gain deeper customer insights, automate tasks, and personalize interactions. This helps increase efficiency, improve customer satisfaction, and grow businesses.

8. CRM system deployment: On-premise vs cloud-based 

force, streamline marketing automation, and ensure seamless eCommerce integrations. 

With CRM’s AI capability, businesses can gain deeper customer insights, automate tasks, and personalize interactions. This helps increase efficiency, improve customer satisfaction, and grow businesses. Benefits of on-premise vs. cloud-based CRM

The decision between an on-premise and cloud-based CRM system ultimately depends on your organization's specific needs, size, and growth trajectory. Large enterprises with substantial IT resources and stringent data control requirements may lean towards on-premise solutions. In contrast, small to mid-sized businesses seeking agility, scalability, and cost efficiency might find cloud-based CRMs more appealing.

9. Refer to reviews and feedback

The importance of reviews can not be highlighted enough. While the company's reputation is surely important, meeting the real users and seeking their advice can be a game changer.

You can start by reaching out to other business owners and discussing their experience and hurdles with the tool. You can also refer to online reviews to dive deeper. CRM software can make or break your business game. From customer data to product delivery, it simplifies marketing, sales, and customer relationships.

10. Allocate CRM budget 

As discussed earlier, determining your CRM's must-have features is a crucial step. Once you have identified these features, allocate your budget to prioritize them.

This includes not only setup costs but also running and maintenance costs. Allocate your budget according to the features we discussed in the second point and see which CRM tool aligns with your needs and budget. 

Budget can be a crucial CRM evaluation criterion. Therefore, before committing your budget to a specific CRM system, taking advantage of free trials is a wise decision. A trial period allows you to evaluate the CRM's usability, features, and compatibility with your business processes firsthand. This practical experience can be invaluable in ensuring the system meets your expectations and justifies the investment. 

This comprehensive checklist can be your secret weapon for CRM comparison. It can help you choose the right CRM software to meet your business needs and help your business grow in the long run.

Why Does a Business Require CRM Solutions?

Whether you are a small business or a big enterprise, you need CRM software to convert your traffic to customers. CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, as the name suggests, helps you manage your customers and ensure you don’t miss out on any opportunities. Some of the reasons why your business requires CRM are:

• Effortless conversion: CRM simplifies turning website visitors or leads into paying customers.

• Organized sales: It streamlines the sales process by managing potential deals and interactions.

• Sales on autopilot: CRM automates tasks, freeing up salespeople to focus on closing deals.

• Personalized touch: CRM solutions help understand customer journeys and tailor interactions for a better experience.

• Lead magnet: CRM aids in attracting potential customers through targeted lead generation efforts.

• Automated efficiency: CRM automates repetitive tasks, boosting overall business efficiency.

Getting the best CRM software for your business

Choosing CRM software to implement can be challenging for your business. This decision has various facets and involves all major teams, such as sales, marketing, IT, and customer service. This checklist is your roadmap, highlighting the key considerations—such as ease of use, integration capabilities, scalability, and customization—that are crucial for ensuring the CRM aligns with your business needs.

Step-by-step checklist for choosing the best CRM for your business

• Identify your business goals and needs

• Look for the right CRM features required 

• Check CRM integrations with existing software

• Workflow management

• CRM scalability and customization option 

• Prioritize user friendliness

• AI implementation in CRM

• CRM System Deployment: On-premise vs Cloud-based

• Refer to reviews and feedback

• CRM budget allocation

Choose a CRM that not only meets your current requirement but also serves long-term goals and enables cross-department collaboration.