BUILD CRM SUCCESS STORY

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BUILD CRM SUCCESS STORY


One of the most important aspects of implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system is ensuring that it meets the expectations of a variety of audiences within your company. Top managers want to be sure they will get a positive return on their investment in this new system.


The information technology (IT) professionals want the system to work within the current technology platform and want to make sure they can fit this new system into their backlog of other projects. Your salespeople must be motivated and encouraged to use the system while trying to meet sales goals. More than 65% of CRM projects fail to meet expectations, so all of these concerns are valid. To make sure failure isn't the outcome of your hard work in building a CRM system, think through the consequences of the system from every angle. Here are some ways to do just that.


Start with a clean slate, as if you're designing and selecting your first system
Don't try to fit your current system to your new needs. If you do, you'll end up with quick fixes rather than true solutions. When designing your system, think about what will make the most difference in your organization. What's missing now? Are you looking for speed, ease of use or low maintenance costs?

CRM systems track sales contacts and potential sales schedule appointments and calls so they don't fall through the cracks, keep notes and print out reports.

They can also play a part in product development, targeting the right audience and shortening the sales cycle, and they can help your salespeople give dynamite presentations. Identify the most important of these features and priorities for your new system.

Write down exactly what you want your system to do for you

Write your list from the perspectives of everyone affected by the system -- salespeople, sales managers, the CEO and the IT department. Look at your sales processes as well as the technology.

Take time to put yourself in the shoes of people in your organization
In order to design your new system from the perspectives of everyone affected, you need to get their input. Live a day in the life of several of your salespeople. Go with them for a whole day, if possible. Watch them work. Ask questions.


Choose at least one sales star, someone who's been there a long time and one new salesperson. Do the same for your sales managers, regional managers, CEO, CIO, customer service people and telemarketing people. Ask them their ideas, and take them seriously. You may want to ask the following questions:
• what do you want the system to do for you that the current one doesn't do?

• what are the top three challenges you face in your work?

• what would make it easier for you to make money?

• what would make it easier for you to do your work?

• what are the top challenges your customers face?

Be as complete and detailed as you can. Then, after you've made your notes about their answers, call in your CRM team and compare notes. Only after you and your team have done your homework can you call in consulting and software companies for sales presentations. Getting everyone's perspectives is important also because you will be "selling" them the new system; software, consulting company and your implementation plan at some point. Sales are a major component in CRM system implementation and project management.


Often, the people doing the implementation and project management are not salespeople and have had little exposure to selling or selling skills. A successful implementation requires that many people agree to do things that are on your agenda; however, these things may not be on their agendas. Your job is to sell the system throughout its implementation.


A workshop, course or refresher in selling skills will give you tremendous payoffs as you go ahead with your new CRM system. Before you speak with them, list the reasons these same people won't want a new system. What will cause resistance? For example, a new system means change. People are usually more comfortable with the way things currently are, even though they can see in their minds that there may be better ways to do their work.

Identify the success criteria for the project

Define exactly what the system and the implementation will be measured on. For example, you might write:
• Do salespeople like and use the system?

• is management getting the reports they want?

• Are there increased sales? By how much? How will these happen?

• will there be more calls and more meetings?

Be careful here. "Increased sales" is too vague. To build success into your CRM implementation, you want to include specific, measurable goals. For example, you could decide one criterion should be "Sales should increase by XX% one year after implementation," or "Salespeople should contact twice as many people as they did last year."

Identify the project killers

List them so you will be more aware if these red flags appear. To carry through with our example, if salespeople liking and using the system is important, a project killer would be that the salespeople aren't using the system. There could be other project killers that aren't part of your success criteria, too: There might be interdepartmental synchronization problems (i.e., projects not done on time or according to plan).

Once you've designed your "ideal" system on paper, find out how other companies managed their projects

Learn from their experiences. Look for descriptions of successful projects. Look for companies in similar businesses or companies that have solved some of the challenges you want to solve with your system. Call them up and ask questions such as:

• what advice would they give as you start your project?

• what would they have done differently?


• what were their key reasons for selecting the system, software and consulting company?

• what were they most satisfied with?

• who did they include on their implementation team?
Ask to visit and see exactly how their systems work. Talk about their projects and how they made their decisions. Ask their advice.

