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How to choose the right CRM for your business

Written by Kim Stuart-Thomas on 28th February 2025

CRM requirements – where to start?

Navigating the world of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems can be overwhelming, whether you’re adopting CRM for the first time or switching providers.

With countless features, pricing tiers, and configurations, choosing the right CRM often feels like solving a puzzle without all the pieces.

This guide breaks it down into six simple steps to help you define your goals, identify key features, and avoid costly mistakes.

Plus, we’ve included a free CRM Requirements Template to make comparing vendors easier.


What’s in this blog?

⏳ Short on time? Get your free CRM Requirements template now and start your CRM journey with confidence!

Why choosing the right CRM matters

A CRM is not just another tool—it’s the backbone of your customer engagement strategy. It enables your business to:

  • Build deeper relationships by tracking every customer interaction, from emails to phone calls, ensuring you never miss an opportunity to engage.
  • Streamline sales and marketing efforts through automation, saving time and allowing your team to focus on what matters most—closing deals and creating impactful campaigns.
  • Gain critical insights into customer behaviour and preferences, empowering you to make data-driven decisions that fuel your growth strategy and enhance customer satisfaction.

When chosen carefully, the right CRM doesn’t just support your processes; it transforms them. It improves collaboration across teams by centralising information, enhancing productivity through automation, and becoming a critical strategic asset for driving long-term success. (Want to know more? Check out our blog!)

Now, let’s dive into the six essential steps to finding your ideal CRM, ensuring it aligns with your goals, team needs, and future growth plans.

Step 1 – Define your business goals

Before you dive into thinking about the CRM features you want, a better place to start is to identify what you want to achieve with your new system. Consider these questions:

  • Are you generating and converting enough leads (and how do you know)?
  • Have you got visibility into your team and business performance?
  • Are your customer service response times fast enough?
  • Do you feel like you (or your team) are spending too much time on manual processes?
  • Do you know your forecast for the next year and beyond? Can you track this in real-time?

Having a clear set of goals will help you focus on and shortlist CRMs that align with your business strategy.

Step 2 – Identify CRM essential features

Once you have an idea of your business goals, you can start to explore what CRM features will help you achieve those goals. However, be warned – not all CRMs are created equal. There are many products out there that claim to be CRM but only offer simple functionality. On the other hand, there are others that have so many features that it can feel overwhelming.

To help you get started, here are some key features to keep an eye out for:

Contact and lead management

A CRM should help you store, manage, and track customer interactions efficiently. Features to look for:

  • Automatically score and assign leads – Helps prioritise and send new leads to the right team members
  • Connect with your website forms – Capture leads directly from online forms
  • Remove duplicate data – Keeps your customer list clean and accurate
  • Store all customer info in one place – Easy access to contacts, deals, and history
  • Track customer interactions – See emails, calls, and meetings in one view

Sales and pipeline management

For sales teams, having visibility into the pipeline is essential:

  • Sales automation – Never miss a follow-up with automatic reminders
  • Predict future sales with forecasting – Get real-time insights into future revenue based on current deals
  • Track leads and sales opportunities – Monitor potential customers and their journey

Marketing automation

If marketing is a key driver for your business, check for:

  • Create landing pages and forms – Collect leads easily with custom online forms
  • Manage email campaigns – Send and track marketing emails
  • Automate lead nurturing – Set up workflows to guide leads through the sales process
  • Sync with CRM data – Ensure marketing and sales data are always up to date

Customer support and service

For businesses that prioritise customer experience, look for:

  • Live chat and chatbots – Offer instant support on your website
  • Collect customer feedback – Get insights from surveys and reviews
  • Manage customer support tickets – Organise and resolve customer inquiries
A sales dashboard showing total contract value won, sales by product group, projects by stage funnel etc.

Reporting and analytics

Your CRM should provide actionable insights through:

  • Custom dashboards – View the data that matters most to you
  • Reports for different teams – Tailor reports for sales, marketing, and support
  • See real-time analytics – Monitor business performance instantly

📥 Get your free CRM Requirements template now! Save time and make an informed decision with our easy-to-use template.

