Our Buyer's Guide shows how a CRM system like HubSpot optimizes your customer relationships and increases your success. Find the best solution for your company!
A company without a central customer management solution functions about as well as an orchestra without a conductor: No matter how well each individual element works, they will never harmonize 100% with each other; chaos is inevitable. Customer data can be found in countless Excel spreadsheets, email histories or, in the worst case, on sticky notes. This leads to inefficient processes, missed sales opportunities and – the biggest danger – dissatisfied customers!
A customer relationship management system is needed to meet the needs of the modern customer. But not just any CRM! You need a CRM tool that is perfectly tailored to the individual needs of your company. As the market is full of supposedly “ingenious solutions”, it can be difficult to find the optimal solution that is also scalable at best. That’s exactly why we’ve created this Buyer’s Guide as a blog post for you. We clarify the most important questions and guide you step-by-step to the ideal CRM system, tailored precisely to your interests, employees and customers.
From buyer to valuable customer with CMR
The following applies to non-everyday goods and services: The whole is more than the sum of its parts!
This means that the customer not only buys the product itself, but the entire process, with everything that goes with it: marketing, product search, purchasing process, advice, after-sales service … Only with a holistic CRM concept does this process become a melodious philharmonic orchestra for the customer – he turns from a buyer into a follower, a fan of your brand. This effective relationship management is the core of a long-term growth strategy with strong synergy effects:
A satisfied customer becomes a loyal customer who will buy more products from you and, last but not least, promote your company to other buyers through (free) mouth-2-mouth marketing. A few satisfied customers become a wave of followers that grows exponentially.
Once you have understood this principle, all you have to do is learn to ride the wave of satisfied customers with a CRM in the long term.
The CRM system as the conductor of your customer relationships
It is in the nature of things that every single aspect of a purchase – from lead generation to after-sales support – falls into different areas of responsibility within a company. Effective relationship management as the core of your growth strategy demands a lot from your resources:
- Your customers’ constantly changing needs, goals and challenges must be recognized and understood.
- The knowledge gained must be implemented quickly and in a customer-oriented manner.
- Complaints must be processed quickly and efficiently.
- Customer data must be managed securely.
- All departments with direct and indirect customer contact must be able to communicate with each other continuously, coordinate with each other and exchange all relevant customer data at the touch of a button.
This mammoth task requires an entire department, which in turn requires an enormous budget, only to be squandered on manual data management.
With a suitable CRM system, you can manage your customer relationships, ensure collaboration between individual departments and get the opportunity to understand your customers – from the first contact to long-term cooperation and unconditional brand loyalty. Your CRM system becomes the central, powerful solution with which you can turn every buyer into a loyal regular customer.
The first steps to the best CRM system for your needs
A good CRM system should be geared towards you, your employees and your customers. To achieve this, you should ask yourself the following questions about these three interest groups before making a purchase:
Business objectives:
- What are your primary business goals & KPIs?
- Can you report on this effectively, or are there gaps?
- Would a new CRM improve your reporting & decision making?
- To what extent could a CRM influence your efficiency and increase sales?
Employee needs:
- How do Sales, Marketing & Service currently work with customer data?
- Do your teams have full access to relevant data?
- Where are there blind spots or process gaps in data access?
- Which recurring tasks could be automated by a CRM?
Customer expectations:
- What are the most common problems your customers have with your company?
- Are there unfulfilled expectations or a gap between different touchpoints?
- How could a CRM improve the customer journey?
- Have you already identified specific optimization opportunities in customer service?
Technical requirements:
- Which existing tools and systems need to be integrated?
- Do you need a cloud or on-premise solution?
- Are there any data protection or compliance requirements that need to be observed?
- Are there any data protection or compliance requirements that need to be observed?
Step-by-step to the right CRM system with Polygran
Taking all these aspects into account can be overwhelming. Integrating a good CRM system is not one of those tasks that you should “just do on the side”.
As experts in CRM systems and their strategic implementation in customer-oriented companies, we support our clients with a structured roadmap to maximize the true value of their customer data.
Step 1: Involve stakeholders - recognize needs
A powerful CRM only makes sense if it is geared towards the real requirements of the company. Before comparing functions or providers, we involve all teams and clarify important questions such as:
- Which departments work with customer information?
- What challenges are you currently facing?
- How is customer data currently managed?
The results of these discussions help us to set clear priorities and find a CRM system that covers all relevant requirements.
Step 2: Define clear goals for CRM systems
Every company pursues different goals with a CRM – from more efficient data management to better automation and increased sales performance. That’s why we start by clarifying the following:
- Should the CRM combine marketing, sales and customer service?
- Which KPIs need to be improved?
- Are there existing processes that can be made more efficient through automation?
The answers to these questions give us the input to prioritize necessary functions and differentiate between “must-have” and “nice-to-have” features.
Step 3: Check existing IT environment
A CRM does not work in isolation, but must be seamlessly integrated into your existing IT infrastructure. This allows us to avoid inefficient data silos and manual workarounds.
- Does the CRM system support existing tools such as e-mail, accounting or ticket systems?
- Are there integration options or APIs for third-party software?
- Can the CRM software grow with your company in the long term?
Our early analysis saves time and costs for complex adjustments or conversions.
Step 4: Compare functions - what does your company really need?
Every CRM tool has different functions, but not all of them are necessarily relevant for your company. We therefore focus on the following key functions:
- Reports & dashboards for data-based decisions
- Automation & workflows to reduce manual tasks
- Integration & API interfaces for seamless connection to existing systems
- Data security & GDPR compliance for the protection of sensitive customer data
The right choice depends heavily on your individual requirements – and here it is particularly worthwhile to rely on an experienced implementation partner.
Step 5: Realistic cost estimate
A CRM is an investment – but one that pays off. Thanks to our many years of experience, we can carry out a very precise cost-benefit analysis that gives you a realistic outlook on your expected ROI.
- License costs vs. scalability – low-cost solutions can become more expensive in the long run if they don’t grow with your business.
- Efficiency gains – does the CRM system save time and resources through automation?
- Employee acceptance – complex software that is hardly used will not bring you any added value.
That’s why we don’t just look for the cheapest CRM tool for you, but the strategically best one.
Step 6: A detailed implementation plan is crucial
The introduction of a new CRM is an IT project that needs to be well planned in order to run smoothly. Through detailed conceptual design, we ensure that the implementation of your new CRM system runs smoothly.
- Preparing data migration – which data is transferred and how?
- Ensure employee training – the tool will only be used if the team understands it.
- Step-by-step implementation – many companies start with a test phase in small teams.
HubSpot - CRM system as conductor for harmonious customer management
Choosing the right CRM system is undoubtedly a challenge – after all, it should be powerful, easy to use and flexibly expandable. HubSpot has already proven to be exactly this solution for many of our customers: An intuitive platform that combines sales, marketing and service in one place and impresses with powerful automation and clear analyses. Many companies therefore rely on HubSpot because it integrates seamlessly into existing processes and grows with their requirements.
Of course, every IT landscape is individual and requires a precise analysis of existing needs – which is precisely why we at Polygran support your company in finding the right solution, integrating it optimally and using it efficiently.
The right CMR system for your company with Polygran
Through targeted planning and strategic integration, we ensure that you do not experience an “Elbphilharmonie” with exploding costs and extended construction times when introducing your CMR system. We will find the right conductor for your customer relationship management, ensure that all stakeholders play to the beat and that none of your customers ever play third fiddle again.
Let's work together to develop the best CRM strategy for your company.
Send us a message or arrange a non-binding consultation directly – we’ll show you how you can get more out of your customer relationships with the right solution!
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