Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has transformed the way businesses manage leads and client relationships throughout the customer journey. A study from Salesforce found that in many organizations, as much as 50% of sales efforts are spent chasing down leads that never convert. By taking a strategic approach to managing leads and customer interactions, you optimize conversions, nurture relationships, analyze customer data, and boost your bottom line.
Yes, CRM software helps improve the customer experience and increase profits, but perhaps you’ve reached a crossroads in your business where your off-the-schedule CRM isn’t working for you. If you’re considering building a custom CRM solution for your business, read on!
This guide will weigh the pros and cons of building your very own CRM so you can make an informed decision.
Everyone who accesses a CRM will have a specific role, from admins to sales staff to marketing team members. Different roles have different access levels, allowing them to perform necessary tasks within the system. For example, an account executive on the sales team will need to update notes on client meetings. Marketers will need to schedule campaigns and other types of marketing outreach. Admins will need to add or delete users based on staff turnover. Brainstorm a list of all the different types of users that will need access to your CRM, and create profiles for each one. As you design the software, you’ll think long and hard about each user’s rights and responsibilities, ensuring that each one is empowered to do what they need to do without encroaching upon other people’s roles.
The underlying cloud infrastructure you use to house and support your CRM is an important choice since it will impact your costs and capabilities.
A few popular cloud infrastructures are:
Different cloud infrastructures have different features, benefits, and pricing models, so it’s important to research your options.
One thing you should be clear about before building your CRM is that it’s not likely to be a quick process if you’re building something substantial. The full version of your CRM may be a work in progress that takes a long time to complete, but you can have the basic version up and running in a relatively short time frame.
This bare-bones version of your CRM, with its most important features, is what software developers call a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). MVPs are often used to validate an idea and make sure the market is receptive to it, but in your case, it will be used to serve your internal customers and gather feedback for improvement.
When designing your MVP, list your non-negotiable features and prioritize them. Some features companies tend to prioritize for MVPs are:
Some advanced features that may be complicated to build but you might consider top priorities include sales and marketing automation, data analysis with custom reports, and marketing. Of course, if you’ve got other tools that handle these items successfully, you may choose to deprioritize them in the beginning.
The team you assemble for any project is integral to its success, and building a custom CRM is no different. You’ll need Design, Quality Assurance, and Development teams, along with experts in project management who can oversee the development process.
You have several options for building your team. You can work with an in-house development team, you can hire an outsourcing partner to manage the entire project from start to finish, or can work with both in-house and external teams in a hybrid model.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of working with internal staff vs. outsourcing, keeping in mind that it’s not a binary choice—you can choose that third, hybrid option if it suits you.
You have the option of building your CRM using an entirely in-house team, assuming you either have the talent on staff or you’re willing to hire new talent.
Outsourcing involves working with a software development company to have them build all or part of your CRM. You can either hire a full-service firm for the entire project, or you can have them work side-by-side with your team in a hybrid or staff augmentation model.
CRM software development comes with unique demands, so be sure to work with an experienced team that can move you toward your business goals, whether you hire them internally or consult an experienced outsourcing company.
As with all software development, testing is essential to spot bugs and security holes. Automation helps support and expedite the testing process, and taking a DevSecOps approach to security will help you implement best practices and leave no stone unturned.
It may be tempting to rush straight into launching an internal application since you can get immediate feedback and you’re not concerned with tarnishing your reputation in the market, but this is a bad idea. Not only does launching prematurely pose security issues, but if your first launch isn’t even minimally viable, it may affect your ability to gain traction and the full adoption of your staff.
Launching your MVP is an important step, and it requires careful communication throughout the organization, especially when it comes to communicating with key users. You also need to take careful steps to successfully migrate your CRM data to the new system.
Users must understand that the new CRM is a work in progress and that this initial phase is the first step in a larger journey.
Gathering feedback from users is vital. Encourage them to be honest about what they like and dislike because there’s no substitute for hearing from actual users. They will help you prioritize features when building feature releases, and over time you can create a CRM that improves sales processes, streamlines operations, and helps your frontline employees improve key metrics like customer satisfaction and customer retention.
Building a CRM can cost between $100,000 and $200,000 to get something fully functional that meets the needs of most enterprises, but these numbers can vary considerably based on what you want to accomplish.
