Why Build Custom CRM Systems for Your Business

According to Demand Sage, 91% of companies with more than 11 employees use a CRM system. This demonstrates how valuable CRM systems can be in improving business processes and managing customer interactions. To improve your business flow, it is an excellent idea to automate everything that can be automated, and a great way to do it is to build a custom CRM solution.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is used for regulating relationships and interactions between a company and its customers. CRM brings together information from all data sources within your organization and gives you a holistic view of each customer experience. It improves the quality of customer communication, enhances customer loyalty and satisfaction that is the key to a successful business. Also, with CRM systems, you can effectively manage your business due to various built-in analytical features and other integrations made depending on your needs.

Over the last four decades, CRM software has evolved from a basic database marketing solution to full-stack customer relationship management systems. Now it can be considered the largest and most fast-developing type of enterprise software. According to Grand View Research, both custom and non-custom CRM software market was valued at USD 65.59 billion in 2023 and is predicted to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 13.9% from 2024 to 2030. This growth is driven by a growing focus on customer-centric strategies, the need for improved customer data management, and the rise of remote work, which requires strong tools for managing customer relationships. As companies continue to emphasize customer experience, CRM systems will stay essential, supporting both business success and customer satisfaction.

A ready-made CRM system doesn’t always fully meet your business needs and can take away an opportunity to scale your business, enlarge it, or make changes. To avoid these drawbacks, it is recommended to develop your own digital tool to manage customer data and improve marketing. Some of the significant benefits of building custom CRM solutions over ready-made CRM are listed below.

Less Expensive
Custom CRM systems are a cost-effective option compared to ready-made enterprise CRM software that comes with annual or monthly subscriptions. It offers a lot of premium features that you may not need if you are not running a large business. Still, you need to pay for those features even if you don’t use them. Whereas, in a custom CRM system, you can choose the required features as per your feasibility and pay only for them.

Less Onboard Time
Sometimes a ready-made CRM may not align with your company’s existing workflows. In such cases, you will need to hire a certified trainer and train your employees to get acquainted with the CRM. It can be time-consuming and costly. However, custom CRM software is already adjusted to your company’s business processes. It decreases onboard time as the employees can get used to the system easier.

Seamless Integration
Ready-made CRM may compel you to bear considerable expenses for CRM extensions. Still, you need to rely on the expert’s help to carry out the integration with necessary apps such as Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Accounting apps, etc. In contrast, a custom CRM system is a pocket-friendly and smart option in terms of the integration process.

Simplified Scaling Process
When you build a custom CRM system, it offers you an opportunity to personalize your business as per your requirements and convenience. It helps you add more customers free of cost, and you can also personalize the lead management, database management, and many other vital functions.

Enhanced Automation
Around 82% of the companies surveyed in a recent report say they use their CRM systems for sales reporting and process automation, according to Grandview Research. That’s why custom CRM solutions are also the best option for enhancing the automation process of your work that saves significant time, minimizes errors, and boosts sales. Moreover, it is a cost-effective method, whereas this automation feature is missing in ready-made CRM.

Seamless Data Integration
Data management is an essential and challenging task for running your business smoothly. Customer relationship management software enables you to meet the requirements of data integrations effortlessly. With the help of enterprise CRM, you can migrate the data securely from the old system to the new one. Its compatible and user-friendly interface also prevents data loss.

Benefits of the Custom CRM for Business over Ready-made CRM System

Although CRM systems are alike, they are divided into four types. Understanding better the specific purpose of each type of CRM will help you build a custom CRM solution that fits your business.

Operational CRM
The operational CRM system mainly deals with routine business tasks and helps with marketing, sales, and service automation. This makes it an ideal choice for your business management and enhancement of customer satisfaction.

Analytical CRM
Analytical CRM systems can efficiently manage and process customer data. It will help you maintain customer details, statistics, and analytics and use them effectively to improve your business planning and decisions.

Collaborative CRM
A collaborative CRM system helps you to exchange customer information among various departments in your organization, even if they work separately. The main goal of such CRM is improving your interaction with customers and putting the quality of service first.

Strategic CRM
A strategic CRM system focuses on building everlasting customer relationships instead of just short-term business profits, sales, and campaigns. With the help of strategic CRM, you can easily adjust and personalize customer interaction strategies.

​If you want to build a custom CRM, feel free to contact Leobit experts for advice on the CRM development process.
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Custom CRM systems can differ not only by type but also by structure and functionality. Below you can find some of the essential CRM requirements and features that will help you to understand custom CRM development.

Contact Management
Contact management is the main feature of any CRM software that helps you maintain the customers’ contacts and personalize them as per your requirements. You can organize the contacts appropriately and use them in your marketing strategies. Besides, it can also improve your customer relationship management.

