CRM System Requirements Checklist
This CRM implementation roadmap is a practical way to lock requirements before demos, estimates, and RFP responses start drifting. Use it as a CRM requirements checklist to keep scope accountable, reduce implementation risk, and force clarity on ownership, integrations, and long-term operating cost.
A CRM implementation roadmap fails most often at the foundation layer, not in UI preferences. This section is designed to prevent expensive rework by making business intent, constraints, and accountability explicit before build decisions get made.
Define Primary Business Objectives And Kpis
Set measurable KPIs that match operational reality, not dashboard vanity. If “faster lead response” is a KPI, define the exact SLA, who owns it, and what system events prove compliance inside the CRM implementation roadmap.
Document Current Pain Points And Inefficiencies
Write pain points as cost, delay, leakage, or compliance exposure. Avoid generic statements. Tie each inefficiency to a workflow step and an owner so vendors cannot hide scope behind “process change”.
Identify All Departments And Stakeholders Involved
List decision makers, process owners, and daily users by function. If Finance, Operations, or Support will consume CRM data, they are stakeholders even if they never log in.
Map Existing Business Processes And Workflows
Document current-state flows with entry points, handoffs, exceptions, and approvals. This gives your CRM implementation roadmap a stable baseline so “automation” does not become a vague promise during vendor calls.
Define Success Criteria And Expected ROI
Define success as outcomes you can validate post go-live: cycle-time reduction, fewer handoffs, lower cost per case, improved forecast accuracy, reduced manual reconciliation. ROI should be expressed as a model with inputs you can defend.
Establish Project Timeline And Milestones
Anchor milestones to deliverables: discovery sign-off, data migration dry run, integration test, role-based UAT, go-live readiness. If a vendor cannot commit to milestones with acceptance criteria, expect schedule drift.
Determine Budget Constraints And Resource Allocation
Define budget boundaries and internal capacity early. Include who will own data cleanup, who approves process changes, and who supports the system after launch. Many CRM implementation roadmap failures come from assuming internal work is “free”.
Conduct Stakeholder Interviews Across All Departments
Interview for decisions, exceptions, and failure cases. Ask what breaks today, where workarounds exist, and which steps require auditability.
Gather Executive Leadership Requirements
Executives usually care about forecast trust, revenue accountability, operational visibility, and governance. Force clarity on what they need to see, how often, and what data sources must reconcile.
Document End-User Needs And Preferences
Capture role-specific needs tied to throughput and accuracy, not “nice to have” UI requests. Prioritize requirements that reduce duplicate entry, eliminate swivel-chair work, and cut time to complete core tasks.
Identify It Team Technical Requirements
Specify hosting constraints, identity management, logging, monitoring, backup/restore expectations, and deployment constraints. IT requirements must be first-class inputs to the CRM implementation roadmap, not an afterthought.
Define Customer-Facing Requirements (If Applicable)
If customers touch portals, forms, invoices, quotes, or service status, define brand, authentication, accessibility, and data exposure rules. Most customer-facing requirements are really data and permission requirements.
Establish Vendor/Supplier Portal Requirements
Define the exact objects vendors can view or edit, notification rules, and approval flows. Require an audit trail. Portal scope can explode if not constrained early.
Document Partner Integration Needs
List partner systems, data objects, sync direction, frequency, error handling expectations, and ownership. This is where a CRM evaluation framework should force vendors to describe integration depth, not “we integrate with everything”.
This section is the operational core. Use it to drive demo scenarios and estimate accuracy. If a vendor cannot map these requirements to configuration, integration, and custom build lines, your CRM implementation roadmap will not be reliable.
Contact Database With Customizable Fields
Define which fields are required, who controls schema changes, validation rules, and which fields must be searchable and reportable without engineering tickets.
Company/Account Hierarchy Management
Specify parent-child relationships, rollups, and how account ownership works across regions or business units. Hierarchy mistakes create forecasting and permission issues that are hard to unwind later.
Contact Relationship Mapping
Document relationship types that matter operationally: decision maker, approver, technical evaluator, billing contact, champion. Define how relationships affect workflows and visibility.
Duplicate Detection And Merge Capabilities
State matching rules, what counts as a duplicate, and who can merge. Require a reversible merge policy or at least a controlled audit trail, because data merges can create compliance and revenue attribution problems.
Contact Segmentation And Tagging
Define segmentation needs used for sales routing, lifecycle reporting, and support prioritization. If segmentation drives automation, specify governance so tags do not become free-text chaos.
360-Degree Customer View Dashboard
Define what “360” means in your business: orders, invoices, tickets, renewals, usage, delivery milestones, contracts. Require source-of-truth rules and timestamps so teams can trust the view.
Contact Import/Export Functionality (Csv, Excel)
Specify import templates, validation feedback, error logs, and permissioning. If users can export sensitive data, define controls, watermarks, and logging requirements.
Business Card Scanning Integration
If relevant, specify accuracy thresholds, dedupe behavior, and which fields must be captured. Business card scanning that creates duplicates is worse than not having it.
