Checklist for a successful CRM implementation

You would like to implement a CRM system in your company? In order to succeed in your CRM project in the end, you should pay attention to the criteria compiled in this guideline. Some of the most common errors leading to the failure of a CRM introduction are:

• The goals of the implementation are not clearly defined: there is a lack of awareness of which processes should be improved using the CRM system, since the company’s processes are not closely examined.
• As the requirements are unknown, one chooses
  • The cheapest CRM system. This might cover only part of the needed functions.
  • The most comprehensive CRM system which supposedly offers everything. However, in reality, it is far too big and is perceived by the staff to be too complicated and “cluttered”.
• No project manager is determined: no one really feels responsible for the project.
• The employees are concerned: there is no contact person – an ideal fertile ground for misinformation and a growing defensive posture.
• The own software environment is not included in the CRM process. Isolated solutions and decentralized data storage, that the CRM system should have actually suppressed, remained unchanged.

However, it does not have to come that far! Take enough time in the run-up to the CRM selection to analyze your own processes and requirements and take note of some basic points. Then you have already overcome the major obstacles – and you can choose the right system that really fits your business.

 

Our CRM implementation checklist gives you a summary of the important tips along the way.

The first steps / Why do you want to launch a CRM                           

Define the departments for which the processes should be optimized using the CRM system

Evaluate your present situation in the departments.

Define the most important goals that should be pursued and implemented.

Evaluate which requirements could be asked later as a CRM project is not completed after the launch but the software must stay extensible at any time.

Evaluate which implemented IT systems should be connected to the CRM software.

Compile a requirement catalog, the so-called customer specifications, in which you specify the requirements for the CRM solution. Define in the customer specifications which processes should be improved.

 

Bring your project team together

The company management should make it clear within the company that they stand behind the CRM project.

Get the CRM project managers and the key users from the different departments on board. They organize the introduction, communicate the CRM advantages to their colleagues and are available as contact person to answer questions.

Involve the employees actively into the CRM process. Inform them on the advantage of a CRM solution. In case the employees are sceptic or hostile regarding the CRM project, this definitively endangers the success.

Define the IT project managers that are taking over the technical implementation as well as later the administration of the CRM system.

 

The selection process

Check not only the straight functions of the CRM system coming in question, but also explain the suppliers the processes that should be improved using the CRM. Let them concretely show you how the CRM systems can support you. Compare the possibilities to your expectations. It does not help if you have many individual functions, but they do not merge to represent your processes. The process and not the function should always be your priority.

Check whether the CRM solution can be uncomplicated integrated in your software environment.

Get a first impression and let the possible CRM solutions be presented in online demos. Visualizing the systems live from your desk will save you time and money, and you can sort the CRM system not coming in question out of your selection process.

 If you have reduced the number of CRM providers to a few, let the suppliers import some of your data in a test system – from previously run Excel sheets or from the ERP system for instance – and extensively check the software in a test phase. This will allow you to see if the CRM system can actually provide all the information you need and optimize your workflows in the required departments.

 

The decision

Select the system that best suits your processes and with the provider you feel best cared for. As the chemistry for a good collaboration must be right.