10 questions to ask when choosing a CRM

It may sound odd coming from a Salesforce partner, but Salesforce is not the right answer for every company. Answer the ten questions below honestly and the direction you should take becomes fairly obvious.

1. How many people will use it, and how many will actually log in?

A five-person sales team and a fifty-person organisation do not have the same needs. Smaller teams are often well served by simpler systems that set up quickly. As role variety grows — field, inside sales, support, management, dealers — the ability to separate permissions and processes becomes decisive.

Note that “how many will use it” and “how many licences we buy” are different numbers. Managers who only read reports usually qualify for cheaper licence types.

2. How complex is your sales process?

For single-stage, fast-closing sales, a heavy platform is overkill. But if several of the following apply, you need something flexible:

• Tiered discount approvals
• Quotes requiring product configuration
• Sales through dealers or distributors
• Project-based cycles running for months
• Enterprise deals with multiple decision makers

3. Which systems does it need to talk to?

This determines the choice more than any other factor and is asked least often. Will your ERP, online store, accounting package and any production system exchange data with the CRM?

If they will, look at two things: the API capabilities of the CRM you are considering, and whether ready-made connectors exist for it. Some systems look simple but are limited on integration — a limit you will not notice in year one and will hit hard in year two.

4. Are your processes standard, or specific to you?

Off-the-shelf CRMs set up standard processes quickly. But if you have a flow specific to your industry or company — sample tracking, commission calculation, dealer quotas, warranty handling — the platform’s extensibility becomes decisive.

There is a trap here: every vendor says their product is customisable. The question to ask is can customisation be done without writing code, or does every change require a developer?

5. What do you expect from reporting?

Simple list reports exist in almost every system. The difference shows up in period-over-period comparison, target tracking, channel profitability, funnel conversion rates and forecasting.

If you would rather not rebuild the management report by hand every month, test reporting during the demo. Do not accept a pre-built dashboard; ask for a report built live on your own data.

6. Do you have a field team?

If people are out visiting customers or dealers, mobile use is mandatory. And “mobile responsive website” is not enough here — you need a record flow that completes in a few taps on a phone. This distinction directly determines whether the system gets used.

7. What happens in two years?

Systems chosen for today’s needs without accounting for growth become constraining within a year. Think about it: will headcount rise, will a new product line or channel be added, is there an international plan?

Switching systems costs more than new licences — data migration, retraining and lost habits all count. Looking a little further ahead is usually the cheaper option.

8. Who will own the system?

After implementation, someone needs to own it — collecting requests, prioritising them and making small changes. If you cannot assign someone internally, budget for external support.

Systems left without an owner freeze and stop matching reality within a year. It is one of the most common reasons CRM implementations get abandoned — we covered it in a separate article.

9. Have you calculated the total cost?

The licence price is the visible part. What also belongs in the calculation:

• Implementation consulting
• Data migration and cleaning
• Integration development
• Training
• Year two maintenance and support
• Possible price uplift at renewal

Systems that look cheap can cost more in total because they are limited on customisation and integration. The reverse is also true: configuring a powerful platform far beyond your needs wastes money too.

10. Will the team actually use it?

The most important question and the most frequently skipped. Before deciding, show the demo to two or three of the people who will use it daily and listen to their reaction. Ask them directly: “would you open this every day?”

A technically superior system that finds no traction in the field is worthless. And an unused CRM does not cost nothing — the licence keeps billing, and on top of that management makes decisions from unreliable data.

When is Salesforce the right choice?

The honest answer: when several of these are true at once.

• Your processes are non-standard and need flexibility
• You have serious integration requirements with an ERP or other systems
• Multiple teams and roles need distinct workflows
• You have growth plans and want the system to absorb them
• You need advanced reporting and forecasting

Conversely, if you are a three-person team doing simple sales tracking with no integration needs, a lighter tool will serve you. We say this openly in discovery calls — selling a system that does not fit is short-term work and long-term reputational damage.

One final suggestion

When you ask for a demo, do not sit through a canned scenario. Give the vendor an example from your own processes and ask how they would build it in their system. How clearly they answer tells you about the product and about the team you would be working with.