Social Media Profile Linking
Only required if it supports a defined workflow. Specify which profiles matter, how updates are handled, and whether links are manual or enriched.
Lead Capture From Multiple Sources (Web, Email, Phone)
List lead sources, required attribution fields, consent requirements, and what happens when fields are missing. Your CRM implementation roadmap should define how unknowns are handled, not just “captured”.
Lead Scoring And Qualification Criteria
Document scoring inputs, weights, and who can change the model. If scoring influences routing or outreach cadence, define governance and testing expectations.
Lead Assignment Rules (Round-Robin, Territory, Skills)
Specify routing logic, overrides, escalation rules, and how changes are approved. Routing is a control surface for revenue performance, so treat it as governed logic.
Lead Nurturing Workflows
Define stages, triggers, content ownership, timing rules, and stop conditions. Require visibility into why a lead moved or stopped, so teams can audit and improve the system.
Lead Conversion Tracking
Define conversion definitions, required fields at conversion, and how converted entities relate to accounts and contacts. Poor conversion design breaks reporting and attribution.
Source Attribution And Campaign Tracking
Specify attribution model requirements and what must be tracked for commercial reporting. If marketing tools feed this data, define reconciliation rules to prevent conflicting reports.
Lead Status Pipeline Visualization
Define pipeline views by role, filters, and required metrics. Visualization should support decisions, not become a vanity chart.
Customizable Sales Stages And Pipeline
Define stages, entry and exit criteria, required fields by stage, and who controls changes. If the pipeline changes every quarter, build that governance into the CRM implementation roadmap.
Opportunity Tracking With Probability Weighting
Specify probability rules and whether they are manual, stage-based, or model-driven. Require audit history for probability changes if forecasting relies on it.
Quote And Proposal Generation
Define document templates, approval workflows, version control, and what data must be pulled from product and pricing sources. Avoid “quote tool” scope creep by being explicit.
Product/Service Catalog Integration
Specify catalog ownership, pricing rules, discount approvals, and how bundles are represented. Catalog design impacts forecasting, invoicing, and margin tracking.
Competitor Tracking
Only required if it supports win-loss and pricing decisions. Define fields, reporting needs, and rules for how this data is captured without becoming unreliable free text.
Win/Loss Analysis
Define required fields at close, who completes them, and how you will validate data quality. Win-loss is only useful when the discipline is enforced by workflow.
Revenue Forecasting Tools
Specify forecast cadence, rollup structure, scenario views, and who can adjust. Forecast tools must reconcile with Finance reporting expectations, or they will be ignored.
Commission Calculation Support
If commissions are in scope, define calculation rules, exceptions, disputes, audit trails, and integration with payroll or finance systems. This is a high-risk area for errors.
Email Integration (Gmail, Outlook, Smtp)
Define account types, logging rules, permissions, and compliance requirements. If you operate regulated communications, specify retention and audit needs up front.
Email Templates And Mail Merge
Specify template governance, approval, personalization fields, and who can create templates. Poor control here creates brand and compliance risk.
Email Tracking (Opens, Clicks)
If tracking is required, specify consent expectations, data retention, and reporting. Some teams need this, others must restrict it due to policy.
Call Logging And Voip Integration
Define which provider, call metadata requirements, recording rules, consent prompts, and how call outcomes feed pipeline stages and tasks.
Sms/Text Messaging Capabilities
Specify consent management, opt-out handling, message templates, and audit logging. If SMS is used, it must be governed like any customer communication channel.
Chat/Messaging Integration
Define channels, routing, logging, and what must be captured to maintain a full communication timeline. Avoid fragmented histories across tools.
Communication History Timeline
Specify what events must appear in the timeline and what systems contribute events. Your CRM implementation roadmap should enforce that users do not need three tools to reconstruct context.
Scheduled Follow-Up Reminders
Define reminder types, SLA-based reminders, escalation rules, and how reminders convert into tasks. Reminders only work when tied to role ownership and measurable outcomes.
Mid-Page Advisory CTA
If you want Aerosoft to sanity-check your CRM requirements checklist and turn it into a vendor-ready scoring pack, share your current stack and constraints. We will tell you what will create delivery risk before you invest in demos and proposals.
If your CRM implementation roadmap includes ERP scope, treat ERP as a discipline: data integrity, control, reconciliation, auditability, and clear ownership. This section is written to prevent partial implementations that look complete in demos but fail under real transaction volume.
General Ledger And Chart Of Accounts
Specify structure, segments, multi-entity rules, and governance. Chart design impacts reporting, approvals, and audit readiness.
Accounts Payable Management
Define invoice capture, approvals, matching rules, exception handling, and integration to procurement. AP scope should include audit trails and vendor master governance.
Accounts Receivable Management
Specify invoicing triggers, payment terms, dunning rules, credit memos, and reconciliation expectations. AR design must align with CRM quoting and order workflows.
Bank Reconciliation
Define bank feed approach, reconciliation cadence, exception handling, and who owns investigation. Reconciliation is where weak integration shows up quickly.
Multi-Currency Support
Specify currencies, exchange rate sources, revaluation rules, and reporting. Multi-currency is not a checkbox, it is a control system.
