Educational Blog: Q.What to do before an enterprise-wide crm implementation

Q.What to do before an enterprise-wide crm implementation

Implementing a CRM application can be a challenging project for organizations with multiple large complex departments. Rolling out a solution that caters to your development, marketing, program, and HR departments requires understanding the different strategies, processes, and products across these teams.

Sales force CRM encompasses the people, processes, and applications that enable organizations to manage their customer relationships. A successful implementation needs a holistic approach that aligns staff training and changes in business processes with customer needs through thoughtful planning.

A well thought out implementation plan for an enterprise-wide CRM can impact organizations by helping them:

· Better understand their customers

· Reduce the total cost of ownership

· Better position themselves for future shifts in strategy or changes in regulations or customer needs

· Increase the likelihood of a successful strategy implementation

· Better governance of IT services

Why Organizations Fail to Maximize the Value from CRM Implementations

Technology itself will not solve all your organization’s pain points. A well thought-out implementation of a strategic solution could, however, deliver a high business value in a complex environment. When a CRM implementation lacks the clarity and depth it could end up as a shelf-ware that is not updated or adopted by end users. Technology is just a tool to implement your strategy. It is not a silver bullet.

Another very common problem is the lack of budget alignment between the cost of the technology and the cost of the changes needed to support the business’ processes. This is normally a result of a misaligned operational enforcement of the enterprise vision.

Doing it Right

You'll have a positive return on investment from the enterprise-wide implementation through a planned CRM approach that is constantly evaluated. An assessment of the organization's CRM strategy, staffing, processes, and technology will help you identify the relevant approach, resources, and tools to put in place to champion a successful implementation. The value is achieving consistent processes, cross departmental coordination, and even driving organizational innovation.

Q.Importance of a CRM Vision. ...

A truly successful CRM system is more than just the technology that drives it. It is a combination of clearly defined strategies connected to specific goals that are delivered by the most effective tools available.

The CRM vision and roadmap serve several functions:

They are an Opportunity to define how the organization plans to utilize the CRM system
They are a Process for collaborating on and socializing the CRM opportunity
They define a practical Plan for achieving the CRM vision

3 Factors in Defining your CRM Vision

1. Understand the “Why”

You need to have an idea of what your current state is in order to define your vision for your future state. With a good understanding of that, you will then know the WHY.

Why are we implementing CRM? — What problems are we addressing? — What are our business drivers?

Here are ten examples of “Why CRM”. How many of these are a current challenge in your business?

· System Consolidation:

· Data Standardization:

· Data Integrity:

· Analytics:

· Collaboration:

· Productivity and Efficiency:

· No clear view of customer relationship or journey:

· Forecast Accuracy:

· Lead Management Strategy:

· Stay Competitive:

2. Don’t focus on technology:

A crucial point here is that you should not be focused at all on the technology but 100% focused on your business needs and problems. You may or may not know what the technology is. If you don’t know…don’t concern yourself with it; if you do know, do this step independent of the system and any known features, etc.

If you focus on the technology and ‘what it can do for you’ you will miss out.

3. Stay aligned with your vision:
The importance of defining your vision is to provide a ‘north star’ to guide you in all other steps (selecting a partner, implementation, training, user adoption, etc)…we all know it can be easy to get off track.

In those moments, you can easily get back on track be re-aligning with your vision. Is what we are discussing/spending time on, etc. relate to our vision?

Q.Factors to consider with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Implementation

The success or failure of implementing Microsoft Dynamics CRM is not hinged on one thing. It is a well-balanced mixture of business strategies, technology, budgets, change management issues, training, employee buy-in and so much more. Many organizations begin the implementation process with the idea that they are improving the technology, with little thought on how they will be improving business processes.

All of these moving variables need to be seamlessly balanced and managed for an organization to have a successful and effective lifetime adoption. Below I have pinpointed a few key points to keep in mind while planning and implementing your CRM:

Executive buy-in:An Executive buy-in is more than a “yes” to the implementation. It is a culture that is spoken, visible, and passed down throughout the organization. It is the executive level showing their investment with the not only the implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM but the evolving life cycle of this dynamic tool.

Liaisons by department: It is critical to understand that liaisons are a piece to the puzzle. Having liaisons that know their department’s processes and procedures as well as a good understanding of their impact throughout the organization are key. That knowledge along with the 360 degree view Microsoft Dynamics CRM is providing is what allows other departments to gage workloads and determine when and what role they need to fulfill in meeting and exceeding the customers’ expectations.
Business strategy first, technology second: So often now companies want to be the leader, thinking the way to do that is with latest cool technology gadgets and toys. In this case, it can be more detrimental to your company and your employees if you put the technology in place without having clearly defined strategies and processes in place.

