Guides / How to choose a CRM

How to choose a CRM: 9 questions to ask.

Most CRMs look similar on a feature list. These questions help you find the one your team will actually use.

6 min read · Kesslan guides

The checklist

Ask every CRM you're considering.

  1. Does it cover the channels our clients use?Email is a given. What about WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and your website forms, all in one inbox?
  2. Who sets it up?Some CRMs hand you a login and a help centre. Others build your workspace with you. Ask what's included and what costs extra.
  3. Who moves our data?Ask exactly what they'll migrate: contacts only, or deals, notes and history too, and from which systems.
  4. How will our team learn it?Live training, recorded videos or nothing at all? Adoption is where most CRM projects fail.
  5. Does it follow up for us?Automatic follow-ups that stop when the client replies are one of the biggest time-savers.
  6. What does the AI actually do?Ask for a live example: drafting a reply, summarising a thread, answering a question about your clients.
  7. Where is our data stored?For UK firms, UK hosting and required two-step sign-in should be the minimum.
  8. What will it really cost?Add up seats, add-ons, setup and support for your team size, for year one and year two.
  9. Can we try it with our own data?A trial with sample data tells you little. Ask to try it with your real enquiries.

A tip for demos

Bring a real example: an enquiry that went wrong last month. Ask the salesperson to show how their CRM would have handled it, from the first message to the follow-up. You'll learn more in five minutes than in an hour of slides.

Keep exploring

What is a CRMWhat a CRM is, what it does, and how to tell whether your firm needs one, explained in plain English for UK businesses.How much does a CRM cost in the UKWhat UK firms really pay for a CRM: subscriptions, per-user pricing, setup, migration, training and the hidden costs to watch for.Switching CRMPlanning to move CRM or leave spreadsheets behind? A step-by-step checklist to switch without losing data or momentum.PricingPlans for every stage of your firm, with setup included.

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