Why Companies Leave Their CRM in the Dust…and Switch
Recently, we analyzed over 300 small and medium sized businesses who had a Customer Relationship Management System and decided to switch to Claritysoft.
Here’s what we learned about why companies leave their old CRMs:
#1 “My Employees Don’t Use It.”
By a clear margin, user adoption is the number one reason companies are dissatisfied with their current CRM solutions. Too often companies select a solution based on name recognition; however the most recognizable brands were developed to accommodate large enterprises. Unfortunately for many small and medium sized businesses, enterprise solutions simply do not fit – they are hard to navigate and extremely time consuming to implement.
Solution: Include your sales team in demos and software evaluation. Ask your team, “Is this a simple CRM you can imagine using for day-to-day tasks?”
#2 “It costs too much.”
Cost is another big reason companies switch CRMs. Many companies believe they can get by using the “low cost” version. Unfortunately, once they start the implementation process, they quickly learn that many of the critical features they require have been removed from the entry level package. (This is a pricing strategy.) Once they add the necessary features, the price doubles or even triples.
Solution: Ask which features are included in each package level, such as data storage, mobile access, etc. If you only need the basics, you may be fine. If not, broaden the vendor search so that you can get a true cost comparison.
#3 “I’m frustrated with customer support.”
CRM vendors should be experts at managing their customer relationships. Shockingly, good customer support is difficult to find among the large vendors, especially for small and medium sized businesses. Almost every company mentioned terrible support as a reason for changing vendors.
Solution: Pay attention to how the vendor approaches you. Are you at the center of the conversation? Does the sales team have your best interests in mind, even if you don’t purchase?
#4 “It’s too complex.”
Related to high costs, complexity is a major factor driving companies change CRM solutions. Enterprise solutions require expensive consultants, which becomes a problem after implementation. Inevitably, the needs of a business change, and many companies don’t want to write a check every time they want to update the system.
Solution: When evaluating CRM software, find out what level of expertise is required to customize the software as your business grows.
# 5 “I can’t get the reports I want fast enough.”
Finally, reporting is a reason that companies switch and frankly, this was a surprise finding in our analysis. Spending numerous hours every week to get meaningful reports out of the system defeats the purpose of efficient CRM.
Solution: During demos, ask about reporting features. Be sure to find out what reports are provided automatically, what has to be customized and what is required to develop custom reports.