Building a CRM like Hubspot or Salesforce from scratch would cost well over a half-million dollars, but if you’re reading this post, your goal is probably focused on building a customizable CRM, not a SaaS product that you’ll sell to external customers.
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In the end, a custom CRM might end up less expensive than continuously paying those monthly, per-user subscription costs while customizing a CRM like Salesforce. Once you crunch the numbers, you just may find that building your own CRM is more cost-effective, or at the very least provides more value for your money.
Here are three factors that influence the cost of building a custom CRM.
Visit our blog post about the costs of custom software development to learn more about the various factors that influence price. You can also review our post about offshore development rates by country to weigh the cost of offshoring to different regions.
It’s been said many times before—if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re already there.
The same is true for custom CRM development. Before designing your system, you must be very clear about what your initial objectives are, which features you’ll prioritize, and how you’re going to deliver those features to your users.
Your roadmap will change once you gather feedback after launching your MVP, of course. That’s fine, but you need to be clear about your next steps at each stage. Otherwise, you run the risk of spending too much time and energy adding features to your CRM platform that won’t provide much benefit while deprioritizing those that will.
Net Solutions is a software development firm with more than two decades of experience, and we’ve built CRMs and other software products for major organizations and enterprises.
You can read dozens of case studies on our website detailing projects we’ve completed for organizations like the Harvard Business Review, IMG, and American Golf.
Curious to see what we can do for you? Let’s talk.
Imagine a tool that not only keeps all your customer information in one place but also enhances your interactions, streamlines your sales process, and boosts your marketing efforts. That tool is real and it’s called a customer relationship management (CRM) system.
It acts as your ultimate assistant, helping you manage customer relationships more effectively and making every interaction count. Whether you're a growing business or part of a large corporation, a CRM system is your key to unlocking a more organized, efficient, and profitable business strategy. Let’s dig into what a CRM system is, its key features, its benefits, and how to choose the right one for your business.
At its core, a CRM system helps manage customer data. A CRM system helps businesses keep customer contact details up to date, track every customer interaction, and manage customer accounts. It’s also designed to help businesses improve customer relationships and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
A customer relationship management (CRM) system helps manage customer data. It supports sales management, delivers actionable insights, integrates with social media, and facilitates team communication. Cloud-based CRM systems offer complete mobility and access to an ecosystem of bespoke apps.
CRMs can help every team work better. Let’s break down how:
Sales teams use CRMs to manage leads, track sales opportunities, and organize customer interactions.Service teams use it as a unified platform for managing customer support tickets and service requests for faster resolution times. Marketing teams automate and manage marketing campaigns across multiple channels for targeted efforts. Commerce teams manage inventory, and integrate purchase history and customer preferences to personalize shopping experiences. And data teams provide analytics and reporting tools for deeper insights into customer behavior and trends.
Choosing the right CRM system for your business depends on a number of factors:
Every business has unique needs. A CRM system should adapt to specific processes and workflows. This is particularly important for businesses with specialized products or services.
Consider whether the CRM system can grow with your business. For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the system might need to handle fewer customer interactions initially, but right from implementation, it should be capable of scaling up as the business grows in size and complexity.
Look at how well the CRM system integrates with other tools you already use, such as marketing services, social media platforms, and accounting software. Seamless integration reduces complexity and boosts productivity.
The ease of use of the CRM system is crucial, especially for small to medium-sized businesses that may not have the resources to train staff extensively. A user-friendly interface ensures higher adoption rates.
With the increasing need for remote access to business tools, ensure that the CRM system offers a mobile version or app that allows your team to access customer data and perform tasks from anywhere.
Customer support and training for CRM involves providing users with the necessary assistance and educational resources to maximize the tool's benefits for improved customer interactions and business operations. Good customer support and training resources are essential for helping your team make the most of your CRM system. This is particularly important for businesses that are new to CRMs.
And, compare the total costs against the benefits. A simple way to estimate return on investment (ROI) is to subtract the total costs from the total benefits and then divide by the total costs. This will give you a percentage that represents your ROI.
Beyond immediate financial gains, consider the long-term strategic value of implementing a CRM system, such as staying competitive, adapting to market changes more quickly, and building a more resilient business.
Are you interested in learning more about Custom CMR Solutions? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!