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What are the most important items you include in an RFP or RFQ for a CRM?
My team is working on a RFP for a CRM product. What are the most important items we should include?
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3 Answers
There are really no right or wrong required items to include in your RFP for a CRM system. Here are a few things to think about as you prepare your document:
1) Do you have ALL of the appropriate people/groups involved? CRM is not just a sales and marketing investment. You should consider getting feedback from other relevant departments such as support, finance, operations and IT. They all have a vested interest in what CRM system you ultimately purchase.
2) Do you have your internal sales/marketing/support processes in place? That should be a prerequisite to purchasing a CRM/marketing solution since the underlying processes are the foundation of your business. Technology alone will not solve your problems. Make sure you have a lead management process developed and then use the technology to enable that process, not vice versa.
3) Make sure to ask yourself the tough questions. What features/functions do I really need in a CRM system? What are the "must haves" vs. the more marginal features that you will likely use very little, if at all. It is important to evaluate what your specific requirements are and then find a system that meets those needs, not the other way around.
Best of luck in your search.
Don
The greatest single key to success with CRM is to describe exactly what you want the system to do before sending out an initial RFP. The exact questions in this RFP depend on your needs but should include:
Can you implement all of the business processes that are described?
How much will it cost over the next three years? (The vendor may need clarification before providing firm prices, but should be able to provide a rough estimate here.)
How long and how many consulting hours will it take to implement?
Can you try the system before committing to a purchase?
What kind of expertise is needed to maintain/change the system?
The above is an extract from the following paper, which provides detailed advice on everything that should be included in the RFP: http://www.focus.com/ugr/research/crm/how-pick-right-crm-helpdesk-bpm-vendor/
A few key areas to have in there:
- Lead-to-Cash Management
- Customer upsell and renewals management
- Sales, marketing, and customer service management
- Real-time reporting
- Rep visibility in to order status, inventory, payment status, customer service issues
- ROI reporting on marketing programs, including real revenue generated
- International sales force management
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