Choosing a CRM · ASRR Tech
When does a spreadsheet become too small for customer management?
Look at handovers and missed actions. When several people update the same customer without reliable contact history, a shared process matters more than extra columns.
A practical example
Two colleagues call the same prospect because their lists contain different versions.
This is an illustrative situation for assessing your own process.
Checklist for your team
- Collect duplicate actions.
- Identify missing contact history.
- Test one shared record.
What does success look like?
A colleague can identify the next action without opening another list.
Test this with a recognisable record and have a colleague review the outcome. Note missing information or decisions. Use that finding to improve a working agreement before applying the process more broadly.
Choosing a CRM: the wider process
Choose a CRM around the work your team performs each day. Take a real enquiry and follow it through to the next appointment or quotation. Record missing information, handovers and exceptions. Use that journey as the same demonstration script for different vendors. Ask each vendor to show the configuration, integrations and support it requires. Assess the complete workflow, including manual work that remains. A feature becomes useful when an employee can use it to carry out the process you have agreed.