Checklist · 40 points · Updated July 2026
CRM Evaluation Checklist
A 40-point scorecard that gives every CRM finalist the same fair evaluation. Eight categories, five questions per category, weighted by your audience. The math removes recency-bias from the buying decision.
1. Pricing transparency (5 questions, weight 12%)
- Are all plan tiers + features clearly listed on the public pricing page?
- Are usage fees (SMS, AI credits, voice) disclosed before purchase?
- Does the marketing price match actual invoice pricing?
- Are tier-jumps explicit (no surprise migrations as you grow)?
- Can you export your data without penalty?
2. Feature depth (5 questions, weight 11%)
- Does it cover the 6 core CRM jobs (contacts, deals, activity, automation, email, reporting)?
- Are advanced features (workflows, scoring, custom objects) available without enterprise upgrade?
- Native vs integration: how many of your required features are native?
- What's the dev-velocity from this vendor (feature shipping cadence)?
- Roadmap visibility: do you know what's coming?
3. Ease of use (5 questions, weight 10%)
- First-day learnability: could a new user be productive in 30 min?
- Settings findability: can you find a setting without docs?
- Onboarding flow quality: guided setup vs blank canvas?
- UI consistency: does it look like one product or seven different acquisitions?
- Search functionality: find a contact in <5 seconds?
4-8. Integrations / Support / Customization / Mobile / Security
(Each scored 5 questions, weights 9% / 8% / 8% / 7% / 7%.) Full checklist with all 40 questions and scoring rubric is in your CRM decision document. Aggregate score = weighted sum / 100.
How to weight by audience
- Marketing agencies: heavier weight on white-label, sub-accounts, SaaS Mode.
- Service businesses: heavier weight on native SMS, mobile, calendar booking.
- Law firms: heavier weight on compliance, intake, conflict checking.
- B2B sales teams: heavier weight on pipeline UX, integrations, reporting.
What to read next
- How to choose a CRM (pillar)
- CRM buying guide 2026
- CRM RFP template
- Our review methodology (12-criteria)
Frequently asked
What should be in a CRM evaluation checklist?
Eight categories: pricing transparency, feature depth, ease of use, integrations, support, customization, mobile, security/compliance. Each scored 1-5 across 5 questions = 40 total points. Weight categories by audience (agency weights white-label heavily; law firm weights compliance).