In recent years, custom CRM software has been increasingly important allowing companies to adjust a CRM system based on their sales processes, unique customer relationships, and business processes. Although typically expensive, custom CRMs allow for improved business performance and tailored sales pipelines.
But is it the best choice for every business, and when should you not consider it? We take a detailed many customizable CRM tools to determine if it's the right fit for your business.
What is custom CRM software?
Custom CRM software is a tailor-made customer relationship management system specifically designed and developed to meet the unique needs of a particular business.
Unlike off-the-shelf CRMs, custom CRMs are built from scratch or heavily modified to align with a company's specific workflows, sales processes, and goals.
A company may choose to build and use a custom CRM solution for many reasons:
- More personalized workflows
- Increased control over customer data
- No ongoing subscription fees that come with SaaS tools
However, all of this comes at a cost. Numbers vary based on the source, but even the simplest CRM will cost you at least $18,000 and take a few months to develop, with numbers over $600,000 and a 1+ year in development on the higher end.
Why customizable CRMs like Capsule CRM are a better alternative
A tool such as Capsule CRM may not be fully custom, but it is a customizable CRM system that can adapt to your needs. Here's why you should consider this instead of spending thousands on unnecessary development costs.
Flexibility and customization without coding
If you've ever worked with developers, even the best ones in the industry, you'll know that going from an idea to a finished feature can take a long time. And who has months to wait for a new lead management system?
Cloud-based CRMs such as Capsule have building blocks to customize the CRM according to your needs and your customer relationships. For example, you can pair Capsule CRM and Transpond and send sequences to leads in your pipeline based on specific actions they take.
Set up follow-up emails according to your sales cycle, nudge your prospects, and keep the deals alive. Automate routine tasks and business processes with collaboration tools so you automatically pass ownership of sales deals based on your needs.
In short, good CRM software can be fully customized for your unique use case at a fraction of the cost of a custom-built CRM tool.
The best part is that this works on a drag-and-drop basis, and you don't need the help of a developer to create a system that works just for you.
Cost savings
Let's say you have an average mid-sized business in the United States, with around 200 employees, 20 of them in the sales team. You want to purchase Capsule CRM's most popular plan (Growth) at $36 per user per month, which amounts to $720 monthly.
You could use Capsule CRM for more than two years at the same cost it would take to build the most basic custom CRM software.
Not to mention that you get all the features, integrations, updates, cloud storage, and much more in the subscription every month. If things change for the better, you can easily add new users or upgrade to a higher plan.
If anything changes, you can reduce the number of seats and scale back on your costs. On the other hand, if your sales efforts don't pan out and you use customizable CRM software, you're at a double loss because you paid a lot of money for a tool you have no use for.
There is one more advantage that cloud-based CRMs have over custom tools: they're free. To try, at least. For example, you can get a free CRM with Capsule for up to 250 contacts and 50MB of storage. This means you can try all the features and ensure the tool fits your requirements before spending a dollar.
How Capsule CRM makes customization simple
Capsule CRM is a fully customizable tool with powerful features that are inexpensive. Here are some of the ways you can customize your operations in Capsule.
1. Custom lists, fields, and DataTags
Custom fields: These enable you to capture specific information unique to your business processes. To enrich your contacts, opportunities, and projects, You can define various custom fields, such as text, dates, numbers, and more. For example, you might add a 'Customer ID' field to store unique identifiers for each client.
Tags: Categorize and segment your records for easy filtering and reporting. They are ideal for data that may change over time, such as labeling contacts as 'Qualified Leads' or 'Current Clients.' You’ll be able to mark up your records depending on range of criteria for things like sales and client management.
DataTags: DataTags combine tags with custom fields, allowing you to group related information. Applying a DataTag to a record prompts you to fill in the associated custom fields, ensuring consistent data entry. For instance, using a 'Campaign' DataTag can prompt fields like 'Launch Date' and 'Campaign Type.'
2. Custom activity types
Capsule CRM allows you to define custom activity types to categorize interactions beyond the default options of notes, meetings, and calls. This feature is available on the Growth, Advanced, and Ultimate plans.
Creating custom activity types allows you to customize activity tracking to match your unique processes, such as adding 'Product Demos' or 'Customer Feedback' as activity types. These custom activities can then be used in reports to provide a detailed view of interactions.
3. Custom task categories
Organizing tasks is made easier with custom task categories. You can create categories that reflect the nature of the tasks in your workflow, such as 'Follow-Up,' 'Documentation,' or 'Client Meeting.'
Assigning colors to these categories helps quickly identify and prioritize tasks. This customization ensures that your task management aligns with your business processes.
4. Customizable workflow management
Capsule CRM offers workflow automation to streamline your business processes. You can set up automated actions triggered by specific events, such as sending follow-up emails when an opportunity reaches a certain stage or creating tasks when a new project is initiated.
This automation reduces manual effort and ensures consistency in your workflows.
5. Adjusting permissions for team collaboration
User roles and permissions: Capsule allows you to control access to data and features by assigning user roles. To manage permissions in Capsule:
- Navigate to Account Settings > Users & Teams
- Assign roles such as Administrator, Manager, or User to control access levels.
