Why is choosing the right CRM partner even more important than choosing the right CRM solution?

Finding a reliable CRM partner is the key to the success of your implementation, and as most companies don’t go through the process of implementing new CRM technology every day, it is logical that most businesses have a lack of experience in what they should pay attention to.

Never underestimate the power of a good CRM partner research, in the end, you will be the one who will be paying not just for the price of integration, but also the price of implementation delays, poor support, numerous bugs, and “unexpected” additional expenses.

The million-dollar question is, how do we know which partner is reliable if all of them promise the best CRM solution and they all claim to have the best CRM experts?

8 questions that you have to consider before signing on the dotted line:

1. How long has the CRM partner company existed?

Would you rather hire a nanny with 15 years of experience, or a young student with no experience but who has a mind-blowing video CV application?

The answer should be similar when choosing a CRM partner. Young companies that do not have enough big-name clients often put a lot of energy into tech savvy websites that might convince you that they are the right partner for your implementation. Usually they are willing to drastically drop their prices for first-time clients from specific industries in order to build their reference list, which will in turn attract new customers who will potentially covers any losses from the first couple of years.

I am not saying that they are doing something bad or wrong, it is the right path to take if you are a young and ambitious company that has to learn about CRM implementations by doing them, and I am a big fan of their marketing creativity, but for most clients, enthusiasm is just not enough.

So, if you are searching for a reliable, experienced partner, check out how long the company has existed, and here are the 3 main reasons why:

• The best and most experienced CRM experts are usually at companies with tradition. We are not just talking about their coding experience, but rather industry business experience. Seasoned experts trust in companies where the environment is stable, and they don’t have to deal with “alternative” new-age leadership approaches
• Business and work processes are incorporated based on their many years of experience, and the times of “eating their own dog food” and learning from mistakes are behind them. Companies with long traditions are focused on improvements, and not on early team set-ups and business process challenges.
• They know what your old CRM solutions look like – because they were “born” back than (😉). In the last few years, technology has changed drastically, and most CRM solutions that were implemented 10 years ago are regarded as stone age solutions today. Going from an old CRM solution to a new one doesn’t mean that you should delete the “useful one” immediately, but that you should acquaint yourself with the existing one to be able to understand how the new one should work. And who better to do that than the people who’ve already been through the process?

2. What are their references like from their other business solutions?

CRM is never the only business solution for a company, and if you are going to implement your CRM with a partner that only has experience in CRM implementation, you might find yourself dealing with a lot of blind spots. It is same when renovating a house, if you have a different contractor for every stage of the renovation, you have to expect that they will (hopefully) do quality work for the fee they are paid, but as each one only specialises in certain types of renovation, they won’t be thinking about future complications for the contractors who will follow them.

Implementing a CRM solution with a partner that has a comprehensive overview of all business solution technologies such as ERP, HRM, Business Intelligence, etc. will help you to have seamlessly working business solutions.

3. Is your industry the only one that they work with? 

Specialisation is always good, but sometimes good practices are hidden behind a hedge. That’s why you should not believe too strongly that CRM partners that are focused on more than just one industry will not understand your needs, in fact quite the opposite can be true – they will not only understand your industry needs, but also help you with cross-industry best practices, knowledge and experience.