While building requirements and planning what can make the company more efficient and effective, it is important to remember that buy-in from the sales staff will bring the greatest productivity gains. If an interface is too complex, the features might not get used. If the feature set is too simplistic, the sales staff might miss information that they need to do their jobs. A win in the design process, therefore means not only providing them with the software that helps them do their job, but providing them also with a set of tools that they really enjoy using because they are easy to use and they see the value in using them.
Specifically, looking for features like calendar management, case management, and several levels of reminders, notes, and tasks, can help sales staff to integrate the new CRM into their existing workflow.