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Software Requirements Builder (RFP Checklist)

Turn our category checklists into a printable requirements document you can send to vendors and compare answers side by side.

Requirements — set a priority for each
  • Contact & deal recordsOne timeline per contact and company with emails, calls, notes and deals in one place.
  • Visual pipelineDrag-and-drop deal stages with values and expected close dates.
  • Email & calendar syncTwo-way sync with Gmail or Outlook, plus email tracking and templates.
  • AutomationTask creation, follow-up reminders and sequences triggered by deal stage changes.
  • Reporting & forecastingPipeline value, win rates and activity reports your team will actually check.
  • Two-way email and calendar sync
  • Pipeline view that matches your sales stages
  • Automation available on the tier you can afford
  • Reporting your managers will actually use
  • Clean data export if you ever leave
Security & compliance to ask about
Vendors to send it to (up to 4)

Requirements checklist

CRM requirements

10 users

#RequirementPriorityHubSpot CRMZoho CRMSalesforce Sales Cloud
1Contact & deal recordsMust have
2Visual pipelineMust have
3Email & calendar syncMust have
4AutomationMust have
5Reporting & forecastingMust have
6Two-way email and calendar syncNice to have
7Pipeline view that matches your sales stagesNice to have
8Automation available on the tier you can affordNice to have
9Reporting your managers will actually useNice to have
10Clean data export if you ever leaveNice to have

Security & compliance

  • Multi-factor authentication: Can admins enforce MFA for every user, on every plan?
  • Single sign-on (SAML/OIDC): Is SSO included on the plan we are buying, or only on enterprise tiers?

Commercial questions

  • Does the plan auto-renew, and how many days’ notice do you need to cancel?
  • Is the advertised price for annual billing? What is the month-to-month price?
  • Is the first-year price a promotion? What will renewal cost, and is it capped?
  • Is there a minimum number of seats, or a charge for inactive users?
  • Are onboarding, implementation or premium-support fees extra?
  • How do we export all our data if we leave, and in what format?

Ask vendors to answer each line in writing (Yes / No / Paid add-on, with plan name). Research each option in our CRM Software reviews.

Pick the type of software you are buying, mark each feature as must-have, nice-to-have or not needed, add your own requirements and choose the security items to ask about. You get a one-page checklist with a blank answer column for each vendor — print it, save it as a PDF or copy it into an email.

How it works

  • Starting requirements = the key features and buying checklist from our category guide
  • Must-haves are listed first, then nice-to-haves; “not needed” items are left out
  • Security and commercial questions are the same prompts shown on every review

Defaults are illustrative examples, not benchmarks. Replace them with your own numbers. Prices from our reviews are indicative and dated.

Why write requirements down

Demos are designed to show a product at its best. A short written list of what you actually need — sent to every vendor in the same format — makes answers comparable and stops the most persuasive salesperson from setting the agenda.

You don’t need a formal procurement process. For most small businesses a single page with ten to twenty lines and a column per vendor is enough to expose the differences that matter.

How to use the result

  1. Mark only genuine deal-breakers as must-have — if everything is a must, nothing is.
  2. Send the same document to two to four vendors and ask for written answers, including which plan each feature needs.
  3. Score the answers, then trial the top one or two with real data before you sign.
  4. Keep the completed sheet: it is useful evidence if a promised feature later turns out to be a paid add-on.

Frequently asked questions

Is anything I type saved or sent?

No. The builder runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is stored on our servers, and nothing is sent to vendors — you choose what to share.

How do I make a PDF?

Choose “Print / save as PDF” and pick “Save as PDF” as the printer. Only the requirements document is printed, not the rest of the page.

Where do the starting requirements come from?

From the key features and buying checklist in our guide for that category. They are a starting point — edit priorities and add your own.

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