How to Choose a CRM

7 Essential Questions Every Business Should Ask Before Buying

12 min readFor: First-time CRM buyersLast updated: October 2025

In This Guide

What You'll Learn

Choosing the right CRM can be overwhelming, especially if you've never used one before. With up to 70% of CRM projects failing due to poor selection (according to Gartner), it's crucial to ask the right questions before making your decision. This guide walks you through seven essential questions that will help you identify your needs, evaluate vendors, and select a CRM that truly fits your business.

Understand your business goals and translate them into CRM features
Determine whether you need industry-specific or customizable CRM
Evaluate integration capabilities with your existing tools
Consider cloud-based vs. on-premise deployment
Assess ease of use and team adoption factors
Verify GDPR and data compliance requirements
Compare pricing models and total cost of ownership

1. What Are My Business Goals?

Before comparing CRM systems, you need to look within your business. What are your goals, short-term and long-term? What business processes do you lack? Once you've defined your goals, you can translate them into specific CRM features.

Define Your Goals First

Don't rush to meet with CRM vendors. Identify what problems you're trying to solve: Are leads falling through the cracks? Do you need better pipeline visibility? Is your team spending too much time on manual tasks?

Map Goals to Features

For example: if you don't know where leads are in the sales cycle, you need pipeline visualization. If marketing spends too much time on repetitive tasks, you need marketing automation and workflows.

Create a Weighted List

Rank features as must-haves, should-haves, and could-haves. This prevents overestimating needs and helps when evaluating similarly priced CRMs.

2. Do I Need an Industry-Specific CRM?

Today's marketplace has dozens of industry-specific CRMs targeting manufacturing, higher education, real estate, insurance, and more. An industry-specific CRM is suitable for companies that have the budget for a higher-priced system and lack time to configure a CRM from scratch.

Industry-Specific Benefits

All modules, workflows, fields, and processes are pre-programmed for your industry. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Implementation is typically faster.

Customizable Alternative

If time is not of the essence but cutting costs is, try a highly customizable CRM instead. Choose a vendor that has worked with companies in your vertical before and can produce case studies.

3. Does the CRM Work with My Other Tools?

Most businesses use several different tools to manage processes: spreadsheets, accounting software, HR management solutions, marketing tools, and more. The right CRM will create a single platform for all your data sources.

Check the App Store

Before investing in your new CRM, check out their app store to ensure they integrate with your favorite tools. Look for native integrations with email, calendar, and accounting software.

Integration Platforms

If direct integrations aren't available, ensure the CRM integrates with Zapier, PieSync, or another automated connection platform that can build the integration for you.

4. How Customizable is the CRM System?

Every business needs some element of customization; it's just a matter of degrees. For some, getting a CRM that focuses on a particular department is sufficiently specialized. Others want a system that can match their unique business process.

Highly-Customizable CRM

Several closed CRMs offer highly customizable platforms without needing to know a single line of code. You can customize your own forms, fields, modules, pipelines, and workflows. However, it takes patience and time to configure the settings just right.

Open Source CRM

Open-source CRMs allow unlimited customization, but require basic programming and software development knowledge. Your only limitation is your imagination and technical skills.

5. Do You Want Cloud-Based or On-Premise CRM?

Cloud-based CRMs store data on remote servers accessible via the internet, while on-premise systems store data on your own servers. Most small and mid-size businesses opt for cloud solutions due to their scalability, accessibility, and lower upfront costs.

Cloud-Based Advantages

Lower upfront costs, accessible from anywhere, automatic updates, easy scalability, and no IT infrastructure needed. Ideal for remote teams and growing businesses.

On-Premise Considerations

Greater control over data, potential for more customization, but requires significant IT resources, higher upfront costs, and manual updates.

6. Is It Easy to Use?

User adoption is one of the biggest challenges in CRM implementation. If your team doesn't use the CRM, even the most feature-rich system is worthless. Look for intuitive interfaces, clean dashboards, and minimal learning curves.

Test the Interface

Request demos and free trials. Have your team test the CRM with real data. Pay attention to how intuitive navigation is and how quickly team members can complete common tasks.

Training and Support

Even with an easy-to-use CRM, proper training is essential. Ensure the vendor provides comprehensive onboarding, documentation, and ongoing support.

7. Is the CRM Compliant with GDPR?

Data privacy regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and industry-specific requirements (HIPAA for healthcare) are critical considerations. Your CRM must help you maintain compliance, not create liabilities.

GDPR Requirements

The CRM should allow customers to request data deletion, provide audit trails, enable consent management, and ensure data encryption both in transit and at rest.

Industry-Specific Compliance

Healthcare organizations need HIPAA compliance, financial services need SOC 2, and government contractors may need FedRAMP certification. Verify these before purchasing.