Knowing what you need is the key to making the best selection, but how do you go about defining your requirements? Frequently an unhappy employee is charged with checking the functions of the products on the market in order to come up with a set of ideas. This is just not the way to go and will lead to a choice of a product with the most functions but not necessarily the best fit.

Start with the business case and clear business aims which may be anything from reducing sales and marketing costs to increasing customer satisfaction. Évidently, this is a management task, so management must be involved.With these aims in mind, look for the processes which may be installed or improved in relation to your goals. In a few days I will add a document to this blog with ideas on how to find the processes and listing a selection of the most important items. There is too much information for a post.

Sometimes this process will show that no complex solutions are required, a solution based on address and contact management may be adequate. Alternatively you may find that your requirements are not available in any standard products, meaning that customizing becomes a major issue. Whichever way it goes, it should be possible to relate each process to the business aims and subsequently to select the most suitable solution.

It can offer help to look at your company from the customer point of view. Even if the business aims are limited to increasing increasing sales efficiency customers should register an improvenmt in sales service.

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