4 ways to ensure your CRM system doesn’t fail
By Paul Pitman, Solutions Architect at Collier Pickard (Maximizer Elite Certified Solution Partner)
CRM can be a costly and time-consuming endeavour. But it’s one that, if successful, can increase your business’ revenues by between 5 and 15% according to research organisations such as Aberdeen, Forrester and Gartner. If it isn’t successful though, then you’ve wasted a lot of time, money and effort for no return.
As an independent CRM consultancy and a Maximizer Elite Certified Solution Provider, Collier Pickard is often selected as a partner of choice by businesses struggling to repair CRM systems before they fail completely. Although the reasons why the CRM systems are failing will be different from organisation to organisation, they can be grouped together into four key areas:
1. The CRM system is not used or maintained by anyone in the organisation
2. The project sponsor who acted as the driving force behind the original implementation of CRM has moved on to pastures new
3. Users within the organisation want to use the CRM system, but are let down by the technology itself
4. The CRM system does not deliver all of the functions required
Whilst a simple solution to any of these problems may not be available for your organisation there are some key tips that may help you get your CRM system back on track. Let’s address each of the four areas in turn:
The CRM system is not used or maintained by anyone in the organisation
Most people probably don’t set off to work in the morning intending to fight the system… hopefully. But if your users aren’t making use of your CRM solution it’s important to try to find out why. Simply prodding and berating staff into using CRM is unlikely to have the desired effect.
In our experience, a lack of management support for CRM is often the root cause of this issue. If users feel that their hard work updating and maintaining CRM is not appreciated or utilised by top brass then they’ll abandon their efforts in short order. If the management in your organisation refuse to use the CRM system themselves, or still insist on seeing reports in Microsoft Word or Excel then they really shouldn’t expect to reap the benefits that CRM can bring. The leaders need to lead by example! Everyone in the organisation must be committed to using CRM for it to stand a chance of success.
The project sponsor or driving force has moved on
It’s not uncommon for changes in management to signal changes in CRM systems. Users who were experienced and happy with an existing CRM system may struggle to adapt to the new approaches and requirements found in a new solution. Users who are struggling with the current system can now legitimise their lack of attention to CRM by referencing the upcoming change.
The solution to our first point applies here to. Management must lead the way.
Will replacing your CRM solution cost more than the original implementation? How will you migrate data from one system to another? Is the data even of a good enough standard to warrant migration?
Whilst these questions may not change the decision to replace a CRM system they may well assist in developing a more precise approach to the project.
Finally, try to identify the driving force behind the CRM system. At Collier Pickard, we frequently find that committed sales administrators and marketing assistants are behind the success of CRM systems.
Users are let down by technology
The most common issues here are connected to speed and ease of access to the CRM system. The software developers themselves haven’t set out to produce a bad platform so the issues are unlikely to be related to buggy software, but if your users can’t access the system whenever and wherever they are then you have a problem. As soon as your users start resorting to other methods to capture data your CRM system is in trouble.
By making sure your CRM solution can be accessed anytime, anywhere, you are taking a step in the right direction for your CRM project.
The CRM system doesn’t deliver all the required functions
Changes in management or reporting requirements or more fundamental changes in the business might be responsible for this. Typically this issue first appears as a potential Business Intelligence requirement. The organisation decides that it needs to integrate all of the systems that surround CRM – from quote creation, to web store integration, to accounts. Requirements that weren’t anticipated in the original CRM project spec create additional silos of data outside of the core CRM system. Without intervention at this point, the organisation will rapidly lose its ability to identify the “single view” of the customer that CRM promised to deliver.
Forewarned is forearmed so keep these points in mind when reviewing your CRM solution. Remember that prevention is better than cure!
