
// Development
How to Choose CRM Software Development Company
// Development
No one takes up the introduction of a new customer relationship management system (CRM), suggesting failure, however, studies show, that this happens in more than 70% of cases. The main reason for failures is errors at the development stage: compatibility problems, poor design and usability, bad data and unclear goals. The best way to avoid this is to choose the right CRM software company.
In the article we will tell you how to organize the search and screening of potential candidates. This process can be divided into three stages:
Company Portfolio. You can search for potential candidates on Google using the search query “CRM software development company”, as well as on LinkedIn Recruiter or outsourcing sites Clutch.co Goodfirms.co and Codementor.io. Choosing a suitable candidate, the first thing you need to check his portfolio:
Customer reviews and comments. Next, you need to check what their clients say about the candidates. Usually reviews can be found on LinkedIn, Goodfirms.co, Clutch.co and on social networks. The company’s website may also have several reviews. They can be trusted if the name, company and position of the person who wrote the post are indicated. This data should be verified through social networks and Google.
If in the future you will be contacted to inquire about the company you have chosen, tell us how it is. So you help the market increase the average quality of market services and drop out bad, unreliable and dishonest developers.
Company public activity. Many good developers take part in the development of the IT community, which is another sign of a worthy company. Here are signs that you are dealing with a serious player:
Another plus in the piggy bank of a developer company can be participation in the development of open source software. It is posted on Github and, as a rule, it is the development of security systems, various socially important programs or public systems, such as the Bitcoin blockchain.
Blog and social networks. Social media posts and a blog updates show that companies have something to share, a story to tell. Blogs usually describe case studies, analyze industry trends and technologies, and create educational content. This is a good way for you to test how deep their knowledge is. You don’t have to look at each post; read several articles and check how regular publications are.
It is important that the company does not hide the management and key employees, since only non-professionals and scammers do this.
Development methodology. Today, the standard is Agile software development. This is a generic term for Agile Manifesto, compliant methodologies, which contains 12 principles for creating software:
If there are no cases or they are not informative, you need to contact the representatives of the IT provider by phone, email or using the feedback form. This can be done immediately or after you conduct a technical check.
Further we will check how deep the technical skills of candidates for CRM providers are. If you are good at IT development or you have a reliable consultant (or a developer that you can use), then this will not take much time. Here is a short list of things to check.
Technological stack. The first thing you should pay attention to the technology with which the company works. And this is not only about programming languages, frameworks and databases, but also about technologies such as blockchain, neural networks (artificial intelligence), virtual and additional reality. These technologies are increasingly used in modern CRM systems, especially the blockchain, to guarantee the authenticity of data and AI to automate communication with customers, eliminate problems in the code and database, and optimize all processes.
Project management tools. A good provider of IT solutions involves the customer in the development process. For this, various tools can be used that help the customer monitor the current state of affairs, contact in real time with the project manager, programmers and designers, as well as participate in planning meetings and make changes to the terms of reference.
There is no gold standard. The following solutions are most popular:
Homework. Before organizing a meeting, think over and collect as much information as possible about your CRM project: the idea in detail, the main tasks and problems that the product solves, concepts, frameworks, templates, general vision and more. In addition, you need to collect information about your company in advance so that the technical partner can evaluate your business, its needs.
What to ask questions about:
Channels of connection. When you work with an outsourced software company, communication is everything! And to make it as productive as possible, pay attention to the following points: