How to choose a CRM platform that fits your team (not just your budget)

Too many brands shop for a new CRM platform the way they shop for a printer: they look at the price, the spec sheet, and the logo.

The result is often a powerful tool nobody on the team knows how to drive,  or worse, one that needs a developer every time marketing wants to tweak a subject line.

Choosing the right platform isn’t about the fanciest features. It’s about how well it matches the reality of your team: their skills, the tech you already run, and the workflows you can support.

Start with your team’s true capability

Some platforms assume you have engineers on tap. Others are built for marketers who want to launch a campaign today, not after a sprint.

“Braze is super powerful. But you need development resources to get the most out of it. Knowing your team and resource capabilities is very important when choosing.”

Similarly, Daniela from Polaroid shared her frustration:

“We really wanted a new platform that was more user-friendly… building a reactivation campaign [in our old platform] took four months. As a marketer, you get blocked.”

Their conclusion: buy the tool your current team can actually run. Don’t assume you’ll suddenly find extra headcount or skills after the contract is signed.

Integration trumps bells and whistles

A good CRM platform is only as strong as its connections/integrations to the rest of your stack.

It’s also easy to get swept up in shiny object syndrome - when sales teams spotlight advanced features that sound transformative but rarely make it into everyday use. Many of these require deep technical setup or ongoing maintenance that smaller teams can’t sustain, turning “must-have” features into expensive shelfware.

Every workaround you build to make two tools talk is another opportunity for data to lag, break or be mis-interpreted.

“We looked at our entire tech stack. All the Shopify apps we use have integrations with Klaviyo. Some were missing for Braze and basically all of them were missing for Emarsys.”
Ryely Newman - Digital Commerce Manager at Loop Earplugs

That single consideration, whether your core apps integrate natively, often decides the real cost of ownership and the speed at which marketing can operate.

Understand how pricing drives behaviour

Licence models shape how you use the tool. Klaviyo charges by active profiles; Braze charges by data points.

If your team loves to track every tiny behavioral event, a data-point model can quickly become an expensive habit.

If you keep a lot of dormant profiles for analysis but don’t actively market to them, a profile-based model may be cheaper.

“Braze’s model requires discipline. You can’t just say ‘send everything’. Every new event is a cost.”
Ryely Newman - Digital Commerce Manager at Loop Earplugs

Pick the model that encourages the behaviors you want, not one that penalizes them.

The real selection checklist

Before you even ask for a demo, answer these questions:

• Can a marketer build a standard lifecycle flow without a developer?
• Do your ten most important apps integrate out-of-the-box?
• Which tools can you retire if you switch?
• Does the pricing model align with how you collect and use data?
• Who will manage deliverability during migration?

Buy for fit, not for aspiration

The right CRM platform is the one your team can run confidently from day one.

Buy for the organization you have, not the one you wish you had.

A well-matched tool makes you faster; a mismatched one burns time, budget and goodwill, however pretty the sales deck looks. Avoid buying for the flashiest features on a demo call. Most teams get more leverage from simplicity and speed than from a dozen “nice-to-haves” that gather dust.

Thinking of migrating CRM platforms but don’t know where to start?

At Polaris, we offer a free audit and migration scan to uncover opportunities.
We’ve also built a library of resources to help you get started - grab your free ESP/CRM decision checklist here