How to develop your own CRM system

There is an opinion that the money invested in your own CRM makes a profit 9 times higher than what was spent. But with one, and a very important caveat: the system must meet the specifics and needs of this area of ​​business.

Due to mismatches and inaccurate system integration, ¾ implemented CRMs end in failure and simply wasted money.

And the reason for all the failures lies in the desire of business owners to save their budget and preference for a finished product, rather than an individually developed CRM.

Like any products for mass consumption, they are designed for everyone at once. Which is very bad for integration, since it is insufficient and occurs only superficially.

Such a solution has too many functions and options in order to suit everyone. Initially, they are positioned as a multifunctional system designed for a wide range of users and types of business. But due to congestion with functionality and columns, it will be of little use to anyone, and most often they only annoy with their congestion.

For example, as a gadget with dozens of pre-installed applications that the buyer does not need and only interfere with their full use.

Now on the market there are a lot of various CRM-systems. There are options in the form of separate applications or as an online service with synchronization in the cloud.

In principle, if you do not find fault with them and look for CRM for a specific purpose, then you can pick up something more or less suitable from ready-made systems, and for any wallet.

However, as already described above, the functionality of such CRMs is redundant and often too expensive.

Another significant minus of the finished CRM is that it is very demanding in terms of resources and as a result comes out much more expensive than an individual one.

Why is self-developed CRM better than finished? The answer is very simple: because it is individual, carefully tailored to the tasks, as simple as possible when setting up and implementing.

It’s like a costume from a store and custom-made. It seems that both are clothes, the same trousers and a jacket, but the first of the mass market is made for all types of body and height, with slight variations in fit. But the second is immediately sewn by the standards of the customer.

So with CRM. Creating a unique software solution for your business, taking into account all the nuances, the target audience and features is much more profitable, and the quality of integration will be almost 100%.

In addition, in their CRM web designers will try to reduce all unnecessary to nothing and will strive for minimalism, creating a product with a simple interface and it will definitely appeal to all users.

An interesting program design will not only increase brand awareness, but also increase customer engagement and loyalty.

Experts believe that any business should try to develop their own CRM systems from scratch.

Instructions for the steps below.

Step # 1 - Choosing a Type, Role, and Platform
CRM is developed from scratch in accordance with the sphere in which it will be applied and what set of functions it should have.

Next, select the type of system. There are three of them:
1. operating room;
2. analytical;
3. strategic.

The operational CRM system is designed to optimize and automate sales, for marketing and customer service.

It is built on telephone conversations or correspondence with customers, so it is suitable for a call center, website, blog, community, email and direct sales. That is, where there is interaction between the managers of the company and customers, where communication via the Internet or telephone is used.

All data is stored in a database and employees can access it at any time.

The operational CRM analyzes customer interactions, generates reports, registers, processes and tracks all client requests, saves data in the billing system, distributes tasks, creates typical scenarios with potential customers based on existing ones in the database and automates the process of processing applications.

Analytical CRM system collects information from many points of contact with customers and processes this data.

This CRM helps to organize daily operational work with customers, forms analytics to plan scenarios of interactions with them in the future.


What analytical CRM can do:
● make an analysis of all customer requests;
● segments them into groups by geography, amount of purchase, loyalty and involvement;
● predicts the results of the customer’s response regarding stocks, sales, new offers.

A strategic CRM system is needed to improve communication and team work within the company itself. This is a joint CRM, it brings together different departments of the company to improve customer loyalty and attract new ones.

In the system, each user has his own account and has a certain role, which implies certain rights and opportunities. For example, a senior administrator or a regular manager. Everyone can enter the system under their login, but the role within it and the admission will be different.

Step # 2 - Define CRM Functions
In ready-made solutions, there is a very large and advanced functionality, and in individual solutions only the most important functions are needed. For example, manage contacts, track customer interactions, and plan something. The rest is at the request of the customer.

Step # 3 - Calculate the Budget
CRM applications require certain costs, both in time and in the cost of developer services. The price depends on the number of functions and roles of the system, tasks, the ability to support platforms, events, methods of entering information, sales funnel, interaction reports (forms) and integration with other services.

In addition, the cost should also include the time spent on development with prices for 1 hour of the programmer's work.

Step 4 - Search for a developer
There are three options: to find a company from the outside, develop it yourself or use ready-made sources and modify the system on your own.

In the first option - an outsourcing solution, this is hiring a developer company to prepare a project, develop a system, introduce it into business and train personnel.

An excellent individual solution when you need guaranteed quality at an affordable price.

You can get full control during development if your company staff has a team of programmers and developers. But this is not always cheaper and faster than in the first version.

And finally, the third option is cheaper and faster, when the source is taken from free access and brought to the desired state by its team.

Step # 5 - Train Staff
If the program was done with your own hands, the learning process takes place as it is created. But when the developer is taken from the outside, it will take time to prepare employees for the use of the new system. They need to know how to work with her.

It is good when the development company makes instructions or records of training materials on the basis of which you can get training. It costs money, but it will pay off, because an employee can look at a training manual at any time without contacting a programmer or developer.

Step # 6 - Support and System Update
Any program, and CRM systems, too, are necessarily tested before implementation. Therefore, the main glitches, bugs and other errors are detected in advance. But even super-specialists have mistakes, albeit small ones. Which, after implementation, can "get out" at any time.

It is for this reason that it is recommended to organize a support service, where staff can contact: call, send SMS or email.