Requirements First
Team size, industry, process complexity, integrations, AI needs. Document before looking at vendors.
Shortlist by Fit
3–5 vendors max. Mid-market: HubSpot, Zoho, Freshworks. Enterprise: Salesforce, D365, ServiceNow. Adjust by industry and use case.
Pilot on Real Data
30 days, real users, real records, real processes. Scripted demos mislead. Hands-on usage reveals truth.
Model TCO
3-year total cost: licenses, implementation, integrations, training, admin. Sticker price is 30–50% of TCO for enterprise deployments.
Decision Criteria
Requirements fit (50%), pilot experience (30%), cost (15%), vendor stability (5%). Weight per your priorities but don’t skip any.