Photo credit: Eva Gross
With so many CRM products to choose from, what help is there if you are looking to select the right platform? Who can you trust, and is there any truly independent CRM advice? Let’s face it, no one wants to make a mistake in the selection of the CRM software that will underpin their CRM initiatives for the foreseeable future. If you are going to select a new CRM system or update your current CRM platform, how do you get help from the “experts”?
The bigger the better?
For most software markets there are a number of large consultancies who profess to understand and assess products before providing you with the “winner.” CRM is no exception. The largest IT consultancies including Gartner, Frost & Sullivan, Forester, and Nucleus – and these all have CRM practices. For a fee they will provide you with details of their assessment of the CRM market and products.
For larger organisations who have their own IT professionals to interpret the sometimes jargon-heavy reports they produce, they can be a good starting point. If you want to see whether their advice is right for you, then many software vendors will provide copies of their reports in an attempt to convince you to buy.
For smaller organisations (and, according to Gartner, smaller is less than 1000 users) they may not be the best source of information. The features that make a CRM platform suitable for large corporates are rarely the same as those that make it work for SMB clients. Sure, you may aspire to become the next global player, but why not select CRM software that is sized for where you are realistically going to be for the next few years?
Also – the fact that big software vendors will offer you a free copy of the report provides an insight into how these consultancies fund their research. The result is that only the very largest software vendors can afford to have their software assessed by these consultancies. This excludes a lot of the smaller, more innovative start-ups – those who do not target very large companies.
Those who can, do
An alternative may be to go to software companies and get them to advise you. For many, this is the cheapest way to access expertise. A quick search of the internet and you can begin to build a list of likely software platforms, followed by a series of phone calls and meetings where the software vendors “compete” to show you why their software is the best.
Once again, the marketing departments of software companies have been busy. Many can provide you with lists of features that their software has, and what their competition lacks. CRM selection by spreadsheet – it even sounds scientific.
Unfortunately, this approach rarely produces a clear winner. Put simply, there is an awful lot of “me too” functionality in CRM today. The software vendors know this, and their marketing teams are keen to ensure that they highlight features that other vendors list, and not the features that could make a difference to you.
This source of advice is the most prone to “bubble” thinking. The advice, features and benefits it identifies as being reasons to select one product over another, are guided by what the market expects – not what you need.
Independent CRM consultants
Given that it appears all over our website and in our email signatures, you would be surprised if I didn’t mention the service we provide to help customers select the right CRM platform.
It is worth explaining that our consultancy services are provided by people who have worked within the CRM industry for many years, but who also deliver systems for customers. This prompts the obvious concern that their advice may be biased towards those products we promote (Infor CRM and Maximizer CRM). A valid concern, as our choice of software partners reflects our experience of the market – so we know they are excellent products with a wide applicability. However, it would be unethical to take a consultancy fee from a client for independent advice, and then not provide independent advice. This has created some rules of engagement, which ensures we have an open and transparent disclosure of interest policy. If our advice is biased towards products we sell, then we stop the engagement and review with the client whether they want us to proceed.
What the dual role of our consultant does provide is a vast amount of real world experience. This in-depth knowledge will not only help you select the right CRM platform for your business, but also make its implementation and ongoing operation much more successful.