Tax Calculation And Compliance
Define jurisdictions, tax engine requirements, exemptions, audit evidence, and update responsibility. Vendors should state how tax rules are maintained and tested.
Budget Management And Tracking
Specify budgets by cost center, project, department, and time horizon. Define variance reporting and approvals for changes.
Financial Reporting And Statements
List required statements, cadence, consolidation needs, and export formats. Reporting must be consistent with your board and audit requirements.
Audit Trail And Compliance Logging
Specify immutable logs, retention, role-based access, and evidence requirements. This is a core decision point in any CRM evaluation framework that includes financial processes.
Real-Time Inventory Tracking
Define what “real time” means for your operation: latency, sync frequency, and tolerance for stale data. Inventory inaccuracies create downstream customer and finance issues.
Multi-Location/Warehouse Support
Specify location hierarchy, transfers, allocation rules, and ownership. Multi-location affects picking, replenishment, and fulfillment accuracy.
Stock Level Alerts And Reorder Points
Define alert ownership, thresholds, seasonality rules, and what triggers procurement. Alerts without accountability become noise.
Barcode/Qr Code Scanning
Specify devices, workflows, offline needs, and data validation. Scanning requirements should include exception handling, not only the happy path.
Serial Number And Lot Tracking
Define traceability scope, compliance requirements, returns handling, and reporting. Lot tracking impacts recalls, warranty, and quality investigations.
Inventory Valuation Methods (Fifo, Lifo, Average)
Specify valuation policy, cost layers, and reconciliation to GL. Valuation is a finance control decision, not a warehouse preference.
Stock Transfer Between Locations
Define transfer approvals, in-transit status, shrink handling, and expected audit evidence.
Cycle Counting And Physical Inventory
Specify frequency, count variance thresholds, approvals, and adjustment logging. This should be measurable and enforceable.
Inventory Forecasting
Define forecast inputs, seasonality, lead times, and who owns forecasts. Forecasting is only useful when aligned to procurement and sales planning.
Purchase Requisition Workflow
Define who can raise requisitions, approvals, spend limits, and required metadata. Workflow must align with governance, not personal preferences.
Vendor/Supplier Management
Specify vendor master data, onboarding, compliance docs, renewals, and ownership. Vendor data is a shared asset across procurement and finance.
Request For Quotation (Rfq) Process
Define when RFQs are required, comparison rules, approvals, and how RFQ outputs become purchase orders.
Purchase Order Generation And Tracking
Specify PO structure, change control, partial fulfillment handling, and integrations to receiving and AP.
Approval Workflows And Limits
Define approval matrix, delegation rules, audit requirements, and exception paths. This is a primary control system for spending.
Goods Receipt And Inspection
Specify receiving workflows, quality checks, discrepancy handling, and how receipts drive AP matching.
Vendor Performance Tracking
Define KPIs, scorecard cadence, evidence sources, and how performance impacts sourcing decisions.
Contract Management
Specify contract repository needs, renewal alerts, approval workflows, and linkage to vendors, purchase orders, and pricing terms.
Sales Order Processing
Define order creation sources, required validations, pricing rules, and approvals. Order management must reconcile with CRM quotes and finance invoices.
Order-To-Cash Workflow
Document handoffs from quote to order to invoice to payment. Your CRM implementation roadmap should make the boundaries between CRM and ERP explicit.
Backorder Management
Specify allocation rules, customer communications, prioritization criteria, and reporting. Backorders are where operational trust is won or lost.
Partial Shipment Handling
Define shipment splits, invoicing rules, tracking updates, and customer notifications.
Returns And Exchanges (Rma)
Specify eligibility rules, approvals, condition tracking, restocking fees, and accounting treatment.
Credit Limit Management
Define credit policies, overrides, approvals, and how credit decisions block or allow fulfillment.
Order Status Tracking
Specify statuses, timestamps, ownership, and customer-facing visibility rules. Status tracking should reduce inbound “where is my order” noise.
Shipping Integration (Carriers, Tracking)
List carriers, label generation needs, rate shopping rules, tracking updates, and exception handling for lost or delayed shipments.
Bill Of Materials (Bom) Management
Define versioning, approvals, effectivity dates, substitution rules, and traceability. BOM governance prevents production and cost inaccuracies.
Work Order Creation And Tracking
Specify triggers, prioritization, status flows, and exception handling. Work orders need auditability and clear ownership.
Production Scheduling
Define constraints, calendars, change control, and how schedule changes propagate to customer commitments.
Shop Floor Control
Specify data capture requirements, devices, offline support, and how events feed inventory and cost tracking.
Quality Control Checkpoints
Define checkpoints, pass/fail criteria, nonconformance workflows, and evidence retention.
Capacity Planning
Specify capacity models, inputs, time horizons, and who owns decisions when demand exceeds capacity.
Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
Define lead times, safety stock rules, supplier constraints, and how MRP outputs become procurement actions.
Production Cost Tracking
Specify cost elements, standard vs actual costing, variance reporting, and reconciliation to financial statements.
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