Build a roadmap for phase implementation: During the initial stages of designing everyone agrees that the project needs to be done in phases and there is clearly a defined goal for the initial implementation. However, as you start working through your processes and you are getting feedback from liaisons and employees that initial phase starts to become a little less clear. Statements like “this is minor so we are just going to include this” or moving from an out-of-the-box implementation to “if we have development do this” start to derail your project and budget.

Defining data for the new database: There are two parts to this critical piece of the implementation. One being a clear definition of not only what data will be imported but how far back. The second is scrubbing the data so that you are importing only clean data. The benefit of an implementation is having clean data for your company to work with. Cleaning up those data anomalies that occurred due to restrictions or requirements in the old system. While there may be some grumbling of not having all the historical data in one location you will see more accurate reporting and processing.
Training: This is one of the leading factors of user adoption for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. How often do you hear that “we are moving to a new platform because our current one was not a success and we have departments that just won’t use it”? Many follow the old rule of training right before implementing.

Q. Challenges in CRM Implementation

Implementing a CRM solution unquestionably is an excellent way to show how much you value your customers and put customer service on topmost priority. CRM plays a pivotal role to collaborate between customer service, marketing and sales in a company. In fact, salespeople are the ones at the receiving end when it comes to reaping the core benefits of a CRM software.

Challenges:

Cost

One of the greatest challenges businesses face when implementing a CRM solution is cost. Yes, it might turn out as a costly affair if done in haste and without a robust planning. Here, it is advisable to decide as why your business needs a CRM. This should give out a clear picture about the type of CRM system and implementation techniques required eventually helping to set a budget for the same.

Set Clear Objectives

Defining clear objectives that a business intends to achieve with the system is one of the secrets for a smooth and successful CRM implementation. Further, it is advisable to work towards making these objectives as measurable metrics. Failing to do so might make it difficult to evaluate the ROI or core benefits of the system.

Deployment Type

This is all about on-premise vs. cloud! A perfect escape plan here is to compare the set budget vs. the total cost of ownership that should include cost for all the resources required, maintenance, upgrades, infrastructure, etc. Form a dedicated CRM team within the organization including people from top management, IT department, senior executives, customer support and end-users to discuss about their daily struggles, reasons leading to inefficiencies in their work, suggestions to boost productivity, etc. This should give a good picture about the type of deployment type best suited for your business.

Training

Another widely encountered challenge during CRM implementation is the company-wide training it summons up. This calls for involving all the potential users right from the early stages it. In fact, if possible it is good to involve all the would-be users of the system right from the decision-making process.

Plan out Integration Needs in Advance

Integrating CRM system with other business management solutions such as ERP, payroll, etc. tops the ‘wish list’ for most of the businesses opting for CRM solution. Nonetheless, it is advisable to plan integration needs if any well beforehand to avoid CRM implementation overkill and information overload to your employees. A smart thing here is to plan a phase 2 for integration needs post company-wide adoption of the CRM system.

Hire the Right CRM Solution Provider

Roping in the right CRM solution provider or partner is the crux for successful implementation. Preferably, go with a partner that helps in both implementation as well as pre-implementation strategy. Moreover, it is imperative that your partner puts down all the implementation risks on the table well before you sign on the dotted line.

Q.Steps To A Successful CRM Implementation

Let’s have a look at the steps which can guide you through a successful CRM implementation:

Step 1: Identify why you need a CRM and what you expect from it.

The foremost step is to understand why your enterprise needs a CRM system. Start off by identifying the areas you need to improve and the problems that requires attention. You need to have a vision which syncs with the definitive goals of your business. Once you decide on the goals of your CRM implementation, share it with everyone in the team to ensure all are on the same page and moving on the same lines to achieve the goals.

Step 2: Find a suitable CRM vendor for your organization.

You will get many options in terms of vendors offering CRM and will need to explore a bit to be able to find the right CRM system for your business as it will largely affect the implementation. The strength of the vendor’s product is to be judged along with the vendor’s experience in the respective market. Along with, you will need to consider factors like the knowledge and experience their employees possess, their experience in working for enterprises similar to yours, and the corporate vision of the vendor. You can also dig into some of their previous clients’ reviews to know about the service quality of the vendor.

Step 3: Develop a budget

You need to develop a realistic budget which you can use for the expenses related to the implementations process. It’s very important that you remain very clear about your resources with your CRM partner so that they can plan according to your investment. Balance your budget so that you do not compromise on the implementation. Go for ‘value for money’. An effective CRM implementation can significantly lead to higher conversions while if the implementation goes wrong, you might have to re-invent the wheel.

Step 4: Identify which departments and staff will handle the process and train them accordingly.

