Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

I spent 20 years abandoning the idea that "the more features a CRM has, the better it is."

I learned about CRM at Accenture, the company that created it, and then participated in the launch of the Dynamics CRM business unit at Microsoft Japan. Since then, I have been involved in the implementation of CRM products for hundreds or thousands of companies.
Having observed CRM implementation in various organizations, from large corporations to small and medium-sized enterprises, both domestically and internationally, I repeatedly encountered one particular reality.

Of the features offered by high-performance CRM systems, only about 10-15% are actually used in real-world situations.
The rest are either for customization or not used from the start.

This article honestly discusses that reality and the design philosophy behind EMOROCO CRM Lite, which was born from it.

Why does the "10% problem" occur with high-performance CRMs?

CRM vendors compete by adding more features.
"We have this feature, and our competitors don't"—this is a means of differentiation.

As a result, modern leading CRMs have become massive platforms with hundreds or even thousands of features.
When you look at the list of Salesforce features, you'll see a multi-page list of features.

But what's actually happening on the ground?

This is the kind of scene I've repeatedly seen in my 20 years of implementation experience.

Common occurrences 3 months after implementation

"There are too many features, I don't know which one to use."

"The settings are complex and cannot be changed without an IT specialist."

"The sales representative stopped inputting data because they said, 'I don't know where to enter it.'"

"I only use three things: business opportunity registration and reporting. I've never even touched anything else."

This is not about a specific company.
This pattern has occurred repeatedly in dozens of implementation sites, regardless of industry or size.

The structural causes of the "10% problem"

Why does this happen? There are three structural reasons.

Reason ①: Function is a collection of "things that can be done." What the field needs is a design of "things to be done."

The feature list is a list of what the CRM "can do".
But what the person in charge on the ground needs is to design their actions, to figure out "what I need to do today."
No matter how many features a product has, if there's no design to explain "how to use them," nobody will use it.

Reason ②: Unused functions do not generate data. Without data, AI is meaningless.

The AI ​​features (predictive analytics, automation, scoring) included in high-performance CRMs only function effectively when there is a wealth of data available.
However, if only 10-15% of the functions are used in the field, the data will only be accumulated in a fragmented manner.
Even if a CRM is advertised as "AI-powered," AI analysis of fields that haven't been entered is meaningless.

Reason #3: The remaining 85-90% will be used for customization.

"We want the features customized to suit our industry and operations"—this is the most common request we receive after implementing a high-performance CRM system.
As a result, the cost of customization after implementation continues to increase.
In one manufacturing company, the customization and maintenance costs were higher than the licensing costs for Salesforce itself.

The pitfalls of choosing based on a feature comparison chart

The most commonly used method for comparing and evaluating CRMs is a "feature comparison chart."
The vertical axis represents the function, and the horizontal axis represents the tool name, and the comparison is done using ○ or ×.

However, this method of comparison has a fundamental problem.

Just because something has a "◎" mark doesn't mean it's usable in the field.

For example, the "workflow automation" feature.
Almost all major CRMs receive a checkmark (◎).
However, "a no-code solution that can be set up by on-site staff today" and "an IT staff member having to write JavaScript to finally set it up" are two completely different things.
This difference is not reflected in the feature comparison chart.

A feature called "GIS/Map Integration".
While some CRMs receive a "◎" (a Japanese suffix for a positive rating), almost none of them reach the level of "displaying visited locations with pin colors according to their emotional intensity, allowing you to determine today's visit priority at a single view."

What I've realized over the past 20 years is that **the real differences in the field lie in areas that don't show up in feature comparison charts.**

"It doesn't quite reach the itchy spots"—a growing number of complaints on the job.

There's a common sentiment we've heard repeatedly from those who have implemented high-performance CRM systems.

"There's no function to manage the emotional temperature, or the emotional state of the relationship with the customer."

"It would be great if I could see my destinations on a map and see the emotional temperature of the colors to determine my priorities."

"There's no system in place to transfer the narrative (the context of the conversation with the customer) when the person in charge changes."

