Quick answer
A CRM is useful when it reflects how your team actually follows up with customers. Start with where leads arrive: website forms, email, phone, messaging or manual entry. Decide what information must be recorded and who owns each enquiry.
Practical scope
Draw your sales stages, from new lead to quote, decision and handover. Define reminders, duplicate handling and what managers need to see in reports. If proposals, invoices or delivery notes form part of the process, specify which system creates them and whether records should be linked.
Before commissioning custom software, check whether an existing CRM can support the process with configuration. For a tailored build, ask to see the staff workflow on a sample lead and a sample report. Data quality, migration and training matter as much as the interface: a system that staff do not update will not give reliable forecasts.
What to define before requesting proposals
- Lead sources, ownership and duplicate handling
- Sales stages, tasks, reminders and approvals
- Quotes, documents, reports and management visibility
- Migration, permissions, integrations and training
Questions to ask service providers
- Can configuration meet the need before custom development?
- Show one real lead from capture to handover
- How are adoption and data quality monitored?
How to assess the answers
A CRM succeeds when staff consistently update it. Evaluate workflow fit, migration and training alongside interface design and reporting.
Define a record and its owner
For a fictional enquiry, specify who receives it, who follows up, when a reminder appears and when responsibility changes. If the CRM connects to a website or another system, name the product and the fields to transfer. An internal customer list is not automatically a system integration.
Acceptance checks for a CRM demo
- The same enquiry is not silently created twice.
- Reassignment changes the responsible staff member.
- Managers can explain how a report total is calculated.
- A failed connection can be found and corrected.
Does a CRM guarantee more sales?
No. Set measurable process goals such as fewer unassigned enquiries or more complete follow-up records. Sales outcomes also depend on demand, staff actions and the offer.
CRM enquiry ownership sheet
Copy these items into your brief, adapt the requirements and assign an owner and status. Examples illustrate planning decisions, not customer case studies. Fill cost fields with HKD quotations you obtain and state the billing period.
| Decision / item | Information to provide | Acceptance / comparison check |
|---|---|---|
| New enquiry | Unique identifier, source and first owner | Duplicate records are detected and ownership is visible |
| Follow-up | Next action, due date and reassignment rule | A reassigned enquiry has one accountable owner |
| Reporting | Status definitions, totals and failed connections | Managers can reproduce a report total from its records |
Download the editable worksheet (CSV)