It is one of the most important steps which organizations often ignore, leading to serious user adoption issues. To make sure that you are following the best practices in the process, select two key members and make them a part of the project team. You will require their feedback throughout the implementation process as well. Make them a part of the demo and feedback sessions and take actions on what they have to say.

Step 5: Draw a blueprint on how you need to progress with the CRM.

You need to have a step by step road map on how you want to move with the CRM implementation. You can’t implement it and expect it to give you a 360 degree view of your customers immediately. The process is gradual and you can see the results eventually. You have to come up with a practical and realistic way to achieve it over a period of time, which can’t be precise. Your vendor can guide you and your team through this to make you understand the tactics that leads to an effective execution of a CRM system.

Step 6: Ensure equal participation from business and IT

Like Enterprise Resource Planning, a successful CRM is never just an IT program. So if you just run it as such, it’s going to fail big time. A successful CRM demands equal participation from the business as well. You can create a Center of Excellence (COE) to maintain this teamwork. An effective COE can play a key role in the success of this collaboration and ultimately leads to a successful CRM implementation.

Q.Upgrades and change management

ERP upgrades are more than just technical operations. Just like a brand-new implementation, an ERP upgrade project can bring major changes to a manufacturer's business processes and to the daily lives of workers. So an effectiveupgrade plan should include organizational change management as a key component.

5 Reasons Companies Upgrade Their Old CRM System (Instead of Buying a New One)

Many companies choose to perform a CRM upgrade of their existing, legacy contact manager or CRM system rather than switching to a new system.

The upgrade of an existing system is sometimes needed to support newer versions of operating systems and office suites. Companies also upgrade in order to take advantage of new features and functionality provided by the vendor.

A CRM Upgrade vs. a New CRM Solution

On the other hand, moving to a new CRM system can actually mean the end of sometimes costly upgrades, as multi-tenant, hosted solutions are transparently upgraded in background by their vendors.

For companies that are currently using a client/server solution, a new CRM system means easier, browser-based access, which eliminates a lot of IT support time. Finally, the more robust database functionality of newer CRM systems can allow for managing business processes more efficiently and even incorporating more business process automation into the CRM realm.

Familiarity

Even if end users aren’t fully enamored with the current system, they are trained on it and are used to how it works. The administrator knows how to manage the application and support users. A CRM upgrade means staying with familiar functionality, whereas there are unknowns with moving to a new system. For a new CRM system, there’s both training and change management to consider.

Lack of Research Time

Many people involved with CRM decisions may simply not take the time from their busy workday to look into alternatives to their current system. With a lot of time pressures in today’s corporate environment, staying with the existing system is often perceived as the easier decision. The CRM buying process takes time and effort.

Existing Integrations

When a contact manager or CRM system has been in place for many years, it may have one or more integrations to legacy systems. It may also be tied with a number of third party tools, such as quotation software. Switching to a new system usually means rebuilding those integrations and/or finding substitutes for add-on products that work in conjunction with the legacy system.

New Subscription or Software Costs

There’s usually a higher short term cost to switching to a new CRM system rather than staying with an existing contact manager or CRM solution. While the only licensing cost for an existing system may be an annual software maintenance and technical support fee, moving to a new system may mean a higher, annual fee or an upfront cost for purchased software.

Data Migration

Performing a CRM upgrade vs. changing to a new system means that there’s no data to migrate. An upgrade is mainly at the application level — the data structure stays more or less the same, with the exception of some added system tables and fields. Migrating data to a new CRM system can be one of the more expensive pieces of switching, as data needs to be cleaned up, transformed and often normalized.

CRM change management: marketing a new system to staff members

Change management is an important and sometimes difficult component of business operations. Changes large and small inevitably appear for companies, and getting employees to accept and work with those changes is crucial to continued success. There are a number of reasons why staff members don't like change, from personality type to the fact that a major alteration to business practices means spending extra time training.

Utilize existing sales skills
One unique tool that the sales-based businesses which favor CRM have is their background in presenting concepts to clients and closing deals based on effective communication. In other words, the leaders of such a company can use their sales skills to help develop acceptance of the change. The sales staff who are members of the implementation team, as well as the senior leaders who encouraged the selection of the new system, can use their sales skills to highlight the most positive features of a new system and promote its use at the company. Just as salespeople hear rebuttals from customers and then provide counter-arguments, they can do the same when employees provide objections about a new CRM system.

Get early adopters and product champions involved
The CRM Software Blog suggested using the product champion - the high-level staff member who has been involved with the implementation from the start - to help employees accept the changeover to a new system. The champion can give company-wide and team-specific presentations to address both general goals and specific changes that will occur. The department-level meetings are a great opportunity to address questions and concerns from individual staff members with positive responses, encouraging all of the employees attending the meeting.

