Customisable CRM systems can best be thought of in terms of pots of paint.

Demonstrating the value of a customisable CRM system over a modular one

I have been involved in selling software at different levels for the past 20 years and I always have to dig deep to come up with analogies to explain to business owners how the “magic box” that is the software is put together and to help them tease out the benefits that they might get from it.

The other day, I had to explain to a business owner that was considering Zoho the subtle difference between a modular CRM system and a customisable CRM. Let’s face it, these are quite abstract concepts and trying to spin an answer that didn’t rely on the prospect propping open their eyelids while I was making it was quite hard.

Paint Pots

Inspiration came out of the corner of the video screen — these are Covid-19 lockdown times so our consultations are all remote video calls at present. While the prospect was walking back to his office through his sparsely-populated building he went past a store and I noticed quite a stock of paint tins, all in different varieties of — at least to my untrained eye — magnolia and white.

To put this in context, our prospect was a plumbing and heating engineering company. Sometimes, I was told, their onsite teams are asked to “make good” an installation and that involves some touch-up work where some drilling or pipework has been done. They never need to do more than a few square meters in total for a job but getting a matching paint colour is reasonably important.

Making a conversation out of the paint pots, the prospect was vocal about how many different shades of white and how different varieties of magnolia there are. I can spot an analogy when I see one and I had a way-in to explain the difference between a modular and customisable software system.

Software modules in gloss, or matt?

When you go to a paint store, you’re going to be greeted by a wide range of colours in different formats. For a new job this really makes it easy for you to choose the right colour for you and you can see, in your minds-eye, how that is going to look on your wall, garage door or whatever.

The same is true of a modular software system. Those “modules” are like the different colours that you find on the paint store shelves. There might be a module for newsletters, a module for accounts. Yes, you can see how the module works, yes, you can take it and use it straight away. Dipping your brush into the opened paint tin is the same as logging in or installing your software module.

For many businesses, that’s great, and modular CRM systems are thus a good way to start. For each need you have, you take a trip to the paint-store-come-list-of-modules, buy the one you want and then you’re up and running. It’s easy for the buyer and easy for the seller to push to you.

A rainbow of magnolia

There is one major drawback to the modular approach, however, and it’s one that we find many businesses don’t appreciate until it’s too late. Just like we saw a range of slightly different shades of magnolia in our prospect’s store, so the shades of software — so to speak — that people need can differ. What is to be done if the software vendor doesn’t have a module for what you need?

Now Zoho do well at providing a module for every need. But just like my perceived view of hundreds of different shades of magnolia or white, businesses are infinitely different and ultimately may need something customisable. Even configurable modules won’t be enough to give you the variation in the software that you need to get the software workflow exactly right for you and for you to derive the most efficiency.

You need a paint mixer

As it turns out, we can confidently continue the analogy. What happens in reality if you go and ask for a paint colour that the store either doesn’t have in stock or isn’t available off-the-shelf then they’ll point you to the paint mixing service. These clever machines take different pigments in different quantities and generate near infinite varieties of colour that will exactly match your need. Right on cue, our analogy for the customisable platform comes along.

So what’s happening here is that the customisable software solution allows the development team to code the exact requirements for you. Yes, like the paint mixing it’s more expensive than off-the-shelf and it takes longer but what you get at the end is exactly what you want.

Let’s bring it back to software

I think my analogy was helpful but being honest there are only so many similarities between paint and software. In reality, if your business is one that has a very specific workflow and needs the ability to customise it then it’s worth looking at customisable platforms from the very start (unlike paint, CRM systems can’t be mixed or, with a few exceptions, run together, although they can be switched).

So next time you’re wondering what the limitations of a modular system are, you’ll know enough to start thinking of shades of magnolia paint. You’re welcome.

Takeaways

• If looking at CRM systems for your business then make sure that the level of configuration that is available will meet your needs and won’t require you to “bend” your workflow too much;
• If you have an existing CRM that you are struggling with then consider moving away from a modular system to a configurable solution.
• Have one eye to 6 to 12 months in the future to make sure your software is going to continue to meet your needs.

I work full time for a software development and consultancy company where we have a CRM product for small and larger businesses.