Performance Management
Performance management is another important feature of CRM systems. It helps to evaluate and manage the sales performance as well as improve the performance of sales teams by addressing the problem areas based on the available data.

Communication Management
Managing communication with customers is essential if you are focused on achieving customer satisfaction. CRM software makes it easier by tracking your interactions with customers, including their payments, purchases, reviews regarding your company, etc. Moreover, it provides you with an excellent opportunity to plan and improve your marketing strategies. You can integrate all the interactions between customers and your company into your CRM, easily create email campaigns (check this article for the email design inspiration), run live chat and support directly from your CRM, collect and analyze the customers’ data.

Opportunity Management
CRM system enables you to manage sales opportunities for boosting your marketing and sales activities. With the help of CRM software, you can ensure the flawless collaboration of marketing and sales teams. You can also focus on the lead management of the most qualified sales representatives.

Order Management
CRM system helps you create your product catalog and manage orders, sales, invoices, and much more. It enables you to track the orders placed and customize the shipping and delivery timings. You can also manage your bills and ensure timely payment as CRM software keeps you notified by highlighting the overdue bills. Furthermore, you can also provide discounts and credits on purchases to keep your customers happy and satisfied.

Document Management
CRM systems will save a lot of time by protecting and managing business documents efficiently. You can access the required data anytime from your device. This feature helps to manage, control, and share the essential documents effortlessly.

Marketing Information Management
When you deal with thousands of customers and contacts, it is challenging to text them manually. However you can create a series of messages as per the customer needs and the CRM system will plan, send, and track your marketing campaigns automatically.

Forecasting Ability
Apart from automating your business processes, CRM software also provides sales forecasting. It gives detailed information about customer satisfaction and monitors new customer’s purchases to get potential customers references in the future.

Key CRM requirements and features

Despite the numerous benefits of creating a custom CRM for business, there are some other sides to this approach. Surely, all challenges have their ways to overcome them, but let’s consider them before a decision to build a custom CRM is made.

1. Undefined Business Objectives
   A common issue in developing a CRM system is not having clear business goals from the beginning. If it’s not clear what the CRM is supposed to achieve, the project can lose focus. This might lead to a CRM system that doesn’t have the right features or includes features that aren’t needed, making it less effective for the business. By clearly defining the direction and goals (such as improving customer relationships, boosting sales, gaining insights into customer behavior, etc.), businesses can ensure the CRM is built to support their specific needs, making it a useful tool that helps them grow and succeed.
2. High Initial Budget Requirement
   You need significant upfront investment to build a custom CRM. This includes the costs of hiring developers, purchasing necessary tools and technologies, and providing ongoing maintenance. These expenses can be higher compared to using an off-the-shelf solution, which may offer lower initial costs but less customization.
3. Longer Development Process
   Naturally, custom CRM development often takes longer than implementing pre-built solutions. The process involves planning, design, development, testing, and deployment, all of which can take several months or even longer, depending on the complexity of the system. It may also include the discovery phase services of the project aimed to understand the project’s objectives, scope, and requirements.
4. Need for Ongoing Maintenance and Support
   Even after the core features of custom CRM systems are implemented, ongoing maintenance is necessary to keep the system running smoothly and securely. This routine upkeep helps address any technical issues, fix emerging bugs, optimize the CRM functionality, and adapt to changes in technology and business requirements, helping to prevent downtime and disruptions. Although this ongoing support is an expected part of managing a custom CRM, it does require some additional resources and attention over time.
5. Security concerns
   As CRM systems store important customer data, such as contact details and purchase history, it makes them potential targets for cyberattacks. To protect this information, it’s important to be aware of possible security risks in the CRM software. Common issues include bugs, incorrect security settings, lack of data encryption, and vulnerabilities in third-party tools. By addressing these issues, organizations can help protect customer information and keep their CRM systems secure.
6. Complexity of CRM Integration with Existing Systems
   Integrating a CRM system with other software applications, such as ERP systems, marketing tools, and customer support platforms, can present some challenges. It often requires customization to ensure that data is exchanged smoothly and that systems work together effectively. There may also be issues with data compatibility, communication protocols, or software versions that need to be addressed. Despite these challenges, successful integration is important for maintaining efficient workflows, improving data accuracy, and delivering a cohesive customer experience.
7. Data migration
   Data migration can be a challenge when implementing a new CRM system. Moving data from old systems or databases into the new CRM needs careful planning and can be time-consuming. Ensuring that data is accurate and stays intact during the move is important. This might involve cleaning up the data, standardizing it, and formatting it to fit the new CRM, which can be an extensive task. There’s also a risk of losing or corrupting data if the process isn’t managed carefully.

