Look high and low for a complete list of vendors that appear to suit your needs.

General CRM

Include companies with a general CRM focus. Both FreeCRM and Sugar CRM have large customer bases and have products geared toward smaller businesses. Check out the Shoestring CRM Vendor List for other small business CRM providers.

• Pros: Many of these companies are well-established and have a sustainable business model, which is particularly important if you are pursuing an on-demand model.
• Cons: Lower-cost options are generally not meant to be heavily customized.

Industry Focus

Many companies have CRM products that are tailored to a specific industry. These companies are often started by people who operated and had deep knowledge of businesses within that industry, or came out of partnerships between software developers and one or more companies. In both cases, these applications will feature workflow and data elements specific to that industry.

• Pros: These industry-specific solutions may be a closer fit for your business. In addition, some of these companies may value your business enough to allow you to provide input on future customizations.
• Cons: These smaller companies might be heavily dependant on a single customer. Request the number of current installations as well as a list of references.

Once you have compiled a comprehensive list of potential vendors, you can begin the process of gathering more information about each.

Fourth Step: Request Additional Information