It’s the last word know-how dilemma for buyer groups and the execs who management budgets: do you have to purchase or construct your buyer success platform?
When presenting a enterprise case for a buyer success platform, you possibly can count on this to be the first objection of a CEO or CFO: can we construct this in our CRM as a substitute of shopping for a brand new instrument? Ought to you utilize the instruments you have already got to construct one thing that can sort of get you what you’re in search of, or do you have to purchase a instrument developed for that particular function?
“Persons are at all times going to say, ‘Hey, we will construct it. Why do we want this? We have already got reporting in Salesforce; what are we actually getting out of a CS platform? Why would we purchase this?’” says Aaron Levine, chief monetary officer at Prophix. “And when you can sort of mimic what a real CSP does in Salesforce or one other CRM, together with some inner reporting, I feel it’ll be costlier finally, in case you do it by yourself. It’ll be much less environment friendly, much less efficient, with far fewer insights. It’s tougher to do by yourself, and also you’ll be much less profitable finally.”
So, why, precisely, do you have to purchase as a substitute of construct, as Aaron explains? There are 4 main causes:
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- CRMs are usually not created for buyer success; CS platforms are.
- CS platforms supply higher integrations together with your CS tech stack.
- The resourcing drawbacks of a {custom} CRM construct.
- The chance of a {custom} construct champion leaving.
Right here’s why they every matter, and learn how to arm your self with rebuttals for dealing with the construct versus purchase objection.
1: CRMS are usually not created for buyer success. CSPs are.
CRMs are designed to assist gross sales groups, serving to them observe leads, handle alternatives, and shut offers. They’re deal-centric, good for managing a gross sales pipeline, however are usually not constructed to deal with a CSM’s workflow or post-sale engagement. As soon as a deal is closed, a CRM typically loses visibility into the client’s journey, making it troublesome to trace product adoption, engagement, and worth realization over time.
Whereas some CRMs enable for fundamental account administration, they nonetheless lack the instruments to proactively handle buyer retention, determine churn dangers, or drive product adoption. A CRM primarily data static data, comparable to contacts, previous interactions, and deal historical past, somewhat than offering dynamic, real-time insights into how a buyer is definitely utilizing the product or whether or not they’re prone to churning. With out these insights, CSMs are left reacting to issues somewhat than proactively stopping them.
A CSP, then again, is purpose-built for ongoing engagement and sophisticated lifecycle administration. These platforms are designed to assist CSMs:
Monitor buyer well being in real-time utilizing product utilization, assist knowledge, and sentiment evaluation.
Automate key touchpoints primarily based on buyer journey milestones (onboarding, renewals, expansions, and so on.).
Flag churn dangers proactively earlier than they change into an issue.
Facilitate success plans and enterprise evaluations to drive long-term worth and adoption.
Whereas CRMs enable for activity setting and handbook assignments, their automation capabilities are usually sales-driven, comparable to setting reminders for follow-ups or monitoring pipeline adjustments. They lack the power to create data-driven, automated activity triggers primarily based on real-time buyer insights, like sudden drops in product utilization, delayed onboarding progress, or low engagement scores. For CSMs to be really efficient, they want software program that mechanically surfaces key insights and prescribes actions, somewhat than counting on handbook monitoring and disconnected workflows.
Finally, whereas a CRM serves as a buyer database, it’s not a proactive engagement instrument. A CS platform ensures that clients are constantly receiving worth, staying engaged, and finally renewing and increasing their enterprise, one thing a CRM merely wasn’t constructed to do.
2: A CSP integrates higher together with your tech stack.
Buyer success workstreams mix knowledge from exterior and inner platforms, not simply handbook inputs like a CRM. The knowledge integrations accessible in CS platforms like ChurnZero assist CS groups monitor buyer well being, automate engagement, and drive retention. Listed here are some key integration classes and their advantages:
CRMs (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics). Syncs buyer data, lifecycle phases, and engagement historical past, guaranteeing CS groups have a unified view of buyer interactions.
Product utilization & analytics (e.g., Phase, Pendo, Mixpanel): Helps observe in-app habits and have adoption, enabling proactive engagement primarily based on utilization patterns.