Provide ongoing support
While employee resistance to change can be addressed for the most part during the implementation phase and the weeks leading up to the new system's go-live date, there will likely be some residual pushback after the new CRM platform is in place. Staff members may find unexpected challenges or realize the scope of new skills they're supposed to develop only after they're supposed to be comfortable with the new system.

Q. Pitfalls to Avoid During CRM Implementation

C-levels and managers are usually the first to understand the value that comes from having a unified customer view. They’ve developed ways to manage customer relationships by using Rolodexes, spreadsheets, or a pen and paper.

Enter CRM systems.

Using a Rolodex or a spreadsheet to manage customer relationships often lacked the strategy needed to build long-term relationships. When CRM systems were introduced, they provided businesses with a long-term strategy to proactively engage and manage customer relationships, close more deals and automate recurring tasks.

One common misinterpretation of a CRM system implementation is that it’s seen as a one-time event and that upon purchasing the software license, all broken sales processes, lost leads and lack of follow through will be repaired.

Here are 5 pitfalls you can avoid while developing your CRM strategy.

1. Failure to See the Problem
Recognizing you have a problem is the first step. CRM strategy starts before you choose the right CRM system.

How do you manage all of the touch points your potential customer has with your business?
How much time do you waste sifting through emails, call records and the scribbles in your notepad trying to remember when you last spoke to a customer?
Who is in your sales pipeline and how much revenue can you expect next month?

2. Failure to buy in to the value of CRM
Communication is key (when is it not?) in this situation. As a C-level exec or manager, make sure that you understand the value a CRM system has for your business. Once you understand this value, communicate the big picture and the value to everyone in your organization.

Help your team buy into the value of CRM by answering these questions:

How does a CRM system support our business growth strategy?
How will a CRM system provide value to a) each team and b) the entire organization?
How will a CRM system provide context to each of your existing processes?

3. Failure to Communicate Goals Before Implementation
Transitions open a door for misunderstandings, frustrations and loss of motivation. As a C-level exec or manager, set expectations from the beginning. Even if your goals are a bit unclear at the moment, give your team an idea of where you want to go and how the CRM system is going to be a process to get you there. Again, a CRM system is an ongoing strategy to help your team close more deals, so your business can grow.

Keep your team motivated by answering these questions:

Why are you implementing a CRM system?
How does the upper management team expect CRM to support individual roles?
What processes are already in place and how can a CRM system provide context to these processes?

4. Failure to Have Ongoing Executive Support
Don’t be the executive that has one meeting with your staff and then disappears. Be present and involved in the integration process. Your employees trust you (if they don’t, then make sure you read this post on how to build trust in your team.) Be proactive in keeping your team accountable for integrating their processes with your CRM system.

Keep your team in the know by:

Regularly communicating how your employees are integrating CRM into their processes
Scheduling individual meetings with employees and ask for their input on improving existing processes with the CRM system
Holding your team leaders accountable for supporting your long-term strategy through integration of your CRM system

5. Failure to have a Strategy in Place
Maybe you’ve deployed your CRM system and can check off all the important items. You’ve created roles and profiles, migrated the correct data, setup workflow automation, put web forms on your website, setup lead assignment rules and scheduled your sales pipeline reports. Answering these questions will help make your strategy a long-term process:

How will your CRM system support your current sales, marketing and customer support processes?
How will your sales team be held accountable for updating data on a regular basis?
How will new employees be trained on your CRM system?
What ongoing CRM training will you make available to your team?

Q. CRM performance measurement

The Purpose for CRM Measurement the reasons companies measure customers is obvious. In order to manage effectively, one must measure. Businesses have long since measured financial performance with traditional financial measurement tools: profit and loss statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements.

Enhancing customer experience is always a challenge. In order to enhance business performance, organizations have to expand their customer base.But how would one measure the effectiveness of CRM for an organization? Below are some criteria that can be applied:

1. Increase in customer retention

2. Increase in orders per customer per year

3. Increase in average spending per order or visit

4. Increase in cross sales

5. Increase in up sales

6. Increase in reactivation of previous customer

7. Increase in referrals of new customers by existing customers

8. Achieving each of the above while keeping increased costs (required to make them happen) from offsetting the increased sale

Certainly, all this data can be collected over the years and a trend can be identified to measure the effectiveness of the implemented CRM program. Perhaps other parameters such as increased order per customer, number of orders per year, defections etc. could add to it.

But will all these parameters really ‘measure’ the effectiveness of CRM in an organization?

1. Customer Expectations

2. Perceptions

3. Emotions

4. Customer History

5. Belief

6. Communication