Every business starts with an Excel spreadsheet or a notebook. But there comes a moment when there are too many clients, orders get lost, and follow-up calls are forgotten. This article will help you understand — is it time to invest in a CRM system, or can you continue without one.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a system that helps manage client relationships: from first contact to invoicing and ongoing support. Simply put — it is a place where you see all your clients, all communications, all proposals and tasks in one place. Not in different Excel files, not in your head, not on sticky notes.
1) You forgot to contact a potential client and they went to a competitor. 2) You cannot quickly answer how many proposals you sent this month. 3) Team members do not know what was already discussed with a client. 4) You have more than 50 active contacts you communicate with. 5) Client information is in multiple places: email, phone, Excel, memory. If you recognized at least 2 points — you already need a CRM.
Excel pros: free, simple, everyone knows how to use it. Excel cons: no reminders, cannot track communication history, hard to share in team, no automations, easy to make mistakes. CRM pros: all clients in one place, automatic reminders, communication history, pipeline view, reports. CRM cons: costs money, takes time to learn. Our recommendation: up to 30 clients — Excel may suffice. Over 30 active contacts — time to invest in CRM.
Ready-made solutions: HubSpot Free (0 €, up to 1000 contacts, limited features), Pipedrive (from 14 EUR/month per user), Monday CRM (from 12 EUR/month per user). Individuali CRM: from 1 000 € one-time investment. Advantage — system adapted exactly to your processes, you do not adapt to the system.
Ready-made CRM (HubSpot, Pipedrive) works if: you have standard sales processes, small team (1-5 people), do not want a large initial investment. Custom CRM works if: you have unique processes, need specific integrations (Lithuanian payment systems, VMI), want the system to adapt to you and not the other way around, plan to grow.
Sprendika builds custom CRM systems with Next.js and Supabase technologies. This means: modern and fast performance, data on EU servers (GDPR compliant), full integration with your existing systems, mobile-friendly (work from anywhere), AI features — automatic lead qualification, proposal generation. Timeline: 6-16 weeks. Price: from 1 000 €. All code — your property.
Free 30 min consultation: we will discuss your processes and recommend the best solution — ready-made or custom.