What is a CRM and when does your business need one?
Nova “If customer follow-up lives in someone’s memory or scattered chats, you already have a CRM: just a fragile one.”
Quick answer
A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a system that keeps all your customer and prospect information in one place: contact details, history, quotes and follow-ups. It makes sure no sales opportunity slips through and that your team knows what stage each customer is at. You need one when spreadsheets or chat apps stop being enough.
Key facts
| What it is | A system to manage relationships with customers and prospects |
|---|---|
| What it is for | Centralizing data, following up and measuring sales |
| Options | Subscription CRM or custom CRM |
| Personal data | Subject to the data protection law of each country (e.g. GDPR in the EU) |
| Custom CRM at CA | From $1,120 USD |
What does a CRM do day to day?
A CRM keeps in one place who each customer is, what you quoted them, when you last spoke and what the next step is. Each rep sees their tasks and managers see the whole pipeline.
- Customer records with full history.
- Sales stages: lead, quote, negotiation, close.
- Follow-up tasks and reminders.
- Sales reports by rep or period.
When does your business need a CRM?
There is no minimum number of customers. The signal is that follow-up starts to fail.
- You lose leads because nobody followed up.
- Customer information is spread across spreadsheets, emails and chats.
- When a rep leaves, their customer history leaves too.
- You do not know how many quotes are open or how many you close.
Has customer follow-up outgrown your spreadsheet?
See details and pricingSubscription CRM or custom CRM?
A subscription CRM starts fast and charges per user every month; it works well if your sales process is standard. A custom CRM costs more up front, adapts to your process and has no per-user licenses, so it pays off when your operation is specific or your team grows.
What obligations come with storing customer data?
Customer data is personal data, and most countries regulate how it is collected and used. In the European Union, for example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies. Check the rules for the countries where you operate before choosing where and how to store it.
Frequently asked questions
Can a spreadsheet work as a CRM?
It works at first, but it does not remind you to follow up, does not track who changed what and gets hard to share as the team grows.
Can a CRM connect to WhatsApp?
Yes, a CRM can integrate with WhatsApp, web forms and other tools to log contacts automatically.
How much does a custom CRM cost?
At CA, a custom CRM starts at $1,120 USD. Each tier’s price is listed on the product page.
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Sources
Sources checked on the update date. This guide is informational and is not legal or tax advice.