which crm should we choose?

it is rarely the system that fails

sources: cbs study 2025, di handel

it is not because the systems are bad. salesforce, hubspot, dynamics, pipedrive and the rest can solve most problems. but they cannot solve problems that have not been defined. and they cannot create processes that have not been thought through.

"if the choice is system-driven, the cheapest system is usually the best. then you lose the least when the project fails."

per østergaard jacobsen, cbs

the right starting point

the right question is not which system, but what you want to achieve with it.

it sounds banal. it is not. most companies skip the step or reduce it to "a better overview". a better overview is not a goal. it is a hope.

before choosing a system, it is about answering three things concretely.

when those answers are clear, the choice of system is usually fairly simple. sometimes you do not even need a new system, but a more disciplined use of the existing one.

when the choice has already been made for you

in experience and membership businesses the picture often looks different. you do not have 300 systems to choose from, you have a ticketing system or a membership platform chosen years ago, which the rest of the business hangs on.

then the question becomes a different one. not which crm, but where customer data should be gathered when they come from a system you do not control yourself. that answer rarely depends on which crm tops a review site.

2026 actually makes it easier

there is a reason we say it right now. the last two years have made several things cheaper than they have ever been: prototyping a process, building an integration, testing a data setup. ai tools move the limit for what a small organisation can experiment with, without committing to heavy platforms from day one.

that means the "choose the system first" strategy is even more expensive now than it was before. and that "start small, feel the effect, build up" is a real option, also for companies that would previously have been forced into an enterprise setup.

when it makes sense to talk to us

we are not a supplier of any system. we are not certified in one platform. that means we cannot sell you anything on the back end, and that we have no reason to recommend anything other than what is best for you.

it makes sense to have a chat if one or more of these apply:

we do not take every assignment. we choose the projects where we believe we can make a real difference, and where the collaboration is worth having. if we do not believe in it, we say so directly in the first conversation.