Most of us can't just break out the old toolset and dive into a project like rebuilding a car engine?  Why? Two reasons: 

1. You probably don't have the expertise to accomplish this task without messing up the engine even worse then where it started. 
2. Even if you did have the expertise, your standard garage toolset likely is not equipped with the tools needed to accomplish the task successfully and in a timely manner.

Everyone knows the old saying that if you only have a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.  I think that old addage applies to many of the behemoth CRM tools such as Salesforce.com.  They have a solid set of standard tools...a hammer, screwdriver, and maybe a pair of pliers and these work fine for tracking and organizing basic business processes.  But these systems struggle to deliver game changing results that will propel their clients to another level.  Why?  Because they focus on delivering the same basic solution to a PEO or Staffing company as they do to a cement company, law office, or multi-national jewlery retailer. 

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=74456&page=3

This is a great article on Salesforce.com's CEO.  Clearly Salesforce has been a leader in the revolution towards cloud computing and software that does not require significant infrastructure or IT personnel to maintain.  I envy the vision and determination of these types of leaders and their ability to translate that vision into explosive business growth. 

What I have found is that most companies have a level of sophistication and a unique way of doing things that makes them who they are.  Don't get me wrong, I am a big believer in "best practices" and not re-inventing the wheel at every turn.  But if all companies operated the same, virtually all products and services would be commodities.  I don't believe that is realistic nor do I think the world would be a very exciting place if it were true.

Successful companies take pride in their uniqueness and strive to continue to advance their competitive advantages.  Quite often, especially in the professional services market, it is their uniqueness that they sell to their prospects.  In a growing number of industries, a company's ability to effectively leverage technology is one of the primary drivers for it's success or failure. The PEO industry (co-employment) is definitely one of those that can heavily leverage technology to improve sales and service, streamline operations, and make better decisions. 

The PEO sales and service process is fairly complicated, at least compared to most industries.  Leading PEOs require a more focused set of software tools that can be integrated and molded to their unique processes.  These processes drive their ability to compete and to profitably serve a growing client base.  Filling the gaps with hard drives full of spreadsheets, word forms, PDFs, and custom DBMS apps will only take them so far. 

Buying a toolbox that includes tools to match the level of sophistication your business needs from a vendor that understands those needs will provide a return on investment instead of a investment to return (to the way it was before).  If you aren't able to clearly define the expected ROI from a new technology implementation or project, than it's probably not a good fit.  If you don't get a good feeling that your chosen vendor understands your needs, it's definitely not a good fit.

Let's face it, implementing Enterprise CRM software is a significant investment of time and money.  So make sure that the solution has worked for other businesses that are similar to yours and make sure that the software does not box you into their way of managing your business.