Assist & ticketing (e.g., Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk). Supplies insights into buyer points and escalations, permitting CS groups to deal with ache factors earlier than they result in churn.
Advertising automation (e.g., Marketo, HubSpot, Pardot). Aligns CS and advertising and marketing efforts by guaranteeing personalised onboarding, nurture campaigns, and engagement monitoring.
Billing & monetary (e.g., Stripe, NetSuite, QuickBooks). Helps CS groups monitor fee historical past, subscription renewals, and growth alternatives.
Communication & collaboration (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Groups, Zoom. Allows real-time alerts and seamless collaboration between CS groups and different departments.
Knowledge warehouses & BI instruments (e.g., Snowflake, Tableau). Facilitates superior buyer analytics and reporting, serving to companies make data-driven selections.
Surveys & suggestions (e.g., Qualtrics, Medallia). Collects and analyzes buyer sentiment, serving to predict churn and enhance the client expertise.
The mixing and synthesis of this various knowledge creates a holistic buyer view for CS groups, enabling proactive engagement, churn prediction, and threat mutation by way of automation and personalization. And from this built-in knowledge, CS platforms then use triggers primarily based on well being scores, behavioral knowledge, and AI, providing dynamic insights, somewhat than merely static data like a CRM.
ChurnZero’s integrations have helped CallTrackingMetrics unify its buyer workflows, says VP of income Jeremy Wingate.
3: A {custom} CRM construct will drain your assets.
Constructing a {custom} CRM-based answer for buyer success introduces vital resourcing challenges, together with elevated overhead, fragility, and a heavy time dedication out of your growth group, and the danger of making a inflexible, non-scalable system that fails to evolve with your small business wants. You may count on:
In depth upfront growth work to configure workflows, automate buyer well being monitoring, and combine a number of knowledge sources.
Ongoing upkeep and troubleshooting, as every modification or replace to the CRM might probably break current workflows.
Heavy reliance on builders for even easy adjustments, since customization typically requires coding, somewhat than being adaptable by way of no-code or low-code configurations.
Implementing a purpose-built CS platform, then again, is a light-touch mission for dev groups, extra similar to organising Google Analytics monitoring on an internet site. A junior developer can usually full the mixing in minimal time.
Past the technical overhead, a {custom} CRM construct creates operational inefficiencies. CS groups should depend on engineers or knowledge analysts to manually extract buyer insights, typically by way of ad-hoc knowledge requests and {custom} studies which might be tedious to supply. This slows down decision-making and burdens technical groups with ongoing, non-core requests that would in any other case be self-served with a CS platform.
A devoted CS platform eliminates these bottlenecks by providing real-time product utilization insights with out requiring handbook knowledge exports. It gives pre-built dashboards, automation workflows, and templates that non-technical customers can simply customise, and permits CS groups to behave independently with out fixed developer requests.
4: There’s at all times the danger of your {custom} construct champion leaving.
One of many greatest dangers of a {custom} CRM construct for buyer success is the potential lack of the inner champion who designs, configures, and maintains the system. Many custom-built options rely closely on a single individual or a small group with deep information of how the system is architected. What occurs when the architect of the {custom} answer departs?
Data switch gaps: The nuances of the {custom} construct might not be well-documented, making it troublesome for a brand new group member to step in and handle the system effectively.
Technical debt accumulation: With out a devoted proprietor, workarounds and legacy customizations could change into outdated or break over time, resulting in inefficiencies and potential failures.
Scalability issues: Future modifications to the system require vital effort and time from a brand new developer or admin, particularly if the system was constructed with hardcoded guidelines, advanced integrations, or undocumented processes.
Elevated dependence on IT/dev groups: If CS groups lack self-service capabilities within the CRM, they may want fixed assist from IT or engineering, slowing down decision-making and decreasing agility.
A custom-built system could look like a versatile answer at first, nevertheless it typically locks firms right into a inflexible, high-maintenance framework that turns into troublesome to scale or pivot over time, making it a less-than-ideal long-term answer. By selecting a purpose-built CS platform, firms scale back dependency on particular person workers, reduce disruption dangers, and guarantee long-term flexibility to adapt to altering buyer success methods.
