What is a Membership CRM? — And why your sales CRM might not be working
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The difference could transform your organisation.
You’ve been wrestling with your CRM for months. Data feels scattered, member renewals slip through the cracks, and your team spends more time fighting the system than engaging with members.
The result? Frustrated teams, wasted resources, and disengaged members who don’t feel supported.
Many membership organisations find themselves struggling with tools that were never designed for their specific needs. The problem often starts with a simple misunderstanding: assuming that any CRM will do the job.
But here's what we've learned after working with hundreds of membership organisations: the type of CRM you choose fundamentally shapes your ability to build relationships with your members.
Let's explore why this matters—and how to choose the right platform for your organisation's growth.
The fundamental difference: Transactions vs relationships
At its core, the distinction between sales CRMs and membership CRMs comes down to purpose and timeframe.
Sales CRMs are built for pipelines. They're designed to guide prospects through a linear journey from initial contact to purchase. Think of it as a funnel: someone shows interest, moves through stages, and either converts or drops out.
Membership CRMs are built for ongoing relationships. They're designed to support members throughout their entire lifecycle—from initial joining through years of renewals, engagement, and evolving needs.
Here's a simple way to think about it: Sales CRMs ask "How do we convert this lead into a customer?" while membership CRMs ask "How do we support this member's success over the long term?"
The difference in approach affects everything from data structure to reporting capabilities.
How sales CRMs think about relationships
Sales-focused platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot excel at what they were designed for: managing prospects through a sales process.
These systems revolve around pipeline-driven workflows that focus on moving contacts towards conversion. Everything centres on deals and transactions, with lead scoring helping identify the most promising prospects.
For businesses selling products or services to new customers, this approach works brilliantly. But membership organisations operate differently.
Consider the Biochemical Society, a professional body for molecular biosciences.
They initially used a heavily customised Salesforce system that seemed logical for their needs, but quickly discovered the challenges of forcing membership workflows into sales-focused architecture.
How membership CRMs approach relationships
Membership-focused platforms, like sheepCRM, are built around a different philosophy: Building and maintaining relationships.
Instead of pipelines, these systems focus on member lifecycle management that tracks engagement from joining through to renewal. The data structure prioritises relationships over transactions, capturing member history, engagement and preferences as the foundation for everything else.
Engagement tracking helps identify members who need support or recognition, while retention and renewal metrics focus on long-term value rather than short-term conversions. Community-building tools facilitate member-to-member connections, recognising that peer relationships often drive member satisfaction as much as organisational services.
The result? A system that helps you build stronger, more valuable relationships over time.
Research shows that the median renewal rate for membership organisations is 85%, but this figure varies dramatically based on how well organisations manage member relationships and engagement.
When each type of CRM makes sense
Understanding when to use each approach can save you years of frustration and thousands in implementation costs.
Sales CRMs work best when you primarily sell products or services to new customers. If you have a clear, linear sales process with defined stages, focus on acquiring new business rather than retaining existing relationships, and measure success through conversion rates and deal values, a sales-focused platform will serve you well.
Think of a consultancy firm providing specialist services to clients.
They benefit from pipeline management and deal tracking capabilities because each interaction aims to close a specific contract or project. Success is measured by the value and volume of deals won, rather than the strength of an ongoing relationship.
Membership CRMs shine when you build ongoing relationships with members who renew annually.
Professional associations like BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International), trade bodies like the Music Industries Association, and sector organisations like the Ethical Tea Partnership all showcase this model.
They provide continuous value through services, content, or community access, need to track member engagement over time, and measure success through retention rates and member lifetime value.
These organisations require different tools and thinking because their success depends on nurturing relationships over years, not closing deals in weeks.
Common misconceptions about CRM choice
We regularly speak with organisations who've made assumptions about their CRM needs. Here are the most common misconceptions we encounter.
"We just need basic contacts and communications."
This thinking often leads organisations to choose generic CRM solutions that seem okay initially but become limiting as needs evolve. Even basic membership management involves complex relationship tracking that generic tools struggle to support effectively.
"A bigger, more expensive platform must be better."
Platforms like Salesforce or Hubspot are incredibly powerful—for what they were designed to do. But their complexity can become a barrier when your needs don't align with their core sales focus. The best CRM is the one that matches your specific operational model, not necessarily the most well-known brand.
"We can customise any CRM to fit our needs."
Heavy customisation can work, but it often creates more problems than it solves—particularly around maintenance, updates, and user adoption. Starting with a platform designed for your sector typically delivers better results with less effort and cost.
There is a cost of choosing wrong
The stakes of this decision are higher than many organisations realise. Research shows that 55% of CRM implementations fail to achieve their planned objectives, with 47% of failures caused by "lack of knowledge" about what the system should actually accomplish .
For membership organisations, the consequences are particularly severe. 32% of members don't renew simply because they forgot —a problem that proper membership CRM automation could eliminate entirely.
We've seen organisations spend months (sometimes years) trying to make the wrong type of CRM work for their needs.
