How should a CEO select the right CRM?

Do you really need a Salesforce/SAP/Oracle if you are hitting the coveted 100 crore turnover? Or would a Zoho/Hubspot /SugarCRM suffice?

It may be shocking to know that CEOs of rapidly developing companies will be advised to go for the most expensive CRM solution just to be ‘future-ready’.
If you are a CEO, do not get taken for a ride while implanting CRM for your company! Here are 3 principles to keep in mind while selecting the right CRM:

1) Understand your usage complexity. Today, freemium SAAS CRMs cost 0$, take 15 minutes to install, require almost no coding, and give you uptime for 99.99% of the time.

2) Know what you are going to use CRM for. For instance, is it for a system of record for deal estimation, contacts, opportunities & pipeline progression? All 6 CRMs mentioned above do that for you, and more, so you need not waste money on the zaniest CRM out there

3) The most important predictor of CRM success is getting your sales to use it! The biggest challenge that prevents sales from using CRM is the complexity of the software and the number of data points they need to enter. Do you still want the CRM with all the bells & whistles? It is more prudent to take a simple one that gets the job done.

You can certainly make a case for selecting a pricey CRM if your use-case scenario is complex, and there is a need to integrate the CRM with ERP. For anything else, the simplest will most often prove to be the most effective!