How to choose a CRM system

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To choose the right CRM system, you must first define the goals and tasks that it will solve in your business. For example, sales automation, improving customer support, managing marketing campaigns.

Next, identify the functions that will be a priority. This could be contact management, analytics, marketing automation, integration with other systems (email, telephony), mobile access, and others.

It is important to consider the size of the company, turnover, and number of users. As a rule, young enterprises have few clients, and manual accounting in Excel may be enough to avoid overpaying for CRM.

Then you will need to research the market to find the right technology solution. There are different types of CRM systems to choose from.

By functionality
Operating Analytical Combined Marketing
Registration of applications, invoicing, storage and processing of information about clients and orders. In addition to working with customer and order data, they can analyze sales, lead sources, and deal quality in different audience segments. Operational and analytical functionality is complemented by options for communication with clients and integration with social networks and messengers. Automation of marketing processes, end-to-end analytics systems and tools for working with different sales channels, from social networks to email.
By deployment methods
Cloud: all data is stored in the infrastructure of the CRM system provider or developer. For businesses, it is usually available by subscription.

Local: also called "boxed" solutions. In this case, the system is installed on the business's equipment and is serviced on request.

By industry specifics
As a rule, each CRM system can be customized, connect the necessary modules, but sometimes a business needs a solution exclusively for its niche. Therefore, there are CRM systems that are designed only for retail or the financial sector.

Read also: Lead generation: what is it, methods of lead generation
Well-known CRM systems
Bitrix24
A comprehensive business management platform including CRM, tasks, projects, contact center and collaboration tools.

Pros: many tools for managing sales, projects, tasks, communications and HR, which makes the system a universal solution for business. There is a cloud and local deployment, a mobile application. Supports integration with popular services and platforms (1C, Google Apps, Office 365), social networks, telephony and others. As the company grows, the system can be scaled to meet business needs.

Cons: complex interface, need to purchase additional modules, difficulties with loading large amounts of data and integration with external resources.

amoCRM
A CRM system focused on managing sales and communications with clients.

Pros: ease of use, integration with messengers and grow your business with our database telephony, sales analytics. A universal and complete system that can be customized to suit business needs.

Cons: no order management option, only six standard reports. If you work on 1C, then only partial integration is possible.

RetailCRM
CRM system, specially developed for online stores and retail companies. Designed for order management, integration with e-commerce platforms, marketing and analytics tools.

Pros: integration with popular e-commerce platforms (Wildberries, Ozon, AliExpress, Yandex Market and others), as well as with social networks and messengers (Telegram, Whats Up, Viber, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and others). There is the possibility of centralized management of orders from different sources (websites, marketplaces, points of sale). All processes can be automated.

Cons: the program works well with marketplaces, so there may not be enough options for a local online store. In addition, the interface is complex, you will have to figure it out.