Step 3: Consider your integration and customisation needs

Your CRM should integrate seamlessly with the tools you already use. Integrations ensure data flows smoothly across your business, creating a single source of truth and improving efficiency. Common integrations include:

  • Email (Gmail, Outlook) – Automatically log emails, so your sales and support teams can see the full customer conversation history without switching between platforms.
  • Accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero) – Sync invoices, payments, and financial data to give sales teams visibility into customer accounts and outstanding payments.
  • Document management (Adobe Sign, SharePoint) – Store and access contracts, proposals, and key documents directly from your CRM to speed up approvals and collaboration.
  • ERP and inventory management systems (Sage, Dynamics) – Connect stock levels, order history, and financial data, so sales teams can provide accurate quotes and delivery timelines.

These integrations allow for accurate reporting, giving you a complete picture of customer interactions, finances, and sales performance—all in one place.

Additionally, consider how customisable the CRM is. Can you add custom fields? Modify screens and workflows? Does it have multi-language or currency features? These factors can make a big difference in long-term usability, especially as your business grows.

Step 4: Assess hosting options and budget

When selecting a CRM, decide whether a cloud-based system or on-premises system is the best fit for your business.

Most modern CRMs are cloud-based, which means:

  • Access from anywhere – Your team can log in from any device, whether they’re in the office, at home, or on the go. This keeps everyone connected and working efficiently
  • Automatic updates and backups – No need to worry about installing updates or losing data. The system updates itself and securely stores your information
  • Grows with your business – As your business grows, a cloud CRM scales effortlessly—allowing you to add users and features without significant IT costs.

A cloud-based CRM is often the best choice for flexibility, security, and long-term growth

(We have an infographic to help you understand the differences between cloud-based or on-premises hosting if you want to know more.)

Next, it’s important to define your budget to avoid unexpected costs. Consider:

  • How much can you spend per user each month? – CRM pricing varies, so set a budget that works for your business
  • Do you need extra features or premium support? – Some providers charge for add-ons like automation, analytics, or priority customer support
  • What are the hidden costs? – Look out for setup fees, training costs, or charges for integrating with other tools

Not all CRM providers are upfront about pricing, so asking these questions early will help you get a clear and complete picture before making a decision.

Step 5: Evaluate training and support options

Even the best CRM system will only be effective if your team knows how to use it. Consider the training and support options available:

  • CRM implementation: How involved is the vendor in setting up the system—do they offer guided setup, data migration, or a dedicated onboarding specialist?
  • Onboarding and training: Does the vendor provide tutorials, webinars, or in-person training?
  • Ongoing support: What level of support is offered—24/7 chat, phone, email, or a dedicated account manager?
  • User community and resources: Are there forums, knowledge bases or online documentation for troubleshooting?
  • Customisation assistance: Will the vendor help tailor the CRM to your needs if required?

Ensuring proper training and support can maximise CRM adoption and efficiency within your organisation.

Step 6: Create a CRM system requirements document

By this point, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of what your CRM needs to deliver to meet your business goals. The next step is to organise this information into a detailed and structured CRM requirements document. This document will act as a roadmap for selecting the right CRM solution and should include the following key elements:

  • Business objectives: Clearly define what you want to achieve with the CRM, such as improving customer retention, streamlining sales processes, or enhancing team collaboration.
  • Must-have features: Outline the essential features your CRM must include, such as lead tracking, reporting dashboards, email automation, or mobile accessibility.
  • Integration and customisation needs: Identify how the CRM should integrate with your existing tools (e.g., marketing platforms, ERP systems) and whether it needs to be customized to suit your workflow.
  • Budget and hosting preferences: Specify your budget constraints, including upfront costs, ongoing fees, and whether you prefer a cloud-based solution or on-premise hosting.
  • Training and support expectations: Consider the level of training your team will need to adopt the CRM effectively and the type of vendor support you expect, such as 24/7 assistance or dedicated account managers.

A well-prepared requirements document not only streamlines the vendor comparison process but also ensures you make a fully informed decision that aligns with your business needs. It helps you stay focused during the evaluation phase, avoid distractions from unnecessary features, and ultimately save time and resources in selecting the right CRM. Taking the time to craft a thorough document at this stage can make a significant difference in the success of your CRM implementation.

Simplify your CRM journey today!

Get started with our free CRM Requirements Template and confidently choose the best CRM for your business. 🚀

📥 Download our free CRM Requirements Template to get started!

Final thoughts

Choosing a good CRM doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By following these six steps, you’ll have a clear roadmap to find a system that truly works for your business.

👉 Define your goals
👉 Identify the must-have features
👉 Consider integrations, budget, and support
👉 Compare vendors with a structured requirements document

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