What are the differentiators to look out when choosing a CRM?
CIO in Healthcare and Biotech, 1,001 - 5,000 employees
I think a reputable product/vendor is the key, but at the same time, enough evaluations and assessment to ensure their offering aligns well with your organization's strategy and requirements. Never follow the big name because you think you know them (Salesforce).. but consider all players to ensure all rocks are turned over. I say this because once you are committed, it's hard to reverse course and you want to do this right the first time and hopefully, just one time.VP of IT in Finance (non-banking), 10,001+ employees
Integration with tech stackCIO in Media, 2 - 10 employees
Test runs that are long enough to allow key people to evaluate the tool.Many trials are too short to really check the features.
Try to not push your feature requests to high so you end up with a custom development tool when looking for off-the-shelf solutions. Be prepared to make compromises without lowering you core needs.
Director Of Information Technology in Manufacturing, 51 - 200 employees
Integration capabilities is a big factor, along with your vendor having a capable and well staffed support group should you need help. Director of IT in Manufacturing, 501 - 1,000 employees
Thorough research, evaluations and POCs if possible are critical in selecting the right CRM for your company. The big names out there are top of the line, but there may be a vendor out there you've never heard of that is designed specifically for your industry. Director of IT in Healthcare and Biotech, 11 - 50 employees
Cost is always one, but having just done this ourselves, I think you need to take a step back and look at what the true goals/use case for the CRM will be. Integrations with some of your other tools/platforms should be a consideration as well. Director of IT in Consumer Goods, 1,001 - 5,000 employees
For me and my company integration is a major part of CRM. If you look at all the CRM systems they are very similar in the functionality they provide and how you differentiate from others (and customize) is by having integration available to you aka Zapier and API access. Director, SRE & Global Cloud Operations in Telecommunication, 1,001 - 5,000 employees
As with any project or vendor selection, it's important to focus on your requirements and ensure the solutions you're looking at meet those. Content you might like
Will deploy my IT and network virtually for the short term25%
Will consider virtual IT and networking for the long term, to replace physical deployments63%
Waiting for our Managed Service Provider to solve any issues6%
Not sure yet what to do6%
235 PARTICIPANTS
< 1 month9%
2-3 months49%
4-6 months18%
> 6 months24%
249 PARTICIPANTS