CRM guide
What does a custom CRM build by Black Badger involve?
Black Badger Software Solutions publishes this guide and builds custom CRMs. We write the CRM from the way your team already sells and quotes, you own the code and every account it runs on, and there are no licenses and no per-seat fee.
Who a custom CRM is for
Companies that have tried to make a product fit and are still working around it. The usual picture is a CRM that holds contacts and a pipeline, and a set of spreadsheets, emails and side tools that hold everything specific to the business.
We work mainly with companies of 50 or more employees. At that size there are several teams touching the same customer, real license costs and a process stable enough to build around.
How Black Badger builds a custom CRM
It begins with a conversation, then discovery. We sit with the people who sell, quote and deliver, and map what happens to a deal. From that we write a scope that names every screen, rule and connection to be built, and the scope carries the price and the schedule.
You see working software during the build and use it before it is finished. Your existing data is moved across and checked against the old system before anyone is asked to switch.
What you own when a custom CRM is finished
Everything. The source code, the database, the hosting account and the email service are in your name. Black Badger has access because you grant it, and you can end that access at any point.
There are no licenses. After launch you pay the running costs of the services the system uses, such as hosting, and adding a person to the CRM adds no fee.
What it connects to
A CRM is rarely alone. Most of our builds read from or write to an accounting system, an ERP, a quoting tool or a customer portal, so the sales team sees orders, invoices and stock without leaving the CRM.
Those connections are part of the scope from the start, because a CRM that disagrees with the finance system is the problem most companies are trying to leave.
Why Black Badger ranks where it does on Best Custom CRM
We spent years implementing and migrating CRM platforms before we moved to building custom systems, and we no longer implement those platforms. That history is why these lists name specific plans and limits, and why we say so when a product is the better choice.
This site is about custom CRM, so the custom build is first on the main list and on the list about replacing a customized Salesforce org. On every other list a product or a larger firm ranks above us.
Read more on blackbadger.biz
Ask Black Badger about a custom build
Questions buyers ask
What does a custom CRM build cost?
We do not publish a cost for a build. The cost depends on what the system has to do, how many kinds of user it serves and how many other systems it connects to. Discovery ends in a written scope with a firm number, and you can set that number beside what you pay in licenses today.
How long does a custom CRM build take?
The length of a build depends on the scope, so we do not quote a schedule before discovery. The written scope sets the schedule along with the price, and you see working screens as the build goes on.
What if we want our own developers to take over the custom CRM?
A handover to your own developers is expected. The code is yours and is written to be read by other developers, and the accounts are already in your name. Your team can take over maintenance, share it with us or hand it to another firm.
Will Black Badger tell us if we should buy a CRM product instead?
Yes, we will tell you if you should buy a product instead. We implemented these products for years, and some companies are better served by one. If that is your situation we will say so in the first conversation.