The hidden costs include staff frustration from using systems that don't match their workflows, member experience problems when processes are clunky or disconnected, missed renewal opportunities due to inadequate tracking and follow-up, limited growth potential when systems can't scale with your membership model, and high customisation costs to force sales tools into membership roles.
Real-world transformation: From complexity to ease of use
The Biochemical Society's journey perfectly illustrates the difference between forcing a sales CRM into membership work versus using purpose-built tools like sheepCRM.
As a membership organisation serving molecular bioscientists, they initially relied on a heavily customised Salesforce system.
What seemed logical in theory became problematic in practice. Fields populated incorrectly, direct debits failed to fire, credit card payments malfunctioned, and the sign-up process became "horrendous," according to Lorraine Reese, their Associate Director.
“We needed a system that worked, our previous system had become unsustainable.
Since switching to sheepCRM, we’ve seen significant improvements. Payments are now processed smoothly, without any errors or unexpected charges. The registration process is much more user-friendly, and our staff can easily track payments.”
The transformation wasn't just technical—it was operational.
“Now, we can see everything we need to see when we need to see it. Our data is reliable, our processes are streamlined, and our members are happier. It’s like a breath of fresh air.”
Their experience demonstrates why starting with the right foundation matters more than trying to customise your way out of misalignment.
How sheepCRM supports membership success
sheepCRM was built specifically for organisations like yours—those who succeed through strong, long-term relationships rather than short-term transactions.
Our approach focuses on member lifecycle management that tracks each member's journey from initial interest through years of engagement and renewals. We prioritise relationship building by capturing and using member insights & preferences, communication history, and engagement patterns to personalise interactions.
Built-in tools help with retention and growth by tracking renewal rates, identifying at-risk members, and recognising your most engaged supporters. Community facilitation features help members connect with each other, not just with your organisation, while operational efficiency comes from workflows designed around membership operations rather than sales processes.
Take the Ethical Tea Partnership, a global membership organisation working to drive systemic change in the tea industry. Before sheepCRM, they relied on spreadsheets, Mailchimp, and manual processes.
“We were handling everything manually using spreadsheets, Mailchimp, and email - it was labour-intensive and resource-heavy”
The annual renewal process alone was consuming enormous resources.
“We would send members template documents to populate, and they would often have to circulate these internally before sending back to us. Since multiple people were involved in their organisations, we often received information in stages.”
After switching to sheepCRM, the transformation was immediate.
“Instead of relying on back-and-forth with emails, members now log in and can see exactly what they need to do. They can save their progress, log in and out as needed, and submit everything in one place. It’s a completely different experience.”
”Before, we had no idea how far along members were in the process - if they were working on it or had forgotten about it. Now, we can track progress in real time, which makes such a difference.”
Making the right choice for your organisation
Choosing between a sales CRM and membership CRM isn't just a technical decision—it's a strategic one that affects how your team works and how members experience your organisation.
The key questions centre on whether you primarily focus on acquiring new customers or supporting existing members, whether your member relationships are ongoing or primarily transactional, how important member retention is to your long-term success, whether members interact with your organisation in multiple ways over time, and whether your team needs to coordinate complex member services and communications.
Given that membership organisations typically see higher renewal rates when properly managed, and that retaining existing members costs significantly less than acquiring new ones, the choice often becomes clear: invest in systems designed for long-term relationship success rather than short-term transaction optimisation.
Your next step: Assess where you stand
Before making any CRM decision, it's worth taking stock of your current situation and future goals.
Consider how well your current system supports member renewals and retention:
Can your team easily track member engagement across different touchpoints?
Do you have visibility into which members are thriving and which need support?
How much time does your team spend on manual workarounds or duplicate data entry?
Are your reports helping you make better decisions about member success?
If you're finding gaps in these areas, you're not alone. The high failure rates of CRM implementations often stem from organisations trying to force the wrong tool into the right job, rather than starting with purpose-built solutions.
Ready to explore what's possible?
Understanding the difference between sales and membership CRMs is just the first step. The real question is: what would be possible if your CRM already understood and addressed the challenges of running and managing a membership?
The organisations we work with consistently report the same transformation: less time fighting systems, more time engaging members. Better data leading to smarter decisions. Automated processes that prevent important tasks from slipping through the cracks. Most importantly, stronger member relationships that drive better retention and sustainable growth.
Whether you're struggling with an existing system or exploring options for the first time, we'd love to help you think through your specific situation.
Take our free CRM health-check to assess how well your current system supports your membership goals, or book a discovery call to explore whether sheepCRM might be the right fit for your organisation.
Remember: the best CRM is the one that makes your team more effective at what they do best—building meaningful, lasting relationships with your members. In a world where member expectations continue to evolve, having the right systems & tools isn't just helpful—it's essential for long-term success.
Book a free discovery call with our team to explore how sheepCRM can support your membership organisation's unique needs. No pressure, just a conversation about what's possible.
