CRM services: What to ask a vendor?

Axel is dead-on. The key question is whether the vendor can execute the business processes that you have defined, so do not just ask the question and hear a dozen variations of "Yes, trust me", ask them to show you.

For a step-by-step process to finding the right vendor for your particular needs, see http://www.focus.com/ugr/research/crm/how-pick-right-crm-helpdesk-bpm-vendor

Hi Jason,

Make sure YOU run the demo, not the vendor. The vendor is going to want to show you the product's strengths whether they're what you need or not. You want to keep the demo focused on the capabilities you need. I recommend taking a few minutes to script that out in advance as it's very easy to forget or get sidetracked in the moment.

Get them to sit down with your key users (salesman, manager etc.) and show them how their product will help them do their jobs better (i.e. key processes - make a sale, process an application or something, monitor something else, report on something). If your people say 'Wow! This is really going to help me!' then you are onto a winner. You need to get the users on board first and they will only be persuaded if the system helps them directly. If it can't do that then don't bother.