Thursday, January 22, 2009

Was Your CRM Software Killed, or Did He Jump?

David Sims has written a funny and fanciful murder mystery about a hapless CRM application that winds up dead one morning. Sims' own team of CSI-style investigators ponder the evidence and grill the suspects. I won't give away the solution to the mystery, but it's a crime that gets repeated again and again when businesses don't fully understand how to leverage the power of CRM applications.

Sims does an effective job of illustrating some of the most common challenges to implementing CRM applications. By following a few steps to ensure the success of a CRM software launch, you can make sure your most valuable tool doesn't meet a similar fate:

First, understand the potential resistance points in your organization. Are you replacing a comfortable tool or process with one that seems more rigid and less user friendly? Can you reframe the implementation to focus on the overall benefits?

Second, explore how employees perceive the difference between hosted CRM tools and desktop-based CRM applications. Helping your team understand your decisions may not get them on board immediately, but it gives you the chance to hear about their needs and preferences.

Finally, make sure that you're using CRM software to enhance your business processes. By putting customers ahead of policies or processes, you can develop a CRM system that employees won't be as willing to fight.

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