What should a new CRM actually help us do?
You may know the system you want, but not yet have agreed which customer events, decisions and handovers it needs to support. This review defines the business requirement before features and supplier proposals decide it for you.
Unsnag is not VAT registered, so no VAT is charged. Digital delivery is included. Travel or work outside scope is quoted separately.
From a commercial objective to a testable CRM requirement
You may want better follow-up, clearer forecasting, more consistent sales behaviour, stronger existing-customer management, less dependence on individual people, or simply one place to see what is happening.
Those goals can lead to very different system requirements. Some are naturally CRM problems. Some depend on product, quoting, delivery, project or finance systems. Some need a business definition before software can represent them at all.
The review separates the desired business change from the system you are considering buying.
Seven requirements to settle before vendor selection
The output is designed to be used in CRM demos, vendor conversations and internal scoping.
What should actually be better once CRM exists.
Whether the business is primarily pipeline-led, relationship-led or hybrid.
What the CRM genuinely needs to manage.
What CRM should own and what it only needs to see from elsewhere.
Definitions or data structures that need to exist before CRM can represent them reliably.
High-level requirements and questions to use in vendor demos and implementation discussions.
Proceed to selection, fix a prerequisite first, pair CRM with another system, or do not buy CRM yet.
Decide which system owns each record
A useful customer view can depend on objects the CRM should not own.
Accounts, contacts, interaction context and relationship state.
Opportunities, renewal risk, expansion, next action and changing probability.
What was sold can be visible in CRM while product identity is governed elsewhere.
Commercial teams may need status without turning CRM into project management.
Financial context may matter without duplicating the accounting ledger.
CRM cannot make inconsistent customer, product, stage or commitment definitions consistent by storing them.
“We need CRM to show what every customer has bought.”
That sounds like a reasonable CRM requirement.
But if products are named differently in quotes, delivery and finance, the missing prerequisite is reliable product identity. CRM can display purchase history only after there is something stable to connect to the customer.
The brief records product identity as a prerequisite and identifies who needs to resolve it before CRM selection.
Scope: one CRM purchase decision, a 75–90 minute working session, agreed preliminary information and a written decision brief. Detailed process mapping, vendor selection, technical specifications or migration planning can be scoped separately if needed.
Review scope before vendor discussions
We start with your objectives, current processes and a short description of the systems in use.
Preparing for the requirements session
Company, offer, commercial model and the systems you already use.
Reviewing the proposed system boundaries
A 75–90 minute working session on the result you expect CRM to improve and the information it needs to represent.
Written CRM Decision Brief
Scope, boundaries, prerequisites, vendor requirements and a clear next decision.
Timing. The written CRM Decision Brief is normally delivered within 5 working days after the session and receipt of agreed inputs. The start date and any exceptions are confirmed before booking the paid review.
Deliverables and fee for the CRM review
If the review discovers that the problem is larger than software selection - for example, Sales, Delivery and Finance do not agree what a customer or commitment means - I record that as a blocker.
The £300 review addresses one CRM purchase decision. For a wider investigation of business performance, see the Commercial Diagnostic. If the main issue is that the customer story cannot be followed across existing systems, see the Revenue Visibility Review.
What must be available to proceed
Can the review recommend deferring the purchase?
Yes. The brief can recommend proceeding, resolving a prerequisite first or putting the purchase on hold.
Does the review recommend a specific vendor?
The review defines what the system needs to do before vendor comparison. A shortlist can be a separate next step once the requirements are clear.
If a platform has already been selected
If implementation has not started but a specific quote already exists, the separate CRM Proposal Review is designed to test that scope. If the CRM is already in use and the problem is adoption, reporting, forecasting or missing commercial visibility, start with the CRM problem map.
Information needed from the business
A short description of why you started considering CRM, a list of the systems you currently use, and the people who need the new system to work. No prepared requirements document is expected.
Check the decision and commitments before signing
A CRM decision review helps define requirements before vendor selection. If you already have a specific implementation quote, the next question is what the supplier will deliver, what is excluded and what your team must do.
What counts as an opportunity?
Agree when an enquiry becomes an opportunity, whether a customer can have multiple deals, what qualifies a stage transition, and how won, lost, deferred and repeat purchases are counted. These decisions affect CRM records and reporting long before vendor features matter.
What should the CRM decision be based on?
Clarify the business requirements before approving a platform or configuration.
Make the requirement clear before the product demos.
To discuss fit, contact me on LinkedIn with the company website and the decision you are trying to make.