Five questions to ask potential CRM consultants

When it comes to hiring a CRM consultant, there are many questions that you should ask before accepting their services.  With so many consultants out there offering the same type of package, it can be difficult to know which one to opt for. Given that you need confidence in the fact that your needs will be 100% satisfied and value added to your organization as the result of this investment, how can you establish which one to hire?

We have the solution; here are five questions to ask your potential CRM consultants, enabling you to interview them in a straightforward way and then make the right choice.  Add their answers to a document and then analyze them at the end in order to reach the right conclusion:

How much are you going to charge? You need a straight forward answer with no waffle and no ‘added charges’.  Tell them you want the all-in price and that all costs have to be transparent.  If they suggest you pay them on an hourly basis – leaving the final sum open-ended – say no.  You need a fixed price that will cover all of the services that you are going to require, so be sure of what these are before having this conversation.

Are you affiliated with just one CRM provider? If they are, this is not necessarily a negative, particularly if they have the system that you want.  They should be able to answer your every query in depth and without hesitation. The downside? They will only push one make of CRM.  If they are not affiliated, they may not be quite so expert but you would still expect them to have clear knowledge.

Find out more about hiring a CRM consultant in our step-by-step implementation guide 

Have you worked with a company like ours before? If they have, this will be a big green tick on your list as you need to choose a consultant who is experienced in working with an organization such as yours.  If they have a good knowledge of the kind of activities that you regularly carry out, your processes and type of systems and customer interaction, they are going to be far more efficient and you will save a lot of time.  Whatever departments your CRM is going to cover i.e. customer service, marketing and sales, be absolutely sure that they are experienced in these areas.

How long have you been in business? The longer they have been trading, the more expertise they will have. If they are a new company, what sort of time span does their knowledge cover? Experience is essential, particularly if they are used to working with companies in your sector; if they have provided similar solutions historically, they will know exactly what to do this time around.

Will you transfer our data to the new CRM system? You need to know not only how they will handle the automation of your processes but how data from your old system will be transferred across. If they are not going to handle the whole process from start to finish, including this, cross them off your list.

Don’t be swayed by special offers or clever marketing tactics; you need to choose your CRM consultant based upon reputation as much as anything else. Finding the right one may be a challenge but it is worth taking the time now to go through the Q&A process in detail rather than regret your decision later on.