The first step is to gather business needs. This can be done through interviews, surveys, focus groups, or other research methods. Once you have a good understanding of your needs, you can begin to prioritize them. One way to prioritize them is based on their importance to your bottom line. Another way to prioritize needs is based on how difficult, or costly solutions will be to implement. Once you have assembled the right data points, you will be better positioned to make the right CRM buying decision.