Got CRM? 10 questions to ask before you buy

This tip first appeared on SearchSMB.com.

As customer relationship management (CRM) infiltrates more small and midsized companies, the options for CRM products and services are increasingly coming from smaller vendors. These vendors can now compete with their bigger counterparts, offering Software as a Service (SaaS) and best-of-breed products for specific CRM functions and industries.

Selecting the right CRM software and implementing CRM to deliver measurable business growth and profit improvement can present many challenges to IT professionals and business managers. But if it's done right, your efforts will be rewarded with significant compet

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itive advantages and bottom-line profits.

Here are 10 questions -- technical and strategic -- to ask when considering an investment in CRM:

Top five technical issues:

Top five strategic issues:

Jim Berkowitz is founder and CEO of CRM Mastery Inc., a company that offers SMBs independent, unbiased CRM solution evaluation and selection assistance, as well as affordable, technology-enabled CRM planning and implementation guidance services. Jim is also editor of the CRM Mastery e-Journal, one of the most widely read CRM-related weblogs on the Internet. He can be reached at jberkowitz@crmmastery.com.