Choosing to create your own CRM system instead of purchasing a ready-made solution is an important business decision. At the end of the day, both options will help you improve customer relationship management. So why a company might want to develop a custom CRM when there are a lot of vendors offering off-the-shelf platforms?
While it’s true that bespoke and third-party software serve one goal, the former brings more advantages to a business in a long-term run. In this blog post, we’ll explain how a custom CRM solution may benefit your organization. We’ll also outline the risks which may arise if you opt for a turnkey system.
A perfect fit for your business
If you decide to create a custom CRM system, it’ll be initially designed with your business objectives in mind. In other words, a development company will be building a solution with a purpose to help your organization meet its goals, not just automate some processes. Besides, a custom CRM will be highly tailored to your team’s operation style. So it’ll fully satisfy the needs of your organization while containing no extra features that just make things complex and distract the attention.
At the same time, a ready-made solution makes you completely dependent on the vendor’s choice of functionality. This means that some of its default modules your employees will never use but you’ll still have to pay for them as they go as part of a package. On top of that, even the most feature-rich turnkey CRM may lack the functionality your company needs. If that is the case, you’ll have to separately develop or purchase software offering necessary functions.
Scalable and modifiable as you need it
Scalability is another significant benefit of custom CRM solutions. You’ll be able to scale up the functionality of bespoke software as your current business processes will develop. In addition, you’ll have an opportunity to build other applications for your enterprise using a CRM system as a base, as well as add, adjust, and delete any functions you want.
The situation is, however, rather different when it comes to ready-made solutions. Unlike custom CRMs, they are customizable only to a limited extent. So you won’t be able to adjust the turnkey system in case your business processes or requirements change.
Besides, you will likely face some challenges with connecting a ready-made solution to other software from your IT infrastructure since not all CRM vendors provide APIs for programmers.
Easy to implement and use
If you opt for custom CRM development, you won’t need to worry about system implementation since your coding team will do it for you. On top of that, a tailor-made solution will reflect your existing business flows and operations. That’s why it’ll take your team less time to learn how this software works.
In this context, an out-of-the-box solution brings more troubles than benefits. First of all, you’ll need to find a person who can properly install it as well as do all the necessary settings and adjustments. Secondly, most ready-made CRMs are created for mass consumption so they’re are packed with a great number of functions allowing vendors to target a wide array of businesses. This means that you can spend ages training your staff on how to use the new tool. But even after that, the system’s complexity may slow down a number of mundane workflows.
Predictable costs and functionality
Many business managers believe that ready-made CRM solutions are more predictable since all the costs can be calculated based on the pricing information on a vendor’s website. But, actually, it’s just a popular misconception.
With custom CRM development, it’s up to you to decide what features to include and when to update the system. Before making such decisions, you can review the current financial situation of your business, analyze the necessity to introduce every new function, and consider other important factors.
At the same time, if you purchase a ready-made CRM solution, your costs will fully depend on the vendor’s pricing policies. To continue using a system, you’ll need to agree to all the price increases even when they’re caused by the CRM upgrades you don’t need. In addition, a vendor will decide when and how to update the functionality. This means that your team will have to accept the changes no matter if they’re beneficial for your processes or not.
No third parties have access to the system
Advanced security is one of the most crucial benefits of custom CRM development. When you build your own CRM system, only your personnel gets access to it. So the risk of data leaks is practically eliminated. In addition, you can establish software security requirements that are stricter than standard to make your system even more resistant to cyber-attacks.
Off-the-shelf solutions are much more vulnerable in this regard. For instance, some updates may create security flaws in the system, allowing hackers to review, download, or modify your corporate information. You may, of course, purchase separate data protection software. But it will require more costs and won’t necessarily offer the security level you’re looking for.
Putting it all together
Custom CRM development will probably require higher initial investments than purchasing a ready-made solution but it definitely pays off in the end. By creating your own CRM system, you get reliable software that is tailored to your company’s current needs and can be easily scaled up as your business grows.
Looking for a team of professional developers to build your own CRM? Contact us!
