I’ve come across a useful series of top-ten articles from insideCRM (here, here, here).
A couple of items in “10 Steps to Getting the CRM Solution You Need“ really caught my eye:
[snip]
7. Realize that CRM is most effective in existing relationships. Corporations that view CRM as a way to capture customers may well be headed for disappointment, since the technology is better suited to managing business that’s already in place.
[snip]
9. Once a CRM solution is in place, introduce the system slowly. After having spent a lot of money — not to mention a great deal of time talking to vendors and honing expectations — business leaders and IT staff are naturally eager to crank out returns. However, internal staff will need a little time to digest the changes that a CRM system brings about…
This advice is something anyone embarking down the CRM road should heed. It’s very easy to get caught up in the features and potential of a tool. It’s even easier when you are starting from zero and do not have a tool and only fragmented processes.
The challenge with this advice is getting the right people to the table to talk these items through. Although it’s tempting to think so, a CRM system will not be a silver bullet. As with most software implementations, CRM is more than just a new app, it’s a whole new way of managing customer operations. Getting buy-in from all the players is key.
Has anyone out there gone through this process? What worked in getting people to talk about the process instead of the product features? What didn’t?
