The problem
Every CRM does everything on the feature page.
Contacts, pipeline, email, reports, a mobile app. Forty tools, one feature list. So the decision gets made on the demo, the price in the left-hand column, and whoever in the room has the strongest opinion. Then the differences show up. They always show up in the same three places, and none of them is on the feature page.
All three are predictable in week one. You just have to ask in an order that stops the shiny one from winning.
The outcome
What you walk out with
- A shape. One page that fixes what you need before anyone opens a pricing tab. The three jobs, the seats in eighteen months, the ceiling, who signs.
- A shortlist that earned it. Up to five CRMs that passed six pass-or-fail gates: ceiling, path, email sync, security, size fit, exit. Anything that failed is out, no matter how good the demo was.
- A score you can defend. Four weighted criteria, 46 questions, rated on the trial with your real data. The weights are yours to change, and the scorecard recalculates when you do.
- The two questions that decided it. Not forty. The one or two that actually moved the score. That is the decision. The list was how you found it.
- A terms page, ready for the quote. Tier, seats, renewal cap, notice window, export format, cancellation. Filled in from the written quote, not the pricing page. Sign against that.
- A 90-day review, booked. Five questions that tell you which score was wrong, before the renewal does.
The CRM Buyer's Playbook
The workbook, the Excel scorecard, the session deck and the facilitator's guide. Run it with your team in ninety minutes.
Get the Playbook · $49The method
How it works
Write the shape. Run the spreadsheet test, which will tell a one-seller business it does not need a CRM yet. Pick the rung: spreadsheet, inbox add-on, standalone CRM, or suite. Then the six gates.
The job (weight 5). The adoption (4). The exit (4). The deal (3). Every question rated 1 to 5 on the trial, not the demo. The reluctant seller does the adoption test, not the enthusiast.
Read the scorecard, then the tiebreaker. Fill the terms page from the written quote. Book the 90-day review. Nobody signs at the end of the meeting.
Six gates
Fail one, and it is out.
Hard constraints, checked before anything is scored. Three checks per gate. A tool that fails the exit gate does not get a chance to win on features, however good the demo was.
The scorecard
Eighty points. A near-tie is where it gets useful.
| Criterion | Weight | CRM A | CRM B | CRM C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gates | Pass | Pass | OUT | |
| The job | 5 | 21.4 | 19.6 | 22.1 |
| The adoption | 4 | 13.3 | 16.7 | 14.0 |
| The exit | 4 | 16.0 | 14.8 | 8.8 |
| The deal | 3 | 10.2 | 11.1 | 12.6 |
| Total / 80 | 60.9 2 | 62.2 1 | OUT |
Illustrative numbers. CRM C scored highest on the job and failed the exit gate, so it never ranked. A and B are within five points: a tie. Ties go to the tiebreaker, which is the tool your most reluctant seller logged more activity in. That, and the two questions that moved the score, is the decision.
Four of forty-six
The questions nobody asks
Four of the 46. If you can answer these for every tool on your shortlist today, you do not need the Playbook.
- What is the price at fifteen seats on the tier you actually need?
- Which of the features on the pricing page sit one tier up?
- Does the export include notes and activity history, or just contacts?
- What is the renewal cap, in writing?
Side by side
The usual way, and this way
| The demo way | The Playbook |
|---|---|
| Start with a list of CRMs. | Start with one page about your business. The list comes fourth. |
| Rate the demo, on the vendor's sample data. | Rate the trial, on fifty of your own contacts and ten of your own deals. |
| The enthusiast tests it. | The most reluctant seller tests it for three days. Count what they logged. |
| Price the left-hand column at today's seat count. | Price the tier that does your three jobs, at the seat count eighteen months out, billed the way the small print says. |
| Find out what the export includes when you try to leave. | Run the export on the trial. Open the file. Look for the notes column. |
| Sign against the pricing page. | Sign against a written quote and a filled-in terms page. |
| Decide in the meeting. | Decide when the unknowns are closed. Usually a week. |
Fit
Who it is for
This is for you if
- You run or manage a team of roughly three to fifty seats and the decision lands on you.
- It is a first CRM, or the second one after the first one quietly failed.
- More than one person will have to live with it, and you would rather they argued now than in month four.
- You want a score you can show the person who signs.
This is not
- A recommendation. It does not name a CRM.
- A review or a ranking. Those exist. They are the list.
- Enterprise procurement. Six gates and four criteria is the right size for a team, not a tender.
- Advice. It is a method. You bring the judgement.
Inside
What it looks like
The four files
What is in the download
Free first
Read the method before you buy it
Five articles walk through it for free, one criterion each. Start with How to choose a CRM for a small business: narrow first, or see the series at Criteria: Buying a CRM. The Playbook is the same method with the arithmetic done, the room organised and the questions in front of you.
Frequently asked questions
Does it tell me which CRM to buy?
No. It does not name a CRM. You bring the shortlist. The method tells you which of yours survives six gates, scores highest on the four things that matter, and what to get in writing before you sign.
Is it for a first CRM or a replacement?
Both. The spreadsheet test at the front will tell a one-seller business it does not need one yet. The exit criterion will tell a team on its second CRM why the first one failed.
How long does it actually take?
Ninety minutes in the room for the shape, the gates, the weights and a first pass at the scores. The owner then closes out the unknowns from the trials and the written quote, usually within a week.
What if I am deciding alone?
Use the workbook and the scorecard. The deck and the facilitator's guide are for putting the people who have to live with the decision in one room, and they cost nothing to leave in the folder.
What is in the download?
Four files. The 12-page workbook PDF, the eight-tab Excel scorecard, the 20-slide session deck with speaker notes, and the eight-page facilitator's guide.
What format are the files?
PDF, Excel and PowerPoint. The scorecard opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. The deck opens in PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides.
Can I change the weights?
Yes. The weights sit at the top of each criterion tab and every total recalculates. Changing them is the point.
$49, once. Against a bill you will pay every month.
Four files. One room. One decision you can defend. Instant download, PDF, Excel and PowerPoint.
Get the Playbook · $49The list is not the decision. It is how you find the one or two things that are.
Not a review, not rankings, not CRM advice. A method.
