Elements of a Successful CRM Software Implementation
1. Readiness
CRM success does not just happen.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software creates a central repository for all customer-facing activities, from marketing to sales to customer service/support. The benefits of having this single view of the customer are many, yet certainly different from one company to the next. Company A may benefit from having its sales force know about a pending support issue or shipment delay. Company B may benefit from being able to drive sales from consistent marketing activities to target prospects. Company C may benefit from establishing a consistent and reliable forecasting system. Companies that have never had an enterprise-wide system for managing prospect and customer information will need to focus on several issues prior to software selection and implementation.
Some of these “readiness” issues include:
• Measurements of success
o An investment in CRM is made to achieve specific goals that
are both measurable and attainable. Some of these goals may be revenue related, but many could be unit-based, or related to customer satisfaction. Some examples include:
! Increase average deal size to over $100,000
! Maintain a close ratio of 60%
! Resolve 90% of customer service issues on the first call
• Executive Sponsorship
o CRM applications, even more than Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP: accounting, distribution, manufacturing)
applications, affect multiple and sometimes distant departments across the entire company. For this reason, and because
o Organizational commitment is also needed from the executive
level through mid-level management to front-line staff.
• Process
o Unlike ERP implementations, where processes such as
Accounts Payable, Order Entry, and Manufacturing are well defined, sales and marketing processes are sometimes ad hoc. There are “eagle” sales reps who consistently outperform their peers, for example. Is the reason luck, or perhaps the process that the eagle rep performs is different? With a CRM system, processes will need to be consistent, because they will be built into the CRM system. Some examples of processes to be examined would include:
! Marketing
• Campaign management
• Lead qualification
• Lead distribution
• Channel (third party distributor/sales) issues
! Sales • Sales process • Sales methodology • Territories • Forecast process • Forecast methodology ! Service • Service process • Escalation procedures • Organizational
o All departments that are part of the CRM effort should be
involved in the buying process, from requirements definition through to selection and implementation. Key players in each department need to be leaders for their peers.
2. Making a Plan
The ultimate goal of the software selection process is to make an appropriate software selection, balancing cost, complexity, functionality, manageability, scalability, technology, and other factors.
The software selection process has two phases. An example is below: Phase 1: Requirements Definition
• Develop a requirements definition document by
o Interviewing/meeting with business process owners and current
software users including staff, mid-management, and executives.
o Identifying potential areas of process improvement as a result of
removing constraints imposed by current systems
o Writing the requirements definition document
o Reviewing the document with process owners and executives
• Produce a final requirements definition document for prospective
software vendors in order to minimize duplicate and repetitive work on the part of the client as well as software vendors
• Define goals and measurement criteria to assess project success
Phase 2: Software Selection
• Vendor Selection and Evaluation
• Develop list of potential vendors
• Narrow to “short list”
• Distribute requirements document for comment/response by
potential vendors
• Evaluate vendor responses
• Select vendors for solution presentation
• Plan, schedule, and “run” the Solution Presentation (demo) process
• Explore hosted (ASP) vs. non-hosted alternatives, if appropriate
• Proposal Review/Contract
• Work with vendors to resolve any issues remaining from
solution presentation
• Review proposals
• Plan, schedule, and run proposal review sessions
• Negotiate contract, including project scope, software license
and professional services pricing, contract terms and conditions, hosting Service Level Agreement (SLA) if applicable, and other matters
3. Evaluating the Alternatives
Adler PPT has developed a software selection methodology that can be applied to any type of business management software. It has particular relevance to CRM and the unique issues that are a consequence of diverse, decentralized environments. There are 8 key issues to be considered:
• Functionality: Software features to automate business processes in
marketing, sales, and customer service/support
• Usability: User experience in both learning and using the software
• Solution Realization: Cost of software license, maintenance, support, and
implementation, implementation strategy and assistance, evaluating the software vendor
• Integration: “Out-of-the-box” integrations included with the application or
available from the software vendor
• Technology: Software architecture tools for customization, tailoring, and
custom integration
• Internal Technology Support: Internal company application support
resources
• Access: How centralized or decentralized a company is for software access:
Will all users access the system from a single location, or is their a mixture of in-house and remote users?
may have no current or future international business considerations. For other companies, only solutions with an international scope may be considered.
Adler PPT focuses on each company’s unique requirements to drive the creation of the “short list,” and ultimately to narrow the potential software solutions to only those that meet the business process needs (functionality) as well as the other requirements in the model.
At the next level of the model, the graphic representation would be as illustrated below: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE NEEDS Dece ntraliz ed Centalized Access Inte rnal R e sour ce s External Resou rces Intern al Tech nology Supp ort Impl emen tatio n Project Cost Solution Realization So ftw are D ev elo per Sa le s F o rc e Au to m a tio n
Marketing Customer Se rvice/Sup port F unc tion al ity D evelo pm ent En vironm ent Tec hnol ogy C u st omi zati on T ool s Arch itect ure Productiv ity Inte gration Back Office We b Repo rting/A nalyt ics He lp a n d Tu to ri a ls Personal Productivity Usab ility B u si nes s R u le s Curenc y Language Internatio nal Support Business Processes
4. Implementation
Finally, implementation is also a key element in CRM success. Even the most modest of CRM software initiatives can and should benefit from focused, professional consulting assistance. After all, a business may implement a CRM or ERP software package once every 7-10 years where consulting firms will perform dozens of implementation every year.
An implementation plan should contain a Statement of Work containing at least the following elements:
• Project Approach
o General information about how the consulting firm will
accomplish the work, including project status reporting frequency, form, and content
• Project Plan
o This could vary in form depending on whether the
implementation is simple or complex, but generally should consist of the major tasks in the project. Often a timeline is included with the start date of the project as well as the expected Go Live date.
• Project Deliverables
o This section should state the result of the work performed.
Some examples could include:
! Installation of database and software on server and (x
number of) workstations
! Any data conversion to be performed
! Any custom or modified reports
! Any training
! Customizations, if any
! (Depending on style, some of this content could be
included in the Project Plan)
• Customer Responsibilities
o Items that the customer is responsible for, such as providing a
Customer Project Manager and his/her responsibilities.
• Consultant Responsibilities
o Contains assumptions that the implementer made in preparing
the statement of work, such as definition of “out of scope” work, what hardware and software is to be provided by customer, etc. In addition, at a minimum, the contract with the implementer should contain specific information on:
o Billing rates and billing frequency
o Payment terms for services, software, and maintenance, as
applicable
o Terminology regarding notification if project will exceed estimate
o An itemized listing of software, services, billing rates, etc.
o Timeline for starting the project as well as estimated date of
completion
The contract should refer to statement of work as well as the proposal so that there is no doubt as to what is included vs. what was
discussed. The contract should be signed and dated by both parties. In conclusion, a successful CRM software selection and implementation bring together elements of business goals, organizational involvement, and process definition and improvement prior to examining specific software features. Together, people, process, and technology must be unified to achieve success.
About Adler PPT:
Adler PPT helps mid-market businesses grow by selecting appropriate and practical business management software, Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) software, and providing project management services. About Lee Adler:
Lee Adler founded Adler PPT in 2002 after 20 years of sales, sales
management, and general management experience with packaged business management software applications in the area of accounting, manufacturing, distribution, and customer relationship management (CRM). He has worked with a wide variety of technology and non-technology companies in
manufacturing, software, financial, professional and business services, not for profit, and education.
Adler PPT 70 Walnut Street Wellesley, MA 02481
781-444-4602 www.adlerppt.com