Critical Success Factors

When properly implemented, CRM offers significant competitive advantages. Why, then, do 70% of these solutions fail? Broadly speaking, the failures of CRM can be linked directly to any of the following critical success factors:

Executive Sponsorship

Without executive sponsorship a CRM project will inevitably fail. Each of the constituents (Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, etc.) has an inherent belief that they are the most important department in the enterprise. Without a strong executive sponsor taking responsibility for the final sign-off of the completed system, the inevitable result is that strong-willed committee members will shake the final implementation to reflect their desires for their department or division.

Conceptual Model

The first step in any successful CRM implementation is to have senior representatives of each constituency in one room and have the executive sponsor or their designate construct a conceptual model of what the final outcome of the implementation should accomplish.

Budget

CRM is not inexpensive. However, nothing is more expensive in terms of time and money than a failed CRM system. A detailed cost-benefit analysis should be undertaken prior to the requirements gathering, and the implementation should be budgeted and funded prior to commencement.

The devil is in the details. If accurate requirements for all constituents of the CRM system are not analyzed and documented, a compromise will be reached that will satisfy nobody. This is one of the reasons that it is extremely important for the executive sponsor to describe the aforementioned conceptual model.


Data Mapping


The foundation of a CRM system is a relational database that contains customer information with multiple data elements that represent a 360-degree view of the customer. Therefore, it is essential to conduct an extensive data mapping exercise for all of the potential end-users of the system

.
Product Selection


Only after these prior critical success factors have been established can the selection of a product take place. In the world of CRM it is less important to find out whether a vendor has served 10 companies in your industry versus whether they have served 10 companies that have the same type of processes that you have.

User Buy-In and Testing


Typically, the enthusiasm level for a CRM solution will vary widely across an enterprise. It is key to involve the enthusiasts in each step of the development and testing, and to ask for their opinion and suggestions. It is important to remember that they know their department needs better than you do. Managing expectations is the key to acceptance.
Eventually the CRM solution, phase by phase, will be ready to roll out to the user community. Do it carefully and in a timely manner. Handling user resistance takes time and patience, but given in-depth planning, the correct personalities, and a flexible user-friendly system can ensure success.


One of the most important aspects of implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system is ensuring that it meets the expectations of a variet0 of audiences within your company. Top managers want to be sure they will get a positive return on their investment in this new system. The information technology (IT) professionals want the system to work within the current technology platform and want to make sure they can fit this new system into their backlog of other projects. Your salespeople must be motivated and encouraged to use the system while trying to meet sales goals.
 
BUILD CRM SUCCESS STORY


One of the most important aspects of implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system is ensuring that it meets the expectations of a variety of audiences within your company. Top managers want to be sure they will get a positive return on their investment in this new system.


The information technology (IT) professionals want the system to work within the current technology platform and want to make sure they can fit this new system into their backlog of other projects. Your salespeople must be motivated and encouraged to use the system while trying to meet sales goals. More than 65% of CRM projects fail to meet expectations, so all of these concerns are valid. To make sure failure isn't the outcome of your hard work in building a CRM system, think through the consequences of the system from every angle. Here are some ways to do just that.


Start with a clean slate, as if you're designing and selecting your first system
Don't try to fit your current system to your new needs. If you do, you'll end up with quick fixes rather than true solutions. When designing your system, think about what will make the most difference in your organization. What's missing now? Are you looking for speed, ease of use or low maintenance costs?

CRM systems track sales contacts and potential sales schedule appointments and calls so they don't fall through the cracks, keep notes and print out reports.

They can also play a part in product development, targeting the right audience and shortening the sales cycle, and they can help your salespeople give dynamite presentations. Identify the most important of these features and priorities for your new system.

Write down exactly what you want your system to do for you

Write your list from the perspectives of everyone affected by the system -- salespeople, sales managers, the CEO and the IT department. Look at your sales processes as well as the technology.

Take time to put yourself in the shoes of people in your organization
In order to design your new system from the perspectives of everyone affected, you need to get their input. Live a day in the life of several of your salespeople. Go with them for a whole day, if possible. Watch them work. Ask questions.


Choose at least one sales star, someone who's been there a long time and one new salesperson. Do the same for your sales managers, regional managers, CEO, CIO, customer service people and telemarketing people. Ask them their ideas, and take them seriously. You may want to ask the following questions:
• what do you want the system to do for you that the current one doesn't do?

• what are the top three challenges you face in your work?

• what would make it easier for you to make money?

• what would make it easier for you to do your work?

• what are the top challenges your customers face?

Be as complete and detailed as you can. Then, after you've made your notes about their answers, call in your CRM team and compare notes. Only after you and your team have done your homework can you call in consulting and software companies for sales presentations. Getting everyone's perspectives is important also because you will be "selling" them the new system; software, consulting company and your implementation plan at some point. Sales are a major component in CRM system implementation and project management.


