Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

"The CRM system we built with kintone is no longer being used by anyone."

Whenever I receive this kind of consultation, I always think the same thing.
"It's not kintone's fault. I just didn't realize beforehand how difficult it would be to build a CRM system myself," he said.

kintone is an excellent tool.
The flexibility to freely build business applications is truly remarkable.
However, to use it as a CRM, two types of investment are necessary: ​​"investment in creation" and "investment in development."
Many companies become exhausted by the former and are unable to reach the latter.

This article summarizes the common reasons why companies switched from kintone to EMOROCO CRM Lite.

*This article is a fictional story based on industry realities and implementation patterns of multiple companies.

Three typical mistakes that happen to companies that build CRM with kintone.

Failure #1: "The day it's completed is the day it's no longer used."

The first step in building a CRM with kintone is "design."
Deciding what fields to create, what screen layout to use, and what workflow to implement—on average, this takes about 15 hours for design, 30 hours for construction, and 10 hours for testing, totaling around 50 to 60 hours.

The problem begins on the "completion day," after these 50-60 hours have passed.

The CRM system you create is optimized for "the business operations at that particular time."
But the job duties will change.
The person in charge will change.
The types of businesses our customers work in are changing.
The numbers I want to track change.
Each time, you need someone within the company who has the skills to go through the "design → build → test" cycle.

The moment the person who initially built it is transferred or leaves the company, no one can maintain it anymore—this is the ironic reality that "the day it's completed is the day it becomes unusable."

Failure #2: "I tried to implement emotional temperature but failed."

We sometimes receive inquiries from companies that have started using kintone for their CRM, saying, "We've learned about the concept of 'emotional temperature' and would like to implement it."

Creating a field for emotional temperature with options like "Hot, Warm, Cool, Cold" can be done in kintone in just a few minutes.

The problem lies in the parts that "automatically generate tasks when emotional temperature changes" and "extract and color-code only customers with a cool or lower emotional temperature on the dashboard."
To achieve this, you will need knowledge of the kintone API and JavaScript plugins.

"I intended to start with a no-code approach, but before I knew it, I was paying 30 to 100 yen to an external contractor to build it"—this is also a typical failure pattern.

Failure #3: "Once we started using kintone for tasks other than CRM, the CRM became a secondary concern."

kintone's greatest strength is that "it can be used to build business processes other than CRM."
Many companies are trying to integrate attendance management, project management, application approval, and internal wikis into kintone.

However, once multiple business applications are actually implemented, CRM maintenance tends to get pushed to the back burner.
This results in a situation where "there is someone in charge of kintone, but there is no one in charge of continuously thinking about the CRM design."

CRM is not something you set up and forget about; it's something you continue to use and improve over time.
If the design isn't focused on nurturing the system, it will become a mere formality.

Examples of companies that decided to switch providers

Case Study A: Consulting firm (12 employees)

What we built with kintone: We built three apps in-house: a customer management app, a project management app, and an activity log app. An employee with IT expertise (Mr. K) was in charge of the design and construction.

What happened: Eight months after the system was built, Mr. K was transferred from his IT position to another department. Since then, there has been no one who can add or modify fields. Every time a request came in to "add emotional temperature" or "implement a GIS map," we got an outsourcing quote, but it turned out that it would cost 100,000 to 300,000 yen each time, and as a result, a year passed without anything being changed.

The deciding factor for switching:

"I've come to realize that kintone is a tool that requires continuous investment in 'development costs'."
EMOROCO was a tool that allowed you to invest in "how you use" it.
Both the emotional temperature and the GIS map were included from the start.
"What we wanted wasn't just to create something, but to cultivate relationships with our customers." (CEO)

Changes after switching:

Case Study B: Manufacturing route sales company (7 sales staff, 200 clients)

What we were building with kintone: We commissioned a Cybozu partner company to build a customer management application. The cost was 55 yen. The monthly cost was approximately 28,000 yen, consisting of kintone Standard (1,980 yen including tax x 10 users = 19,800 yen) + 8,000 yen per month for plugins.

What happened: After implementation, it was discovered that the built application lacked GIS map functionality. When we requested additional development from our partner company, the estimate came to 380,000 yen. Additionally, a request to analyze the reasons for losing a deal and collect data required further development costing 220,000 yen. Over the course of one year, additional kintone-related costs amounted to 780,000 yen.

The deciding factor for switching:

"The initial setup cost of 55 yen was almost the same as the 5-year license fee for EMOROCO (7 sales staff x 1,500 yen per month x 60 months = 63 yen)."
An additional 78 yen is needed.
"When I realized that we had spent 133 million yen on kintone, and that it would have only cost 63 yen if we had migrated to EMOROCO from the beginning, I honestly went completely blank." (Sales Manager)

Changes after switching:

The difference in design philosophy between kintone and EMOROCO CRM Lite

The difference between the two tools isn't the number of features they have; it's the starting point of their design .

This difference is not about "which is better."
This is the answer to the question, "What do we need?"

Companies that are a good fit for kintone:

• We want to integrate all internal business operations, including business applications other than CRM, into a single platform.
• We have an IT specialist who can continuously build and maintain applications.
• We are already using kintone, and integration with other applications is important.

Companies that are a good fit for EMOROCO CRM Lite:

• I want to get this running as a CRM starting today (minimizing design and development time).
• I need emotional temperature, GIS maps, and industry-specific design templates right away.
• We need an environment where on-site staff can change settings even without an IT specialist present.
• We want to deepen our relationships with domestic and international customers and business partners through data, and expand our operations regardless of scale.

Cost comparison – considering the total cost over three years.

*Kintone implementation and additional development costs vary significantly depending on the scale and requirements. If outsourcing is not required, in-house man-hours (personnel costs) will be incurred instead.

Migration Procedure: Migrating kintone data to EMOROCO CRM Lite

We will use CSV export to migrate data from kintone.

The most time-consuming part is mapping the fields in STEP 2.
This process of matching custom field names in kintone with standard fields in EMOROCO CRM Lite usually takes only 1-2 hours.

Summary: When you're tired of "making," try "nurturing."

Many of the companies that have tried to build a CRM with kintone are companies that are serious about implementing CRM.
That approach was correct. However, "building your own CRM" and "using a CRM to cultivate relationships with customers" are two completely different investments.

EMOROCO CRM Lite is designed to allow you to invest 100% in the latter.
Emotional temperature, GIS maps, workflows, and industry-specific templates are all working from the start.

We will use the time and money that was previously spent on "production" to "cultivate relationships with customers."
That's a common sentiment expressed by companies that have switched from kintone to EMOROCO CRM Lite.

[The first step you can take starting today]
Use the 30-day free trial to check if the features you were planning to create in kintone are available from the start.
The experience of having emotional temperature, GIS maps, and industry-specific workflows running as standard features will quickly encourage you to decide to switch.

Digitalization and AI Implementation Subsidy 2026 Compatible Tool Number: DL07-0022934
Product Info:https://www.emoroco.com/

Related article

• A comparison of no-code tools: kintone and EMOROCO CRM Lite—the criteria for deciding whether to build from scratch or start with a CRM.
• Reasons for abandoning Salesforce: The decision-making criteria of small and medium-sized businesses switching from high-performance CRMs.
• "Recommended CRM for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses" 2026 Edition - Top 10 Selections Based on Usage, Industry, and Budget
• An honest guide to what EMOROCO CRM Lite can and cannot do: Which companies it's suitable for and which it's not.
• Changes after CRM implementation: What happened to companies using EMOROCO CRM Lite after 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year.