With thousands of CRM platforms out there, trying to pick the right one can feel like you’re in a maze with no exit in sight. It’s overwhelming, to say the least! You’ve probably heard all the buzz about how CRM can transform your business, and the stats are pretty convincing – using a CRM can increase revenue by 245%. That’s almost double and a half your current profits, just by getting your customer relationships under control.
Well, hold on, there’s a catch. If you pick the wrong CRM, you might end up with more headaches than sales. Picking the wrong one can have you pulling your hair out (or what’s left of it). The wrong choice could lead to lost time, wasted resources, and way too much frustration.
So, before you dive in, in the words of Sabrina Carpenter’s lyrics – “please, please please” do your homework. If you’re not using a CRM yet, you should be. But choosing the wrong one can be costly. Get it right, and you’re on your way to more leads, more sales, and more peace of mind. Get it wrong, and you’ll be wondering where all that 245% revenue boost went…
Maybe you’re here because you’re trying to figure out which CRM is the best fit for your business, or maybe you’ve already tried a couple and been disappointed by the features.
In this blog, we’re diving into the hidden (and often very painful) costs of choosing the wrong CRM, and trust me, it’s the kind of pitfall your wallet would rather avoid. Think of it like buying a treadmill or those walking pads off TikTok you swear you’ll use every day (I am guilty of this) and then it just becomes a very expensive clothes hanger. Same vibes, but with software!
1. Time Is Money, Don’t Throw Either Away
Choosing the wrong CRM can feel a bit like fitting a square peg into a round hole. Your whole team ends up spending precious time wrestling with a system that doesn’t actually fit with what the business needs. From clunky interfaces to features that don’t hit the spot, it can quickly turn into a frustrating time and a nightmare for everyone involved.
The last thing you want is for your CRM to slow your team down instead of speeding things up. All the hours wasted on training, troubleshooting and the back and forth of trying to make a system work for you – hours that could have been spent driving sales, improving the customer experiences or even brainstorming new strategies!
Sometimes, realising that your CRM is just not cutting can take months or even years for a team to figure out that it’s actually holding you back. So be a wise guy when you are choosing, you don’t want to find yourself paying for a service you wasted time learning, only to end up moving to another platform later. That is definitely not the kind of efficiency you want!
2. Switching CRM’s (Migration)
If you are currently in this situation though, do not panic. There are ways and means we can help with this, if you are unhappy with your current CRM and want to move, check out our migration tips “How to get your CRM migration right”.
The setup and implementation costs for CRMs can vary depending on the platform you decide to choose. The more modern, user-friendly systems tend to be easier (and more budget-friendly) to set up, while the older, more complex platforms like Salesforce can get pretty pricey.
It is super important to fully understand both the upfront and ongoing costs involved. We recently came across a client being quoted a whopping $400,000 for a data migration to their system. (I know, our jaws dropped when they told us). Data migration can be tricky, it usually means cleaning up your old data and then integrating it with the new platform. But, migrations are our bread and butter, and we know how to smash it without these ridiculous quotes. Don’t just take our word for it, look at some of our success stories, one in particular GoHenry, we did a migration in just under 8 weeks from Salesforce to Customer.io. Not only did we move the data, configure their systems and get the team involved, but they said pretty nice stuff about us too.
Questions To Ask Yourself
If you have to switch CRMs, you’ll likely need to go through this whole process again. doubling the time and money you’ve already invested. So, here are a few questions to ask yourself.
- How long will implementation take?
- How many support staff will be needed?
- Are there fees for transferring data from your current system or inputting data into the new one?
- Is there a minimum or maximum number of users allowed? If so, what are the fees for going over the limit?
- Is the subscription fee based on the number of users, or the number of employees?
Every CRM implementation will be different based on your business needs, so make sure to ask these questions upfront to avoid any surprises later on! Better to be safe than sorry.
3. A CRM That No One Uses Is Just an Expensive Address Book (User Adoption)
No matter how fancy the features are in your CRM, it is practically useless if your team doesn’t actually use it! A complicated system that’s hard to navigate around or isn’t user-friendly will impact user adoption, there will be no duck to water in this situation, they simply will drown.
Poor user adoption creates all kinds of headaches, missed opportunities, and disorganisation. If the team are not using the CRM effectively, it becomes really hard to know what’s going on. How will you know about insights? Make data-driven decisions? All these things are vital to move the business forward and grow.
So the key here is to make sure the CRM is easy to use, and tailored to your team needs from the very start. You might even want the team involved in the selection process, their options go a long way especially as they are the ones predominantly going to be using it. What you don’t want is a powerful tool that no one knows how to use, the business will suffer because of it.
4. Do Your Homework
When you make the wrong choice, you’re not just losing money, you’re wasting precious time, resources, and, honestly, a lot of patience. There’s long, painful hours of trying to make the CRM fit your business, to the steep costs of data migration and implementation, it’s a slippery slope. And if your team isn’t using the CRM? Well, you’ve just bought yourself an overpriced digital address book.
So what’s the solution? Don’t make the mistake of jumping into the first CRM that sounds fancy. Do your homework – and we can help with that.
5. Download Our Free Guide: Your Expert Guide to CRM and ESP Systems
By turning the techy jargon into plain English, we’ve crafted a guide that’s simple to digest. Whether you’re out to supercharge your sales or tighten up your customer relationships, this guide will arm you with everything you need to pick and implement the right system. We’ve even thrown in some fancy stats, cool diagrams and advice from our technical team.
Don’t Miss Out: Download Now
Want to be the first to get your hands on our new e-book? Packed with tips, expert advice, and detailed comparisons, it’s your roadmap to finding the perfect CRM or ESP system for your small business. Sign up now and get ready to level up.
