“What’s the Best CRM?” Is the Wrong Question — Here’s What to Ask Instead

Recently, at the Business of Speaking conference, I was asked yet again what CRM I recommend. It’s a fair question — and an entirely unhelpful one, even if sketchy details of the organisation are included. Unless you know what problem you’re trying to solve, jumping into a CRM decision is like buying a toolbox because perhaps you may need a hammer. It is both the wrong question, and an impossible question to answer. CRM success doesn’t start with technology — it starts with clarity. Before you compare Salesforce, Dynamics 365, HubSpot or the latest startup du jour, take a step back and ask:
“What part of our business needs to work better?”
Only then does the CRM conversation become meaningful — and strategic.

What Problem are You Trying to Fix?

Most senior executives can sense when their business is under strain — but the symptoms often get misdiagnosed. A CRM project might be seen as the silver bullet for poor sales performance, inconsistent service delivery, or marketing chaos. But those are just signs. What’s the root cause?

Before picking a technology, ask:

• Are leads falling through the cracks?
• Are we reinventing the wheel every time we onboard a client?
• Do our teams struggle to access the same view of the customer?
• Is reporting more of a hope than a system?
• Are we scaling, but still running on spreadsheets?

If any of these questions resonate, CRM might be part of the answer. But until you can articulate the problem, any technology — even the 'right' one — will fall short.

Don’t Buy Technology - Design Change

It’s tempting to Google "best CRM for a mid-sized business" and start comparison shopping. But CRM technologies aren’t consumer electronics. They’re business operating systems. Choosing one should be less like picking a laptop and more like designing a new wing of your office.

Technology doesn’t fix broken processes — it amplifies them. So if your team struggles with internal communication, a CRM won’t solve that by magic. If your reporting is messy, a shiny new dashboard won’t clean it up unless your data entry habits change.

This is where a partner like Opsis makes the difference. We start with what matters — the way you work, your commercial objectives, and the challenges holding you back. Then, we translate that into the right solution. Often, that’s Microsoft Dynamics 365. But sometimes, it’s not a full-blown CRM at all — it might be marketing automation, a customer portal, or even just better process documentation.

Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 Often Wins

When the right fit is a CRM, we often recommend Microsoft Dynamics 365. Not because we’re blinkered. Because it ticks the most boxes for most growing businesses:

• It works the way your people already work. If you’re using Outlook, Excel, Teams or SharePoint, Dynamics 365 is a natural extension of that world.
• It grows with you. Start with Sales or Customer Service — and expand into Marketing, Project Operations / Project Managements or Field Service when you’re ready.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 is incredibly customisable. Dynamics 365 doesn’t force you into a particular model. Instead, it adapts to your unique business logic — and scales as you do.
• It’s secure and compliant. You benefit from Microsoft’s world-class security posture without needing your own team of IT superheroes.
• But even with all those advantages, Dynamics 365 isn’t magic. Implementation — and user adoption — make or break CRM success.

A CRM Is Only as Good as the Team That Uses It

Ever seen a beautiful CRM dashboard... that no one uses? Or a sales pipeline that hasn’t been updated since Christmas? The truth is that CRM failures aren’t usually technology failures. CRM failures are people failures – This is why your change management is such an important part of the project.

That’s why Opsis treats every CRM project as a business transformation project, not a software rollout. We work with your leadership to align CRM outcomes to business goals. We involve users early, so the solution reflects how they actually work. We provide training that’s grounded in your day-to-day realities — not generic help files. And we stick around to fine-tune as your business evolves.

Because CRM should empower your people — not confuse or frustrate them.

So… What Should You Be Asking?

If “Which CRM is best?” isn’t the right question, what is the right question?

Try these instead:

• What are the friction points in our customer journey?
• Where are we leaking time, energy or revenue?
• What would better look like for our sales/service/marketing teams?
• How do we ensure any CRM investment delivers measurable value?

These questions start the right kind of conversation — one focused on outcomes, not features. These are also the conversations that we cover in our scoping sessions.

And once those answers are clear, the question of technology becomes much simpler. For many, the answer is Microsoft Dynamics 365. But more importantly, it’s a solution that’s been selected for the right reasons.

While many CRM platforms promise to solve similar challenges, the reality is that no two solutions are created equal — especially when it comes to how they integrate, scale, and truly fit into your existing business environment.

Take Salesforce, for example. It’s undoubtedly a market leader with a vast ecosystem, but many companies find the cost and complexity can quickly balloon as you add users and customisations. The learning curve is steep, which can slow user adoption and delay time to value. And while Salesforce offers powerful features, it often requires dedicated administrators or even consultants just to keep things running smoothly — something not every mid-sized business is prepared for.

HubSpot shines with its ease of use and is often praised for inbound marketing automation. However, that simplicity can sometimes be a double-edged sword. As your business grows, you may find HubSpot’s CRM features less flexible, pushing you to upgrade into higher-priced tiers or to adopt separate products to fill in gaps. Its strength as a marketing tool doesn’t always translate to full-scale sales or service operations, leading to potential fragmentation.

And then there are the many emerging CRM startups promising innovation and rapid deployment. While exciting, these newer players often lack the enterprise-grade security, compliance certifications, and deep integration capabilities that mature organizations require — especially those in regulated industries or with complex sales processes. They may seem appealing at first glance, but scaling with these platforms can lead to unexpected limitations or the need for costly migrations down the line.

By contrast, Microsoft Dynamics 365 leverages the familiar Microsoft ecosystem your teams already rely on — from Outlook and Teams to Azure and Power Platform. This seamless integration reduces friction and training overhead while enabling extensibility across marketing, sales, service, finance, and operations as your needs evolve. The unified data model and embedded AI tools offer insights that are consistent and actionable across departments.

Security is another critical factor. Dynamics 365 benefits from Microsoft’s global security infrastructure and compliance with standards like ISO, GDPR, HIPAA, and more — without requiring you to build and maintain complex security frameworks yourself. This can be a huge relief for organisations focused on risk mitigation and data privacy.

Of course, no technology is a silver bullet. The real value comes from choosing a platform that aligns with your people, processes, and strategy — and partnering with experts who understand how to drive adoption and continuous improvement. That’s where Opsis steps in. We know how to navigate these choices and design solutions that don’t just look good on paper but deliver measurable business outcomes.

So while it’s tempting to focus on “which brand” or “who’s the biggest,” the wiser question is how well the CRM fits your unique business context. In that light, Dynamics 365 often stands apart because it’s not just software — it’s a platform for transformation, built to scale with you, adapt with you, and empower your teams every step of the way.

Let’s Design Your Success — Together

At Opsis, we don’t just implement CRM - we design transformation. We start with what matters:

• your goals
• your people
• your way of working.

Then we build or recommend the solution that fits best — often Microsoft Dynamics 365, always tailored to suit you.

So if you’re wondering whether your CRM is pulling its weight — or whether you’re ready to make the leap — don’t start by picking a brand. Start by having the right conversation.

Let’s make CRM work the way it should — as a catalyst for better business.

Ready to explore your CRM options the smart way? Let’s talk. No hard sell. Just clarity.