OK, so you know you need to offer a CRM.
Maybe you are losing business to your competitor who IS offering a CRM as part of his total solution. Or maybe you already offer a CRM, but it sucks. Or maybe you just have come to the realization that your customers need a complete solution and you are going to be the one who provides it.
The best route is to build it yourself…right? Well, yes and no.
This is only a good idea in certain situations, but it’s the BEST idea for some. This is your best option if you have the right team in place and it fits into your overall company strategy and direction.
Advantages to Building Your Own CRM
Building the CRM yourself gives you complete control of the feature set, the user experience, and how it integrates with the rest of your marketing services.
When you have your own product, and combine it with your marketing expertise, you are now providing a complete solution, you are a one-stop-shop and you become indispensable to your customers.
Building Your Own CRM Considerations
The problem with building it yourself, is that this task is easier said than done. Depending on the capabilities you need in your marketing platform, this task can be anywhere from a big challenge, to impossible.
If you have a team of developers on staff with the talent and time, then this is doable. If you don’t, then this is not an option for you. And don’t get sucked into listening to your sister’s friend who is a programmer and tells you she can get the job done – she can’t!
But what if you have a group of hot-shot developers who have the ability and skill to build a CRM and Marketing Automation System? Then you have to ask yourself these important questions:
- If you have developers sitting around, you probably have your own product they have built and are continuing to keep relevant and fresh. Do you want them focused on something else that is not part of your core offering? Would it be smarter to focus all your attention on your own product and continue to make your product the best it can be?
- Are you prepared to have some of your developers dedicated to this part of your offering – forever? Marketing tools are constantly changing and improving. You are not building Microsoft Word, which has essentially been the same product for forty years. This is not a “build it and then forget it” proposition. If you want to compete with the big boys, you have to be committed to this decision.
- Can you afford to wait several months or years to go to market with this part of your solution? (It will take a great team of developers at least eighteen months to get something you would want to show a customer. Maybe you can do it faster—maybe not.)
- Are you ready to go head to head with hundreds of CRM companies who have been at this a lot longer than you? The competition is fierce in the CRM world. You may have the best CRM on the planet – great – now you are at square one.
Building your own CRM is the perfect answer for some, but a horrible idea for others. Consider your situation and where you fit into this equation.
Don’t Build Your Own CRM – White Label a CRM
Have you considered White Labeling your CRM instead of building it? This is the best option for most people. You know you need to be selling a CRM as part of your total solution and this is the fastest, easiest and smartest way to go about it. Find one that’s solid, proven, and ready for prime time.
Need to get to market…now? Don’t have developers on staff? Building a CRM not in your wheelhouse? Then this is the best way to go for you.
With White Labeling, you get most of the benefits of building it yourself, without all the headaches. You get to brand it with your name, your logo, your content, and your pricing. And you can start selling it tomorrow.
White Labeling an existing product is like having your own, offsite, development team focused on this very important part of your business.