Often, the people doing the implementation and project management are not salespeople and have had little exposure to selling or selling skills. A successful implementation requires that many people agree to do things that are on your agenda; however, these things may not be on their agendas. Your job is to sell the system throughout its implementation.


A workshop, course or refresher in selling skills will give you tremendous payoffs as you go ahead with your new CRM system. Before you speak with them, list the reasons these same people won't want a new system. What will cause resistance? For example, a new system means change. People are usually more comfortable with the way things currently are, even though they can see in their minds that there may be better ways to do their work.

Identify the success criteria for the project

Define exactly what the system and the implementation will be measured on. For example, you might write:
• Do salespeople like and use the system?

• is management getting the reports they want?

• Are there increased sales? By how much? How will these happen?

• will there be more calls and more meetings?

Be careful here. "Increased sales" is too vague. To build success into your CRM implementation, you want to include specific, measurable goals. For example, you could decide one criterion should be "Sales should increase by XX% one year after implementation," or "Salespeople should contact twice as many people as they did last year."

Identify the project killers

List them so you will be more aware if these red flags appear. To carry through with our example, if salespeople liking and using the system is important, a project killer would be that the salespeople aren't using the system. There could be other project killers that aren't part of your success criteria, too: There might be interdepartmental synchronization problems (i.e., projects not done on time or according to plan).

Once you've designed your "ideal" system on paper, find out how other companies managed their projects

Learn from their experiences. Look for descriptions of successful projects. Look for companies in similar businesses or companies that have solved some of the challenges you want to solve with your system. Call them up and ask questions such as:

• what advice would they give as you start your project?

• what would they have done differently?


• what were their key reasons for selecting the system, software and consulting company?

• what were they most satisfied with?

• who did they include on their implementation team?
Ask to visit and see exactly how their systems work. Talk about their projects and how they made their decisions. Ask their advice.

Critical Success Factors

When properly implemented, CRM offers significant competitive advantages. Why, then, do 70% of these solutions fail? Broadly speaking, the failures of CRM can be linked directly to any of the following critical success factors:

Executive Sponsorship

Without executive sponsorship a CRM project will inevitably fail. Each of the constituents (Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, etc.) has an inherent belief that they are the most important department in the enterprise. Without a strong executive sponsor taking responsibility for the final sign-off of the completed system, the inevitable result is that strong-willed committee members will shake the final implementation to reflect their desires for their department or division.

Conceptual Model

The first step in any successful CRM implementation is to have senior representatives of each constituency in one room and have the executive sponsor or their designate construct a conceptual model of what the final outcome of the implementation should accomplish.

Budget

CRM is not inexpensive. However, nothing is more expensive in terms of time and money than a failed CRM system. A detailed cost-benefit analysis should be undertaken prior to the requirements gathering, and the implementation should be budgeted and funded prior to commencement.

The devil is in the details. If accurate requirements for all constituents of the CRM system are not analyzed and documented, a compromise will be reached that will satisfy nobody. This is one of the reasons that it is extremely important for the executive sponsor to describe the aforementioned conceptual model.


Data Mapping


The foundation of a CRM system is a relational database that contains customer information with multiple data elements that represent a 360-degree view of the customer. Therefore, it is essential to conduct an extensive data mapping exercise for all of the potential end-users of the system

.
Product Selection


Only after these prior critical success factors have been established can the selection of a product take place. In the world of CRM it is less important to find out whether a vendor has served 10 companies in your industry versus whether they have served 10 companies that have the same type of processes that you have.

User Buy-In and Testing


Typically, the enthusiasm level for a CRM solution will vary widely across an enterprise. It is key to involve the enthusiasts in each step of the development and testing, and to ask for their opinion and suggestions. It is important to remember that they know their department needs better than you do. Managing expectations is the key to acceptance.
Eventually the CRM solution, phase by phase, will be ready to roll out to the user community. Do it carefully and in a timely manner. Handling user resistance takes time and patience, but given in-depth planning, the correct personalities, and a flexible user-friendly system can ensure success.


One of the most important aspects of implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system is ensuring that it meets the expectations of a variet0 of audiences within your company. Top managers want to be sure they will get a positive return on their investment in this new system. The information technology (IT) professionals want the system to work within the current technology platform and want to make sure they can fit this new system into their backlog of other projects. Your salespeople must be motivated and encouraged to use the system while trying to meet sales goals.

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