Imagine your car is having some engine issues.
You go ahead and call your neighborhood mechanic, Jim—a small independently owned shop you’ve worked with before.
You: “Hey, it’s me again. My car is running real rough. Any chance you can have a look this week?”
Mechanic, Jim: “Of course! Remind me, is this the Pontiac we replaced the alternator on last year? Bring it in, and we’ll figure it out.Let me take a first look in between my other appointments and we’ll go from there.”
They remember you, know your history, and get to work checking the spark plugs.
Now, picture the same problem, but this time you’re dealing with a big name dealership service center:
You: “Hi, my car is not running normal. The engine vibrates a lot.”
Receptionist: “Can I get your VIN number and customer ID?”
(After providing that…)
Receptionist: “Thanks. Let me transfer you to the service scheduling department.”
(10 minutes later…)
Service Scheduler: “Our next available appointment is next Tuesday. Can you drop the car off for diagnostics?”
You: Can I just get someone to take a quick look—it might just be a spark plug.”
Service Scheduler: “Unfortunately, we don’t do walk-ins, and diagnostics require a full-day drop-off.”
You’re stuck waiting, following their system, and wondering if you’ll ever get your car looked at before your week is ruined.
Frustrating, isn’t it?
Here’s the deal:
With a CiviCRM shop, it’s like working with that trusted local mechanic down the street—someone who knows you, your history and your goals.
The dealership? Well, they have their “one size fits all” process, their forms to fill out, rigid timelines and treating you like a number rather than a person.
When it comes to getting good answers fast for your mission-critical CRM, which would you rather have: a trusted partner who knows your needs or a distant consultant in a big tech company that hardly remembers who you are?
Worse yet, you might not have access to a dedicated support person. Those cost more, so you’re on the more affordable plan. And if you do, they’ll probably be re-assigned or want to climb the ladder for another opportunity — because loyalty between a big tech employer and employee just isn’t of this world anymore.
Worse yet, it might just be a general helpdesk queue from support over in India. Basic how to mechanical help that Google or ChatGPT could get you. Not much context for the “why”, which is the most important question of all in your decision process.
Worst yet, the big tech company may want to reduce headcount to “improve their bottom-line” and “competitiveness” so they’ve embraced AI and automated it now thru AI chatbots.
Now contrast this to your preferred CiviCRM partner. They’re all small in the sense of the people powering it.
The CiviCRM partner listing is broken down into a) agencies, b) implementors and c) professionals. At the largest size, agencies, there may be around 20 or so people total.
You’ll be working closely with a project manager and CiviCRM consultant and there might be a maximum of 3-5 working on your project. And from the smaller CiviCRM professionals, you might just have consultant like me at the end of the phone line, or more likely, a Zoom session.
Specialization AND the absence of hierarchy allows for nimble, responsive and personalized support that is an extension of your team. And that’s just one key benefit of working in open source: the decentralized nature of it so you can get human support that cares.