When a CRM project fails, the cause is rarely the code. It is usually something that was never decided: who owns a lead when two salespeople contact the same customer, what "qualified" actually means, or which report the owner wanted every Monday morning.
A clear requirements checklist fixes this. It turns "we need a CRM" into a precise description your team agrees on and your developer can build and test against. Use the sections below as a workshop agenda - ideally with the owner, a sales manager and two or three people who will use the CRM every day.
1. Business goals
Start with why. Write down three to five outcomes you want from the CRM, in plain language:
- "No enquiry should go without a response on the same working day."
- "I want to know which source - IndiaMART, Google, referrals - brings paying customers and repeat business."
- "When a salesperson leaves, their leads and history stay with the company."
- "Repeat customers should get reminders before their AMC or reorder date."
Every feature request later can be tested against these goals. If a feature does not serve one of them, it can probably wait.
2. Users and roles
List every type of person who will use the CRM and what they should see.
| Role | Typical access | Questions to answer |
|---|---|---|
| Owner / director | Everything, all reports | Which dashboards do you check daily or weekly? |
| Sales manager | Team leads, assignment, reports | Can managers reassign leads? Approve discounts? |
| Salesperson | Own leads and customers | Can they see colleagues' leads? Export data? |
| Telecaller / inside sales | New leads, call logging | Do they qualify leads before handing over? |
| Support / service | Customers, tickets, AMC | Do they need sales history? |
| Accounts | Won deals, customer GST details | Do they edit or only view? |
Also decide: how many users today, how many in two years, and whether any dealers, distributors or channel partners need limited access.
3. Lead sources and capture
List every place enquiries come from and how each should enter the CRM:
- Website contact and quote forms
- IndiaMART, JustDial, TradeIndia and other marketplaces
- Facebook and Instagram lead ads, Google Ads lead forms
- WhatsApp messages and click-to-WhatsApp ads
- Incoming phone calls (IVR or call-tracking numbers)
- Walk-ins, exhibitions and referrals - entered manually
- Bulk imports from Excel
For each source, note which details arrive (name, phone, product, city, message) and whether the CRM should detect duplicates by phone number or email.
4. Lead assignment rules
This is where many disputes start. Decide in writing:
- Are leads assigned automatically or by a manager?
- What is the rule - round-robin, by city or state, by product, by language, by source?
- What happens if the assigned person does not respond within a set time?
- If an existing customer sends a new enquiry, does it go to their previous salesperson?
- Who wins when two salespeople claim the same lead?
5. Pipeline stages and definitions
Write your stages and - critically - what each one means:
| Stage | Definition (example) | Required before moving on |
|---|---|---|
| New | Enquiry received, not yet contacted | - |
| Contacted | First conversation done | Call or message logged |
| Qualified | Need, timeline and decision-maker confirmed | Requirement notes filled |
| Quotation sent | Formal quote shared | Quote attached |
| Negotiation | Discussing terms | Expected close date |
| Won / Lost | Decision made | Lost reason if lost |
If you sell very different things - say, products and annual service contracts - you may need separate pipelines.
6. Fields and data
For leads, contacts, companies and deals, list the fields you need. Mark each as required or optional, and keep the required list short - every extra mandatory field slows salespeople down.
Common fields for Indian B2B businesses include company name, GSTIN, billing and shipping address, state (for GST logic), industry, product interest, expected quantity, source and preferred language.
7. Activities and follow-ups
- Which activities are logged - calls, WhatsApp, email, meetings, site visits?
- Should calls from the salesperson's phone be logged automatically through a calling app or IVR integration?
- How are reminders delivered - in the app, push notification, WhatsApp, email?
- What happens to overdue follow-ups - escalate to the manager?
8. Quotations, products and pricing
- Do you need a product or service catalogue in the CRM?
- Are there customer-specific or dealer-specific price lists?
- Who can give discounts, and up to what limit before approval?
- What should the quotation PDF include - logo, terms, GST breakup, validity, bank details?
- Do quotations need version history?
9. Integrations
List every system the CRM must talk to, and the direction of data:
- Accounting software - push won deals and customers, pull invoice and payment status
- WhatsApp Business Platform - send templates, receive replies
- Email - log conversations, send follow-ups
- Telephony / IVR - click-to-call and call logs
- Website and ad platforms - lead capture
- Payment gateway such as Razorpay - payment links and status
For each, note whether it is a must-have at launch or a later phase. Integrations are often the most complex part of the project, so clarity here pays off. Our API integration and automation work usually starts with exactly this list.
10. Reports and dashboards
Ask each user: "Which question do you want the CRM to answer for you every week?" Then turn those into reports:
- Leads by source, by city, by salesperson
- Conversion rate from lead to won deal, by source
- Average first-response time
- Pipeline value by stage and expected close month
- Lost reasons
- Overdue follow-ups by salesperson
Sketch the owner's dashboard on paper. It is one of the most-used screens in any CRM.
11. Mobile and field use
- Does the sales team work from the field? Do they need a mobile app or is a mobile-friendly web app enough?
- Do they need offline access in areas with poor connectivity?
- Should visits be checked in with location?
- Can they photograph visiting cards or site photos into the CRM?
12. Data protection and security
With the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 in force, a CRM full of personal phone numbers and emails needs care:
- Role-based access - who can see, edit, export and delete what
- Audit logs of important changes and exports
- Consent and opt-out tracking for marketing messages
- Where data is hosted and how it is backed up
- How data is deleted when a customer asks or when it is no longer needed
13. Migration
What data exists today - Excel sheets, an old CRM, phone contacts, accounting software? Decide what to import, how to clean duplicates and who verifies the result.
14. Priorities and phases
Finally, label every requirement:
- Must-have - the CRM is not usable without it
- Should-have - important, can follow within weeks of launch
- Later - nice ideas to revisit after real usage
A smaller first release that people actually use beats a large one that arrives late.
15. Non-functional requirements
These are easy to forget because they are not "features", but they shape the user experience:
- Speed - lead lists and search should feel instant, even with years of data
- Availability - when the CRM must be available, and how maintenance windows are handled
- Backups - how often, where they are stored and how quickly data can be restored
- Languages - whether screens, templates or quotations are needed in Hindi or other languages
- Devices and browsers - which phones, tablets and browsers must be supported
- Growth - expected number of users, leads and records over the next few years
- Support - who fixes issues after launch, how they are reported and how quickly they are handled
How to write a requirement your developer can test
A good requirement is specific enough to check. Compare:
- Vague: "The CRM should manage follow-ups."
- Testable: "When a salesperson sets a follow-up date, the CRM shows it on their dashboard that morning and sends a push notification at the chosen time. Overdue follow-ups appear in red and are listed in the manager's daily report."
Key takeaways
- Define goals, roles and pipeline stage definitions before discussing features.
- Write down lead assignment and ownership rules - they prevent most internal disputes.
- List every integration and its data direction; they drive complexity.
- Design reports around real weekly questions from real users and the management team.
- Plan for DPDP Act responsibilities, migration and phased delivery from the start.
Turn your checklist into a working CRM
Bring your answers - even rough ones - and we will help you shape them into a clear scope. Our team in Jaipur has built CRMs and custom software for businesses across India and abroad. Book a free consultation or explore our CRM development service; a written quote follows once the scope is agreed.
