Sales Partners of CRM Software suppliers are by definition more interested in selling you software than in helping you develop a CRM solution. Most of them only work with one or two products, so to them, your problem always look the same.

This characteristic is unfortunately actively encouraged by buyers who look for functions and technical requirements but are not aware of the real business aims involved. There are probably no functions which can be requested which existing CRM solutions do not offer, so using lists of functions will not produce valid results. The quality and the usability of those functions in your environment is another question.

CRM suppliers and resellers can be exptected to have good expertise with regard to their products and good sales people who can show you their solution the way you like to see it. However, even though it is often thought that customer care and sales are the same everywhere, this is definitely not the case. Sales and support processes are always unique. Selecting CRM Software which has the largest number of ticks against your requirements list will not get you the best solution. You will hear talk of best practices from your CRM Rep, but there are no best practices which fit all companies.

If you are looking for more than simple contact management, CRM Software will always need to be modified, so you need to look for suppliers who can understand your business and convince you that the software they are offering can be modified to your requirements.

The sales person who points out these traps will bring you a better solution than the person who tells you the software will do it all for you.

The advice is as old as the hills, but is as true as ever: Don’t let software drive your business, define your requirements and then look for software which fulfills your business needs.

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