Custom CRM or an existing platform: how to choose

What each option is

An existing platform (often called off the shelf) is software that many businesses use. You usually pay a subscription to use it (some have a free plan), you set it up, and you work within what it can be set up to do. Well-known products such as HubSpot, Zoho or Salesforce sit in this group. They come with standard records, sales stages, reports and a long list of connections to other tools.

The other option is a custom CRM built around your workflow: software designed and built around your own way of working. The records, the screens, the stages and the rules match how your team already works, and the system can be changed when your business changes.

When an existing platform is the right choice

A ready-made product is often the sensible answer. It is worth choosing when:

• your sales process is fairly standard: an enquiry comes in, someone follows up, a deal is won or lost;
• the main problem is that the team does not use the tool well, not that the tool cannot do the job;
• the connections you need already exist and are supported by the product;
• you want to start quickly and can accept the product's way of working;
• the standard records, permissions and reports, with the settings the product already offers, suit how you work.

When a custom CRM fits

A custom build is worth a serious look when your team keeps working around a product instead of with it. Signs of this include:

• you track things a standard product has no place for, such as site measurements, job stages or handovers between teams;
• different staff need to see very different parts of the same record;
• you copy the same details between the CRM, a spreadsheet and your accounting tool;
• your process is part of what makes your business different, and you do not want to bend it;
• you want to keep the system and the data under your own control.

What changes the cost of each

We do not give price figures in a guide like this, because the honest answer depends on the scope. What matters is knowing which parts move the cost, so you can compare both options fairly.

For an existing platform, look at the licence fee per user, the cost of the plan level that has the features you need, the time to set it up, any paid add-ons, and the cost of getting your data out if you ever leave.

For a custom CRM, look at the amount of work to design and build, how many roles and workflows it must support, how many other tools it connects to, the work to move your old data in, hosting, and the support after the first release.

Ask both kinds of supplier to show each of these separately. A single total hides the parts you may want to change.

Who owns the data and the system

With a platform you rent, your data sits in the supplier's system. Check that you can export everything in a usable form, including notes and attachments, and what happens to your data if the product changes or closes.

With a custom CRM, ask who owns the finished work, where it is hosted, who holds the access, and what documents you receive at handover. These points should be written down before work begins.

Integrations

Your CRM will not live alone. It may need to talk to your website forms, your email, your calendar and your accounting software. Ready-made products usually list the connections they support. Some are simple and some need extra paid tools.

A custom CRM can connect to whatever has a usable interface (an API, which is a way for two programs to share data), but each connection is part of the scope and needs to be agreed. In both cases, decide which system holds the main copy of each piece of information, and plan what happens when an update fails.

A short checklist

• Write down your process from first enquiry to finished job in 6 to 10 steps.
• Mark the steps a standard product handles well, and the steps it does not.
• List the tools the CRM must connect to.
• Ask each supplier for a list of costs, shown separately.
• Ask how you get your data out, and in what form.
• Decide who in your team will own the system after launch.
• Try a ready-made product with your real process before you decide it is not enough.