CRM 1080

Best Practices are necessary for a Successful CRM Initiative

Hello & Welcome to the Second Part of our two part series,   

For those who missed Part I, here is the Link:
Ensure CRM Success Part I   

This post is going to focus on the remaining best practices related to CRM Success that upper management may want to consider:   

1. Employee Buy In.  Design and implement employee buy-in programs that help your team understand the value of CRM.  Most employees do not care of change of any sort let alone when the change is about to track their every move.   But when employees realize that CRM systems are here to help them be more productive, increase customers, retain the best and improve overall efficiencies, they soon realize that this will only further help the company grow — which is in their best interest.
      
2. When did someone look at all your processes?  Before implementing your CRM solution, it is important to review and update all your business processes.    One of the strengths of CRM is automation.   So, it is important to understand the exact capability of CRM automation and how you can fully leverage these features to improve operations. 
    
3. Create a Flexible System.    Implement a system that is highly open, robust and scalable as the amount of information you gather and manage will grow with the organization and increase over time. Make sure your corporate IT is responsible for any integration strategy, maintenance and adherence to technology standards.  If you don’t have an internal IT staff, it is important to get sound advice from a reputable IT consultant.    
    
4. The 80-20 Rule.    We all know this golden rule but yet not much emphasis is given to it.  Does that sound like your organization?   Perhaps it is time to focus on the top 20% of your customers that bring in 80% of the revenue.  The first thing you need to do is to identify them.  Next, to automate the identification process and implement strategies that will continue to keep them satisfied.  CRM strategy and tools will help you retain the best of your customers while you attract new ones.
    
5. Metrics metrics metrics.  You will never know how well your new CRM initiative is working out if you don’t have a base to compare it with.   So, identify tangible and measurable links to business performance before implementing your CRM project.  Next track these measurable on an on-going basis to see exactly where the improvements are.   You will be surprised at the amazing ROI!     

Like any set of best practice, the above points are not the complete set of instructions for a CRM initiative but rather some of the key points.   Depending on your business, there may be other valid points of higher importance.   The best you can do is to make sure you hire or designate a person with project management experience to be your lead CRM Project Manager that has the time and resource focus on the project at hand.   Remember, your CRM initiative if not implemented correctly may be devastating to your operations.  So, you want to get it right the first time!   

Regards,
The CEO