I used to believe that small to mid-size business owners were pretty smart.  It’s not easy to start a business and it’s even more difficult to manage its growth and success. But when it comes to the selection of CRM software, well they are just dumb. There are probably a lot of reasons for this.

First, many business owners will not take the time to fully document their business requirements or engage in the CRM selection process.  Secondly, many seem to believe that all CRM software is the same, so they just instruct the selection team to purchase the cheapest one.  Industry analysts have documented that 73% of all CRM systems fail to get properly implemented or utilized.  This is because CRM software is not some appliance that you plug in the wall and it works.  It requires a commitment to implementing a structured approach to improving internal business processes. The right CRM solution can significantly impact and improve how your company markets, sells and provides support to your customers.

In order to add some sanity to the decision process, Commence Corporation has created a white paper called “Don’t Make a CRM Buying Mistake” 7 Points to Consider before Selecting Your CRM solution. It’s a must read for businesses looking for CRM Online or cloud based CRM software.  See commenceaug202.wpengine.com to review this free white paper.

Image “Insane escape” by Sebie Covaci on Flickr, under Creative Commons license