Press Release Author: Andrew Wallace, CRM Asia Solutions
Industry: Software
Press Release Summary: There are many reasons why a CRM project may be considered as a failure. These reasons differ from each person involved in the project: from the key stakeholders to the end user as each person has a very different perception of what a CRM system is, what it is there for and what the end result should be.
Press Release Body: An end user in a sales team who is trying to make his/her sales quota is not likely going to automatically understand the complex relationship between all of the elements of the CRM or the underlying business reasons for implementing the system in the first place. Indeed, there may even be resistance from end users who see a CRM as a kind of all-seeing CCTV camera, allowing managers to see what they get up to during the day. (God forbid that managers know what is really happening!) In truth, there are numerous reasons why CRMs fail but these can be mitigated with a certain amount of understanding of these reasons combined with a little sensible forward planning.
Problems can start right at the very beginning usually by senior management who want to implement a CRM with the best intentions in mind, but who do not fully understand what a CRM application is and what it can and cannot do or perhaps how much work is involved in implementing a CRM in for example a large organisation, which has its own business units, business managers, each with their own opinions, biases and sets of priorities. Sometimes key stakeholders may not even be involved at all, which is disastrous.
Lack of a communication between everyone involved in customer relationship management can also lead to an incomplete picture of the customer.
Poor understanding and even mistrust of 'Software as a Service (SaaS)' CRMs can lead to unnecessary implementations of on-site CRMs which can often be fraught with unseen technical challenges and costs.
When a CRM loses momentum, you can also expect to observe loss of user enthusiasm and buy in. For example, if the sales force isn\'t completely sold on the how the CRM system will benefit them and make their job easier, even more enjoyable, they may not feel the need to input the kind of demographic data that is essential to the program\'s success.
Other critical factors for user buy in is a quick 'time to value', this is where SaaS, or on demand CRMs such as Salesforce.com or Zoho CRM really come into their own. You can, with a little no how or minor level of consultancy, set up a CRM for an SMB in a matter of days. This is great for end users, who may have had to sit through numerous 'hype building' sessions and who just want to get started.
Other common reasons might be:
Key sponsors are not involved in the project
Unclear CRM requirements and priorities
Lack of focus - no CRM Roadmap
Metrics for success were not defined before or after the project
Unclear strategy to integrate with existing systems
IT control the CRM project
"Was that last bullet point a typo?" I hear you ask. No. Many organisational leaders assume CRM implementation is all about IT and complex technical challenges and are eager to pass a CRM implementation project to the company IT team or worse, the sole IT person within the company and charge them with the daunting task of implementing a CRM system which will likely involve numerous people across Sales, Marketing and Customer Support teams, all of different backgrounds and with different interests and immediate needs.
In fact, CRM implementation is more about people and processes, analysing and improving business rules, user psychology and even analyzing and improving social interaction; that is, interactions between internal teams and perhaps most importantly between internal teams and their customers.
Of course, a CRM project may well present considerable technical challenges, especially if being done on a large scale in a company or organisation which is well established and which has numerous existing systems which need to be integrated (such as ERP systems, Accounting Packages etc.). However, with a sensible and well thought out rollout plan, these high risk/difficult areas can be kept to minimum and/or phased in later once you have the key, low risk elements of the CRM in place for the people who most need them first:
Sales Marketing Support.
Who should 'own' a CRM project, if not IT?
There is a strong argument from numerous CRM implementers that the end users of a CRM should own the project. Why? Because a CRM is a user based application and deals with improving the way end users understand and interact with their customers. They really understand the key problems with the current methods/business process as they are the ones who perform the roles/processes, day in day out. IT, do not.
I have even seen IT teams actively resisting the most simple of user enhancement requests because they do not look at the human aspects of the CRM, only the technical ones. They have considered the enhancement request as 'silly' or unnecessary and have fought with the users about getting it implemented.
In my experience I have heard end users accuse IT teams (no offense here!) of seeing things in rather blinkered manner, thinking only of the technical elements and not of the human factor, of what they need. At the end of the day, humans prefer to interact with humans and end users can and do often come up with simple yet ingenious ideas to solve their problems which technical teams, detached from the whole process, may not see or may try for days or weeks to solve through a complex technical process.
The best CRM implementations I have done have been when the users are firmly buckled in the driving seat, with IT present in a support capacity. Care should be taken to present this to the relevant teams in the best way so no one loses face and so inter departmental harmony can be maintained allowing teams to focus positively on getting the project completed rather on who should be the owner. (See below about cultural sensitivity).
Should I use a CRM consultant?
There is no hard and fast rule for this of course, many companies implement a CRM entirely by themselves or allocate someone within the company to take on the role. One thing is sure though, a CRM Consultant can help you speed up your implementation and avoid common pit falls. A few qualities should be considered as desirable though, if not required, in whoever you choose to implement your CRM:
Your CRM implementer needs to be a good communicator, able to understand the requirements of the key stakeholders and of the end users. They need to be good with people, able to listen and record user needs, pain points and areas for improvement. With this in mind, it goes without saying that experience with structured requirements gathering techniques and Process/Systems Analysis and Design would also beneficial.
A CRM Implementation Project should be treated like any other project. The key person in charge should be able to demonstrate basic Project Management skills such as creating project plans and status reports, risk management etc. in order to structure the project effectively and keep it on track.
Obviously training is a key part of a CRM implementation project so your CRM Consultant or CRM implementer should be charismatic and able to conduct training sessions as well as prepare training materials as/if needed. Remember, it may be possible that some of your end users are not even that confident with computers, so they need to be educated in this area as well as CRM concepts and usage.
Constant reviews and improvements are also a key factor in maintaining a CRM, so users should be encouraged to make suggestions or submit ideas, again the role of the implementer should be seen as a motivator and someone who collates, prioritises and implements these ideas promoting user buy in, enthusiasm and overall morale at the same time.
There will always be a period of resistance or drops in enthusiasm, which is when it\'s up to the CRM Consultant (if there is one) / CRM implementer and, importantly, team managers (who need to lead by example) to encourage practice and participation by team members. This can also be combated by effective \'education\' and repeated training. Once people get past the initial \"not another IT system to learn\" syndrome, in my experience, they invariably start thinking \'how did I ever work without this?!\'
What about barriers in a cross cultural / multi language environment?
Most of us work in a multi cultural environment. Some of us even work in a multi language working environment overseas, as expatriate employees or foreign business owners. The chances are high that you have customers who are from multiple different countries. With this in mind, sensitivity to this fact and forethought and planning on how best to implement a CRM, to people who may not even be native speakers of your language, is especially important.
The key person in charge of the project should ideally be experienced in this sort of situation and sensitive to cross cultural/cross language communication and cultural differences. For example, direct/indirect approach, tone, body language, business culture, meetings, negotiations or conflict resolution. Sensitivity to these basic aspects of cross cultural communication can all make or break the ease of which the teams who will use the system buy in to it.
Summary: Key areas to successful CRM implementation
Develop a corporate 'CRM culture', involve key stakeholders
Outline a CRM strategy
Define your CRM objectives and prioritize CRM requirements
Develop a CRM roadmap and break the project into manageable pieces
Integrate your current systems
Research CRM vendors
Focus on your needs
Communicate with all people involved
Learn, be flexible, use the tool and evolve your business
2025