"I want to send notifications to LINE using my workflow, but the setup is too complicated."

"There are no templates tailored to our industry, so we design everything from scratch every time."

"I just want to add a field, but I have to ask the IT person and wait two weeks."

These will not appear in the "Feature Comparison Chart".
None of the product feature lists include items such as "Narrative Management," "Emotional Temperature," or "Integrated Display of GIS and Emotional Temperature."
But what the people on the ground really needed was precisely this.

The reason EMOROCO CRM Lite was created

"So what is truly needed?" — EMOROCO CRM Lite was designed by working backward from this question, based on 20 years of on-the-ground experience.

The starting point for the design was "subtraction."

From the list of features in a high-performance CRM, select only the features that are actually used in the field.
Then, those selected functions are designed with a user experience (UX) that "field personnel can use starting today."

This isn't the result of simply removing unused features; it's a user-friendly design that incorporates all the necessary functions plus a little extra.
This is important.
Emotional temperature, GIS maps, workflows, BPF, customer portals, external connectors, multi-tenancy, self-hosting—these are all answers to the "itchy spots" that we repeatedly heard about from the field.

Furthermore, we established clear criteria for designing "ease of use."

The main operation should be completed within 3 clicks.

My experience at Infragistics, where I introduced UX to Japan and promoted usability design, taught me firsthand that "CRM systems with complex operations will not catch on."
No matter how accurate the functionality, if the data entry is cumbersome, the person in charge won't use it.
CRM adoption rates are determined not by the number of features, but by how easy it is to use.

Three design principles to solve the "10% problem"

EMOROCO CRM Lite employs three design principles to solve the "10% problem."

Principle 1: Design that makes you want to input data.

Entering an emotional temperature will automatically change the list of customers you should contact today.
When a task arrives in the workflow, the next action becomes clear.
Designing an experience where "entering information → helping yourself" increases the input rate.

Many high-performance CRM systems are designed to have employees input the data that administrators want to see.
EMOROCO CRM Lite prioritizes a design that "helps the person in charge when they input data."

Principle 2: Design that can be changed today with no code.

When an idea arises on-site that "we want to add this field," whether or not it can be implemented that same day is the turning point for its adoption.
If the process is "Request to the IT department → Implementation two weeks later," it will stifle the motivation for improvement among the staff.

Metadata-driven no-code design allows field personnel to add fields, configure workflows, and modify dashboards on the same day.
This is the technical basis for "nurturing CRM."

Principle 3: Design based on "working backward from the actual situation in the industry."

Design templates are provided from the start, specializing in over 20 different industries, including legal services, real estate, construction companies, insurance agencies, manufacturing route sales, and home care.
There's no need to design it from scratch.

"What is truly used in this industry and in this specific workplace?" — Our design, based on 20 years of implementation experience, has crystallized into industry-specific templates.

To be honest, EMOROCO CRM Lite may not be suitable for everyone.

There's one more thing I can say based on my 20 years of experience.

I wouldn't say that EMOROCO CRM Lite is the best fit for every company.

If your main objective is to acquire new customers through marketing automation (MA) and content SEO, HubSpot is the appropriate choice.
Salesforce is suitable if you have a large-scale global integration and a dedicated Salesforce administrator.
If you want to integrate various business applications other than CRM into a single platform, kintone can be a suitable option in some cases.

EMOROCO CRM Lite is most effective for companies that want to "deepen relationships with existing customers through data," "solve the little quirks that don't appear in feature comparison charts," and "create an organization where relationships continue even when the person in charge changes."

For companies that fit this purpose, we encourage you to try our 30-day free trial starting today.

The initial discovery of "what percentage of users are below 'Cool'" reveals the answer to "what CRM is truly necessary for our company," something that can never be found in a feature comparison chart.

Start your 30-day free trial here
Digitalization and AI Implementation Subsidy 2026 Compatible Tool Number: DL07-0022934
Product Info:https://www.emoroco.com/

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