Another challenge is matching the old data with the new system, as different systems may use different formats and fields. This requires careful planning to make sure all data is transferred correctly. The migration process could also cause some downtime, which might affect business operations if not managed well. Testing and validation are necessary to ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption. While data migration is a key part of moving to a new CRM, careful planning can make the process smoother and more successful.

We have already reviewed the benefits of the decision to build a custom CRM for business, its types and features, along with possible challenges. Let’s dive deeper into the process of building a custom CRM in the context of the web application development life cycle and discover Leobit’s successful cases of custom CRM development.

Define Your Goals
Start by figuring out what you want the CRM to do. Identify specific goals, such as improving customer service, boosting sales, or enhancing data management. Having clear objectives helps you prioritize features and functionalities, ensuring the CRM aligns with your business strategy. A well-defined set of goals will also guide the development team, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

Plan and Design
Create a detailed plan for how the CRM will look and function. This step includes designing the user interface for ease of use, deciding on how data will be stored and accessed, and planning integrations with other business systems, such as marketing tools or ERP software. During this phase, consider involving key stakeholders to gather input and ensure that the design meets user needs. The software development discovery phase may be the perfect choice to provide you with a detailed, customized plan of requirements, design concepts, and architecture vision. This stage is crucial for identifying potential challenges early and setting the groundwork for a smooth development process.

Build Your Team
Gather a team with the right skills and experience in CRM development. If you don’t have in-house developers or want to enhance your team, consider hiring a dedicated development team. This team should include project managers, software developers, UI/UX designers, and quality assurance specialists. Having a well-formed team guarantees that all aspects of the CRM development are covered, from coding to design to testing. Experienced engineers can bring valuable insights and best practices to the project, reducing the time and cost of development.

Develop and Test
Start the development process by building the CRM according to the plan. Use an iterative approach, developing the CRM in phases and testing regularly to catch and fix issues early. Regular testing helps ensure that the CRM is reliable, secure, and user-friendly. It’s also important to gather feedback from potential users throughout development. This feedback can highlight areas for improvement and ensure the CRM meets user needs effectively.

Integrate and Launch
Once the CRM is developed, integrate it with your existing systems, such as customer support platforms, marketing tools, and data analytics software. Integration ensures that data flows seamlessly across different parts of your business, improving efficiency and reducing the risk of errors. After integration, roll out the CRM to your team. Provide training sessions to help users get familiar with the new system and its features. A well-organized launch with proper training can substantially boost user satisfaction.

Monitor and Improve
After launching the CRM, continuously monitor its performance. Collect feedback from users to identify any issues or areas that could be improved. Use this feedback to make updates and optimizations, ensuring the CRM remains effective as your business evolves. Regular updates may include adding new features, improving user interface design, and enhancing security measures. By continually refining the CRM, you ensure it adapts to changing business needs and remains a valuable tool for your organization.

Leobit’s software engineers follow the latest Microsoft development practices and proven methodologies to build a custom CRM for multiple industries: finance, e-commerce, healthcare, real estate, and so on. We possess solid expertise in the Microsoft .NET Core framework. It is a universal solution for custom CRM systems of any complexity. Web API built with .NET Core can easily be integrated with client-side frameworks like Angular, React, Vue, etc. Also, thanks to its multi-platform functionality, .NET Core can guarantee your CRM hosting availability on different operating systems and environments.

With the cloud CRM market expected to reach around $34.5 billion by 2025, we can conclude that cloud-based solutions are becoming increasingly popular. Leobit offers cloud development using Azure, another Microsoft tool that is great for hosting all your CRM information remotely. It enables deployment of your CRM data anywhere in the world and provides opportunities for quick and seamless updates deployment across every system in your organization. Moreover, Microsoft Azure takes rigorous security measures to protect data such as data encryption, automated backups, comprehensive information security and privacy policies, etc.

Thus leveraging Microsoft technologies to their fullest potential, Leobit experts deliver reliable and modern CRM software with a highly secure environment for customer data. One of the most prominent examples of custom CRM systems developed by Leobit is a web CRM for small and medium-sized enterprises. Our team created immense value for customer’s business helping them to save $350,000 within the first 6 months after the software implementation.

Customizable Web CRM

Additionally, we developed a commercial real estate CRM. During our partnership, our team successfully made system improvements, revamped various third-party integrations and in-house email solutions, and performed seamless integrations with Mailchimp and Hubspot. This resulted in 60% reduction of manual efforts, powerful email marketing and improved visibility into prospects. As well as effective pipeline management and thorough tracking of each transaction stage to drive the completion of deals and skyrocketed prospecting success by eliminating duplicates and making every required information instantly accessible.

Commercial real estate CRM 

If you want to build a custom CRM for your business, feel free to contact us for advice on the CRM development process.