Custom or SaaS CRM: choose around the work you do

Describe workflows before tools

Follow an opportunity from arrival to conclusion, then a handover to a colleague. Record the information, approvals and tools involved. These workflows give you a basis for comparing solutions.

Separate essential needs from habits the team can change. Reproducing every detour in the current process may make a CRM expensive without making it useful.

Assess a SaaS CRM

Products such as HubSpot and Salesforce provide an existing CRM framework. Check the features actually included in the offer you are considering, along with permissions, integrations and customisation. A demo may show options missing from the plan you are comparing.

Test what the team can do without additional development and what needs configuration or outside help. Adoption costs extend beyond the subscription.

Assess a custom solution

A custom solution can address specific business rules. It still needs a maintenance owner, tests, documentation and a recovery procedure. The initial quote does not automatically cover those needs over time.

An adapted base in Airtable or Notion is not necessarily equivalent to a dedicated CRM. Check workflows, access and limitations rather than assuming that a flexible tool replaces every sales function.

Compare costs and exit options

Over the same period, compare licences, setup, data cleaning, training, integrations and maintenance. State assumptions about volume and user numbers. Neither model is always more cost-effective.

Also test exporting useful data and identify what will be difficult to transfer: histories, attachments, rules or automations. A solution should remain manageable as your needs change.

Decide after a pilot

Have future users carry out the same cases in the shortlisted options. Observe time, errors, workarounds and how easily they can find the next action. Document gaps before rolling out.

Choose the solution whose trade-offs the team can accept and whose operation it can sustain.

• Defined workflows and essential needs.
• Features checked against the actual offer.
• A complete cost estimate and an assigned maintenance owner.
• A user pilot and a tested export.