This ensures that team members have appropriate access to information relevant to their roles
6. Customizing reporting dashboards
Capsule provides reporting features that allow you to generate useful insights based on your data. While Capsule offers standard reports, you can customize them by filtering data using tags, custom fields, and DataTags. To create a custom report:
- Navigate to the Reports section
- Select the desired report type (e.g., Sales Pipeline, Activity Report)
- Apply filters based on tags, custom fields, or DataTags to tailor the report to your needs.
This lets you focus on specific data segments for more targeted sales analysis.
When to consider switching from custom to cloud-based CRM
If you already use custom CRM software and you're wondering if you should go with a cloud-based SaaS provider instead, there are some tell-tale signs you should switch.
Your business is growing
Your custom CRM is struggling to cope as your company is scaling. As you increase the number of users and the volume of sales data, the custom CRM needs even further changes. Instead of worrying about closing deals, you spend more time and money on custom CRM development.
On the other hand, a cloud-based CRM is built with scalability in mind. They typically offer features such as load balancing, larger storage, and flexible user licensing to support businesses at any growth stage.
Your maintenance costs are high
Running a custom CRM means that someone has to maintain it, either in-house or as an outsourced team of developers. In either case, you'll have recurring monthly costs for development and infrastructure.
Cloud-based CRMs are built differently, and the provider manages all of the maintenance, infrastructure, and development costs. As the customer, you pay a fixed monthly fee, allowing you to forecast your CRM costs accurately.
You need faster deployment
Every time you need a new functionality or integration added to your custom CRM solution, you'll have to wait for the dev team to scope it out and it can take months to complete it. The smaller the team, the longer the development cycle.
On the flip side, off-the-shelf CRM software comes with complex features out of the box so you won't have as many tech requirements. Also, new features are constantly being developed and pushed out for all users simultaneously.
You have limited mobile or remote access
Developing a custom CRM is costly as is, but developing a mobile app for that CRM or a full cloud-based tool that adapts to your sales processes is even more expensive.
Cloud-based CRM tools such as Capsule have these features ready-made so you can work with a remote team on desktop or mobile, with the only requirement being internet access.
You need more advanced features
Every sales team is different and at one point, you may need AI-based lead scoring, advanced reports, custom project management workflow automation or something else. Developers can build customized CRM solutions that meet these demands, but once again, this costs additional time and money.
The cloud-based CRM market is very competitive, which pushes companies such as Capsule to constantly build new features and stay on the cutting edge of sales tool development. All users get access to new tools regularly.
You have compliance or security concerns
When you manage important customer documents, it's sometimes a requirement to comply with regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA and protect sensitive customer data. This is not a challenge for seasoned developers but will put additional strain on their workload and your budget.
Your average cloud-based CRM has these compliance features as a part of their offer and you typically have to upgrade to a more expensive plan to unlock them. With a slightly higher recurring fee, you get peace of mind for your business and customer data.
There are integration difficulties
You'll require advanced automation capabilities at some point because sales teams rarely work in just one tool. For example, you may switch your email marketing tool or try a new platform to scrape LinkedIn data. And just like that, you need a new integration for your custom CRM software.
Off-the-shelf CRM platforms come with dozens and sometimes hundreds of integrations with sales, email, and project management tools, with new integrations regularly added (and updated) for your convenience.
You're facing user adoption issues
Using a custom CRM system means every team member must learn new ways to add or edit customer data, build custom reports, and automate repetitive tasks. The time it takes for a new hire to become fully productive.
Finding sales team members who previously used an off-the-shelf CRM is easy, as these are popular tools used across different industries. New team members can hit the ground running with minimum onboarding.
You're expanding globally or across different locations
If you're expanding your sales operations across different locations locally or worldwide, you'll need a centralized database and tighter security. Once again, not an issue for developers skilled in building customizable CRM software, but it comes at a cost.
An off-the-shelf CRM solution like Capsule is cloud-first. This means you can build a sales team spanning different continents with easy access to relevant data and all of your customer relationships in one location.
Conclusion
Do you really need fully custom CRM software, or can you get by with an out-of-the-box CRM that can be shaped to your requirements with extensive customization options? If you want your very own CRM system, don't mind the time it takes to build one, and have money available a custom CRM is the way to go.
But if you want to stay lean and agile, have access to a wealth of key features and integrations and pay considerably less, taking a cloud-based CRM and customizing it yourself is the way to go.
With Capsule, you can take our CRM and make it your own. With custom workflows made for your team and customer base, you'll have custom CRM functionalities at cloud based CRM pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Can I build my own CRM system?
Yes, you can build your own CRM tool by hiring developers or using no-code/low-code platforms, but it requires lots of time, technical expertise, and resources to create and maintain.
What is custom CRM software?
Custom CRM software is a tailor-made system designed to meet a business's unique workflows, processes, and requirements, offering complete control and flexibility over features, integrations, workflows, tasks, sales processes and more.
What is the most customizable CRM?
Any modern CRM solution can be customized without using developer resources. Capsule CRM stands out because of its flexibility, customizable workflows and a variety of integrations.
How much does a custom CRM cost?A custom customer relationship management software can cost between $18,000 and $150,000+ depending on complexity, features, and the development team’s rates.
