Page 8 - What's an SMB

CRM buying guide checklist

There’s a scene in the Netflix original series Master of None where the main character, Dev

(played by Aziz Ansari), spends 45 minutes online researching the tastiest taco in New York City
only to find that when he arrives to the spot, they’ve sold out.

It’s an accurate reflection of our current purchasing habits in the age of Yelp and Amazon where

consumers are more informed and more opinionated than ever about products and services.
CRM software is no different. With so many CRMs on the market, narrowing it down to two or
three choices can be a vast undertaking. So before diving into specific features or solutions it’s
important to consider a few big picture characteristics of your CRM.

Price versus budget Ease of use Integrations Flexibility

Scalability Customization Data security

$ $

Price versus budget Ease of use

This is a factor in any purchasing decision but CRM software doesn’t do your business
it’s especially important to SMB owners who any good if your salespeople can’t use it or
want to keep costs as low as possible. First, spend most of their day trying to understand

establish your budget and use it to narrow it. Most SMB owners aren’t computer science
down your choices. Be sure to consider both majors and don’t have time to dedicate to
up front and long term costs so you have a complicated software. Almost all cloud-
clear picture of what this software will run you. based CRM vendors offer free trials, so

If the base price is low but requires a bunch take advantage of those to determine how
of add-ons or hidden costs in the future as quickly you and your salespeople can start
you grow, you may want to consider another using the CRM. Yes, there will be some type
option. of learning curve with any CRM, and training

your sales team is an essential step of the
implementation process, but some systems
are far easier than others and designed with
SMB owners.

What’s an SMB? It’s not what you’ve been told. 06 www.zoho.com/crm